Mahmud of Ghazni

Yamīn al-Dawlah Abd al-Qāṣim Maḥmūd Ibn Sebük Tegīn
Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire
Sultan-Mahmud-Ghaznawi.jpg
Old French depiction of Ghaznavi reading "Sultan Mahmud the Ghaznavid Afghan Emperor"
Reign 997-1030
Born November 2, 971(971-11-02)
Birthplace Ghazni, Afghanistan
Died April 30, 1030
Place of death Ghazni, Afghanistan
Predecessor Ismail of Ghazni
Royal House Ghaznavid
Father Sebüktigin
Religious beliefs Sunni Islam
Faravahar background
History of Greater Iran
until the rise of modern nation-states
Pre-modern

Mahmud of Ghazni ( Maḥmūd Ghaznawī),(Persian: محمود غزنوی Maḥmūd-e Ghaznawī) (November 2, 971 - April 30, 1030), also known as Yamīn al-Dawlah Maḥmūd (in full: Yamīn al-Dawlah Abd al-Qāṣim Maḥmūd Ibn Sebük Tegīn) was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty and ruled from 997 until his death in 1030. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni (now in Afghanistan) into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which extended from Afghanistan into most of Iran as well as Pakistan and regions of North-West India. He was also the first ruler to carry the title Sultan ("authority"), signifying the extent of his power, though preserving the ideological link to the suzerainty of the Caliph.

Contents

Military campaigns

In 994, Mahmud joined his father Sebüktigin in the capture of Khorasan from the rebel Fa'iq in aid of the Samanid Emir, Nuh II. During this period the Samanid state became highly unstable, with shifting internal political tides as various factions vied for control, the chief among them being Abu'l-Qasim Simjuri, Fa'iq, Abu Ali, the General Behtuzun as well as the neighbouring Buyids and Qarakhanids.

Consolidation of rule

Sultan Mahmud's first campaign was against the Qarakhanid Empire, which controlled the northern portion of his Empire. After his defeat, he enlisted the alliance of the Seljuk Turks in southern Soghdia and Khwarazm who aided him in securing the north by diplomacy (998). In 999 '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 Qarakhanids under Nasr Khan invaded them from the north. He then solicited an alliance which was cemented by his marriage to Nasr Khan's daughter.

The Multan and Hindu Shahi struggles

Mahmud's first campaign to the south was against the Ismaili Fatimid Kingdom at Multan in a bid to curry political favor and recognition with the Abbassid Caliphate, he engaged with the Fatimids elsewhere. At this point, Raja Jayapala of the Hindu Shahi Dynasty in (Lahore and Kashmir) attempted to gain revenge for an earlier military defeat at the hands of Mahmud's father, who had controlled Ghazni in the late 980s and had cost Jayapala extensive territory. His son Anandapala succeeded him and continued the struggle to avenge his father's suicide. He assembled a powerful confederacy which faced an unfortunate defeat as his elephant turned back from the battle in a crucial moment, turning the tide into Mahmud's favor once more at Lahore in 1008 bringing Mahmud into control of the Hindu Shahi dominions of Updhanpura.[1]

There is considerable evidence from writings of Al-Biruni, Soghidan, Uyghur and Manichean texts that the Buddhists, Hindus and Jains 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 Dhimmis. By that time, however, most of the centers of Buddhist and Hindu learning were already destroyed.[2]

Ghaznavid campaigns in the Indian Subcontinent

Following the defeat of the Rajput Confederacy, after deciding to retaliate for their combined resistance, Mahmud then set out on regular expeditions against them, leaving the conquered kingdoms in the hands of Hindu vassals annexing only the Punjab region.[1] He also vowed to raid India every year.

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.

Image of Mahmud in his court where noblemen and noblewomen convened.

The Indian kingdoms of Nagarkot, Thanesar, Kannauj, Gwalior, and Ujjain were all conquered and left in the hands of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist Kings as vassal states and he was pragmatic enough not to shirk making alliances and enlisting local peoples into his armies at all ranks.

The later invasions of Mahmud were specifically directed to temple towns as Indian temples were depositories of great wealth and the economic and ideological centers of gravity for the Hindus. Destroying them would destroy the will power of the Hindus attacking the Empire since Mahmud never kept a permanent presence in the Subcontinent; Nagarkot, Thanesar, Mathura, Kanauj, Kalinjar and Somnath were all thus raided. Mahmud's armies stripped the temples of their wealth and then destroyed them at, Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi, Narunkot and Dwarka. During the period of Mahmud invasion, the Sindhi Swarankar Community and other Hindus who escaped conversion fled from Sindh to escape sectarian violence, and settled in various villages in the district of Kutch, in modern-day Gujarat, India. The rest were forced to convert to Islam in present day Pakistan

Patron of the arts and poetry

Monument of Ferdowsi, whose work along with other artisans and poets, was promoted by Mahmud.

