Islamic conquest of Afghanistan: Encyclopedia II - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan - Ghaznavid and Ghorid Rule

Islamic conquest of Afghanistan - Ghaznavid and Ghorid Rule

Out of the Samanid Dynasty came the first great Islamic empire of the region, the Ghaznavid Empire, whose warriors, forged an empire that spanned much of Iranian plateau and Central Asia and conducted many successful raids into South Asia. Their military incursions assured the domination of Sunni Islam in what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of India. The most renowned of the dynasty's rulers was Mahmud, who consolidated control over the areas south of the Amu Darya then carried out devastating raids into India - looting Hindu temples in his wake. With his booty from India, Mahmud built a great capital at Ghazni, founded universities, and patronized scholars. Mahmud was recognized by the caliph in Baghdad as the temporal heir of the Samanids. By the time of his death, Mahmud ruled a vast empire that stretched from Kurdistan to the entire Hindu Kush region as far east as the Punjab as well as territories far north of the Amu Darya. However, as occurred so often in this region, the demise in 1030 of this military genius who had expanded the empire to its farthest reaches was the death knell of the dynasty itself. The Tajik rulers of the Kingdom of Ghor (also Ghur), southeast of Herat, captured and burned Ghazni in 1149, just as the Ghaznavids had once conquered Ghor. Not until 1186, however, was the last representative of the Ghaznavids uprooted by the Ghorids (Ghurids) from his holdout in Lahore, in the Punjab .

The Ghorids controlled most of what is now Afghanistan, eastern Iran, Pakistan, and northern India, while parts of central and western Iran were ruled by the Seljuk Turks. From 1200 to 1205 most of the Ghorid lands were conquered by the Shah of the Khwarezmid Empire, whose empire would, in turn, be defeated by the Mongols in 1220.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ghaznavid and Ghorid Rule", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki