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102-548: In 997 CE, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi , took over the Ghaznavid dynasty empire established by his father, Sultan Sebuktegin , In 1005 he conquered the Shahis in Kabul in 1005, and followed it by the conquests of Punjab region . The Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire ruled the region. The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot

204-556: A jihad and a raid on India every year. In 1005 Mahmud conducted a series of campaigns during which the Ismailis of Multan were massacred. Following his quest for Jihad in India, Mahmud Ghazni not only ruined the Somnath temple and plundered its treasures but also killed every devotee present in the town. He did the same with women devotees, either killing them or kidnapped them to be later sold in

306-531: A "great and magnificent temple" in Mathura. According to Firishta , writing a "History of Hindustan" in the 16th-17th century, the city of Mathura was the richest in India, and was consecrated to Vāsudeva-Krishna . When it was attacked by Mahmud of Ghazni, "all the idols" were burnt and destroyed during a period of twenty days, gold and silver was smelted for booty, and the city was burnt down. The Art of Mathura fell into decline thereafter. In 1021 Mahmud supported

408-628: A Holy War against the infidels of Hindustan". During the seventh year of his reign, Mahmud mintage from Lahore styled him as " Mahmud but-shikan " (Mahmud the breaker of idols). By the end of his reign, the Ghaznavid Empire extended from Ray in the west to Samarkand in the north-east, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna . Although his raids carried his forces across the Indian subcontinent , only

510-607: A Samanid army in Tukharistan , which resulted in a Samanid victory. Fortunately for Abu Ali Chaghani, he managed to secure the support of other Samanid vassals, such as the rulers of Khuttal , and the Kumiji mountain people , but in the end made peace with Nuh, who allowed him to keep Chaghaniyan in return for sending his son Abu'l Muzaffar Abdallah as hostage to Bukhara. By 945, the Turkic military slave faction (who were formerly recruited by

612-627: A Samanid counter-attack. Nevertheless, the Samanid general Hamuya ibn Ali managed to lure Ahmad out of Merv, and defeated him in a battle at Marw al-Rudh ; he was captured and imprisoned in Bukhara, where he remained until his death in 920. In the west, Nasr II clashed several times with Daylamite and Gilite rulers; In 921, the Zaydids under the Gilite ruler Lili ibn al-Nu'man invaded Khorasan, but were defeated by

714-603: A Turkic rebel, with the command given to a Hindu named Tilak according to Baihaki . Indian historian Mohammad Habib states that there was no imposition of Jizya on "non-Muslims" during the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni nor any mention of "forced conversions": [H]is (Mahmud's) expeditions against India were not motivated by religion but by love of plunder. A. V. Williams Jackson, Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages in Columbia University has written in his book History of India , "Mahmud vowed that every year he would wage

816-514: A banquet designed to organize the plot and had the head of their leader cut off. To appease the other officers, he promised to stop the Isma'ili missionaries from continuing their activities. He then convinced his father to abdicate, who died of tuberculosis after a few months. Right when Nuh I ascended the throne, a revolt erupted in Khwarazm, which he managed to suppress. Later in 945, he had to deal with

918-581: A campaign to restore the Samanid state, but failed. Some time afterwards, he returned to the Zarafshan valley, where he gained the support of the Oghuz and others. A Karakhanid army was defeated in May 1004, but subsequently the Oghuz deserted Isma'il during another battle, and his army fell apart. Fleeing to Khorasan yet again, Isma'il attempted to reenter Transoxiana in the end of 1004. The Karakhanids stopped this and Isma'il

1020-583: A growing influence of the Ghaznavids , who would later rule the region. Under Nuh II , a Hanafi work, which was being used to contest Ismailism, was translated into Persian. Agriculture and trading were the economic bases of the Samanid State. The Samanids heavily engaged in trade with Europe . Thousands of Samanid coins have been found in the Baltic and Scandinavia . During the 9th and 10th centuries, there

