Prominent Muslim Rulers/Dynasties throughout South Asian history

[dexter]

If Indians can claim and praise every major Hindu Ruler in South Asia i.e. Raja Dahir, Prithviraj Chauhan, Shivaji etc and build several monuments of them then we should take liberty in praising and remembring our Muslim Rulers aswell specially those who chose to stay here, assimilated in local population and had their successors been born in this land i.e. Sultan Mahmud ghaznavi, Shahabuddin Ghauri, Alauddin Khilji, Zaheeruddin Babur, Akbar, Aurangzeb Alamgir, Ahmed Shah Abdali, Tipu Sultan etc.

Islamic history in South Asia can be divided into following timeperiods:

• Early Middle Ages
• Medieval Period
• Mughal Empire
• British Era
• Struggle for Pakistan (Tehreek-e-Pakistan)
• Emergence of Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Right after rise of Islam under Rashidun Caliphate, the conquest of Persian Empire which occupied West portion of today's Balochistan Province, Pakistan led to the spread of Islam in region of South Asia and opened the doors of conquest of this region. After it, large number of Baloch people accepted Islam.

However, there are accounts of a King in South India Chakrawati Farmas (Today's Malabar, India) who witnessed splitting of Moon and investigated this phenomenon until he found out that it was done by Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) who claims to be last apostle of ALLAH S.W.T in Makkah. He traveled thousands of miles to Arabia and met Prophet (S.A.W.) and accepted Islam. When he returned to his homeland, he built a mosque there which still exists today.

The most famous historical account which marks the spread of Islam in this region is none other than conquest of Sindh in 712 AD by Muhammad Bin Qasim serving under Umayyad Caliphate.

1. Early Middle Ages :

Muhammad Bin Qasim (695-715) :

Muhammad bin Qasim was born around 695 AD. He belonged to the Saqqafi tribe; that had originated from Taif in Arabia. He grew up in the care of his mother; he soon became a great asset to his uncle Muhammad Ibn Yusuf, the governor of Yemen. His judgment, potential and skills left many other officers and forced the ruler to appoint him in the state department. He was also a close relative of Hajjaj bin Yousuf, because of the influence of Hajjaj, the young Muhammad bin Qasim was appointed the governor of Persia while in his teens, and he crushed the rebellion in that region. There is also a popular tradition that presents him as the son-in-law of Hajjaj bin Yousuf. He conquered the Sindh and Punjab regions along the Indus River for the Umayyad Caliphate.

Raja Dahir

There are both long and short term causes for the conquest of india. Arabs had trade with India and Eastern Asia. The trade was carried through sea rout; the rout was unsafe due to the plunder of the Pirates of Sindh. The Arab rebels also get refuge in Sindh. Thus the Umayyad wanted to consolidate their rule and also to secure the trade rout. During Hajjaj’s governorship, the Mids of Debal (Pirates) plundered the gifts of Ceylon’s ruler to Hijjaj and attacked on ships of Arab that were carrying the orphans and widows of Muslim soldiers who died in Sri Lanka. Thus providing the Umayyad Caliphate the legitimate cause, that enabled them to gain a foothold in the Makran, and Sindh regions.

Map of the maximum extents of Muhammad ibn Qasim's expansion of Umayyad rule into Pakistan and northwestern India, c. 711 CE

The Umayyad caliphate ordered Muhammad Bin Qasim to attack over Sindh. He led 6,000 Syrian cavalry and at the borders of Sindh he was joined by an advance guard and six thousand camel riders and with five catapults (Manjaniks). Muhammad Bin Qasim first captured Debal, from where the Arab army marched along the Indus. At Rohri he was met by Dahir’s forces. Dahir died in the battle, his forces were defeated and Muhammad bin Qasim took control of Sind. Mohammad Bin Qasim entered Daibul in 712 AD. As a result of his efforts, he succeeded in capturing Daibul. He continued his Victorious Progress in succession, Nirun, fortress (called Sikka), Brahmanabad, Alor, Multan and Gujrat. After the conquest of Multan, he carried his arms to the borders of Kigdom of Kashmir, but his dismissal stopped the further advance. Now Muslims were the masters of whole Sindh and a part of Punjab up to the borders of Kashmir in the north. After the conquest, he adopted a conciliatory policy, asking for acceptance of Muslim rule by the natives in return for non-interference in their religious and cultural practices. He also established peace with a strong taxation system. In return he provided the guaranty of security of life and property for the natives. Hajjaj died in 714. When Walid Bin Abdul Malik died, his younger brother Suleman succeeded as the Caliph. He was a bitter enemy of Hajjaj’s family. He recalled Mohammad Bin Qasim from Sindh, who obeyed the orders as the duty of a general. When he came back, he was put to death on 18th of July, 715AD at the age of twenty.

After the Abbasid Revolt in 750 AD and fall of Umayyad Caliphate, Sindh became independent and was captured by Musa b. K'ab al Tamimi in 752 AD. But soon Civil war erupted in Sindh in 842 AD, and the Habbari dynasty occupied Mansurah, and by 871, five independent principalities emerged, with the Banu Habbari clan controlling in Mansurah, Banu Munabbih occupying Multan, Banu Madan ruling in Makran, with Makshey and Turan falling to other rulers, all outside direct Caliphate control.

Breakup of Abbasid Caliph

Habbari dynasty (854–1011) :

The Habbari dynasty ruled the Abbasid province of Greater Sindh from 841 to 1024. The region became semi-independent under the Arab ruler Aziz al-Habbari in 841 CE, though nominally remaining part of the Caliphate. The Habbaris, who were based in the city of Mansura, ruled the regions of Sindh, Makran, Turan, Khuzdar and Multan. The Umayyad Caliph made Aziz governor of Sindh and he was succeeded by his sons Umar al-Habbari I and Abdullah al-Habbari in succession while his grandson Umar al-Habbari II was ruling when the famous Arab historian Al-Masudi visited Sindh. The Habbaris ruled Sindh until 1010 when the Soomra Khafif took over Sindh. In 1026 Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated Khafif, destroyed Mansura and annexed the region under the Ghaznavid rule.

Rulers:

• Umar ibn'Abd al-Aziz al'Habbari (855-884)
• Abdullah bin Umar (884-913)
• Umar bin-Abdullah (913-943)
• Muhammad bin Abdullah (943-973)
• Ali bin Umar (973-987)
• Isa bin ali
• Manbi ibn Ali bin Umar (987-1010)
• Khafif (Soomra dynasty) (1010-1025)

2. Medieval Period :

Soomra dynasty (1026–1356) :

The Habbari dynasty became semi independent and was eliminated and Mansura was invaded by Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi. Sindh then became an easternmost State of the Abbasid Caliphate ruled by the Soomro Dynasty until the Siege of Baghdad (1258). Mansura was the first capital of the Soomra dynasty and the last of the Habbari dynasty. The Soomro tribe revolted against Masud, ruler of the Ghaznavids because they were betrayed by their own wazir. They were superseded by the Samma dynasty. Sindhi language prospered during this period. The Soomra dynasty ended when the last Soomra king was defeated by Alauddin Khalji, the second king of the Khalji dynasty ruling from Delhi.

Early History :

The Umayyad Caliphs appointed Aziz al Habbari as the governor of Sindh. The Habbari dynasty was controlling Sindh under the orders of the Ummayad Caliphate. When troubles began between the Ummayads and the Abbasids Habbari rule became semi independent, though it still remained under the influence of the Ummayad Caliphate indirectly. Habbaris ruled Sindh until Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated the Habbaris in 1024 because Mahmud Ghaznavi, viewed the Abbasids to be the legitimate caliphs. Following the defeat of the Habbaris, the Abbasid Caliphate made Al Khafif from Samarra the new governor of Sindh for a stronger and stable government. Al Khafif allotted key positions to his family and friends thus Al-Khafif or Khafif Soomrobecame the first ruler of the dynasty in Sindh. Until the Siege of Baghdad the Soomro Dynasty was the Abbasid Caliphate's functionary in Sindh but after that it became independent. Since then some Soomros intermarried with several local women and adopted some local customs as well. Mansura was the first capital of the Soomro dynasty and the last of the Habbari dynasty.

Soomro period :

The Soomro Dynesty later shifted their capital to Tharri, nearly 14 km eastwards of Matli on the Puran. Puran was later abandoned due to changes in the course of Puran river. Afterwards, Thatta was made the capital of Sindh for about 95 years until the end of their rule in 1351 AD. During this period, Kutch was ruled by the Samma Dynasty, who enjoyed good relations with the Soomros in Sindh.

Salient features :

In 1011 AD, the first Soomro King, Al Khafif was given control of Sindh by the Abbasid Caliphate to build a stronger government when Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated the Habbaris. in The beginning Soomro's had Arabic names thus admitting of their Arab past. since then some intermarried with local women. The Soomro Dynasty lost ties with the Abbasid Caliphate after the Siege of Baghdad (1258) and the Soomro kings Soomar, Bhoongar and Dodo-1, established their rule from the shores of the Arabian Sea to Multan, Bahawalpur, Sadiqabad and Uch in the north and in the east to Rajistan and in the west to Balochistan.
The Renaissance started from 1092 AD when Princess Zainab Tari Soomro became the sovereign Queen of Sindh. As a first step, attention was paid to Sindhi language, which had remained dominated by Arabic during the last three centuries. Not only reforms were made in promoting Sindhi language for good governance, but fast progress was made in arts and crafts, architecture, agriculture and music, both instrumental and vocal. Sports like horse and camel races, wrestling known "Mulluh" and other marshal sports were patronized.
A lot about Soomros is mentioned in the Chachnama though not all of it is true even some of it is even baseless.

Renaissance in Sindh :

Language and literature :

As everywhere in the world, the literature had a poetic start, so in Sindh also, the minstrels and bards made great strides in Sindhi folk poetry. They composed their poetry around popular myths, folk tales, historical events and romances. A minstrel named Sumang Charan stands prominent among all other minstrels and bards of the early period.
In this period, "Doha (couplets)", "Gaha", "Geech (marriage songs)" "Gaya (songs of Soomro women)", forms of Sindhi poetry developed as a part of dramatic narration. Later on new dimensions were brought to Sindhi poetry, after the battle of Dodo Chanesar, the Soomro kings with the armies of Sultan Allaulddin of Delhi, in 1313 AD near the city of "Thaar Banghar" which gave rise to epic form of poetry in Sindh.
A minstrel named Bhagu Bhan, also a court poet of Soomro Kings, was renowned as composer and singer of epic poetry. He was an expert in playing local musical instruments, especially "Surando". This instrument could be called the violin of the East.
There were other master musicians and singers as Chand Fakir, Bahiro Mangto, Lado Bhag and many others from Charans, Mangtas and Manganhars tribes. From the women poets, Mai Markha Shaikh was a remarkable poet of that time. They all played their part towards poetical progress in Sindhi literature during the rule of Soomro Dynasty in Sindh.
The great historical dramatic romances that took place in the reign of the last few Soomro kings were Lilan Chanesar, Umar Marvi and Momal Rano. Earlier than this, the love tales of Sassui Punhun, Suhni Mehar and Sorath-Rai Dyach were narrated in melodious poetry by minstrels and bards in public musical evenings patronized by the Soomro Kings.
Centuries afterwards, the tales of these historic romances became the subject matter of Sufistic poetry by the famous Sufi poet of Sindh, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, who immortalized these tales. He transformed these tales into different Surs i.e. musical composition with classical norms. Since then great Sindhi, master musicians and singers keep singing these soulful melodies even in this 21st.

Fall of the Soomro dynasty :

The Siege of Baghdad (1258), saw the dynasty lose its ties with Abbasid Caliphate. Since then The Sultans of Delhi wanted a piece of Sindh. The Soomros successfully defended their kingdom for about 100 years but their dynasties soon fell to the might of the massive armies of the Sultans of Delhi, such as the Tughluks and the Khiljis because of a rebellion led by Chanesar who joined forces with the Khiljis and Dodo Bin Al Khafif died fighting in battle with the Khiljis.

Ghaznavid dynasty (977–1186) :

The Ghaznivid Empire was an empire that existed during the 10th-11th century; stretching at it's peak from Tehran to Northern India, and was Turkic-Persian in origin, largely following Sunni Islam. The date of it's foundation was 962-977, and that of it's disintegration 1180-1187; lasting some 224 years. The Ghaznivids were one of the most distinguished empires to have ever existed in Afghanistan. The empire was founded by the slaveAptigin (a Turkish Mamluk originally from Ghazni; who had fled from Balkh to Ghazni in 961 after a failed coup who revolted against the ruling Samanids of Iran, conquering their throne, thus establishing himself as ruler who would bring in great economic and political development. He was father in law to Sabuktagin (whom some historians also consider the founder of the Ghaznivids) who would later expand the empire extensively.

