Tughril Bey was the Turkoman founder of the Seljuk Empire, ruling from 1037 to 1063. Tughril united the Turkmen warriors of the Great Eurasian Steppes into a confederacy of tribes, who traced their ancestry to a single ancestor named Seljuq, and led them in conquest of eastern Iran. He would later establish the Seljuq Sultanate after conquering Persia and retaking the Abbasid capital of Baghdad from the Buyid dynasty in 1055. Tughril relegated the Abbasid Caliphs to state figureheads and took command of the caliphate's armies in military offensives against the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate in an effort to expand his empire's borders and unite the Islamic world.
The Kakuyids were a Shia Muslim Iranian Daylamite dynasty that held power in western Persia, Jibal and Persian Iraq. They later became atabegs (governors) of Yazd, Isfahan and Abarkuh from c. 1051 to 1141. They were related to the Buyids.
Falak al-Ma'ali Manuchihr, better known as Manuchihr, was the ruler of the Ziyarids. He was the son of Qabus.
Muhammad of Ghazni was sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire briefly in 1030, and then later from 1040 to 1041. He 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. Nine years later he was reinstated for a year before being slain by his nephew Maw'dud. According to Ferishta, his reign lasted only 50 days before he was blinded and imprisoned on the order of Ma'sud I. A year later he was executed by his nephew Maw'dud after losing a battle in Nangrahar.
Shahāb-ud-Dawla Mawdūd, known as Mawdud of Ghazni, was a sultan of the Ghaznavids from 1041-50. 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.
Muhammad ibn Rustam Dushmanziyar, also known by his laqab of Ala al-Dawla Muhammad, was a Daylamite military commander who founded in 1008 the short-lived but important independent Kakuyid dynasty in Jibal. He is also known as Pusar-i Kaku, Ibn Kakuyeh, Ibn Kakuya, and Ibn Kaku, which means maternal uncle in the Deylami language, and is related to the Persian word "kaka". Muhammad died in September 1041 after having carved out a powerful kingdom which included western Persia and Jibal. However, these gains were quickly lost under his successors.
Garshasp I ibn Muhammad, mostly known as Garshasp I, was the Kakuyid emir of Hamadan, including Nihawand, Borujerd and western Jibal. He was the youngest son of Muhammad ibn Rustam Dushmanziyar, and was the vassal king of his brother Faramurz. In 1047, the Seljuqs defeated his forces and seized Hamadan, which forced him to flee to Buyid territory, where he became governor of Khuzistan. In ca. 1050, Garshasp sent an army to aid the Ghaznavid ruler Maw'dud in his wars with the Seljuqs. Garshasp later died in 1051/2 in Khuzestan.
Abuʾl-Ḥasan al-Qāsim Aḥmad ibn Ḥasan Maymandī, better known as Ahmad Maymandi, and also known by his honorific title of Shams al-Kufat, was a Persian vizier of the Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and the latter's son Mas'ud I of Ghazni.
Sahib Husain Mikali, was an Iranian statesman from the Mikalid family, who served the Ghaznavids and later the Seljuqs.
Ahmad Inaltigin, was a Turkish commander who served under the early Ghaznavid rulers, but later rebelled against them.
Begtoghdi, also known by the Persianized form as Baktoghdi (بکتغدی), was a Turkic slave commander who served under the early Ghaznavid rulers, but later fell out of favor and was executed.
Gawhar Khatun, known in other sources as Mahd-i Iraq, was a Seljuq princess who during an unknown date married the Ghaznavid Sultan Mas'ud III, thus becoming his second wife.
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 1024/5.
Böritigin, also known as Ibrahim ibn Nasr or Tamghach Khan Ibrahim, was a Karakhanid ruler in Transoxiana from 1038 to 1068. He was one of the greatest rulers of the dynasty.
Böritigin or Böri, also known as Pirai, was a Turkic officer, who served as the Samanid governor of Ghazna from 974/975 to 977.
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.
Ghazni is a city in southeastern Afghanistan, which served as the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire from 977 to 1163.