د "سلطان محمود غزنوي" د بڼو تر مېنځ توپير

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Mahmud's grandfather was [[Alptigin]], a [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] slave-guard of the [[Samanids]] in [[Balkh]] who crossed the [[Hindu Kush]] mountains to seize [[Ghazni]] from the declining Samanid kingdom, located strategically on the road between [[Kabul]] and [[Kandahar]]. Alptigin was succeeded in [[977]] by his slave and son-in-law [[Sabuktigin]], who enlarged upon Alptigin's conquests, extending his domain north to [[Balkh]], west to [[Kandahar Province|Kandahar]] and [[Khorasan province]], and east to the [[Indus River]]. According to [[Ferishta]], Mahmoud's mother was a Persian noble from [[Zabulistan]]<ref>[[Ferishta|Muhammad Qāsim Hindū Šāh Astarābādī Firištah]], ''"History Of The Mohamedan Power In India"'', Chapter I, ''"Sultān Mahmūd-e Ghaznavī"'', p.27</ref> - this information contradicts [[Ferdowsi]]'s satirization of Mahmud for ''"being descended from slaves on both maternal and paternal side"''.

Sabuktigin was recognized by the [[Caliph]] in [[Baghdad]] as governor of his dominions. He died in [[997]], and was succeeded by his younger son Sultan [[Ismail of Ghazni]]. Mahmud rebelled against his younger brother, Sultan [[Ismail of Ghazni]], and took over the Ghazni as the new Sultan.

 

 

In 994 Mahmud was engaged with his father [[Sabuktigin]] in the capture of [[Khorasan]] from the rebel Fa'iq in aid of the [[Samanid]] Emir [[Nuh II of Samanid|Nuh II]]. During this period the [[Samanid]] state became highly unstable, with shifting internal political tides as various factions vied for control, chief being Abu'l-Qasim Simjuri, Fa'iq, Abu Ali, the General Behtuzun as well as the neighbouring [[Buyid]] and [[Qarakhanid]]s.

Sultan Mahmud's first campaign was against the [[Qarakhanid|Qarakhanid Empire]] in the North to his Empire. After his defeat he had to enlist the alliance of [[Seljuk Turks]] in southern [[Soghdiana|Soghdia]] and [[Khwarazm]] and diplomatically secure his north by 998. In 999 under the reign of [['Abd al-Malik II]] of the Samanids engaged in hostilities with Mahmud over Khorasan after political alliances shifted under a new Samanid Emir. These forces were defeated when the Kharakhanids under Nasr Khan invaded them from the North even as Fa'iq died. He then solicited an alliance and cemented it with by marrying Nasr Khan's daughter.

Mahmud's first campaign to the south was against the [[Ismaili]] [[Fatimid]] Kingdom at [[Multan]] in a bid to curry political favour and recognition with the [[Abbassid]] [[Caliphate]] engaged with the [[Fatimid]]s elsewhere. Raja [[Jayapala]] of the Hindu [[Shahi]] Dynasty of [[Gandhara]] at this point attempted to gain retribution, for an earlier military defeats at the hands of Ghazni under Mehmud's father in the late [[980]]s that had lost him extensive territory, and is defeated once more. His son Anandapala succeeds him and continues the struggle assembling a powerful confederacy which is defeated once more at Lahore in 1008 bringing him control of the Hindu Shahi dominions of Updhanpura.<ref name="Lewis"> P. M. ( Peter Malcolm) Holt, [[Bernard Lewis]], ''The Cambridge History of Islam'', Cambridge University Press, Apr 21, 1977, ISBN 0-521-29137-2 pg 3-4.</ref>

 

There is considerable evidence from writings of [[Al-Biruni]], [[Soghdiana|Soghidan]], [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] and [[Manichean]] texts that the [[Buddhist]]s, [[Hindu]]s and [[Jain]]s were accepted as [[People of the Book]] and references to [[Buddha]] as ''Burxan'' or as a prophet can be found. After the initial destruction and pillage Buddhists, Jains and Hindus were granted protected subject status as [[dhimmi]]s.<ref>Alexander Berzin, Berzin Archives, The Historical Interaction between the Buddhist and Islamic Cultures before the Mongol Empire, Part III: The Spread of Islam among and by the Turkic Peoples (840 - 1206 CE) [http://www.berzinarchives.com/e-books/historic_interaction_buddhist_islamic/history_cultures_18.html]</ref>

 

 

Mahmud had already had relationships with the leadership in [[Balkh]] through marriage, its local [[Emir]] Abu Nasr Mohammad, offered his services to the Sultan and his daughter to Mahmud's son, Muhammad. After Nasr’s death Mahmud brought [[Balkh]] under his leadership. This alliance greatly helped him during his expeditions into Northern India.