Altigpin crossed the Hindu Kush, after laying siege to the "insignificant" Fort of Ghazni in 962 transforming it into "one of the most dazzling capitals of the Islamic world" after his victory. The fort itself was militarily and politically advantageous for his cause; it lay near the lucrative Silk Road where it was nestled in between Kabul and Kandahar. The empire itself became significant for it's prestige and for being the first Islamic empire to spread itself across Asia, and well into Hindu-dominated Northern India. The centre of the Ghaznivid empire was known for being home to artisans, poets, musicians,philosophers, scholars/scientists and other intelligentsia; and were also responsible for building "opulent palaces, gold encrusted mosques" and for having spread "abundant" gardens into India. This empire also gave the world windmill's, which were one of the most important inventions the world has ever seen.

Ghaznavid expansion into Pakistan and North-West India

Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi (998 – 1030) :

Mahmood Gaznavi was born in 971AD, in khurasan. Mahmood Ghazni was the son of Abu Mansur Sabuktigin, who was a Turkish slave soldier of the samanid ruler. In 994 Mahmood joined his father in the conquest of Ghazni for Samanid ruler, it was the time of instability for Samanid Empire. In 998AD Mahmood took control of the Ghazni and also conquered Qandahar.

In 1001 Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated Jeebal the king of Kabulistan and marched further into Peshawar and in 1005 made it the center for his forces. From this strategic location Mahmud was able to capture Panjab in 1007, Tanseer fell in 1014, Kashmir was captured in 1015 and Qanoch fell in 1017. By 1027 Sultan Mahmud had captured Pakistan and parts of northern India.

On 1010 Mahmud captured what is today the Ghor Province (Ghor) and by 1011 annexed Balochistan. Sultan Mahmud had already had relationships with the leadership in Balkh through marriage and its local emir Abu Nasr Mohammad offered his services to Sultan Mahmud and offered his daughter to Muhammad son of Sultan Mahmud. After Nasr’s death Mahmud brought Balkh under his leadership. This alliance greatly helped Mahmud during his expeditions into Pakistan and northern India.

In 1030 Sultan Mahmud fell gravely ill and died at the age of 59. Sultan Mahmud was an accomplished military commander and speaker as well as a patron of poetry, astronomy, and math. Mahmud had no tolerance for other religions however and only praised Islam. Universities were formed to study various subjects such as math, religion, the humanities and medicine were taught, but only within the laws of the Sharia. Islam was the main religion of his kingdom and the Perso-Afghan dialect of Dari language was made the official language.

Ghaznavid rule in Pakistan lasted for over one hundred and seventy five years from 1010 to 1187. It was during this period that Lahore assumed considerable importance as the eastern-most bastion of Muslim power and as an outpost for further advance towards the riches of the east. Apart from being the second capital and later the only capital of the Ghaznavid kingdom, Lahore had great military and strategic significance. Whoever controlled this city could look forward to and be in a position to sweep the whole of East Punjab to Panipat and Delhi.

By the end of his reign, Mahmud’s empire extended from Kurdistan in the west to Samarkand in the northeast, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna. All of what is today Pakistan and Kashmir came under the Ghaznavid empire. The wealth brought back to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi , Ferdowsi) give detailed descriptions of the building activity and importance of Lahore, as well as of the conqueror’s support of literature.

Often reviled as a persecutor of Hindus (and in many cases Hindu temples were looted and destroyed) much of Mahmud’s army consisted of Hindus and some of the commanders of his army were also of Hindu origin. Sonday Rai was the Commander of Mahmud’s crack regiment and took part in several important campaigns with him. The coins struck during Mahmud’s reign bore his own image on one side and the figure of a Hindu deity on the other.

Mahmud, as a patron of learning, filled his court with scholars including Ferdowsi the poet, Abolfazl Beyhaghi the historian (whose work on the Ghanavid Empire is perhaps the most substantive primary source of the period) and Al-Biruni the versatile scholar who wrote the informative Ta’rikh al-Hind (“Chronicles of Hind”). It was said that he spent over four hundred thousand golden dinars rewarding scholars. He invited the scholars from all over the world and was thus known as an abductor of scholars. During his rule, Lahore also became a great center of learning and culture. Lahore was called ‘Small Ghazni’ as Ghazni received far more attention during Mahmud’s reign. Saad Salman, a poet of those times, also wrote about the academic and cultural life of Muslim Lahore and its growing importance.

 

[Crusher]

Pakistan has nothing to do with india or bangladesh, stop lumping pakistan together with these foreign countries.

 

[dexter]

Pakistan has nothing to do with india or bangladesh, stop lumping pakistan together with these foreign countries.

As i mentioned in title "Muslim" then it should be quite understandable for you what my motives are, otherwise you are free to go ahead and ignore this thread

 

[Crusher]

As i mentioned in title "Muslim" then it should be quite understandable for you what my motives are, otherwise you are free to go ahead and ignore this thread

How does "muslim" make any difference, Pakistan is a separate country than those two ********.

 

[Saiful Islam]

The advent of Islam in Pakistan doesn't coincide with the advent of Islam in Bengal..

 

[Ghost 125]

This thread is solely based on Muslim Rulers of South Asia. Kindly share the information and participate in this discussion.

Islamic history in South Asia can be divided into following timeperiods:

• Early Middle Ages
• Medieval Period
• Mughal Empire
• British Era
• Struggle for Pakistan (Tehreek-e-Pakistan)
• Emergence of Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Right after rise of Islam under Rashidun Caliphate, the conquest of Persian Empire which occupied West portion of today's Balochistan Province, Pakistan led to the spread of Islam in region of South Asia and opened the doors of conquest of this region. After it, large number of Baloch people accepted Islam.

However, there are accounts of a King in South India Chakrawati Farmas (Today's Malabar, India) who witnessed splitting of Moon and investigated this phenomenon until he found out that it was done by Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) who claims to be last apostle of ALLAH S.W.T in Makkah. He traveled thousands of miles to Arabia and met Prophet (S.A.W.) and accepted Islam. When he returned to his homeland, he built a mosque there which still exists today.

The most famous historical account which marks the spread of Islam in this region is none other than conquest of Sindh in 712 AD by Muhammad Bin Qasim serving under Umayyad Caliphate.

1. Early Middle Ages :

Muhammad Bin Qasim (695-715) :

Muhammad bin Qasim was born around 695 AD. He belonged to the Saqqafi tribe; that had originated from Taif in Arabia. He grew up in the care of his mother; he soon became a great asset to his uncle Muhammad Ibn Yusuf, the governor of Yemen. His judgment, potential and skills left many other officers and forced the ruler to appoint him in the state department. He was also a close relative of Hajjaj bin Yousuf, because of the influence of Hajjaj, the young Muhammad bin Qasim was appointed the governor of Persia while in his teens, and he crushed the rebellion in that region. There is also a popular tradition that presents him as the son-in-law of Hajjaj bin Yousuf. He conquered the Sindh and Punjab regions along the Indus River for the Umayyad Caliphate.

Raja Dahir

There are both long and short term causes for the conquest of india. Arabs had trade with India and Eastern Asia. The trade was carried through sea rout; the rout was unsafe due to the plunder of the Pirates of Sindh. The Arab rebels also get refuge in Sindh. Thus the Umayyad wanted to consolidate their rule and also to secure the trade rout. During Hajjaj’s governorship, the Mids of Debal (Pirates) plundered the gifts of Ceylon’s ruler to Hijjaj and attacked on ships of Arab that were carrying the orphans and widows of Muslim soldiers who died in Sri Lanka. Thus providing the Umayyad Caliphate the legitimate cause, that enabled them to gain a foothold in the Makran, and Sindh regions.

Map of the maximum extents of Muhammad ibn Qasim's expansion of Umayyad rule into Pakistan and northwestern India, c. 711 CE

The Umayyad caliphate ordered Muhammad Bin Qasim to attack over Sindh. He led 6,000 Syrian cavalry and at the borders of Sindh he was joined by an advance guard and six thousand camel riders and with five catapults (Manjaniks). Muhammad Bin Qasim first captured Debal, from where the Arab army marched along the Indus. At Rohri he was met by Dahir’s forces. Dahir died in the battle, his forces were defeated and Muhammad bin Qasim took control of Sind. Mohammad Bin Qasim entered Daibul in 712 AD. As a result of his efforts, he succeeded in capturing Daibul. He continued his Victorious Progress in succession, Nirun, fortress (called Sikka), Brahmanabad, Alor, Multan and Gujrat. After the conquest of Multan, he carried his arms to the borders of Kigdom of Kashmir, but his dismissal stopped the further advance. Now Muslims were the masters of whole Sindh and a part of Punjab up to the borders of Kashmir in the north. After the conquest, he adopted a conciliatory policy, asking for acceptance of Muslim rule by the natives in return for non-interference in their religious and cultural practices. He also established peace with a strong taxation system. In return he provided the guaranty of security of life and property for the natives. Hajjaj died in 714. When Walid Bin Abdul Malik died, his younger brother Suleman succeeded as the Caliph. He was a bitter enemy of Hajjaj’s family. He recalled Mohammad Bin Qasim from Sindh, who obeyed the orders as the duty of a general. When he came back, he was put to death on 18th of July, 715AD at the age of twenty.

After the Abbasid Revolt in 750 AD and fall of Umayyad Caliphate, Sindh became independent and was captured by Musa b. K'ab al Tamimi in 752 AD. But soon Civil war erupted in Sindh in 842 AD, and the Habbari dynasty occupied Mansurah, and by 871, five independent principalities emerged, with the Banu Habbari clan controlling in Mansurah, Banu Munabbih occupying Multan, Banu Madan ruling in Makran, with Makshey and Turan falling to other rulers, all outside direct Caliphate control.

Breakup of Abbasid Caliph

Habbari dynasty (854–1011) :

The Habbari dynasty ruled the Abbasid province of Greater Sindh from 841 to 1024. The region became semi-independent under the Arab ruler Aziz al-Habbari in 841 CE, though nominally remaining part of the Caliphate. The Habbaris, who were based in the city of Mansura, ruled the regions of Sindh, Makran, Turan, Khuzdar and Multan. The Umayyad Caliph made Aziz governor of Sindh and he was succeeded by his sons Umar al-Habbari I and Abdullah al-Habbari in succession while his grandson Umar al-Habbari II was ruling when the famous Arab historian Al-Masudi visited Sindh. The Habbaris ruled Sindh until 1010 when the Soomra Khafif took over Sindh. In 1026 Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated Khafif, destroyed Mansura and annexed the region under the Ghaznavid rule.

Rulers:

• Umar ibn'Abd al-Aziz al'Habbari (855-884)
• Abdullah bin Umar (884-913)
• Umar bin-Abdullah (913-943)
• Muhammad bin Abdullah (943-973)
• Ali bin Umar (973-987)
• Isa bin ali
• Manbi ibn Ali bin Umar (987-1010)
• Khafif (Soomra dynasty) (1010-1025)

2. Medieval Period :

Soomra dynasty (1026–1356) :

The Habbari dynasty became semi independent and was eliminated and Mansura was invaded by Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi. Sindh then became an easternmost State of the Abbasid Caliphate ruled by the Soomro Dynasty until the Siege of Baghdad (1258). Mansura was the first capital of the Soomra dynasty and the last of the Habbari dynasty. The Soomro tribe revolted against Masud, ruler of the Ghaznavids because they were betrayed by their own wazir. They were superseded by the Samma dynasty.[3] Sindhi language prospered during this period. The Soomra dynasty ended when the last Soomra king was defeated by Alauddin Khalji, the second king of the Khalji dynasty ruling from Delhi.

Early History
The Umayyad Caliphs appointed Aziz al Habbari as the governor of Sindh. The Habbari dynasty was controlling Sindh under the orders of the Ummayad Caliphate. When troubles began between the Ummayads and the Abbasids Habbari rule became semi independent, though it still remained under the influence of the Ummayad Caliphate indirectly. Habbaris ruled Sindh until Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated the Habbaris in 1024 because Mahmud Ghaznavi, viewed the Abbasids to be the legitimate caliphs. Following the defeat of the Habbaris, the Abbasid Caliphate made Al Khafif from Samarra the new governor of Sindh for a stronger and stable government. Al Khafif allotted key positions to his family and friends thus Al-Khafif or Khafif Soomrobecame the first ruler of the dynasty in Sindh. Until the Siege of Baghdad the Soomro Dynasty was the Abbasid Caliphate's functionary in Sindh but after that it became independent. Since then some Soomros intermarried with several local women and adopted some local customs as well. Mansura was the first capital of the Soomro dynasty and the last of the Habbari dynasty.

