Mahmud of Ghazni (971 to 1030)

Mahmud of Ghazni (971-1030) founded the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, which ruled from 998 to 1030. His kingdom had been transformed into a vast military empire by the time he died, extending from northwestern Iran proper to the Punjab in the Indian subcontinent, Khwarazm in Transoxiana, and Makran.

Background

• Following the Arab invasion of Sindh, it was the Turks who made inroads into India in the 11th century. The Turks are credited with establishing Muslim rule in India.
• In 963, Alptigin, a Trukish slave of Samanid king Amir-Abu-Bakr Lawik, established the Ghaznivid dynasty. He conquered the kingdom of Jabul, with Ghazni as its capital.
• His son-in-law, Subuktigin, a capable and ambitious ruler, took his place. He was successful in capturing all of the territories between Lamghan and Peshawar from Hindushahi ruler Jayapala.
• As a result, the Hindushahi kingdom was unable to contain the Ghaznavids’ growing power to the east. His raids, however, had no long-term impact.
• Subuktigin was succeeded by his son Ismail, who was deposed by his brother Mahmud in 998. He is best known in history as Mahmud Ghazni.
• Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi was ruler and Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030.
• The Ghaznavid dynasty was a Muslim Turkish dynasty of Mameluk origin, ruling large parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Transoxiana and the North-West Indian subcontinent from 977 to 1186 CE.
  
  • The dynasty was founded by Sabuktigin upon his succession to the rule of Ghazni after the death of his father-in-law, Alptigin, who was an ex-general of the Samanid Empire from Balkh, North of the Hindu Kush in Greater Khorasan.
  • Although the dynasty was Central Asian Turkish, it was thoroughly Persianized in terms of language, culture, literature and administrative practices and there by became a Persian dynasty.
• At the time of his death, his kingdom had been transformed into an extensive military empire, which extended from northwestern Iran proper to the Punjab in the Indian subcontinent, Khwarazm in Transoxiana, and Makran.

Mahmud of Ghazni’s Character Estimation

• Mahmud of Ghazni was Asia’s greatest Muslim leader.
• He was a great fan of art and literature, as well as scholars such as Firdausi and Alberuni.
• Some remember him as an Islamic hero, while others remember him as a desecrator of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist shrines (this legacy may have contributed to the destruction of ancient Buddhist shrines by the taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, although other Muslims opposed this destruction).
• By establishing Muslim rule over a large portion of the Indian Subcontinent, he permanently altered the nature of subcontinental politics, religion, and culture.

Famous Poets Patronized by Mahmud of Ghazni

• Firdausi – Wrote Shahnamah
• Alberuni – Wrote Kitab-i-Hind

Ghaznavid Dynasty

• The Yamini dynasty generally called as Ghazni dynasty, claimed its origin from the family of Persian rulers. During the course of Arab invasion, the family fled to Turkistan and became one with the Turks. Therefore, the family has been accepted as Turk.
• Alptigin, a Turkish slave of the Samanid ruler Abdul Malik of Bukhara, founded the independent kingdom of this dynasty. He captured the kingdom of Jabul, with its capital Ghazni, from Amir Abu Bakr Lawik in 963 CE, but he died the same year.
• He was succeeded by his son Ishaq who ruled only for three years. Then, the throne was captured by Balkatigin, the commander of the Turkish troops. Balkatigin was succeeded by his slave, Pirai, in 972 CE. But Pirai was a cruel king. His subjects invited Abu Ali Lawik, son of Abu Bakr Lawik, to invade Ghazni.
• Jaipala, the Hindushahi ruler of Kabul and Punjab, who did not like the rise of a strong Muslim state at his border, also sent his army to help Abu Ali Lawik. But they were defeated by Sabuktigin, son-in-law of Alptigin.
• The success of Sabuktigin against the enemies of Ghazni enhanced his prestige. He, ultimately, dethroned Pirai and himself became the ruler of Ghazni in 977 CE and laid the foundation of Yamini or Ghaznavid Dynasty.
• Sabuktigin was a capable and great warrior. Slowly, he conquered Bust, Dawar, Ghur and some other nearby places. Towards the east lay the Hindushahi kingdom of east Afghanistan and Punjab. Sabuktigin started attacking its boundaries and occupied a few forts and cities.
• The Shahi ruler, Jaipala could not ignore these attacks and attempted to curb the rising power of Sabuktigin. Since then began the long struggle of the kingdoms of Ghazni and Hindushahi which continued till Sultan Mahmud finally defeated the Hindushahis.
  