1122-754: A man of great perception, was Rudaki, who was born in the village of Panjrudak , which is today part of the Panjakent District in Tajikistan . Rudaki was already becoming popular during his early years, due to his poems, his voice, and his great skill in using the chang (an Iranian instrument similar to the harp ). He was shortly invited to the Samanid court, where he stayed almost the rest of his life. Fewer than 2,000 lines of his poetry have survived, but are enough to prove his great poetic skills—he perfected every basic verse form of medieval Persian poetry: mathnawi , qasida , ghazal and ruba'i . "Look at

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1224-560: A minor tributary in Sistan. It was during this period that the Samanids were at their height of power, ruling as far as Qazvin in the west and Peshawar in the east. Ismail is known in history as a competent general and a strong ruler; many stories about him are written in Arabic and Persian sources. Furthermore, because of his campaigns in the north, his empire was so safe from enemy incursions that

1326-591: A policy of destroying Hindu temples and monuments to crush any move by the Hindus to attack the Empire; Nagarkot , Thanesar , Mathura , Kannauj , Kalinjar (1023) and Somnath all submitted or were raided. It is estimated Mahmud's invasions killed over 2 million people. In 1025 Mahmud raided Gujarat , plundering the Somnath temple and breaking its jyotirlinga . He took away booty of 2 million dinars. The conquest of Somnath

1428-559: A portion of the Punjab and of Sindh in modern-day Pakistan came under his semi-permanent rule; Kashmir , the Doab , Rajasthan , and Gujarat remained under the control of the local Hindu dynasties. The booty brought back to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi , Ferdowsi ) give descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conqueror's munificent support of literature. He transformed Ghazni,

1530-778: A relative of the Samanid ruler or a local Iranian prince (such as the Muhtajids ), but was later given to one of his most trusted slaves. The governor of Khorasan was normally the sipah-salar (commander-in-chief). Like in the Abbasid Caliphate, Turkic slaves could rise to high office in the Samanid state, which would sometimes give them enough power to nearly make the ruler their puppet. The Samanids revived Persian culture by patronizing Rudaki , Bal'ami and Daqiqi . The Samanids determinedly propagated Sunni Islam, and repressed Ismaili Shiism but were more tolerant of Twelver Shiism. Islamic architecture and Islamo-Persian culture

1632-511: A small part of it, which was about the conflict between Gushtasp and Arjasp . However, the most prominent poet of that age was Ferdowsi, born in Tus in 940 to a dehqan family. It was during his youth that there was a period of growth under the Samanids. The rapid growth of interest in ancient Iranian history made him continue the work of Daqiqi, completing the Shahnameh in 994, only a few years before

1734-462: Is known, other than that he was a school-mate and foster brother of Ahmad Maymandi , a Persian native of Zabulistan. Mahmud married the daughter of Abu'l Haret Ahmad , and they had twin sons, Mohammad and Ma'sud , who succeeded him one after the other; his grandson by Mas'ud, Maw'dud Ghaznavi , also later became ruler of the empire. According to Mirat-i-Masudi ("Mirror of Masud"), a Persian-language hagiography written by Abdur Rahman Chishti in

1836-857: The Battle of Dandanaqan , they decisively defeated Mahmud's son, Mas'ud   I , resulting in Mas'ud abandoning most of his western territories to the Seljuks. On 30 April 1030 Sultan Mahmud died in Ghazni at the age of 58. Sultan Mahmud had contracted malaria during his last invasion. The medical complication from malaria had caused lethal tuberculosis. His mausoleum is located in Ghazni , Afghanistan . Ghor and Muhammad ibn Suri are then captured by Mahmud, made prisoner along with Muhammad ibn Suri's son, and taken to Ghazni, where Muhammad ibn Suri dies. Appoints Sewakpal to administer

