Ghaznavid Empire - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Ghaznavids were a Persianate

Persianate

A Persianate/Persified society is a society that is either based on, or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art, and/or identity....

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

dynasty of Turkic

Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...

slave origin which existed from 975 to 1187 and ruled much of Persia, Transoxania, and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

. The Ghaznavid state was centered in Ghazni, a city in modern-day Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. Due to the political and cultural influence of their predecessors - that of the Persian

Persian people

The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

Samanid Empire - the originally Turkic Ghaznavids had become thoroughly Persianized

Persianization

Persianization or Persianisation is a sociological process of cultural change in which something non-Persian becomes Persianate. It is a specific form of cultural assimilation that often includes linguistic assimilation...

.

The dynasty was founded by Sebuktigin

Sebük Tigin

Abu Mansur Sabuktigin , also spelled as Sabuktagin, Sabuktakin, Sebüktegin and Sebük Tigin, is generally regarded by historians as the founder of the Ghaznavid Empire...

upon his succession to rule of territories centered around the city of Ghazni from his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, a break-away ex-general of the Samanid sultans. Sebuktigin's son, Shah Mahmoud

Mahmud of Ghazni

Mahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...

, expanded the empire in the region that stretched from the Oxus river to the Indus Valley and the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

; and in the west it reached Rey

Rey, Iran

Rey or Ray , also known as Rhages and formerly as Arsacia, is the capital of Rey County, Tehran Province, Iran, and is the oldest existing city in the province....

and Hamadan

Hamadan

-Culture:Hamadan is home to many poets and cultural celebrities. The city is also said to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.Handicrafts: Hamadan has always been well known for handicrafts like leather, ceramic, and beautiful carpets....

.

Under the reign of Mas'ud I

Mas'ud I of Ghazni

Mas'ud I seized the throne of the Ghaznavid Empire upon the death of his father Mahmud from his younger twin Mohammad who had been nominated as the heir upon the death of their father Mahmud of Ghazni. His twin was blinded and imprisoned...

, the dynasty experienced major territorial losses, losing the western territories to the Seljuqs

Seljuq dynasty

The Seljuq ; were a Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries...

at the Battle of Dandanaqan

Battle of Dandanaqan

The Battle of Dandanaqan was fought in 1040 between the army of the Seljuqs and the Ghaznavid Empire. The battle ended with a Seljuq victory and brought down the Ghaznavid domination in the Khorasan.-Preparations:...

resulting in a restriction of its holdings to Balochistan

Balochistan (region)

Balochistan or Baluchistan is an arid, mountainous region in the Iranian plateau in Southwest Asia; it includes part of southeastern Iran, western Pakistan, and southwestern Afghanistan. The area is named after the numerous Baloch tribes, Iranian peoples who moved into the area from the west...

, Punjab

Punjab region

The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

and modern-day Afghanistan

Afghanistan

. In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to Ala'uddin Hussain of Ghor

Ghurids

The Ghurids or Ghorids were a medieval Muslim dynasty of Iranian origin that ruled during the 12th and 13th centuries in Khorasan. At its zenith, their empire, centred at Ghōr , stretched over an area that included the whole of modern Afghanistan, the eastern parts of Iran and the northern section...

and the capital was moved to Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

until its subsequent capture by the Ghurids

Ghurids

in 1186.

Rise to power

Two military families arose from the Turkic

Turkic peoples

slave-guards of the Samanids — the Simjurids

Simjurids

The Simjurids were a Turkish dynasty that served the Samanid amirs of Bukhara in the 10th century. They played an influential role in the history of eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan during this time, and by the second half of the 10th century they had built a semi-independent principality in...

and Ghaznavids — who ultimately proved disastrous to the Samanids. The Simjurids received an appanage

Appanage

An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...

in the Kohistan

Kohistan District, Afghanistan

Kohistan District is one of the 29 districts of Badakhshan Province in eastern Afghanistan. It was created in 1995 from part of Ragh District and is home to approximately 35,000 residents....

region of eastern Khorasan

Greater Khorasan

Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...