Soomro period :

The Soomro Dynesty later shifted their capital to Tharri, nearly 14 km eastwards of Matli on the Puran. Puran was later abandoned due to changes in the course of Puran river. Afterwards, Thatta was made the capital of Sindh for about 95 years until the end of their rule in 1351 AD. During this period, Kutch was ruled by the Samma Dynasty, who enjoyed good relations with the Soomros in Sindh.

Salient features :

Renaissance in Sindh
In 1011 AD, the first Soomro King, Al Khafif was given control of Sindh by the Abbasid Caliphate to build a stronger government when Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated the Habbaris. in The beginning Soomro's had Arabic names thus admitting of their Arab past. since then some intermarried with local women. The Soomro Dynasty lost ties with the Abbasid Caliphate after the Siege of Baghdad (1258) and the Soomro kings Soomar, Bhoongar and Dodo-1, established their rule from the shores of the Arabian Sea to Multan, Bahawalpur, Sadiqabad and Uch in the north and in the east to Rajistan and in the west to Balochistan.
The Renaissance started from 1092 AD when Princess Zainab Tari Soomro became the sovereign Queen of Sindh. As a first step, attention was paid to Sindhi language, which had remained dominated by Arabic during the last three centuries. Not only reforms were made in promoting Sindhi language for good governance, but fast progress was made in arts and crafts, architecture, agriculture and music, both instrumental and vocal. Sports like horse and camel races, wrestling known "Mulluh" and other marshal sports were patronized.
A lot about Soomros is mentioned in the Chachnama though not all of it is true even some of it is even baseless.

Language and literature
As everywhere in the world, the literature had a poetic start, so in Sindh also, the minstrels and bards made great strides in Sindhi folk poetry. They composed their poetry around popular myths, folk tales, historical events and romances. A minstrel named Sumang Charan stands prominent among all other minstrels and bards of the early period.
In this period, "Doha (couplets)", "Gaha", "Geech (marriage songs)" "Gaya (songs of Soomro women)", forms of Sindhi poetry developed as a part of dramatic narration. Later on new dimensions were brought to Sindhi poetry, after the battle of Dodo Chanesar, the Soomro kings with the armies of Sultan Allaulddin of Delhi, in 1313 AD near the city of "Thaar Banghar" which gave rise to epic form of poetry in Sindh.
A minstrel named Bhagu Bhan, also a court poet of Soomro Kings, was renowned as composer and singer of epic poetry. He was an expert in playing local musical instruments, especially "Surando". This instrument could be called the violin of the East.
There were other master musicians and singers as Chand Fakir, Bahiro Mangto, Lado Bhag and many others from Charans, Mangtas and Manganhars tribes. From the women poets, Mai Markha Shaikh was a remarkable poet of that time. They all played their part towards poetical progress in Sindhi literature during the rule of Soomro Dynasty in Sindh.
The great historical dramatic romances that took place in the reign of the last few Soomro kings were Lilan Chanesar, Umar Marvi and Momal Rano. Earlier than this, the love tales of Sassui Punhun, Suhni Mehar and Sorath-Rai Dyach were narrated in melodious poetry by minstrels and bards in public musical evenings patronized by the Soomro Kings.
Centuries afterwards, the tales of these historic romances became the subject matter of Sufistic poetry by the famous Sufi poet of Sindh, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, who immortalized these tales. He transformed these tales into different Surs i.e. musical composition with classical norms. Since then great Sindhi, master musicians and singers keep singing these soulful melodies even in this 21st.

Fall of the Soomro dynasty :

The Siege of Baghdad (1258), saw the dynasty lose its ties with Abbasid Caliphate. Since then The Sultans of Delhi wanted a piece of Sindh. The Soomros successfully defended their kingdom for about 100 years but their dynasties soon fell to the might of the massive armies of the Sultans of Delhi, such as the Tughluks and the Khiljis because of a rebellion led by Chanesar who joined forces with the Khiljis and Dodo Bin Al Khafif died fighting in battle with the Khiljis.

Ghaznavid dynasty (977–1186) :

The Ghaznivid Empire was an empire that existed during the 10th-11th century; stretching at it's peak from Tehran to Northern India, and was Turkic-Persian in origin, largely following Sunni Islam. The date of it's foundation was 962-977, and that of it's disintegration 1180-1187; lasting some 224 years. The Ghaznivids were one of the most distinguished empires to have ever existed in Afghanistan. The empire was founded by the slaveAptigin (a Turkish Mamluk originally from Ghazni; who had fled from Balkh to Ghazni in 961 after a failed coup who revolted against the ruling Samanids of Iran, conquering their throne, thus establishing himself as ruler who would bring in great economic and political development. He was father in law to Sabuktagin (whom some historians also consider the founder of the Ghaznivids) who would later expand the empire extensively.

Altigpin crossed the Hindu Kush, after laying siege to the "insignificant" Fort of Ghazni in 962 transforming it into "one of the most dazzling capitals of the Islamic world" after his victory. The fort itself was militarily and politically advantageous for his cause; it lay near the lucrative Silk Road where it was nestled in between Kabul and Kandahar. The empire itself became significant for it's prestige and for being the first Islamic empire to spread itself across Asia, and well into Hindu-dominated Northern India. The centre of the Ghaznivid empire was known for being home to artisans, poets, musicians,philosophers, scholars/scientists and other intelligentsia; and were also responsible for building "opulent palaces, gold encrusted mosques" and for having spread "abundant" gardens into India. This empire also gave the world windmill's, which were one of the most important inventions the world has ever seen.

Ghaznavid expansion into Pakistan and North-West India

Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi (998 – 1030) :

Mahmood Gaznavi was born in 971AD, in khurasan. Mahmood Ghazni was the son of Abu Mansur Sabuktigin, who was a Turkish slave soldier of the samanid ruler. In 994 Mahmood joined his father in the conquest of Ghazni for Samanid ruler, it was the time of instability for Samanid Empire. In 998AD Mahmood took control of the Ghazni and also conquered Qandahar.

In 1001 Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi defeated Jeebal the king of Kabulistan and marched further into Peshawar and in 1005 made it the center for his forces. From this strategic location Mahmud was able to capture Panjab in 1007, Tanseer fell in 1014, Kashmir was captured in 1015 and Qanoch fell in 1017. By 1027 Sultan Mahmud had captured Pakistan and parts of northern India.

On 1010 Mahmud captured what is today the Ghor Province (Ghor) and by 1011 annexed Balochistan. Sultan Mahmud had already had relationships with the leadership in Balkh through marriage and its local emir Abu Nasr Mohammad offered his services to Sultan Mahmud and offered his daughter to Muhammad son of Sultan Mahmud. After Nasr’s death Mahmud brought Balkh under his leadership. This alliance greatly helped Mahmud during his expeditions into Pakistan and northern India.

In 1030 Sultan Mahmud fell gravely ill and died at the age of 59. Sultan Mahmud was an accomplished military commander and speaker as well as a patron of poetry, astronomy, and math. Mahmud had no tolerance for other religions however and only praised Islam. Universities were formed to study various subjects such as math, religion, the humanities and medicine were taught, but only within the laws of the Sharia. Islam was the main religion of his kingdom and the Perso-Afghan dialect of Dari language was made the official language.

Ghaznavid rule in Pakistan lasted for over one hundred and seventy five years from 1010 to 1187. It was during this period that Lahore assumed considerable importance as the eastern-most bastion of Muslim power and as an outpost for further advance towards the riches of the east. Apart from being the second capital and later the only capital of the Ghaznavid kingdom, Lahore had great military and strategic significance. Whoever controlled this city could look forward to and be in a position to sweep the whole of East Punjab to Panipat and Delhi.

By the end of his reign, Mahmud’s empire extended from Kurdistan in the west to Samarkand in the northeast, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna. All of what is today Pakistan and Kashmir came under the Ghaznavid empire. The wealth brought back to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi , Ferdowsi) give detailed descriptions of the building activity and importance of Lahore, as well as of the conqueror’s support of literature.

Often reviled as a persecutor of Hindus (and in many cases Hindu temples were looted and destroyed) much of Mahmud’s army consisted of Hindus and some of the commanders of his army were also of Hindu origin. Sonday Rai was the Commander of Mahmud’s crack regiment and took part in several important campaigns with him. The coins struck during Mahmud’s reign bore his own image on one side and the figure of a Hindu deity on the other.

Mahmud, as a patron of learning, filled his court with scholars including Ferdowsi the poet, Abolfazl Beyhaghi the historian (whose work on the Ghanavid Empire is perhaps the most substantive primary source of the period) and Al-Biruni the versatile scholar who wrote the informative Ta’rikh al-Hind (“Chronicles of Hind”). It was said that he spent over four hundred thousand golden dinars rewarding scholars. He invited the scholars from all over the world and was thus known as an abductor of scholars. During his rule, Lahore also became a great center of learning and culture. Lahore was called ‘Small Ghazni’ as Ghazni received far more attention during Mahmud’s reign. Saad Salman, a poet of those times, also wrote about the academic and cultural life of Muslim Lahore and its growing importance.

thanks for always posting good historical content on the forum

 

[dexter]

The advent of Islam in Pakistan doesn't coincide with the advent of Islam in Bengal..

Well i accept that mistake and i edited that part out.
Well our history dont cioncide but bangladesh was part of Pakistan as former East Pakistan and it was here that the foundation of a separate muslim state was laid by All India Muslim League.
That is the main reason i mentioned it.

thanks for always posting good historical content on the forum

JazakALLAH brother, i appreciate your support.

 

[dexter]

Ghaurid Dynasty (879–1215) :

GHURIDS (or Āl-e Šansab), a medieval Islamic dynasty of the eastern Iranian lands. They began as local chiefs in Ḡūr (q.v.) in the heartland of what is now Afghanistan, but became a major power from the mid-12th century until the opening years of the 7th/13th century. Ḡūr was then the nucleus of a vast but transient military empire which at times stretched from Gorgān (q.v.) in the west to northern India in the east, only to be overwhelmed by the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs (q.v.; see also CHORASMIA ii) and to disappear, as far as the eastern Iranian lands were concerned, on the eve of the Mongol cataclysm.

The Ghurids came from the Šansabānī family. The name of the eponym Šansab/Šanasb probably derives from the Middle Persian name Wišnasp (Justi, Namenbuch, p. 282). After the Ghurids had achieved fame as military conquerors, obsequious courtiers and genealogists connected the family with the legendary Iranian past by tracing it back to Żaḥḥāk, whose descendants were supposed to have settled in Ḡūr after Ferēdūn had overthrown Żaḥḥāk’s thousand-year tyranny. The Šansab family was then brought into the framework of Islamic history by the story that its chiefs received Islam from the hands of Imam ʿAlī, subsequently aiding Abū Moslem Ḵorāsānī’s uprising against the Omayyads and having its power legitimized by being invested with Ḡūr by the caliph Hārūn al-Rašīd (Jūzjānī, Ṭabaqāt I, pp. 318-27, tr. Raverty, I, pp. 300-16, citing a versified genealogy of the Ghurids compiled for Sultan ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn Jahānsūz by Faḵr-al-Dīn Mobārakšāh b. Ḥosayn Marvrūdī, q.v.). It goes without saying that we have no concrete evidence for any of this. The chiefs of Ḡūr only achieve firm historical mention in the early 5th/11th century with the Ghaznavid raids into their land, when Ḡūr was still a pagan enclave. Nor do we know anything about the ethnic stock of the Ḡūrīs in general and the Šansabānīs in particular; we can only assume that they were eastern Iranian Tajiks.

Table 1. Geneological table of the Šansabāni family (the Ghurids).

There were at least three raids by the early Ghaznavids into Ḡūr, led by Sultan Maḥmūd and his son Masʿūd, in the first decades of the 5th/11th century; these introduced Islam and brought Ḡūr into a state of loose vassalage to the sultans (ʿOtbī, II, pp. 122-25; Bayhaqī, 113-21; Jūzjānī, I, p. 330, tr. I, p. 329; Nāẓim, pp. 70–72; Bosworth, 1961, pp. 122-23, 127–28). The Šansabānīs were only one amongst several chieftains at this time, and topographical gleanings from Bayhaqī (pp. 114-20), plus various details from Jūzjānī, show that they were petty rulers of the district of Mandēš on the upper Harīrūd near modern Āhangarān (see map in Ḥodūd al–ʿālam2, tr. Minorsky, Second Series of Addenda, p. xxix and the detailed discussion of the locations mentioned in Ḡūr at text, p. 110, comm. pp. 342-44). During the second half of the 5th/11th century, the Šansabānīs were squabbling amongst themselves but also trying to extend their power beyond Mandēš and to crush other chieftains; at one point, dissident Ḡūrī leaders appealed to the Ghaznavid Ebrāhīm b. Masʿūd (q.v.) to intervene against the oppressive Šansabānī ʿAbbās b. Šīṯ (Jūzjānī, I, p. 332, tr. I, pp. 331-32; Bosworth, Later Ghaznavids, p. 69), and Moḥammad b. ʿAbbās was set up as chief by the sultan. Moḥammad’s son, Ḥasan, was the first Šansabānī known to have an honorific title, namely Qotb-al-Dīn, but the history of the Ghurid dynasty, as it may now be fittingly styled, only becomes reasonably well known with the accession of ʿEzz-al–Dīn Ḥosayn b. Ḥasan (493-540/1100-46).