1938-799: The Ferghana valley by the Ferghanans; southern Khorasan by Khorasanians; and the Pamir mountains and environs by the Saka and other early Iranian peoples. All these groups were of Iranian ethnicity and spoke dialects of Middle Iranian and New Persian . In the words of Negmatov, "they were the basis for the emergence and gradual consolidation of what became an Eastern Persian-Tajik ethnic identity." Ferghana, Samarkand, and Bukhara were starting to be linguistically Persianized in originally Khwarazmian and Sogdian areas during Samanid rule. The Persian language spread and led to

2040-482: The Hindu Shahi ruler Jayapala , who had moved his capital to Peshawar (modern Pakistan). Jayapala killed himself and was succeeded by his son Anandapala . In 1005 Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Bhatia (probably Bhera), and in 1006 he invaded Multan , at which time Anandapala's army attacked him. The following year Mahmud of Ghazni attacked and crushed Sukhapala, ruler of Bathinda (who had become ruler by rebelling against

2142-748: The Hindu Shahis against the Ghaznavids, and Mahmud wanted retribution. Antagonized by Sangramaraja's having helped Trilochanapala, Mahmud invaded Kashmir. He advanced along the Tohi river valley, planning to enter Kashmir through the Tosamaidan pass. However, his advanced was checked by the strong fort of Loharkot. After having besieged the fort for a month, Mahmud abandoned the siege and retreated, losing many of his troops on his way and almost losing his own life as well. In 1021, Mahmud again attempted to invade Kashmir, but

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2244-529: The Indian subcontinent , Khwarazm in Transoxiana , and Makran . Highly Persianized , Mahmud continued the bureaucratic, political, and cultural customs of his predecessors, the Samanids . He established the ground for a future Persianate state in Punjab , particularly centered on Lahore , a city he conquered. His capital of Ghazni evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual centre in

2346-455: The Jhelum River . The whole of the tahsil except the south-west corner lies in the hills, which in the north reach an elevation of over 6,000 feet. The population in 1911 was 94,719, compared with 91,371 in 1891. It contains 231 villages, of which Kahuta is the headquarters. The land revenue and cesses amounted in 1913-4 to 1.2 lakhs . The predominantly Muslim population of the area supported

2448-603: The Kandahar region followed by Bost ( Lashkar Gah ), which he transformed to a militarised city. Mahmud initiated the first of numerous invasions of North India . On 28   November 1001, his army fought and defeated the army of Raja Jayapala of the Kabul Shahis at the Battle of Peshawar . In 1002 Mahmud invaded Sistan and dethroned Khalaf ibn Ahmad , ending the Saffarid dynasty . From there he decided to focus on Hindustan to

2550-495: The Kannauj king against Chandela Ganda, who was defeated. That same year Shahi Trilochanapala was killed at Rahib and his son Bhimapala succeeded him. Lahore (modern Pakistan) was annexed by Mahmud. Mahmud besieged Gwalior , in 1023, where he was given tribute. Mahmud attacked Somnath in 1025, and its ruler Bhima I fled. The next year, he captured Somnath and marched to Kachch against Bhima I. That same year Mahmud also attacked

2652-539: The Muhtajid ruler Abu 'Ali Chaghani , who refused to relinquish his post as governor of Khorasan to Ibrahim ibn Simjur . Abu 'Ali Chaghani then rebelled, and was joined by several prominent figures such as Abu Mansur Muhammad , whom he appointed as his commander-in-chief. In 947, he installed Nuh's uncle Ibrahim ibn Ahmad as amir in Bukhara. Abu 'Ali Chaghani then returned to his domains in Chaghaniyan . Ibrahim, however,

2754-573: The Muslim League and Pakistan Movement . After the independence of Pakistan from British rule in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs faced attacks and massacres by the Muslims so they migrated to India . The tehsil is administratively divided into 13 Union Councils , two of which form the city of Kahuta; these are: The population of the Kahuta Tehsil is approximately 220,576 according to