. Alp Tigin

Alptigin

Alp Tigin was a founder of the state of Ghazna. He was a general of Central Asian Turkic origin from Balkh who had risen from a mercenary to general to the Governor of Khorasan based in Ghazni, and eventually to the ruler of Ghazna state....

founded the Ghaznavid fortunes when he established himself at Ghazna (modern Ghazni

Ghazni

For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...

) in 962. He and Abu al-Hasan Simjuri, as Samanid generals, competed with each other for the governorship of Khorasan and control of the Samanid empire by placing on the throne emir

Emir

Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

s they could dominate when 'Abd al-Malik I died in 961. But when the Emir died in 961 CE it created a succession crisis between 'Abd al-Malik I's brothers. A court party instigated by men of the scribal class—civilian ministers as contrasted with Turkic generals—rejected Alp Tigin's candidate for the Samanid throne. Mansur I

Mansur I of Samanid

Abu Salih Mansur was amir of the Samanids . He was the son of Nuh I.The death of Mansur's brother 'Abd al-Malik I at the end of 961 caused a succession crisis. The Turkic military establishment, which was effectively in control of the government, split over who should succeed Abdul Malik...

was installed, and Alp Tigin prudently retired to his fief of Ghazna. The Simjurids enjoyed control of Khorasan south of the Oxus but were hard-pressed by a third great Iranian dynasty, the Buwayhid

Buwayhid

The Buyid dynasty, also known as the Buyid Empire or the Buyids , also known as Buwaihids, Buyahids, or Buyyids, were a Shī‘ah Persian dynasty that originated from Daylaman in Gilan...

s, and were unable to survive the collapse of the Samanids and the rise of the Ghaznavids.

The struggles of the Turkic slave generals for mastery of the throne with the help of shifting allegiance from the court's ministerial leaders both demonstrated and accelerated the Samanid decline. Samanid weakness attracted into Transoxania the Qarluq

Qarluq

The Karluks were a prominent nomadic Turkic tribe residing in the regions of Kara-Irtysh and the Tarbagatai Mountains west of the Altay Mountains...

Turks

Turkic peoples

, who had recently converted to Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. They occupied Bukhara

Bukhara

Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...

in 992 to establish in Transoxania the Qarakhanid, or Ilek Khanid, dynasty. Alp Tigin had been succeeded at Ghazna by Sebüktigin (died 997). Sebüktigin's son Mahmud

Mahmud of Ghazni

made an agreement with the Qarakhanids whereby the Oxus was recognized as their mutual boundary.

Sebük Tigin|Saboktekin

Saboktekin

Sebük Tigin

Abu Mansur Sabuktigin , also spelled as Sabuktagin, Sabuktakin, Sebüktegin and Sebük Tigin, is generally regarded by historians as the founder of the Ghaznavid Empire...

made himself lord of nearly all the present territory of Afghanistan

Afghanistan

and of the Punjab

Punjab region

by conquest of Samanid

Samanid

The Samani dynasty , also known as the Samanid Empire, or simply Samanids was a Persian state and empire in Central Asia and Greater Iran, named after its founder Saman Khuda, who converted to Sunni Islam despite being from Zoroastrian theocratic nobility...

and Shahi

Shahi

The Shahi , Sahi, also called Shahiya dynasties ruled one of the Middle kingdoms of India which included portions of the Kabulistan and the old province of Gandhara , from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century...

lands. He was followed by his son Ismail.

Mahmud

In 997, Mahmud, the son of Sebük Tigin, succeeded his father upon his death(before he ascended the throne he had to challenge his younger brother Ismail,who was announced as the heir by his father sebu tigin), and with him Ghazni and the Ghaznavid dynasty have become perpetually associated. He completed the conquest of Samanid

Samanid

, Shahi

Shahi

lands, the Ismaili

Ismaili

' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...

Kingdom of Multan

Multan

Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...

, Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

as well as some Buwayhid territory. Under him all accounts was the golden age and the height of the Ghaznevid Empire. Mahmud carried out seventeen expeditions through northern India establishing his control and setting up tributary states. His raids also resulted in the looting of a great deal of plunder. From the borders of Kurdistan to Samarkand

Samarkand

Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...

, from the Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

to the Yamuna

Yamuna

The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...

, he established his authority.

During Mahmud's reign(c.1025), the Ghaznavids settled 4000 Turkmen families near Farana in Khurasan. By 1027, due to the Turkmen raiding neighboring settlements, the governor of Tus, Abu l'Alarith Arslan Jadhib led military strikes against them. The Turkmen were defeated and scattered to neighboring lands. Although, as late as 1033, Ghaznavid governor Tash Farrash executed fifty Turkmen chiefs for raids into Khurasan.

The wealth brought back from the Indian expeditions to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi

Abolfazl Beyhaghi

Abul-Fazl Bayhaqī , was a Persian historian and author.He wrote the famous work of Persian literature Tarikh-e Mas'oudi ....

, Ferdowsi

Ferdowsi

Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...

) give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conquerors munificent support of literature. Mahmud died in (1030). Even though there was some revival of importance under Ibrahim (1059–1099), the empire never reached anything like the same splendor and power.

Decline

Twin sons of Mahmud

Mahmud left the empire to his son Mohammed who was mild, affectionate and soft. Mohammed was king and his brother only asked for three provinces that he had won by his sword to which his brother did not consent and result was the Mas'ud had to fight his brother and became king, blinding and prisoning Mohammed as punishment.
Mas'ud

Mas'ud I of Ghazni

was unable to preserve the empire and following a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Dandanaqan

Battle of Dandanaqan

in (1040) lost all the Ghaznavid lands in Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

and Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

to the Seljuks and plunged the realm into a "Time of troubles".. His last act was to collect all trasures from all his forts in hope to assemble an army and rule from India but his own forces plundered the wealth and he proclaimed his blind brother as king again. The two brothers now exchanged situations Mohammed from a prison was elevated to the throne and Mus'ud from a throne was consigned to a dungeon where he was assassinated AD 1040 after a reign of ten years. Mas'ud's son Madood was governor of Balkh and in 1040 AD, hearing of his father's death came to Gazni to claim his kingdom. He faught with sons of blind Mohammed and was victorious, the empire soon disintegrated and most kings did not submit to this King. In a span of 9 years 4 more kings claimed the throne of Gazni. In the year 1058 AD, Ibrahim a great calligrapher who wrote Koran with his own pen, became king.

Ibrahim

Mas'ud's son Ibrahim who re-established a truncated empire on a firmer basis by arriving at a peace agreement with the Seljuks and a restoration of cultural and political linkages. Under Ibrahim and his successors saw a period of sustained tranquility for the empire. Shorn of its western land it was increasingly sustained by riches accrued from raids across Northern India where it faced stiff resistance from Rajput

Rajput

A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

rulers such as the Paramara

Paramara

Paramara is a Maratha, Gurjar,& Rajput clan of India.The Paramara clan belongs to the Agnivansha of Rajputs ancient Kshatriyas...

of Malwa and the Gahadvala

Gahadvala

The Gahadvala or Gaharwar is a Hindu Rajput dynasty that ruled the kingdom of Kannauj for around a hundred years, beginning the late 11th century.-Rebuilding of Kannauj Kingdom:...

of Kannauj

Kannauj

Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja . Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital...

.. He ruled till year 1098 AD.

Masud

Masud became king for 16 years with no major event in his lifetime. Signs of weakness in the state became apparent when Masud III died in 1115 with internal strife between his sons ending with the ascension of Sultan Bahram Shah as a Seljuk Vassal. Bahram shah defeated his brother Arslan for throne.