The later invasions of Mahmud were specifically directed to temple towns as Indian temples were depositories of great wealth, in cash, golden idols, diamonds, and jewellery; [[Kangra|Nagarkot]], [[Thanesar]], [[Mathura]], [[Kanauj]], [[Kalinjar]] and [[Somnath]]. Mahmud's armies stripped the temples of their wealth and then destroyed them at [[Varanasi]], [[Ujjain]], [[Maheshwar]], [[Jwalamukhi]], and [[Dwarka]].

 

The last four years of Mahmud's life were spent contending with the influx of [[Oghuz Turks|Oghuz Turkic]] horse tribes from [[Central Asia]], the [[Buyid]] Dynasty and rebellions by [[Seljuqs]].

 

Sultan Mahmud died on [[April 30]] [[1030]]. His [[mausoleum]] is located at [[Ghazni]] (in modern Afghanistan).<ref>[http://www.zharov.com/dupree/chapter09.html Sultan Mahmud's Mausoleum in Ghazni, Afghanistan]</ref>

 

 

''As a Prince''

Mahmud's campaigns seem to have been motivated by both religious zeal against both the [[Fatimid]]s [[Shiites]] and non-Muslims; [[Buddhists]], [[Jains]] and [[Hindus]]. His principal drive remained the Ismaili Shiites, Buyid Iran as well as favor and recognition of independence from the [[Abbassid]] [[Caliphate]]. The wealth plundered from the [[Rajput]] Confederacy and his Indian campaigns went a long way towards meeting those ends. By 1027, Mahmud had accomplished this as well as capturing most of [[Pakistan]] and North Western [[India]] as well as obtaining formal recognition of Ghazni's sovereignty from the Abbasid [[Khalifah]], [[al-Qadir]] Billah, as well as the title of ''Yameen ud Daula''.

 

It is also noted that Ghazni revelled in being renowned as an [[iconoclast]]. He is also frequently criticized for his deseceration of [[temple]]s and has been called a bloodthirsty tyrant and robber<ref name="Lewis"/> as well as being accused of persecution for the nature of his expeditions, in the [[Indian sub-continent]], which were marked by a large baggage train of slaves as plunder and has led to the accusation that he attempted to convert non-[[Muslim]]s by force.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Mahmud, like the Arabs in [[Sindh]], recognized the locals as [[Dhimmi]]s. <ref>McLeod (2002), pg. 34</ref> Holt and Lewis state that "he shed no blood except in the exigencies of war".<ref name="Lewis"/> and was tolerant in dealings with his own Hindu subjects, some of whom rose to high posts in his administration, such as his Hindu General Tilak <ref name="Lewis"/>

 

[[People of Iran|Iranians]] remember him as an [[Orthodox]] [[Sunni]] who was responsible for the revival of the Persian culture by commissioning and appointing Persians to high offices in his administration as ministers, viziers and generals. In addition Iranians remember him for the promotion and preference of Persian language instead of Turkish and patronage of great nationalist poets and scholars such as [[Ferdowsi]], [[Al-Biruni]] and [[Ferishta]] as well as his '''Lion and Sun''' flag which is still a national symbol in the modern state of [[Iran]].

 

{{main|Malik Ayaz}}

It is related that Mahmud [[Pederasty in the Islamic lands|fell in love with a young male slave]] by the name of [[Malik Ayaz|Ayaz]]. The love he bore his favourite, and the latter's devotion, became a staple of Islamic lore, emblematic of ideal love affairs. The Sultan, in later love poetry was transformed into a symbol of "a slave to his slave."<ref name="ayaz"> "arts, Islamic." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 20 Oct. 2006 [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-13724].</ref> Ayaz became the paragon of the ideal beloved, and a model of purity in [[Sufi]] literature.

|-

|width="30%" align="center"|Preceded by:<br>'''[[Ismail of Ghazni]]'''

|width="30%" align="center"|Followed by:<br>'''[[Mohammad Ghaznavi|Mohammad]]'''

|}

 

*[[Ghazni]]

*[[Lahore]]

*[[Flag of Iran]]

 

<div class="references-small">

<references/>

*McLeod, John (2002). ''The History of India''. London: Greenwood Press. ISBN-0-313-31459-4.

 

*[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0831222.html Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition) - Mahmud of Ghazna]

*[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050135/Mahmud Encylopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Mahmud]

{{1911}}

 

 

[[ar:محمود الغزنوي]]

[[cs:Mahmúd z Ghazny]]

[[de:Mahmud von Ghazni]]

[[fa:سلطان محمود]]

[[fi:Ghaznin Mahmud]]