By now, Ghaznavid influence within the Ghurid lands was giving place to that of the Saljuqs, for Sanjar was able in 512/1118 to place his own nominee, Bahrāmšāh b. Masʿūd (q.v.), on the throne in Ḡazna. Already in 501/1107-8 Sanjar had raided Ḡūr from Khorasan (Jūzjānī, tr. Raverty, p. 336 n. 4), and ʿEzz-al-Dīn (493-540/1100-1145) now became his vassal, sending as part of the stipulated tribute mailed coats and the local breed of fierce dogs (Jūzjānī, I, p. 335, tr. I, pp. 336-37). Sayf-al-Dīn Sūrī b. ʿEzz-al-Dīn Ḥosayn succeed in 540/1146 in Ḡūr, but shared out his lands with his brothers on the basis of Ḡūrī tribal and patrimonial practice. He himself clashed with the Ghaznavids, and after an abortive attack on Ḡazna, was killed by Bahrāmšāh; this marked the beginning of a deep hatred between the two families. On his accession, his son ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Ḥosayn (544-56/1149-61) avenged the two of his brothers killed by Bahrāmšāh by declaring war on the Ghaznavids. In a great battle in Zamīndāvar and then another at Ḡazna itself, he defeated Bahrāmšāh and drove him into India. Ḡazna and Bost suffered frightful sackings by ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn, in which colleges and libraries were despoiled, and the buildings of previous sultans destroyed (Jūzjānī, pp. 343-45; Čahār maqāla, ed. Qazvīnī, p. 31), earning him the uneviable epithet of Jahānsūz (world incendiary). The Ghurids made no attempt to annex the Ghaznavid provinces of eastern Afghanistan, and soon afterwards Bahrāmšāh returned from the Punjab; but ʿAlaʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn does seem to have sought a higher status for himself. Not content with being a mere malek or amir, according to Ebn al-Aṯīr (Beirut, XI, p. 166), he now styled himself, after the Saljuqs and Ghaznavids, al-solṭān al–moʿaẓẓam and adopted the čatr(q.v.) or ceremonial parasol as one of the insignia of royalty (in fact, the designation al-solṭān al-aʿẓam already appears on the coins of his predecessor in Fīrūzkūh, Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Sām b. Ḥosayn, r. 544/1149; Sourdel, p. 114, nos. 1258–60). He also aspired to cast off his subordination to the Saljuqs, but was defeated by Sanjar in 547/1152, and spent his last years extending Ghurid power into northern Afghanistan and southwards to the Helmand valley (Jūzjānī, I, pp. 346-48, tr. pp. 347-62; Ebn al-Aṯīr, Beirut, XI, pp. 164-66).

ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn’s expansionist policies raised the Ghurids into a power of significance well beyond Ḡūr itself. Latterly, he was able to take advantage of a certain power-vacuum in the eastern Islamic world which had arisen through the decay of the Ghaznavids and the collapse of Saljuq power in Khorasan consequent on Sanjar’s defeat and capture by the Ḡozz (q.v.) in 548/1153. The expansion of the territories controlled by the family facilitated a division of the patrimony amongst its various branches, so that, henceforth, the senior branch ruled over the heartland, Ḡūr, from the capital Fīrūzkūh (q.v.) on or near the upper Harīrūd. Fīrūzkūh was originally founded by Qoṭb-al-Dīn Moḥammad as the seat of his appendage of Waršāda, continued as the capital of ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn, and then expanded by the building activity of Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Moḥammad b. Bahāʾ-al–Dīn Sām (Jūzjānī, I, pp. 335-36, 353, tr. I, pp. 339, 370), which included the famed minaret of Jām, which was constructed either at the fortress of Fīrūzkūh itself or nearby. After Ḡazna had been finally taken from the Turks who had occupied it after the last Ghaznavids (579/1183-84), another branch was established there under Moʿezz-al-Dīn or Šehāb-al–Dīn Moḥammad b. Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Sām, and this branch used Ḡazna as a launching-pad for expansion into northern India. Finally, Faḵr-al-Dīn Masʿūd b. ʿEzz-al-Dīn Ḥosayn was installed in newly conquered Bāmīān (q.v.), and his branch expanded into northern Afghanistan as far as the Oxus and beyond it into Čaḡānīān (q.v.) and Waḵš (Jūzjānī, I, p. 385, tr. pp. 423-24).

Under the two brothers Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn and Moʿezz-al-Dīn in Fīrūzkūh and Ḡazna respectively (558-99 /1163-1203 and 569-99/1173-1203), the Ghurid empire reached its greatest territorial extent and apogee of power. Although the earlier history of the Šansabānī family had been full of feuds and disputes, the brothers maintained a partnership, with mutual amity and a division of spheres of activity and influence. Ḡīāṯ-al–Dīn was broadly concerned with expansion westwards into Khorasan and with checking the ambitions there of the Ḵwārazmšāhs, whilst Moʿezz-al-Dīn led raids into India.

Map showing the Ghaurid Empire between 1149-1212 AD

In the west, Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn, often in concert with his brother, extended his suzerainty over the maleks of Nīmrūz or Sīstān and even over the Kermān branch of the Saljuqs. Turkish amirs in Herāt and Balḵ were humbled, but the main thrust of Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn’s efforts was in western Khorasan, where the Ghurid came to clash with the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs under Il-Arslan and Tekeš. The Ḵᵛārazmšāhs aimed at capturing Khorasan, backed at times by their suzerains the pagan Qara Khitay. The Ghurids adopted the role of defenders of Sunnism. They had cordial relations with the ʿAbbasids in Baghdad, frequently exchanging embassies (Jūzjānī’s father took part in one of the last, Jūzjānī, I, p. 361, tr. p. 383). Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn was admitted to al-Nāṣer’s fotūwa order, and the caliph more than once urged the Ghurids to halt the advance into western Persia of the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs (Jūzjānī, I, 302, tr. I, p. 243). The actual fighting in Khorasan at this time was largely between the Ghurids and Tekeš’s brother Solṭānšāh, who had carved out for himself personally a principality in western Khorasan, until in 586/1190 Ḡīāṯ-al–Dīn and Moʿezz-al-Dīn defeated Solṭānšāh near Marv in 588/1192, captured him, and took over his territories (Jūzjānī, I, 303-4, tr. I, pp. 246-47). When Tekeš died in 596/1200 (Ebn al-Aṯīr, Beirut, XII, pp. 156-58), Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn was able to take over most of the towns of Khorasan as far west as Besṭām in Qūmes. At the same time, the Bāmīān branch of the dynasty under Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Sām b. Šams-al-Dīn Moḥammad (588-602/1192-1206) secured Balḵ and Ṭoḵārestān after the death of its Turkish governor, a vassal of the Qara Khitay (Jūzjānī, I, p. 389, tr. p. 431).

Moʿezz-al-Dīn, installed at Ḡazna since 569/1173-74 with the title also of sultan, began raiding through the Gomal Pass into India, capturing Moltān and Uččh (570/1175) and compelling the Sumerās in Lower Sind to acknowledge his suzerainty (578/1182). He was repulsed from Gujarat, hence turned to northern India, finally extinguishing the Ghaznavids in Lahore (582/1186) and then advancing down the Ganges valley to defeat various Hindu princes and to occupy Delhi, Ajmer, and Gwalior. Moʿezz-al–Dīn himself returned to Khorasan to aid his brother against the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs, but his conquests in India were carried on by his Turkish commander Qoṭb-al-Dīn Aybak (q.v.) and, expanding as far east as Bengal, by Eḵtīār-al-Dīn Moḥammad Ḵaljī. It was Aybak who at Delhi built the Qowwat-al-Eslām mosque (588/1192) and at Ajmer converted into the Arhāʾī-Dīn-kā-jhompŕā mosque (comp. 596/1200) a former Hindu college as visible signs of Ghurid might in India (Burton-Page, “Dilhi,” p. 259 with the plan of Qowwat-al-Eslām mosque; idem, “Hind,” p. 442).

For three years until his own death in 602/1206, Moʿezz-al-Dīn was supreme ruler, but in fact followed earlier practice by allotting appanages to members of the family, including Fīrūzkūh to Żīāʾ-al-Dīn or ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Moḥammad b. Šojāʿ-al-Dīn ʿAlī, and southern and western Afghanistan to Ḡīāṯ-al–Dīn Maḥmūd b. Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Moḥammad; the latter, however, very soon took control of Fīrūzkūh once Moʿezz-al–Dīn had died. Moʿezz-al-Dīn’s last years had been characterized by failure in the west. Ghurid rule in Khorasan proved oppressive and unpopular; according to Jovaynī (II, pp. 51-52, tr. Boyle, II, p. 319), Moʿezz-al–Dīn required forced sales and confiscated for his army grain which had been stored in the shrine of the Imām ʿAlī al-Reżā at Mašhad-e Ṭūs. An attempted pursuit of the army of the new Ḵᵛārazmšāh ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Moḥammad ended disastrously for the Ghurids, who were halted by flooding of the Chorazmian countryside and then routed at Andḵūy (q.v.) on the Oxus by the Qara Khitay (601/1204; Jovaynī, ed. Qazvīnī, II, pp. 57, 89, tr. Boyle, I, pp. 321-24; Barthold, Turkestan2, pp. 349-51). Moʿezz-al–Dīn escaped personally, but all Khorasan except Herāt was lost, and a year or so later the sultan was assassinated in India.

After this, the Ghurid empire rapidly fell apart. Ḡīāṯò-al-Dīn and Moʿezz-al–Dīn had skillfully maintained the unity of the realm and had kept firm control over the various elements of which the multi-ethnic Ghurid army was composed. Dissension now broke out within the Šansabānī family, with military factions taking sides. Thus the Ḡūrī troops supported for succession to the sultanate the Bāmīān line of the family, whereas the Turks favored Ḡīāṯ-al–Dīn Maḥmūd, who in the end prevailed at Fīrūzkūh. In Ḡazna, power was seized by the Turkish commander Tāj-al-Dīn Yïldïz (Īldūz), legitimized by Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn’s grant to him of its governorship (602-11/1206-15). The last Ghurids were puppets of the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs, until in 612/1215 ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Moḥammad deposed the last sultan in Fīrūzkūh; the Bāmīān line was likewise suppressed; and Yïldïz was driven out of Ḡazna. Thus all the Ghurid lands, except those in northern India, fell under Choarazmian control, although it was not long before Sultan Moḥammad himself was overwhelmed by the Mongols (Jovaynī, ed. Qazvīnī, II, 108-16, tr. Boyle, II, pp. 327-86; Jovaynī, II, p. 85, is wrong in making the conquest of Ḡazna after the death of Yïldïz).

Ghaurid Empire at its greatest extent.

The constituting of the Ghurid empire was a remarkable achievement for a family of petty chiefs from a backward region like Ḡūr, which henceforth was to play no significant role in Islamic history. The sultans’ military strength was based on both the indigenous Ḡūrī mountaineers and Ḵaljīs from eastern Afghanistan plus the recruitment of Turkish military slaves, but these resources were not in the end adequate to withstand the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs, who had the manpower resources of the Inner Asian steppes behind them. It was, of course, in India that the Ghurid legacy was to be the most lasting, for it was the Turkish and Ḵaljī commanders of Moʿezz-al-Dīn who laid the foundations of the Delhi Sultanate (q.v.), in many ways a successor-state to the Ghurids, and who permanently implanted Islam in northern India.