Sultan Bahram Shah

Sultan Bahram Shah was the last Ghaznavid King ruling Ghazni, the first and main Ghaznavid capital, he ruled thirty five years. Ala'uddin Hussain, a Ghorid King, conquered the city of Ghazni in 1151, for the revenge of his brother Kutubbuddin's death, who was son in law of King but was publicly punished and killed for a minor offense. Allauddin Ghor then razed all the city, and burned it for 7 days, after which he got famous as "Jahānsoz" (World Burner). Ghazni was restored to the Ghaznavids by the intervention of the Seljuks who came to Bahrams aid. Ghaznavid struggles with the Ghurids continued in the subsequent years as they nibbled away at Ghaznavid territory and Ghazni and Zabulistan

Zabulistan

Zabulistan , also spelled Zabolestan, is a historical region in the border area of today's Iran and Afghanistan.-History of Zabulistan:...

was lost a group of Oghuz

Oghuz Turks

The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....

Turks before captured by the Gurids. Ghaznavid power in north western India continued until the conquest of Lahore

Lahore

from Khusrau Malik in 1186.

Legacy

The Ghaznavid empire grew to cover much of present-day Iran

Iran

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

, Pakistan, and northwest India, and the Ghaznavids are generally credited with spreading Islam into the Indian subcontinent. In addition to the wealth accumulated through raiding Indian cities, and exacting tribute from Indian Raja

Raja

Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...

s the Ghaznavids also benefited from their position as an intermediary along the trade routes between China and the Mediterranean. They were however unable to hold power for long and by 1040 the Seljuks had taken over their Persian domains and a century later the Ghurids

Ghurids

took over their remaining sub-continental lands.

Culture

Although the Ghaznavids were of Turkic origin and their military leaders were generally of the same stock, as a result of the original involvement of Sebuktigin

Sebük Tigin

Abu Mansur Sabuktigin , also spelled as Sabuktagin, Sabuktakin, Sebüktegin and Sebük Tigin, is generally regarded by historians as the founder of the Ghaznavid Empire...

and Mahmud

Mahmud of Ghazni

in Samanid affairs and in the Samanid cultural environment, the dynasty became thoroughly Persianized, so that in practice one cannot consider their rule over Iran one of foreign domination. They also copied their administrative system from the Samanids. In terms of cultural championship and the support of Persian poets, they were far more Persian than the ethnically Iranian Buyids rivals, whose support of Arabic letters in preference to Persian is well known.

Historian Clifford Edmund Bosworth

Clifford Edmund Bosworth

Clifford Edmund Bosworth FBA is an English historian and orientalist, specializing in Arabic studies. He received his B.A. degree from Oxford University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Edinburgh University. He held permanent posts at St. Andrews University, Manchester University, and the Center...

explains: "In fact with the adoption of Persian administrative and cultural ways the Ghaznavids threw off their original Turkish steppe background and became largely integrated with the Perso-Islamic tradition." As a result, Ghazni

Ghazni

For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...

developed into a great centre of Arabic learning.

The Ghaznavid Dynasty

Titular Name(s)	Personal Name	Reign
Amir	Alptigin Alptigin Alp Tigin was a founder of the state of Ghazna. He was a general of Central Asian Turkic origin from Balkh who had risen from a mercenary to general to the Governor of Khorasan based in Ghazni, and eventually to the ruler of Ghazna state....	963 - 975
Amir	Ishaq ibn Alptigin	975–977
Amir Abu Mansur	Sebük Tigin Sebük Tigin Abu Mansur Sabuktigin , also spelled as Sabuktagin, Sabuktakin, Sebüktegin and Sebük Tigin, is generally regarded by historians as the founder of the Ghaznavid Empire...	977–997
Amir	Ismail ibn Sebük Tigin Ismail of Ghazni Ismail of Ghazni was the second ruler and Amir of the Ghaznavid Empire. He succeeded his father Amir Sabuktigin, who died of an illness acquired in Balkh during a campaign in the Samanid civil war...	997 - 998
Yamīn-ad-Daulah Abul-Qasim Mahmud Ghaznavi	Mahmud ibn Sebük Tigin Mahmud of Ghazni Mahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...	998 - 1030
Jalal-ud-Daulah	Muhammad ibn Mahmud Mohammad Ghaznavi Mohammad Ghaznavi ascended the throne upon the death of his father Mahmud in 1030. He was the younger of a set of twins; this circumstance resulted in civil strife. His reign lasted five months before he was overthrown by his twin Ma'sud I, after which he was blinded and imprisoned...	1030 – 1031 1st reign
Shihab-ud-Daulah	Mas'ud ibn Mahmud Mas'ud I of Ghazni Mas'ud I seized the throne of the Ghaznavid Empire upon the death of his father Mahmud from his younger twin Mohammad who had been nominated as the heir upon the death of their father Mahmud of Ghazni. His twin was blinded and imprisoned...	1031 - 1041
Jalal-ud-Daulah	Muhammad ibn Mahmud Mohammad Ghaznavi Mohammad Ghaznavi ascended the throne upon the death of his father Mahmud in 1030. He was the younger of a set of twins; this circumstance resulted in civil strife. His reign lasted five months before he was overthrown by his twin Ma'sud I, after which he was blinded and imprisoned...	1041 2nd reign
Shihab-ud-Daulah	‏Maudud ibn Mas'ud Maw'dud Ghaznavi Shahab-ud-Dawlah Maw'dud seized the throne of the Ghaznavid Empire from Mohammad Ghaznavi in revenge for the murder of his father, Ma'sud I. His brother in Lahore did not recognize him, but his sudden death paved the way for Maw'dud to exercise control over the eastern portion of the Ghaznavid...	1041 - 1050
Baha-ud-Daulah	Ali ibn Maudud	1050 - 1053
Izz-ud-Daulah	Abdul-Rashid ibn Ali	1053

}
|align="center"| Toğrül of Ghazni

|align="center"|1053 (Usurper)
|-
|align="center"|Jamal-ud-Daulah

|align="center"|Farrukhzad ibn Mas'ud

|align="center"|1053 – 1059
|-
|align="center"|Zahir-ud-Daulah

|align="center"| Ibrahim ibn Mas'ud

|align="center"|1059 – 1099
|-
|align="center"|Ala-ud-Daulah

|align="center"| Mas'ud ibn Ibrahim

|align="center"|1099 – 1115
|-
|- style="background:lightblue"
|align="center"|Kamal-ud-Daulah

|align="center"| Shahrzad of Ghazni

|align="center"|1115 (Usurper)
|-
|align="center"|Sultan-ud-Daulah

|align="center"| Arslan ibn Mas'ud

Arslan ibn Mas'ud

Arslan ibn Mas'ud was the Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire from 1115 – 1117 C.E. On the death of his father Sultan Mas'ud ibn Ibrahim, he seized and imprisoned his brothers...

|align="center"|1115 – 1118
|- ‎
|align="center"|Yamin-ud-Daulah

|align="center"| Bahram ibn Mas'ud

|align="center"|1118 – 1152
|-
|align="center"|Mu'izz ud-Daulah

|align="center"| Khusrau ibn Bahram

|align="center"|1152 – 1160
|-
|align="center"|Taj-ud-Daulah

|align="center"| Malik ibn Khusrau

|align="center"|1160 – 1187
|-
|colspan=4 align="middle"| Ghurid Dynasty replaces the Ghaznavids.
|}

Green shaded row signifies Ghaznavid vassalage under the Samanids.
- Blue shaded row signifies interruption in the Ghaznavid dynasty by usurpers.

External links

Coins of Ghaznavid Rulers
Mahmud of Ghazna Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition)
Mahmud Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition)
Ghaznavid Dynasty Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition)
Ghaznavids and Ghurids Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition)
Mahmud Ghaznavi's 17 invasions of India
The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Periodby Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; London Trubner Company 1867–1877 Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Periodpublished by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy: - Online version posted by: The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in translation)
Afghan secrets revealed on Google Earth

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Rise to power

Sebük Tigin|Saboktekin

Mahmud

Decline

Twin sons of Mahmud

Ibrahim

Masud

Sultan Bahram Shah

Legacy

Culture

The Ghaznavid Dynasty

See also

Further reading

External links