  • Jaipala attacked Ghazni twice and was supported by certain other Rajput rulers also who sent their contingents to help Jaipala.
  • But both his attempts failed and Sabuktigin succeeded in capturing all the territories which lay between Lamghan and Peshawar.
• Thus, the Hindushahi kingdom failed to check the growing power of the Ghaznavids towards the East. However, two conclusions can be drawn out of this conflict between the two.
  
  • One, Jaipala was aware of the danger of the rising power of Islam on his border, tried to check its growth in the very beginning and pursued an aggressive policy for the purpose which we find lacking among other Rajput rulers afterwards.
  • The other, that the Rajput rulers were not indifferent to the rising power of Islam in the West, for which they are often blamed, otherwise, they would not have sent their forces to support Jaipala.
• Sabuktigin died in 997 CE at the age of 56. He declared his younger son Ismail as his successor before his death. But when Ismail ascended the throne, he was challenged by his elder brother, Abdul Qasim Mahmud who succeeded in capturing the throne of Ghazni just after seven months, in 998 CE Mahmud justified his accession, became a powerful ruler, repeatedly attacked India and paved the way of the conquest of India by Islam.
  
  • Mahmud was born on November 1, 971 CE. He was educated in Islamic theology and jurisprudence. He had participated in a number of battles during the reign of his father.
• After ascending the throne, Mahmud first consolidated his position in Herat, Balkh and Bust and, then conquered Khurasan.
  
  • In 999 CE, he secured recognition from the Caliph of Baghdad, Al Qadir Billah accepted him as the ruler of Afghanistan and Khurasan and bestowed him the titles of Aminul-Millat and Yamin-ud-Daulah.
• Mahmud Ghaznavi was the first Muslim ruler to be credited with the title of ‘Sultan’. It is said that Mahmud, at the time of his investiture, took an oath to invade India every year.

Causes of the Invasions of Mahmud Ghaznavi

• Mahmud was a great conqueror. He led 17 expeditions into India from 1000 CE to 1027 CE. Various reasons have been attributed by historians which resulted in repeated attacks by Mahmud on India. Mahmud desired to establish the glory of Islam in India.
• Professor Muhammad Habib has opposed this view.
  
  • He opined that Mahmud did not possess religious zeal; he was not a fanatic; he was not prepared to follow the advice of Ulema; he was purely a man of this world; and his barbaric deeds, instead of raising the prestige of Islam, destroyed its image before the world.
• However, Jafar, Nazim and Havell supports this view.
  
  • Jafar opined that he attacked Hindu temples not because of his religious zeal but because of his desire to acquire their wealth.
  • Nazim contends that if he troubled the Hindu kings and looted their wealth, he repeated the same story with the Muslim rulers of Central Asia.
  • Prof. Havell has expressed the view that he could loot the holy land of Baghdad the same way as he looted Indian cities if he could get wealth from there.
  • Thus, these historians have maintained that the primary motive of the invasions of Mahmud was economic and not religious. According to them, Mahmud desired to acquire the wealth of India.
• However, Utbi, the court historian of Mahmud, described the attacks of Mahmud in India as Jihads (holy wars) to spread Islam and destroy idolatry.
• Viewed from the circumstances of that age and the religious zeal of the Turks, who were new converts to Islam, it is possible also. Besides, Mahmud not only looted the wealth of Hindu temples but destroyed them and the images of Hindu gods. Therefore, it is mostly accepted that one of the aims of Mahmud was the propagation of Islam and establishing its glory in India.
• Another aim of Mahmud was to plunder the wealth of India. No historian has contradicted this view. Mahmud needed a lot of money to raise the army for the expansion of a vast Central Asian empire. He desired wealth for the sake of wealth.
  
  • Therefore, the wealth of India was alluring for him and he repeated his attacks to acquire more and more wealth from India.
• Apart from these, Mahmud had a political objective too. The Ghaznavids and the Hindushahis were fighting against each other since the reign of Alptigin and the Hindushahi rulers had attacked Ghazni thrice. It was necessary for Mahmud to destroy this aggressive and powerful neighbor.
  
  • Therefore, he himself pursued an aggressive policy against it. The success against the Hindushahi kingdom encouraged him to penetrate deeper into India.
• Similar to the other great rulers of his age, Mahmud also desired to acquire fame by his conquests and victories and that also was one reason of his attacks on India. Thus, his attack on Hindu temples served both the purposes—acquisition of wealth and fame as an idol breaker.