Although the Ghurid empire was not a durable one, it seems possible to speak of a distinct Ghurid ethos and culture. Continuing the attitudes of the Ghaznavids, the Ghurids were strong upholders of the orthodox Sunni form of Islam, once the Šansabānī family had emerged from its pagan past. Ismaili propagandists from northern Persia penetrated into Ḡūr during the later years of ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Ḥosayn, and received some encouragement from the sultan; but his son Sayf-al-Dīn Moḥammad took strong measures to extirpate it (Jūzjānī, I, pp. 349-51, tr. I, pp. 361, 365-66). Of more lasting significance for the religious complexion of Ḡūr was the wide sympathy there for the pietistic, ascetic Sunni sect of the Karrāmīya (q.v.), which had arisen in Nīšāpūr during the 4th/10th century and had been patronized by the early Ghaznavid sultans. It may be, though the sources are not explicit, that this group,which placed a strong emphasis on missionary work (see daʿwa), was active in the 5th/11th century in spreading Islam in Ḡūr. Certainly, in the following century, the majority of the inhabitants of Ḡūr are said to have been adherents of the Karrāmīya, and it was only Ḡīāṯò-al-Dīn Moḥammad and Moʿezz-al-Dīn Moḥammad who changed over to the mainstream Shafiʿite and Hanafite law schools respectively (Bosworth, 1961, pp. 128-33). As noted above, these two sultans were certainly aware of orthodox, caliphal approval for their authority and the advantages of close diplomatic contacts with the ʿAbbasids.

Literary and artistic activities under the Ghurids likewise followed on from those of the Ghaznavids. The sultans were generous patrons of the Persian literary traditions of Khorasan, and latterly fulfilled a valuable role as transmitters of this heritage to the newly conquered lands of northern India, laying the foundations for the essentially Persian culture which was to prevail in Muslim India until the 19th century. ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Ḥosayn Jahānsūz reportedly was also a fine poet; his poetry, of which only a few lines have been preserved, was widely appreciated in Afghanistan and northern India. Moḥammad ʿAwfī had seen a copy of his dīvān in Samarqand (Lobāb, ed. Browne, I, pp. 38-39, ed. Nafīsī, pp. 39-40; Jūzjānī, pp. 343-45; Ṣafā, Adabīyāt II, pp. 53-55). The contemporary Neẓāmī ʿArūżī mentions as eulogists of the Ghurids such poets as Abu’l-Qāsem Rāfeʿī, Abū Bakr Jawharī, ʿAlī Ṣūfī, and himself (Čahār maqāla, p. 28, tr. p. 30). But while we have surviving several fairly complete dīvāns of the Ghaznavid poets, none of those from the Ghurid period have survived. It is clear, however, that all this literature was in Persian, and claims which were made in Afghanistan some decades ago (e.g., Ḥabībī in his ed. of Moḥammad Hōtak) of the existence of poetry in Pashto from the Ghurid period remain unsubstantiated. Of Ghurid prose literature, including history and genealogy, mention should be made of Faḵr-al-Dīn Mobārakšāh Moḥammad b. Manṣūr, known as Faḵr-e Modabber, the author of a genealogical work, Baḥr al-ansāb, and a treatise on kingship and statecraft, the Ādāb al–ḥarb wa’l-šajāʿa(q.v.). The great historian of the Ghurids, without whose information our knowledge of the dynasty would be much sparser, was Menhāj-al–Dīn-e Serāj-al-Dīn Jūzjānī (q.v.; d. the second half of the 7th/13th century), who was a diplomatic envoy for the sultans and who composed his Ṭabaqāt-e nāṣerī, in form a general history but in a large measure a special history of the dynasty.

So far as can be discerned from the exiguous surviving examples of Ghurid art and architecture, there was a continuity here with the Ghaznavid age, since some of it cannot easily be separated stylistically from that of the preceding period. The city of Ḡazna rose again from the ashes of its destruction by ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Ḥosayn, and a unique type of glazed tile work has been ascribed by Umberto Scerrato to the Ghurids of the later 6th/12th century. The splendid minaret of Jām (q.v.) is the prime extant example of Ghurid architecture, but there are other remains in Herāt and ruins of a mosque and madrasa at Češt (q.v.) on the upper Harīrūd dating from the reign of Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Moḥammad (cf. Sourdel-Thomine). In the sphere of secular architecture, the extensive palace buildings at Laškarī Bāzār (q.v.) on the Helmand river near Bost seem to show a continuity from early Ghaznavid to Ghurid and Mongol times. Nevertheless, it does seem possible, according to Janine Sourdel–Thomine, to speak of the evolution of a distinctive Ghurid architectural style.

Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori (1149-1206) :

Sultan Shahab -ud -din Muhammad also known as, Muizzuddin Muhammad Bin Sam, was born in 1162. He was the younger brother of Ghiasuddin and son of Sultan Bahaudin Suri of Ghure. After Mahmud of Ghazni the next invader in India was Muhammad Ghori. He belonged to the Ghorid dynasty which replaced the Ghaznavids in Afghanistan. After the death of Mahmood Ghaznovi, he was the first Turkish who invaded India; after a long period of 150 years. He laid the foundation for Muslim rule in India and his slave Qutb -ud -din Aibak became the founder of the first Turkish rule in India.

He remained loyal to his elder brother Ghiyas-ud-din and helped him in his invasions until his death in 1202 AD. At that time at the west of Afghanistan there was strong empires so Muhammad Ghuri turned his attention toward East. Shahab-ud-din Ghori`s first invasions were on the Muslim states of Multan and the fortress of Ouch. In 1181, he attacked on Lahore and successfully ended the Ghaznavids Empire, bringing the remaining territory under his control. He fought the first battle of Tarain in 1191 against Raja Prithviraj Chauhan; the most powerful raja of India. In the second battle of Tarain, in 1192 Ghuri defeated raja Prithviraj and the victory paved the way for Ghori to push Muslim rule further in India. The other Rajas were not much strong to defend their rule against Ghuri’s strong military and power. With in a period of one year Ghuri get control of northern parts of India and marched to Delhi. The Kingdom of Ajmer was t given over to Golā, on condition that he would send regular tributes to the Ghurids.

After the death of Ghiys-ud-din he established the rule of the Ghuri dynasty in Afghanistan. Due to heavy taxes they became quite unpopular among their local people. This forced Muhammad Ghori to search out new sources of income and diverts the attention of Ghori towards the invasion of India, which was the richest neighboring country.

In 1206, Ghauri had to travel to Lahore to crush a revolt. On his way back to Ghazni, his caravan rested at Damik in Jhelum district of Punjab province in modern-day Pakistan. He was assassinated while offering his evening prayers by a small band of Hindu Khokars.The murderer killed him so brutally that there were 22 wounds on his body. As per his wishes, Ghauri was buried where he fell.

Battles of Tarain :

The Battles of Tarain, also known as the Battles of Taraori, were fought in 1191 and 1192 near the town of Tarain (Taraori), near Thanesar in present-day Haryana, approximately 150 kilometres north of Delhi, India, between a Ghurid force led by Mu'izz al-Din and a Chauhan Rajput army led by Prithviraj Chauhan.

Defeat in the First Battle (1191) :

In 1191, Mu'izz al-Din captured the fortress of Bhatinda in East Punjab, which was on the frontier of Prithiviraj Chauhan's domains. Prithviraj marched on to Bhatinda and met his enemy at a place called Tarain (also called Taraori) near the ancient town of Thanesar. The Ghurid army initiates battle by attacking with cavalry who launch arrows at the Rajput center. The forces of Prithviraj counter-attack from three sides and dominate the battle, pressuring the Ghurid army into a withdrawal. Meanwhile, Mu'izz al-Din is wounded in personal combat with Prithviraj's brother, Govind Tai. The victory of Prithviraj was decisive, he inflicted the crushing defeat on Mu'izz ad-Din by completely routing his forces and succeeded in stopping the Ghurid advance towards Hindustan in the first battle of Tarain. He did not pursue Ghori's army either not wanting to invade hostile territory or misjudging Ghori's ambition, instead electing to retake the fortress of Bhatinda.

Prithviraj Chauhan

Victory in the Second Battle (1192) :

On his return to Ghazni, Mu'izz al-Din made preparations to avenge his defeat. When he reached Lahore, he sent his envoy to Prithviraj to demand his submission, but the Chauhan ruler refused to comply.

Size of the forces and generals :

According to Firishta, the Rajput army consisted of 3,000 elephants, 300,000 cavalry and infantry, considered exaggeration by some Indian historians. Minhaj-i-Siraj, stated Mu'izz al-Din brought 120,000 fully armored men to battle.

Battle :

The battle occurred in the same field as the first one. Knowing the Rajputs were well-disciplined, the Ghurids did not want to engage in melee combat with them. Instead the Ghurids army was formed into five units, and four units were sent to attack the Rajput flanks and rear. The flanking attacks failed and the fighting continued. In hopes of causing a break in the Rajput lines, Mu'izz al-Din ordered his fifth unit to feign retreat. The Rajput's charged the fleeing Ghurid unit, as the Ghurids expected. The Ghurids then sent a fresh cavalry unit of 12,000 and they managed to throw back the Rajput advance. The remaining Ghurid forces then attack and the Rajputs flee in panic. Prithviraj Chauhan abandons his elephant for a horse and tries to escape. But he is caught a few miles from the battlefield and promptly executed.

The aftermath :

Mu'izz al-Din barely won against Prithviraj, he followed up this victory by defeating Jayachandra in the Battle of Chandawar, eradicating Buddhism in that area. Later in 1202, his army completes the occupation of Hindustan by taking the province of Bengal.

The Second battle of Tarain where Ghurid armies crushed Rajput army.

Most decisive battle :

About hundred thousand Rajput soldiers are said to have died in the battle. Prithwiraj was imprisoned and was taken to Ghazni. The second battle of Tarain is believed to be most decisive battle in the Indian History as it opened the path for conquerors of India. Muhammad and his successors were able to conquest over the Rajputs and established an Islamic Empire in India, the Sultanate of Delhi.

Further campaigns :

When the state of Ajmer failed to fulfill the tribute demands as per the custom after a defeat, Qutbu l-Din Aibak, in 1193 took over Ajmer and soon established Ghurid control in northern and central India. Hindu kingdoms like Saraswati, Samana, Kohram and Hansi were captured without any difficulty. Finally his forces advanced on Delhi, capturing it soon after the Battle of Chandwar, defeating Raja Jaichand of Kannauj.Within a year, Mu'izz controlled northern Rajasthan and the northern part of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab.The Kingdom of Ajmer was then given over to Golā, on condition that he send regular tributes to the Ghurids.

Mu'izz returned west to Ghazni to deal with the threat to his western frontiers from the unrest in Iran, but he appointed Aibak as his regional governor for northern India. His armies, mostly under Turkic generals, continued to advance through northern India, raiding as far east as Bengal. followed by his conquest of Delhi. An army led by Qutbu l-Din Aibak, Mu'izz's deputy in India, invaded in ca. 1195–97 and plundered Anahilapataka.

Death :

In 1173 AD Shahab-ud-Din Ghuri finally brought an end of Ghaznavid Empire and established their dynastic rule. In 1206, Ghauri had to travel to Lahore to crush a revolt. On his way back to Ghazni, his caravan rested at Damik in Jhelum district of Punjab province in modern-day Pakistan. He was assassinated while offering his evening prayers by a small band of Hindu Khokars.The murderer killed him so brutally that there were 22 wounds on his body.

Muhammed Ghori's grave within his tomb near Jhelum, Pakistan

As per his wishes, Ghauri was buried where he fell. His mouseleum was recently constructed by the Government of Pakistan. While driving from Rawalpindi to Jhelum on GT Road, just before Mandra, a road on the right leads towardsChakwal. On the left a narrow road connects several villages with GT Road. At the turning a small board guides to the tomb of Shahab-ud-Deen Ghauri.

Legacy :

He had no son to succeed him as a ruler but had Turkish slaves. After his assassination, his Empire was divided amongst his slaves.
Muhammad's death left his generals in control of the whole of North India. He was succeeded by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, who had started of by sacking Ayodhya in 1193 C.E. then served as Muhammad's governor in India. He was Sultan until 1210, claiming the title "Sultan of Delhi. His established the Ghulam Dynasty, which ruled until 1290. He also started to build the Qutb complex at Delhi. As a former slave, Qutb-ud-din Aybak lineage is described as a Mamluk, or slave dynasty. Under these rulers, "India became for the first time the seat of resident" Muslim "sovereigns. Another slave, Nasir-ud-din Qabacha became the ruler of Sindh and Multan. In fact, Qutb-ud-din Aibak laid down the foundation of slave dynasty in India. Nasir-ud-din Qabacha was finally defeated by Shams-ud-din Iltutmish and Sindh and Multan became part of the Delhi kingdom.

Attributes of Ghori described by historians :

1.Ghori as a practical statesman :
Historians regards Ghori as a practical statesman who took the fullest advantage of the rotten political structure of India. Ghori gave proof of his statesmanship while dealing with different Rajput rulers. After his victory over Prithviraj, instead of annexing Delhi and Ajmer to his territories, he handed over the administration of Delhi and Ajmer to the relatives of Prithviraj. Ghori did not change the status of those Hindu chiefs who accepted his suzerainty and did not interfere in their administration. Of course, he established forts in these territories.

