غزنی | |
 | |
  Shown within Afghanistan | |
| Location | Ghazni, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°33′N68°25′E / 33.550°N 68.417°E |
| Type | City |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruined |
Ghazni is a city in southeastern Afghanistan, which served as the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire from 977 to 1163.
The toponym Ghazni is known to have existed prior to the Islamic period. It is derived from the Iranian word Ganzak ("treasury"). [1] Classical authors mention the name in various forms, including the Greek Gázaca (Γαζαχα), and the Chinese Ho(k)-si(k)-na. [2]
Although not a member of the Ghaznavid family, the foundation of the Ghazni as a Ghaznavid city can be attributed to the Turkic slave commander of the Samanid Empire, Alp-Tegin, who after his unsuccessful attempt to put the Samanid prince Nasr on the throne, was forced to flee from the court in Bukhara. In 963, Alp-Tegin accompanied by his personal guard of Turkic slave-soldiers and group of Iranian ghazis left for Ghazni, which was a small town in Zabulistan ruled by the local Lawik dynasty. [3] He seized Ghazni from Abu Bakr Lawik, a kinsman of the Kabulshah, and secured his position by receiving an investiture from the Samanids as the governor of Ghazni.
Alp-Tegin died a few months later (September 963) and was succeeded by his son Abu Ishaq Ibrahim, [4] who briefly lost control of Ghazni after an invasion by its former ruler, Abu Bakr Lawik. However, he managed to regain it with Samanid aid. Some time later, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim died and was succeeded by a Turkic slave commander named Bilgetegin.
In 1052, the rebellious slave-soldier ( ghulam ) Toghrul seized Ghazni, had Abd al-Rashid killed, and had the sultan's men jailed in a stronghold. However, Toghrul's reign lasted only 15 days; he was defeated and killed by Ghaznavid loyalists, who put Farrukh-zad (r. 1053–1059) on the throne. [5]
The city's good fortune came to an unexpected and ruthless end when it was sacked and set on fire in 1151 by the Ghurid Sultan Ala al-Din Husayn (r. 1149-1161). All the tombs of the Ghaznavid rulers, with the exception of Mahmud, Mas'ud I and Ibrahim, were broken open and the remains burned. From these events, Ala ad-Din Husayn gained the nickname, Jahānsūz (meaning the World Burner). [6] [7]
Sultan Mas'ūd III of Ghazni built one of the Ghazni Minarets and the Palace of Sultan Mas'ūd III. [8] [9]
Ghazni, historically known as Ghaznain (غزنين) or Ghazna (غزنه), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana, is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategically located along Highway 1, which has served as the main road between Kabul and Kandahar for thousands of years. Situated on a plateau at 2,219 metres (7,280 ft) above sea level, the city is 150 kilometres (93 mi) south of Kabul and is the capital of Ghazni Province. The name Ghazni drives from the Persian word ganj ‘treasure’.
Abūʾl-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn Bayhaqī, better known as Abu'l-Faḍl Bayhaqi, was a secretary, historian and author.
The Ghaznavid dynasty or the Ghaznavid Empire, was a Persianate Muslim dynasty and empire of Turkic mamluk origin, ruling at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest Indian subcontinent from 977 to 1186. The dynasty was founded by Sabuktigin upon his succession to the rule of Ghazna after the death of his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, who was an ex-general of the Samanid Empire from Balkh, north of the Hindu Kush in Greater Khorasan.
Abu Mansur Nasir al-Din Sabuktigin, also spelled as Sabuktagin, Sabuktakin, Sebüktegin and Sebük Tigin, was the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 367 A.H/977 A.D to 387 A.H/997 A.D. In Turkic the name means beloved prince.
Alp-Tegin, or Alptekin, was a Turkic slave commander of the Samanid Empire, who would later become the semi-independent governor of Ghazna from 962 until his death in 963.