2856-572: The Nestorian church there into a mosque. The same year, he conducted a campaign to gather slaves, taking ten to fifteen thousand captives. The Samanid slave trade was the main trade income of the Samanid Empire, forming the base of economy of the state. In 900, Ismail sent an army under Muhammad ibn Harun al-Sarakhsi against Muhammad ibn Zayd , the Zaydi ruler of Tabaristan and Gorgan . The invasion

2958-503: The Shahnameh to him. There are various stories in medieval texts describing the lack of interest shown by Mahmud to Ferdowsi and his life's work. According to historians, Mahmud had promised Ferdowsi a dinar for every distich written in the Shahnameh (which would have been 60,000 dinars), but later retracted his promise and presented him with dirhams (20,000 dirhams), at that time the equivalent of only 200   dinars. His expedition across

3060-517: The Simjurid general Simjur al-Dawati . Later in 930, a Dailamite military leader, Makan ibn Kaki , seized Tabaristan and Gurgan, and even took possession of Nishapur in western Khorasan. He was, however, forced to withdraw back to Tabaristan one year later, due to the threat that Samanids posed. Makan then returned to Tabaristan, where he was defeated by the Ziyarid ruler Mardavij , who managed to conquer

3162-554: The 1620s, Mahmud's sister, Sitr-e-Mu'alla, was purportedly married to Dawood bin Ataullah Alavi, also known as Gazi Saiyyed Salar Sahu , whose son was Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud . Mahmud's companion was a Georgian slave, Malik Ayaz , about whom poems and stories have been told. In 994 Mahmud joined his father Sabuktigin in the capture of Khorasan from the rebel Fa'iq in aid of the Samanid Emir , Nuh II . During this period,

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3264-738: The Afrighid dynasty was forced into submission. Before Ismail Samani's major victory against the Saffarids, he had made various expeditions in Transoxiana; in 892, he put an end to the Principality of Ushrusana by seizing all of its lands. During the same period, he put an end to the Bukhar Khudas in Bukhara. In 893, Ismail Samani invaded the territories of the Karluk Turks , taking Talas and converting

3366-657: The Gangetic plains in 1017 inspired Al-Biruni to compose his Tarikh Al-Hind in order to understand the Indians and their beliefs. During Mahmud's rule, universities were founded to study various subjects such as mathematics, religion, the humanities, and medicine. The Ghaznavid Empire was ruled by his successors for 157 years. The expanding Seljuk empire absorbed most of the Ghaznavid west. The Ghorids captured Ghazni in 1150, and Mu'izz al-Din (also known as Muhammad of Ghori) captured

3468-450: The Islamic world, almost rivalling the important city of Baghdad . The capital appealed to many prominent figures, such as al-Biruni and Ferdowsi . Mahmud ascended the throne at the age of 27 upon his father's death, albeit after a brief war of succession with his brother Ismail . He was the first ruler to hold the title Sultan ("authority"), signifying the extent of his power while at

3570-805: The Jats of Jud and defeated them. Mahmud's desecration of the Somnath temple in Gujarat in 1024 CE motivated Rajput king Bhoja to lead an army against him, however after Somnath raid, Mahmud Gazhnavi chose a more dangerous route via Sindh, to avoid facing the invading powerful armies of Bhoja, he passed through a desert, where the scarcity of food and water killed a large number of his soldiers and animals, Kitabh Zainu'l Akhbar ( c.  1048 CE ) by 'Abd al-Hayy Gardizi, Tabaqat-i-Akbari by Nizamuddin Ahmad and Firishta's writings also mention this incident. Christoph Baumer notes that in 1026 CE, Jats "inflicted heavy losses" on

3672-399: The Jats' fleet. The Indian kingdoms of Nagarkot , Thanesar , Kannauj , and Gwalior were all conquered and left in the hands of Hindu, Jain , and Buddhist kings as vassal states and he was pragmatic enough not to neglect making alliances and enlisting local peoples into his armies at all ranks. Since Mahmud never kept a permanent presence in the northwestern subcontinent, he engaged in