2.Political realism of Ghori :
Prof. K.A. Nizami puts stress on two qualities of Ghori i.e. his digged tenacity of purpose and his grim political realism. He wrote, “This Hero of three stupendous defeats at Andh-khud, Tarain and Anhilwara had to his credit the establishment of one of the greatest empires of the middle ages and in this he definitely rises above Mahmud of Ghazni.” According to Stanley Lane-poole, Ghori’s conquests in India were wider and far more permanent than Mahmud’s. He wrote, “of the two tides of Mohammedan invasion that surged into India, Mahmud’s had left little trace. It had been but a series of triumphant raids.”

3.Great ability to select officers :
Ghori had the art of selecting the best men for his services. He trained generals and administrators like Qutab-ud- din Aibak, who proved quite competent to maintain his empire.

4.Appointment of governors :
Ghori appointed governors of the provinces he conquered. These governors consolidated the position of Turks and they suppressed rebellions. After the death of Ghori, Qutub-ud-din Aibak, his most able military commander founded the Slave Dynasty that ruled India for about one hundred years.

5.Ghori as a conqueror of territory :
In the words of Dr. R.C. Majumdar, “Sultan Mahmud was undoubtedly one of the greatest military leaders, the world has ever seen. It is true that he never faced any defeat. It is, however, equally true that he never tried to consolidate his position. He came like “a wind and went back like a whirl wind.” Unlike Mahmud, Ghori was not a great general and had to suffer humiliating defeats several times. He was defeated by Mularaja II, the ruler of Gujarat; by Prithviraj Chauhan in the first battle of Tarain and by Khwarizam Shah, the ruler of Persia. In fact, he was killed in his own camp by his Khokar enemies. But the greatness of Ghori was that none of these defeats could weaken his spirits or check his ambitions. He took his every failure as a valuable experience. He improved upon his weaknesses, removed them and ultimately got success. The conquests of Ghori brought about more permanent results than the conquests of Mahmud. Mahmud was contented to plunder the wealth of India and did not think of establishing his empire. Mahmud kept himself busy in invading and looting but Ghori attempted to build -up an empire which lasted for centuries.

 

[Ghost 125]

Ghaurid Dynasty (879–1215) :

GHURIDS (or Āl-e Šansab), a medieval Islamic dynasty of the eastern Iranian lands. They began as local chiefs in Ḡūr (q.v.) in the heartland of what is now Afghanistan, but became a major power from the mid-12th century until the opening years of the 7th/13th century. Ḡūr was then the nucleus of a vast but transient military empire which at times stretched from Gorgān (q.v.) in the west to northern India in the east, only to be overwhelmed by the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs (q.v.; see also CHORASMIA ii) and to disappear, as far as the eastern Iranian lands were concerned, on the eve of the Mongol cataclysm.

The Ghurids came from the Šansabānī family. The name of the eponym Šansab/Šanasb probably derives from the Middle Persian name Wišnasp (Justi, Namenbuch, p. 282). After the Ghurids had achieved fame as military conquerors, obsequious courtiers and genealogists connected the family with the legendary Iranian past by tracing it back to Żaḥḥāk, whose descendants were supposed to have settled in Ḡūr after Ferēdūn had overthrown Żaḥḥāk’s thousand-year tyranny. The Šansab family was then brought into the framework of Islamic history by the story that its chiefs received Islam from the hands of Imam ʿAlī, subsequently aiding Abū Moslem Ḵorāsānī’s uprising against the Omayyads and having its power legitimized by being invested with Ḡūr by the caliph Hārūn al-Rašīd (Jūzjānī, Ṭabaqāt I, pp. 318-27, tr. Raverty, I, pp. 300-16, citing a versified genealogy of the Ghurids compiled for Sultan ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn Jahānsūz by Faḵr-al-Dīn Mobārakšāh b. Ḥosayn Marvrūdī, q.v.). It goes without saying that we have no concrete evidence for any of this. The chiefs of Ḡūr only achieve firm historical mention in the early 5th/11th century with the Ghaznavid raids into their land, when Ḡūr was still a pagan enclave. Nor do we know anything about the ethnic stock of the Ḡūrīs in general and the Šansabānīs in particular; we can only assume that they were eastern Iranian Tajiks.

Table 1. Geneological table of the Šansabāni family (the Ghurids).

There were at least three raids by the early Ghaznavids into Ḡūr, led by Sultan Maḥmūd and his son Masʿūd, in the first decades of the 5th/11th century; these introduced Islam and brought Ḡūr into a state of loose vassalage to the sultans (ʿOtbī, II, pp. 122-25; Bayhaqī, 113-21; Jūzjānī, I, p. 330, tr. I, p. 329; Nāẓim, pp. 70–72; Bosworth, 1961, pp. 122-23, 127–28). The Šansabānīs were only one amongst several chieftains at this time, and topographical gleanings from Bayhaqī (pp. 114-20), plus various details from Jūzjānī, show that they were petty rulers of the district of Mandēš on the upper Harīrūd near modern Āhangarān (see map in Ḥodūd al–ʿālam2, tr. Minorsky, Second Series of Addenda, p. xxix and the detailed discussion of the locations mentioned in Ḡūr at text, p. 110, comm. pp. 342-44). During the second half of the 5th/11th century, the Šansabānīs were squabbling amongst themselves but also trying to extend their power beyond Mandēš and to crush other chieftains; at one point, dissident Ḡūrī leaders appealed to the Ghaznavid Ebrāhīm b. Masʿūd (q.v.) to intervene against the oppressive Šansabānī ʿAbbās b. Šīṯ (Jūzjānī, I, p. 332, tr. I, pp. 331-32; Bosworth, Later Ghaznavids, p. 69), and Moḥammad b. ʿAbbās was set up as chief by the sultan. Moḥammad’s son, Ḥasan, was the first Šansabānī known to have an honorific title, namely Qotb-al-Dīn, but the history of the Ghurid dynasty, as it may now be fittingly styled, only becomes reasonably well known with the accession of ʿEzz-al–Dīn Ḥosayn b. Ḥasan (493-540/1100-46).

By now, Ghaznavid influence within the Ghurid lands was giving place to that of the Saljuqs, for Sanjar was able in 512/1118 to place his own nominee, Bahrāmšāh b. Masʿūd (q.v.), on the throne in Ḡazna. Already in 501/1107-8 Sanjar had raided Ḡūr from Khorasan (Jūzjānī, tr. Raverty, p. 336 n. 4), and ʿEzz-al-Dīn (493-540/1100-1145) now became his vassal, sending as part of the stipulated tribute mailed coats and the local breed of fierce dogs (Jūzjānī, I, p. 335, tr. I, pp. 336-37). Sayf-al-Dīn Sūrī b. ʿEzz-al-Dīn Ḥosayn succeed in 540/1146 in Ḡūr, but shared out his lands with his brothers on the basis of Ḡūrī tribal and patrimonial practice. He himself clashed with the Ghaznavids, and after an abortive attack on Ḡazna, was killed by Bahrāmšāh; this marked the beginning of a deep hatred between the two families. On his accession, his son ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Ḥosayn (544-56/1149-61) avenged the two of his brothers killed by Bahrāmšāh by declaring war on the Ghaznavids. In a great battle in Zamīndāvar and then another at Ḡazna itself, he defeated Bahrāmšāh and drove him into India. Ḡazna and Bost suffered frightful sackings by ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn, in which colleges and libraries were despoiled, and the buildings of previous sultans destroyed (Jūzjānī, pp. 343-45; Čahār maqāla, ed. Qazvīnī, p. 31), earning him the uneviable epithet of Jahānsūz (world incendiary). The Ghurids made no attempt to annex the Ghaznavid provinces of eastern Afghanistan, and soon afterwards Bahrāmšāh returned from the Punjab; but ʿAlaʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn does seem to have sought a higher status for himself. Not content with being a mere malek or amir, according to Ebn al-Aṯīr (Beirut, XI, p. 166), he now styled himself, after the Saljuqs and Ghaznavids, al-solṭān al–moʿaẓẓam and adopted the čatr(q.v.) or ceremonial parasol as one of the insignia of royalty (in fact, the designation al-solṭān al-aʿẓam already appears on the coins of his predecessor in Fīrūzkūh, Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Sām b. Ḥosayn, r. 544/1149; Sourdel, p. 114, nos. 1258–60). He also aspired to cast off his subordination to the Saljuqs, but was defeated by Sanjar in 547/1152, and spent his last years extending Ghurid power into northern Afghanistan and southwards to the Helmand valley (Jūzjānī, I, pp. 346-48, tr. pp. 347-62; Ebn al-Aṯīr, Beirut, XI, pp. 164-66).

ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn’s expansionist policies raised the Ghurids into a power of significance well beyond Ḡūr itself. Latterly, he was able to take advantage of a certain power-vacuum in the eastern Islamic world which had arisen through the decay of the Ghaznavids and the collapse of Saljuq power in Khorasan consequent on Sanjar’s defeat and capture by the Ḡozz (q.v.) in 548/1153. The expansion of the territories controlled by the family facilitated a division of the patrimony amongst its various branches, so that, henceforth, the senior branch ruled over the heartland, Ḡūr, from the capital Fīrūzkūh (q.v.) on or near the upper Harīrūd. Fīrūzkūh was originally founded by Qoṭb-al-Dīn Moḥammad as the seat of his appendage of Waršāda, continued as the capital of ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn, and then expanded by the building activity of Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Moḥammad b. Bahāʾ-al–Dīn Sām (Jūzjānī, I, pp. 335-36, 353, tr. I, pp. 339, 370), which included the famed minaret of Jām, which was constructed either at the fortress of Fīrūzkūh itself or nearby. After Ḡazna had been finally taken from the Turks who had occupied it after the last Ghaznavids (579/1183-84), another branch was established there under Moʿezz-al-Dīn or Šehāb-al–Dīn Moḥammad b. Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Sām, and this branch used Ḡazna as a launching-pad for expansion into northern India. Finally, Faḵr-al-Dīn Masʿūd b. ʿEzz-al-Dīn Ḥosayn was installed in newly conquered Bāmīān (q.v.), and his branch expanded into northern Afghanistan as far as the Oxus and beyond it into Čaḡānīān (q.v.) and Waḵš (Jūzjānī, I, p. 385, tr. pp. 423-24).

Under the two brothers Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn and Moʿezz-al-Dīn in Fīrūzkūh and Ḡazna respectively (558-99 /1163-1203 and 569-99/1173-1203), the Ghurid empire reached its greatest territorial extent and apogee of power. Although the earlier history of the Šansabānī family had been full of feuds and disputes, the brothers maintained a partnership, with mutual amity and a division of spheres of activity and influence. Ḡīāṯ-al–Dīn was broadly concerned with expansion westwards into Khorasan and with checking the ambitions there of the Ḵwārazmšāhs, whilst Moʿezz-al-Dīn led raids into India.

Map showing the Ghaurid Empire between 1149-1212 AD

In the west, Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn, often in concert with his brother, extended his suzerainty over the maleks of Nīmrūz or Sīstān and even over the Kermān branch of the Saljuqs. Turkish amirs in Herāt and Balḵ were humbled, but the main thrust of Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn’s efforts was in western Khorasan, where the Ghurid came to clash with the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs under Il-Arslan and Tekeš. The Ḵᵛārazmšāhs aimed at capturing Khorasan, backed at times by their suzerains the pagan Qara Khitay. The Ghurids adopted the role of defenders of Sunnism. They had cordial relations with the ʿAbbasids in Baghdad, frequently exchanging embassies (Jūzjānī’s father took part in one of the last, Jūzjānī, I, p. 361, tr. p. 383). Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn was admitted to al-Nāṣer’s fotūwa order, and the caliph more than once urged the Ghurids to halt the advance into western Persia of the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs (Jūzjānī, I, 302, tr. I, p. 243). The actual fighting in Khorasan at this time was largely between the Ghurids and Tekeš’s brother Solṭānšāh, who had carved out for himself personally a principality in western Khorasan, until in 586/1190 Ḡīāṯ-al–Dīn and Moʿezz-al-Dīn defeated Solṭānšāh near Marv in 588/1192, captured him, and took over his territories (Jūzjānī, I, 303-4, tr. I, pp. 246-47). When Tekeš died in 596/1200 (Ebn al-Aṯīr, Beirut, XII, pp. 156-58), Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn was able to take over most of the towns of Khorasan as far west as Besṭām in Qūmes. At the same time, the Bāmīān branch of the dynasty under Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Sām b. Šams-al-Dīn Moḥammad (588-602/1192-1206) secured Balḵ and Ṭoḵārestān after the death of its Turkish governor, a vassal of the Qara Khitay (Jūzjānī, I, p. 389, tr. p. 431).

Moʿezz-al-Dīn, installed at Ḡazna since 569/1173-74 with the title also of sultan, began raiding through the Gomal Pass into India, capturing Moltān and Uččh (570/1175) and compelling the Sumerās in Lower Sind to acknowledge his suzerainty (578/1182). He was repulsed from Gujarat, hence turned to northern India, finally extinguishing the Ghaznavids in Lahore (582/1186) and then advancing down the Ganges valley to defeat various Hindu princes and to occupy Delhi, Ajmer, and Gwalior. Moʿezz-al–Dīn himself returned to Khorasan to aid his brother against the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs, but his conquests in India were carried on by his Turkish commander Qoṭb-al-Dīn Aybak (q.v.) and, expanding as far east as Bengal, by Eḵtīār-al-Dīn Moḥammad Ḵaljī. It was Aybak who at Delhi built the Qowwat-al-Eslām mosque (588/1192) and at Ajmer converted into the Arhāʾī-Dīn-kā-jhompŕā mosque (comp. 596/1200) a former Hindu college as visible signs of Ghurid might in India (Burton-Page, “Dilhi,” p. 259 with the plan of Qowwat-al-Eslām mosque; idem, “Hind,” p. 442).

For three years until his own death in 602/1206, Moʿezz-al-Dīn was supreme ruler, but in fact followed earlier practice by allotting appanages to members of the family, including Fīrūzkūh to Żīāʾ-al-Dīn or ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Moḥammad b. Šojāʿ-al-Dīn ʿAlī, and southern and western Afghanistan to Ḡīāṯ-al–Dīn Maḥmūd b. Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Moḥammad; the latter, however, very soon took control of Fīrūzkūh once Moʿezz-al–Dīn had died. Moʿezz-al-Dīn’s last years had been characterized by failure in the west. Ghurid rule in Khorasan proved oppressive and unpopular; according to Jovaynī (II, pp. 51-52, tr. Boyle, II, p. 319), Moʿezz-al–Dīn required forced sales and confiscated for his army grain which had been stored in the shrine of the Imām ʿAlī al-Reżā at Mašhad-e Ṭūs. An attempted pursuit of the army of the new Ḵᵛārazmšāh ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Moḥammad ended disastrously for the Ghurids, who were halted by flooding of the Chorazmian countryside and then routed at Andḵūy (q.v.) on the Oxus by the Qara Khitay (601/1204; Jovaynī, ed. Qazvīnī, II, pp. 57, 89, tr. Boyle, I, pp. 321-24; Barthold, Turkestan2, pp. 349-51). Moʿezz-al–Dīn escaped personally, but all Khorasan except Herāt was lost, and a year or so later the sultan was assassinated in India.

After this, the Ghurid empire rapidly fell apart. Ḡīāṯò-al-Dīn and Moʿezz-al–Dīn had skillfully maintained the unity of the realm and had kept firm control over the various elements of which the multi-ethnic Ghurid army was composed. Dissension now broke out within the Šansabānī family, with military factions taking sides. Thus the Ḡūrī troops supported for succession to the sultanate the Bāmīān line of the family, whereas the Turks favored Ḡīāṯ-al–Dīn Maḥmūd, who in the end prevailed at Fīrūzkūh. In Ḡazna, power was seized by the Turkish commander Tāj-al-Dīn Yïldïz (Īldūz), legitimized by Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn’s grant to him of its governorship (602-11/1206-15). The last Ghurids were puppets of the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs, until in 612/1215 ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Moḥammad deposed the last sultan in Fīrūzkūh; the Bāmīān line was likewise suppressed; and Yïldïz was driven out of Ḡazna. Thus all the Ghurid lands, except those in northern India, fell under Choarazmian control, although it was not long before Sultan Moḥammad himself was overwhelmed by the Mongols (Jovaynī, ed. Qazvīnī, II, 108-16, tr. Boyle, II, pp. 327-86; Jovaynī, II, p. 85, is wrong in making the conquest of Ḡazna after the death of Yïldïz).

Ghaurid Empire at its greatest extent.

The constituting of the Ghurid empire was a remarkable achievement for a family of petty chiefs from a backward region like Ḡūr, which henceforth was to play no significant role in Islamic history. The sultans’ military strength was based on both the indigenous Ḡūrī mountaineers and Ḵaljīs from eastern Afghanistan plus the recruitment of Turkish military slaves, but these resources were not in the end adequate to withstand the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs, who had the manpower resources of the Inner Asian steppes behind them. It was, of course, in India that the Ghurid legacy was to be the most lasting, for it was the Turkish and Ḵaljī commanders of Moʿezz-al-Dīn who laid the foundations of the Delhi Sultanate (q.v.), in many ways a successor-state to the Ghurids, and who permanently implanted Islam in northern India.

Although the Ghurid empire was not a durable one, it seems possible to speak of a distinct Ghurid ethos and culture. Continuing the attitudes of the Ghaznavids, the Ghurids were strong upholders of the orthodox Sunni form of Islam, once the Šansabānī family had emerged from its pagan past. Ismaili propagandists from northern Persia penetrated into Ḡūr during the later years of ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Ḥosayn, and received some encouragement from the sultan; but his son Sayf-al-Dīn Moḥammad took strong measures to extirpate it (Jūzjānī, I, pp. 349-51, tr. I, pp. 361, 365-66). Of more lasting significance for the religious complexion of Ḡūr was the wide sympathy there for the pietistic, ascetic Sunni sect of the Karrāmīya (q.v.), which had arisen in Nīšāpūr during the 4th/10th century and had been patronized by the early Ghaznavid sultans. It may be, though the sources are not explicit, that this group,which placed a strong emphasis on missionary work (see daʿwa), was active in the 5th/11th century in spreading Islam in Ḡūr. Certainly, in the following century, the majority of the inhabitants of Ḡūr are said to have been adherents of the Karrāmīya, and it was only Ḡīāṯò-al-Dīn Moḥammad and Moʿezz-al-Dīn Moḥammad who changed over to the mainstream Shafiʿite and Hanafite law schools respectively (Bosworth, 1961, pp. 128-33). As noted above, these two sultans were certainly aware of orthodox, caliphal approval for their authority and the advantages of close diplomatic contacts with the ʿAbbasids.

Literary and artistic activities under the Ghurids likewise followed on from those of the Ghaznavids. The sultans were generous patrons of the Persian literary traditions of Khorasan, and latterly fulfilled a valuable role as transmitters of this heritage to the newly conquered lands of northern India, laying the foundations for the essentially Persian culture which was to prevail in Muslim India until the 19th century. ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Ḥosayn Jahānsūz reportedly was also a fine poet; his poetry, of which only a few lines have been preserved, was widely appreciated in Afghanistan and northern India. Moḥammad ʿAwfī had seen a copy of his dīvān in Samarqand (Lobāb, ed. Browne, I, pp. 38-39, ed. Nafīsī, pp. 39-40; Jūzjānī, pp. 343-45; Ṣafā, Adabīyāt II, pp. 53-55). The contemporary Neẓāmī ʿArūżī mentions as eulogists of the Ghurids such poets as Abu’l-Qāsem Rāfeʿī, Abū Bakr Jawharī, ʿAlī Ṣūfī, and himself (Čahār maqāla, p. 28, tr. p. 30). But while we have surviving several fairly complete dīvāns of the Ghaznavid poets, none of those from the Ghurid period have survived. It is clear, however, that all this literature was in Persian, and claims which were made in Afghanistan some decades ago (e.g., Ḥabībī in his ed. of Moḥammad Hōtak) of the existence of poetry in Pashto from the Ghurid period remain unsubstantiated. Of Ghurid prose literature, including history and genealogy, mention should be made of Faḵr-al-Dīn Mobārakšāh Moḥammad b. Manṣūr, known as Faḵr-e Modabber, the author of a genealogical work, Baḥr al-ansāb, and a treatise on kingship and statecraft, the Ādāb al–ḥarb wa’l-šajāʿa(q.v.). The great historian of the Ghurids, without whose information our knowledge of the dynasty would be much sparser, was Menhāj-al–Dīn-e Serāj-al-Dīn Jūzjānī (q.v.; d. the second half of the 7th/13th century), who was a diplomatic envoy for the sultans and who composed his Ṭabaqāt-e nāṣerī, in form a general history but in a large measure a special history of the dynasty.

So far as can be discerned from the exiguous surviving examples of Ghurid art and architecture, there was a continuity here with the Ghaznavid age, since some of it cannot easily be separated stylistically from that of the preceding period. The city of Ḡazna rose again from the ashes of its destruction by ʿAlāʾ-al–Dīn Ḥosayn, and a unique type of glazed tile work has been ascribed by Umberto Scerrato to the Ghurids of the later 6th/12th century. The splendid minaret of Jām (q.v.) is the prime extant example of Ghurid architecture, but there are other remains in Herāt and ruins of a mosque and madrasa at Češt (q.v.) on the upper Harīrūd dating from the reign of Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Moḥammad (cf. Sourdel-Thomine). In the sphere of secular architecture, the extensive palace buildings at Laškarī Bāzār (q.v.) on the Helmand river near Bost seem to show a continuity from early Ghaznavid to Ghurid and Mongol times. Nevertheless, it does seem possible, according to Janine Sourdel–Thomine, to speak of the evolution of a distinctive Ghurid architectural style.

Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori (1149-1206) :

Sultan Shahab -ud -din Muhammad also known as, Muizzuddin Muhammad Bin Sam, was born in 1162. He was the younger brother of Ghiasuddin and son of Sultan Bahaudin Suri of Ghure. After Mahmud of Ghazni the next invader in India was Muhammad Ghori. He belonged to the Ghorid dynasty which replaced the Ghaznavids in Afghanistan. After the death of Mahmood Ghaznovi, he was the first Turkish who invaded India; after a long period of 150 years. He laid the foundation for Muslim rule in India and his slave Qutb -ud -din Aibak became the founder of the first Turkish rule in India.

He remained loyal to his elder brother Ghiyas-ud-din and helped him in his invasions until his death in 1202 AD. At that time at the west of Afghanistan there was strong empires so Muhammad Ghuri turned his attention toward East. Shahab-ud-din Ghori`s first invasions were on the Muslim states of Multan and the fortress of Ouch. In 1181, he attacked on Lahore and successfully ended the Ghaznavids Empire, bringing the remaining territory under his control. He fought the first battle of Tarain in 1191 against Raja Prithviraj Chauhan; the most powerful raja of India. In the second battle of Tarain, in 1192 Ghuri defeated raja Prithviraj and the victory paved the way for Ghori to push Muslim rule further in India. The other Rajas were not much strong to defend their rule against Ghuri’s strong military and power. With in a period of one year Ghuri get control of northern parts of India and marched to Delhi. The Kingdom of Ajmer was t given over to Golā, on condition that he would send regular tributes to the Ghurids.

After the death of Ghiys-ud-din he established the rule of the Ghuri dynasty in Afghanistan. Due to heavy taxes they became quite unpopular among their local people. This forced Muhammad Ghori to search out new sources of income and diverts the attention of Ghori towards the invasion of India, which was the richest neighboring country.

In 1206, Ghauri had to travel to Lahore to crush a revolt. On his way back to Ghazni, his caravan rested at Damik in Jhelum district of Punjab province in modern-day Pakistan. He was assassinated while offering his evening prayers by a small band of Hindu Khokars.The murderer killed him so brutally that there were 22 wounds on his body. As per his wishes, Ghauri was buried where he fell.

Battles of Tarain :

The Battles of Tarain, also known as the Battles of Taraori, were fought in 1191 and 1192 near the town of Tarain (Taraori), near Thanesar in present-day Haryana, approximately 150 kilometres north of Delhi, India, between a Ghurid force led by Mu'izz al-Din and a Chauhan Rajput army led by Prithviraj Chauhan.

Defeat in the First Battle (1191) :

In 1191, Mu'izz al-Din captured the fortress of Bhatinda in East Punjab, which was on the frontier of Prithiviraj Chauhan's domains. Prithviraj marched on to Bhatinda and met his enemy at a place called Tarain (also called Taraori) near the ancient town of Thanesar. The Ghurid army initiates battle by attacking with cavalry who launch arrows at the Rajput center. The forces of Prithviraj counter-attack from three sides and dominate the battle, pressuring the Ghurid army into a withdrawal. Meanwhile, Mu'izz al-Din is wounded in personal combat with Prithviraj's brother, Govind Tai. The victory of Prithviraj was decisive, he inflicted the crushing defeat on Mu'izz ad-Din by completely routing his forces and succeeded in stopping the Ghurid advance towards Hindustan in the first battle of Tarain. He did not pursue Ghori's army either not wanting to invade hostile territory or misjudging Ghori's ambition, instead electing to retake the fortress of Bhatinda.

