Ghaznavids

Also known as Ghaznavid Emirate

a Medieval Muslim Turkic dynasty ruling at eastern Iran and northern India (977–1196)

Key facts

Status: Empire
Capital: Ghazni , (977–1163) , Lahore , (1163–1186)
Common languages: Persian ( official and court language; lingua franca ), Sanskrit ( coinage ) , Arabic ( coinage and theology ) , Turkic ( military )
Religion: Sunni Islam (official), Hinduism (majority in India)
Government: Hereditary monarchy
977 997: Sabuktigin (first)
1160 1186: Khusrau Malik (last)
998 1013: Abu'l-Hasan Isfaraini (first mentioned)
12th century: Abu'l-Ma'ali Nasrallah (last mentioned)
Historical era: Medieval
1029 est: 3,400,000 km (1,300,000 sq mi)

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Wikidata facts

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inception: 0962-00-00

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Article

The Ghaznavid Empire (Persian: غزنویان, romanized: Ġaznaviyān) was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim state of Turkic mamluk origin. Flourishing from 977 to 1186, the empire spread from the Oxus to the Indus Valley at its greatest extent. The dynasty was founded by Sabuktigin upon his succession to the rule of Ghazna after the death of his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, who was an ex-general of the Samanid Empire from Balkh.

Sabuktigin's son, Mahmud of Ghazni, expanded the Ghaznavid Empire to the Amu Darya, the Indus River and the Indian Ocean in the east and to Rey and Hamadan in the west. Under the reign of Mas'ud I, the Ghaznavid dynasty began losing control over its western territories to the Seljuk Empire after the Battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, resulting in a restriction of its holdings to modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India.