3774-879: The Pakistan Military Academy, where cadets are trained to become officers of the Pakistan Army, also gives tribute to Mahmud of Ghazni by naming one of its twelve companies Ghaznavi Company. Sultan Mahmud thought of himself as "the Shadow of the God on Earth", an absolute power whose will is law. He paid great attention to details in almost everything, personally overseeing the work of every department of his divan (administration). Mahmud appointed all his ministers himself without advising his wazir (chief advisor) or diwan, though occasionally he had to, as his religion dictated that Muslims should consult each other on all issues. Most of

3876-511: The Samanid Empire became highly unstable, with shifting internal political tides as various factions vied for control, the chief among them being Abu'l-Qasim Simjuri, Fa'iq, Abu   Ali , the General Bekhtuzin as well as the neighbouring Buyids and Kara-Khanid Khanate . Sabuktigin died in 997, and was succeeded by his son Ismail as the ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty. The reason behind Sabuktigin's choice to appoint Ismail as heir over

3978-500: The Samanid Empire, its distance from Baghdad allowed the Samanids to be a crucial element in the renaissance of New Persian language and culture. This Persianate culture variant was the first to use a language besides Arabic in Islamic culture. Although the Zoroastrian population had previously been suppressed by the Abbasid Caliphate, according to Al-Masudi, the Samanid empire still had fire-temples that were still being venerated by

4080-698: The Samanid family's authority had become purely symbolic. The Samanid Empire is part of the Iranian Intermezzo , which saw the creation of a Persianate culture and identity that brought Iranian speech and traditions into the fold of the Islamic world . This later contributed to the formation of the Turko-Persian culture. The Samanids promoted the arts, giving rise to the advancement of science and literature, and thus attracted scholars such as Rudaki , Ferdowsi , and Avicenna . While under Samanid control, Bukhara

4182-601: The Samanid rulers in positions of governance) were fully in charge of the government. By this time, the Samanid family only held nominal power; similar to how the Buyids held de facto power over the Abbasid Caliphate around the same time. Alp Tigin , nominal vassal of the Samanids, conquered Ghazna in 962 from the Lawik dynasty. The fifth of these commanders was Sebüktigin, who governed Ḡazna for twenty years till 387 AH/997 CE with

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4284-406: The Samanid state was modelled after the Abbasid system, which in turn was modelled after the Sasanian system. The ruler of the state was the amir , and the provinces were governed by appointed governors or local vassal rulers. The administrative, political and economic affairs were administered by the divan , and the Samanid bureaucracy used Arabic in its diplomatic discourses. The economy

4386-416: The Samanid state. Each of them ruled territories under Abbasid suzerainty. In 892, Ismail Samani (892–907) united the Samanid state under one ruler, thus effectively putting an end to the feudal system used by the Samanids. It was also under him that the Samanids became independent of Abbasid authority. However, by 945, the government was under the de facto control of the Turkic military slave faction, and

4488-403: The Samanids claimed to be descended from the House of Mihran of Bahram Chobin . It has been claimed that the House of Saman belonged to the Oghuz Turks , although the veracity is unlikely. Originally a Zoroastrian, Saman Khuda converted to Islam during the governorship of Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri in Khorasan , and named his oldest son as Asad ibn Saman in the governor's honour. In 819,

4590-422: The Samanids returned to Bukhara. In 999, Nasr b. Ali, a nephew of Harun, returned and took possession of Bukhara, meeting little resistance. The Samanid domains were split up between the Ghaznavids , who gained Khorasan and Afghanistan , and the Karakhanids , who received Transoxiana ; the Oxus River thus became the boundary between the two rival empires. Isma'il Muntasir was the youngest son of Nuh II—he

4692-471: The Samanids. In the 9th and 10th centuries, intellectual life in Transoxiana and Khorasan reached a high level. In the words of N.N. Negmatov, "It was inevitable that the local Samanid dynasty, seeking support among its literate classes, should cultivate and promote local cultural traditions, literacy and literature." The main Samanid towns – Bukhara , Samarkand , Balkh , Merv , Nishapur , Khujand , Bunjikath , Hulbuk , Termez and others, became