View attachment 561944
Prithviraj Chauhan

Victory in the Second Battle (1192) :

On his return to Ghazni, Mu'izz al-Din made preparations to avenge his defeat. When he reached Lahore, he sent his envoy to Prithviraj to demand his submission, but the Chauhan ruler refused to comply.

Size of the forces and generals :

According to Firishta, the Rajput army consisted of 3,000 elephants, 300,000 cavalry and infantry, considered exaggeration by some Indian historians. Minhaj-i-Siraj, stated Mu'izz al-Din brought 120,000 fully armored men to battle.

Battle :

The battle occurred in the same field as the first one. Knowing the Rajputs were well-disciplined, the Ghurids did not want to engage in melee combat with them. Instead the Ghurids army was formed into five units, and four units were sent to attack the Rajput flanks and rear. The flanking attacks failed and the fighting continued. In hopes of causing a break in the Rajput lines, Mu'izz al-Din ordered his fifth unit to feign retreat. The Rajput's charged the fleeing Ghurid unit, as the Ghurids expected. The Ghurids then sent a fresh cavalry unit of 12,000 and they managed to throw back the Rajput advance. The remaining Ghurid forces then attack and the Rajputs flee in panic. Prithviraj Chauhan abandons his elephant for a horse and tries to escape. But he is caught a few miles from the battlefield and promptly executed.

The aftermath :

Mu'izz al-Din barely won against Prithviraj, he followed up this victory by defeating Jayachandra in the Battle of Chandawar, eradicating Buddhism in that area. Later in 1202, his army completes the occupation of Hindustan by taking the province of Bengal.

The Second battle of Tarain where Ghurid armies crushed Rajput army.

Most decisive battle :

About hundred thousand Rajput soldiers are said to have died in the battle. Prithwiraj was imprisoned and was taken to Ghazni. The second battle of Tarain is believed to be most decisive battle in the Indian History as it opened the path for conquerors of India. Muhammad and his successors were able to conquest over the Rajputs and established an Islamic Empire in India, the Sultanate of Delhi.

Further campaigns :

When the state of Ajmer failed to fulfill the tribute demands as per the custom after a defeat, Qutbu l-Din Aibak, in 1193 took over Ajmer and soon established Ghurid control in northern and central India. Hindu kingdoms like Saraswati, Samana, Kohram and Hansi were captured without any difficulty. Finally his forces advanced on Delhi, capturing it soon after the Battle of Chandwar, defeating Raja Jaichand of Kannauj.Within a year, Mu'izz controlled northern Rajasthan and the northern part of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab.The Kingdom of Ajmer was then given over to Golā, on condition that he send regular tributes to the Ghurids.

Mu'izz returned west to Ghazni to deal with the threat to his western frontiers from the unrest in Iran, but he appointed Aibak as his regional governor for northern India. His armies, mostly under Turkic generals, continued to advance through northern India, raiding as far east as Bengal. followed by his conquest of Delhi. An army led by Qutbu l-Din Aibak, Mu'izz's deputy in India, invaded in ca. 1195–97 and plundered Anahilapataka.

Death :

In 1173 AD Shahab-ud-Din Ghuri finally brought an end of Ghaznavid Empire and established their dynastic rule. In 1206, Ghauri had to travel to Lahore to crush a revolt. On his way back to Ghazni, his caravan rested at Damik in Jhelum district of Punjab province in modern-day Pakistan. He was assassinated while offering his evening prayers by a small band of Hindu Khokars.The murderer killed him so brutally that there were 22 wounds on his body.

Muhammed Ghori's grave within his tomb near Jhelum, Pakistan

As per his wishes, Ghauri was buried where he fell. His mouseleum was recently constructed by the Government of Pakistan. While driving from Rawalpindi to Jhelum on GT Road, just before Mandra, a road on the right leads towardsChakwal. On the left a narrow road connects several villages with GT Road. At the turning a small board guides to the tomb of Shahab-ud-Deen Ghauri.

Legacy :

He had no son to succeed him as a ruler but had Turkish slaves. After his assassination, his Empire was divided amongst his slaves.
Muhammad's death left his generals in control of the whole of North India. He was succeeded by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, who had started of by sacking Ayodhya in 1193 C.E. then served as Muhammad's governor in India. He was Sultan until 1210, claiming the title "Sultan of Delhi. His established the Ghulam Dynasty, which ruled until 1290. He also started to build the Qutb complex at Delhi. As a former slave, Qutb-ud-din Aybak lineage is described as a Mamluk, or slave dynasty. Under these rulers, "India became for the first time the seat of resident" Muslim "sovereigns. Another slave, Nasir-ud-din Qabacha became the ruler of Sindh and Multan. In fact, Qutb-ud-din Aibak laid down the foundation of slave dynasty in India. Nasir-ud-din Qabacha was finally defeated by Shams-ud-din Iltutmish and Sindh and Multan became part of the Delhi kingdom.

Attributes of Ghori described by historians :

1.Ghori as a practical statesman :
Historians regards Ghori as a practical statesman who took the fullest advantage of the rotten political structure of India. Ghori gave proof of his statesmanship while dealing with different Rajput rulers. After his victory over Prithviraj, instead of annexing Delhi and Ajmer to his territories, he handed over the administration of Delhi and Ajmer to the relatives of Prithviraj. Ghori did not change the status of those Hindu chiefs who accepted his suzerainty and did not interfere in their administration. Of course, he established forts in these territories.

2.Political realism of Ghori :
Prof. K.A. Nizami puts stress on two qualities of Ghori i.e. his digged tenacity of purpose and his grim political realism. He wrote, “This Hero of three stupendous defeats at Andh-khud, Tarain and Anhilwara had to his credit the establishment of one of the greatest empires of the middle ages and in this he definitely rises above Mahmud of Ghazni.” According to Stanley Lane-poole, Ghori’s conquests in India were wider and far more permanent than Mahmud’s. He wrote, “of the two tides of Mohammedan invasion that surged into India, Mahmud’s had left little trace. It had been but a series of triumphant raids.”

3.Great ability to select officers :
Ghori had the art of selecting the best men for his services. He trained generals and administrators like Qutab-ud- din Aibak, who proved quite competent to maintain his empire.

4.Appointment of governors :
Ghori appointed governors of the provinces he conquered. These governors consolidated the position of Turks and they suppressed rebellions. After the death of Ghori, Qutub-ud-din Aibak, his most able military commander founded the Slave Dynasty that ruled India for about one hundred years.

5.Ghori as a conqueror of territory :
In the words of Dr. R.C. Majumdar, “Sultan Mahmud was undoubtedly one of the greatest military leaders, the world has ever seen. It is true that he never faced any defeat. It is, however, equally true that he never tried to consolidate his position. He came like “a wind and went back like a whirl wind.” Unlike Mahmud, Ghori was not a great general and had to suffer humiliating defeats several times. He was defeated by Mularaja II, the ruler of Gujarat; by Prithviraj Chauhan in the first battle of Tarain and by Khwarizam Shah, the ruler of Persia. In fact, he was killed in his own camp by his Khokar enemies. But the greatness of Ghori was that none of these defeats could weaken his spirits or check his ambitions. He took his every failure as a valuable experience. He improved upon his weaknesses, removed them and ultimately got success. The conquests of Ghori brought about more permanent results than the conquests of Mahmud. Mahmud was contented to plunder the wealth of India and did not think of establishing his empire. Mahmud kept himself busy in invading and looting but Ghori attempted to build -up an empire which lasted for centuries.

Nice...you are going in sequence
after Ghurid Dynasty we shall move ahead to ... Delhi Sulanate (1206-1526) with its following 5 dynasties
-Mamluk Dynasty (1206-1290), founded by Qutb ud Din Aybak
-Khalji Dynasty (1290-1320), established by Jalal ud Din Firoz Khalji, followed by famous Alla ud Din Khalji
-Taghlaq Dynasty (1320-1413), started by Ghayas ud Din Taghlaq (thats the period when Tamer lane or Ameer Taimur invaded and sacked Delhi)
-Sayyid Dynasty (1414-1451), formed by Khizar Khan, former governor of Multan appointed by Timur himself.
-Lodi Dynasty (1451-1526). Bahlol Khan Lodi, after he snatched power from Syyids. This is the first Pashtun Dynasty to rule here and it ended at the first battle of Panipat when Babar defeated Ibrahim lodi in 1526 and established Mughal Empire

During the same era, Bengal Sultanate(1342-1576) or Shahi Bangla seperated itself from Delhi Sultanate and declared independence under then governer of bengal Shams ud Din Ilyas Shah in 1342. Bengal Sultanate will eventually become part of Mughal Empire in 1576.

 

[dexter]

Nice...you are going in sequence
after Ghurid Dynasty we shall move ahead to ... Delhi Sulanate (1206-1526) with its following 5 dynasties
-Mamluk Dynasty (1206-1290), founded by Qutb ud Din Aybak
-Khalji Dynasty (1290-1320), established by Jalal ud Din Firoz Khalji, followed by famous Alla ud Din Khalji
-Taghlaq Dynasty (1320-1413), started by Ghayas ud Din Taghlaq (thats the period when Tamer lane or Ameer Taimur invaded and sacked Delhi)
-Sayyid Dynasty (1414-1451), formed by Khizar Khan, former governor of Multan appointed by Timur himself.
-Lodi Dynasty (1451-1526). Bahlol Khan Lodi, after he snatched power from Syyids. This is the first Pashtun Dynasty to rule here and it ended at the first battle of Panipat when Babar defeated Ibrahim lodi in 1526 and established Mughal Empire

Exactly, im going to do the same. Keeping in mind several important events and battles as well.

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

Great thread. Wish to read more. Out of curiosity, what is your source?

 

[Pakistansdefender]

First remove the bastard Afghans kings from the list.
Stop fancing about them..
Also accept non Muslim Kings and rulers as your own who ruled your land such as maharaja ranjeet Singh, porus etc..
Even Iranians accepts xerxesas their king.
Also accept all the Buddhist Kings or Hindu kings too.
Budha was born here in Pakistan and even his bones are here...
Accept your non Muslim heritage that would not make you a less of a Muslim...

 

[Ghost 125]

First remove the bastard Afghans kings from the list.
Stop fancing about them..
Also accept non Muslim Kings and rulers as your own who ruled your land such as maharaja ranjeet Singh, porus etc..
Even Iranians accepts xerxesas their king.
Also accept all the Buddhist Kings or Hindu kings too.
Budha was born here in Pakistan and even his bones are here...
Accept your non Muslim heritage that would not make you a less of a Muslim...

thread tittle clearly says 'Muslim Rulers'. No one is stoping you from opening another thread and people will be happy to discuss that even. 2ndly you cant force your opinion down anybodies throat, you dont like it dont participate. I ve seen the same Op posting historical threads about non muslims and many other battles as well which has nothing to do with muslims. if you want to learn history, you cant limit urelf to one specific area.
3rdly most of the ruler so far mentioned here have Turkik origins, they travelled or captured lands in what is NOW called afghanistan (it wsnt afghanistan back then). that is how history is made and we are discussing history here ...simple

 

[Talwar e Pakistan]

First remove the bastard Afghans kings from the list.

Stop fancing about them..[/QUOTE]
70% of all Pashtuns are Pakistani, hence they have contributed greatly to the history of modern-day Pakistan.

Also accept non Muslim Kings and rulers as your own who ruled your land such as maharaja ranjeet Singh, porus etc..

Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and the other tyrants will never be accepted as our own, they turned our Masjids into stables, banned azan and halal-meat, persecuted Muslims. Rai Por (Porus) on the other hand is respectable and is revered/accepted by the general people of Pakistan.

Budha was born here in Pakistan and even his bones are here...

You clearly need to go over history class again.

Accept your non Muslim heritage that would not make you a less of a Muslim...

Read the title of this thread please.

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

First remove the bastard Afghans kings from the list.
Stop fancing about them..
Also accept non Muslim Kings and rulers as your own who ruled your land such as maharaja ranjeet Singh, porus etc..
Even Iranians accepts xerxesas their king.
Also accept all the Buddhist Kings or Hindu kings too.
Budha was born here in Pakistan and even his bones are here...
Accept your non Muslim heritage that would not make you a less of a Muslim...

Feel free to open your own thread and propagate your ideas there.

Do not try to sabotage someone else’s thread.

I could refute your statements, but what is the point. I will wait for your thread on Pakistani history from your view.