After 30 years of hard work, the notable poet Ferdowsi went to Ghazni and presented the Shahnameh to Mahmud. There are various stories in medieval texts describing the lack of interest shown by Mahmud of Ghazni in Ferdowsi and his life's work. According to historians, Mahmud had promised Ferdowsi a dinar for every distich written in the Shahnameh (60,000 dinars), but later retracted and presented him with dirhams (20,000 dirhams), the equivalent at that time of only 200 dinars. Ferdowsi rejected the money or, by some accounts, gave it to a poor man who sold wine. After some time, Mahmud recognized his mistake about what he did to Ferdowsi, he re-sent the amount promised to Ferdowsi's village, but when the messengers reached his house, they found that Ferdowsi had died a few hours earlier. The gift was then given to his daughter, since his son had already died at the age of 37. However, his daughter refused to receive the sum, thus making Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh immortal. Later Mahmud ordered the money be used for repairing an inn in the way from Merv to Tus, named "Robat Chaheh" so that it may remain in remembrance of the poet. This inn now lies in ruins, but still exists.

Political challenges and his death

Tomb of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in 1848.

The last four years of Mahmud's life were spent contending with the influx of Oghuz Turkic horse tribes from Central Asia, the Buyid Dynasty and rebellions by Seljuqs. Initially the Seljuks were repulsed by Mahmud and retired to Khwarezm but Togrül and Çagrı led them to capture Merv and Nishapur (1028–1029). Later they repeatedly raided and traded territory with his successors across Khorasan and Balkh and even sacked Ghazni in 1037. In 1039 at the Battle of Dandanaqan, they decisively defeated Mahmud's grandson, Mas'ud I resulting in Mas'ud abandoning most of his western territories to the Seljuks.

Sultan Mahmud died on April 30, 1030. His mausoleum is located at Ghazni in modern Afghanistan.[3]

Campaign timeline

As a prince

As a ruler

Note: A historical narrative states in this battle, under the onslaught of the Gakhar tribe, Mahmud's army was about to retreat when Jayapala's son King Anandapala's elephant took flight and turned the tide of the battle.

Mahmud's campaigns seem to have been motivated by both religious zeal against both the Fatimids 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 modern-day 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.

Regional attitudes towards Mahmud's memory

In Afghanistan and Pakistan Mahmud is celebrated as a hero and a great patron of the arts, architecture, literature, and Persian revivalism as well as a vanguard of Islam and a paragon of virtue and piety who established the standard of Islam in India. The Pakistani military named a missile in his honour, the Ghaznavi Missile.

Legacy

Coins of Yamin ud-Daulah Mahmud, circa 998 AD - 1030 AD with the Islamic declaration of faith, Arkansas Dirham,Issued from Gazni.
Obv: Arabic Legends : 'Muhammad Rasul/Allah Yamin al-Daw/la w Amin al-Milla/Mahmud'. Rev: Arabic Legends :'Al-Kadir billah ' .

Under his reign the region broke away from the Samanid sphere of influence. While he acknowledged the Abbassids as Caliph as a matter of form, he was also granted the title Sultan as recognition of his independence.

By the end of his reign, the Ghaznavid Empire extended from Kurdistan in the west to Samarkand in the north-east, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna. Although his raids carried his forces across the Indian Subcontinent, only the Punjab and Sindh in modern-day Pakistan, came under his permanent rule; Kashmir, the Doab, Rajasthan and Gujarat remained under the control of the local Rajput dynasties.

The booty brought back to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi, Ferdowsi) give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conqueror's munificent support of literature. He transformed Ghazni, the first centre of Persian literature,[4] into one of the leading cities of Central Asia, patronizing scholars, establishing colleges, laying out gardens, and building mosques, palaces, and caravansaries. He patronized Ferdowsi to write the Shahnameh; and, after his expedition across the Gangetic plains in 1017, of Al-Biruni to compose his Tarikh Al-Hind in order to understand the Indians and their beliefs.

On April 30, 1030, Sultan Mahmud died in Ghazni, at the age of 59. Sultan Mahmud had contracted malaria during his last invasion. The medical complication from malaria had caused lethal tuberculosis. During his rule, universities were founded to study various subjects such as mathematics, religion, the humanities, and medicine. Islam was the main religion of his kingdom. The dialect of Persian spoken in Afghanistan, Dari, was made the official language.

The Ghaznavid Empire was ruled by his successors for 157 years. The expanding Seljuk Turkish empire absorbed most of the Ghaznavid west. The Ghorids captured Ghazni in 1150 A.D., and Muhammad Ghori captured the last Ghaznavid stronghold at Lahore in 1187. The Ghaznavids went on to live as the Nasher Khans in their home of Ghazni until the 20th century.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 P. M. ( Peter Malcolm) Holt, Bernard Lewis, The Cambridge History of Islam, Cambridge University Press, (1977), ISBN 0-521-29137-2 pg 3-4.
  2. ↑ 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) [1]
  3. ↑ Sultan Mahmud's Mausoleum in Ghazni, Afghanistan
  4. ↑ "arts, Islamic." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 20 Oct. 2006 [2].

References

External links

Preceded by:
Ismail of Ghazni		 Ghaznavid Ruler
997–1030		 Followed by:
Mohammad