Shahāb-ud-Dawla Mawdūd, known as Mawdud of Ghazni, was a sultan of the Ghaznavids from 1041 – 1050. He seized the throne of the sultanate from his uncle, Muhammad of Ghazni, in revenge for the murder of his father, Mas'ud I of Ghazni. His brother Majdud in Lahore did not recognize him as sultan, but his sudden death paved the way for Mawdud to exercise control over the eastern portion of the Ghaznavid Empire.
Masʽud I of Ghazni, known as Amīr-i Shahīd, was sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire from 1030 to 1040. He rose to power by seizing the Ghaznavid throne from his younger twin Mohammad, who had been nominated as the heir upon the death of their father Mahmud of Ghazni. His twin was shortly blinded and imprisoned. However, when much of Masʽud's western domains had been wrested from his control, his troops rebelled against him and reinstated Mohammad to the throne.
The Mikalid family, also known as the Mikalis, was a prominent Iranian aristocratic family of Khorasan from the 9th century to the 11th century. They were descended from the pre-Islamic nobility of Samarkand.
Abuʾl-Ḥasan al-Qāsim Aḥmad ibn Ḥasan Maymandī was a Persian vizier of the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud of Ghazni and the latter's son Mas'ud I of Ghazni.
Abd al-Razzaq Maymandi was a Persian vizier of the Ghaznavid Sultan Maw'dud Ghaznavi and Abd al-Rashid.
Abu Sahl Muhammad ibn Husayn Zawzani, better known as Abu Sahl Zawzani, was a Persian statesman who served as the chief secretary of the Ghaznavids briefly in 1040, and later from 1041 to an unknown date. Zawzani died in 1054.
Abd al-Hamid ibn Ahmad ibn Abd al-Samad Shirazi, better known as Abd al-Hamid Shirazi, was a Persian vizier of the Ghaznavid Sultan Ibrahim and the latter's son Mas'ud III.
Ali ibn Hasan, also known as Harun Bughra Khan and better known as Ali-Tegin was a Karakhanid ruler in Transoxiana from 1020 to 1034 with a brief interruption in 1024/25.
Böritigin or Böri, also known as Pirai, was a Turkic officer, who served as the Samanid governor of Ghazna from 974/975 to 977.
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim, also known as Ishaq ibn Alp-Tegin, was a Turkic officer, who was the Samanid governor of Ghazna from September 963 to November 966. He was the son and successor of Alp-Tegin.
Abu Bakr Lawik was a ruler of Ghazna from the Lawik dynasty. He was most likely a vassal of the Samanid Empire. In 962, the Turkic slave commander Alp-Tegin captured Ghazna after besieging the Citadel of Ghazni for four months. However, a few years later, Lawik managed to re-capture the town from Abu Ishaq Ibrahim, the son and successor of Alp-Tegin. This was not to last long; Abu Ishaq Ibrahim shortly returned to the town with Samanid aid, and took control of the town once again. Abu Bakr Lawik is thereafter no longer mentioned; he died before 977, the year that Ghaznavid control was established in Ghazna.
Khwaja Abu Nasr Ahmad, better known as Ahmad Shirazi, also known as Ahmad(-e) Abd al-Samad, was a Persian vizier of the Ghaznavid Sultan Mas'ud I and the latter's son Mawdud from 1032 to 1043. He was the son of the Samanid secretary Abu Tahir Shirazi, and had a son named Abd al-Hamid Shirazi, who would also later serve as vizier. He was originally from the city of Shiraz.
Bilgetegin was a Turkic officer, who was the Samanid governor of Ghazna from 12 November 966 to 975. He was successor of Abu Ishaq Ibrahim of Ghazna.
The Lawīk dynasty was the last native dynasty which ruled Ghazni prior to the Ghaznavid conquest in the present-day Afghanistan. Lawiks were originally Hindus, but later became Muslims. They were closely related to the Hindu Shahis, and after 877, ruled under the Hindu Shahi suzerainty.