4794-525: The Shahi dominions of Udbandpura. Following the defeat of the Indian Confederacy, after deciding to retaliate for their combined resistance, Mahmud then set out on regular expeditions against them, leaving the conquered kingdoms in the hands of Hindu vassals and annexing only the Punjab region . He also vowed to raid and loot the wealthy region of northwestern India every year. In 1001 Mahmud of Ghazni first invaded modern day Pakistan and then parts of India. Mahmud defeated, captured, and later released

4896-426: The Shahi kingdom). In 1008–1009, Mahmud defeated the Hindu Shahis in the Battle of Chach . In 1013, during Mahmud's eighth expedition into eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Shahi kingdom (which was then under Trilochanapala, son of Anandapala) was overthrown. In 1014 Mahmud led an expedition to Thanesar . The next year he unsuccessfully attacked Kashmir . The ruler of Kashmir Sangramaraja had been an ally of

4998-448: The Tahirids' authority had significantly weakened after suffering several defeats to Saffarid ruler Ya'qub al-Saffar. Hence, causing the Tahirids to lose their grip over the Samanids, who became more or less independent. Nasr I, used this opportunity to strengthen his authority by sending his brother Ismail to Bukhara , which was in an unstable condition after suffering from raids by the Afrighid dynasty of Khwarazm . When Ismail reached

5100-434: The army of Mahmud while it was on its way from Somnath to Multan . Later in 1027 CE, he avenged the attack by the Jats, who had been resisting "forced Islamisation" for the past 300 years, by ravaging their fleet in the Indus river . Even though the Jats had a bigger fleet than Mahmud, he is said to have had around 20 archers on each of his 1400 boats, stocked with "special projectiles" carrying naphtha , which he used to burn

5202-454: The city to protect it from their attacks. He died in 841/2—his two brothers Yahya and Ahmad, were then appointed as the joint rulers of the city by the Tahirid governor of Khorasan. After Yahya died in 855, Ahmad took control over Châch, thus becoming the ruler of most of Transoxiana. He died in 864/5; his son Nasr I received Farghana and Samarkand, while his other son Ya'qub received Châch (areas around modern Tashkent/Chachkent). Meanwhile,

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5304-430: The city, he was warmly received by its inhabitants, who saw him as one who could restore order. After not so long, disagreement over where to distribute tax money caused a conflict between the brothers. Ismail was eventually victorious in the dynastic struggle and took control of the Samanid state. However, Nasr had been the one who had been invested with Transoxiana, and the Abbasid caliphs continued to recognize him as

5406-499: The cloud, how it cries like a grieving man Another prominent poet was Shahid Balkhi , born in the village of Jakhudanak near Balkh. Not much is known about his life, but he is mentioned as being one of the best poets in the court of Nasr II, and one of the best scholars of the age. He was also a student of Rudaki, and had close relations with him. He died in 936, a few years before Rudaki's death. His death saddened Rudaki, who afterwards wrote an emotional elegy about him. Daqiqi, who

5508-412: The commander of his army, and sent him on an expedition against the Saffarid ruler Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar in Sistan . After facing defeat in battle near Pushang in 857, he fled to Nishapur , only to be captured by Ya'qub al-Saffar and sent to Sistan as a hostage. In 839/40, Nuh seized Isfijab from the nomadic pagan Turks living in the steppe. Consequently, he had a wall constructed around

5610-512: The current European sense of history than did the other sources. The last four years of Mahmud's life were spent contending with the influx of Oghuz and Seljuk Turks from Central Asia and the Buyid dynasty. Initially, after being repulsed by Mahmud, the Seljuks retired to Khwarezm , but Togrül and Çagrı led them to capture Merv and Nishapur (1028–1029). Later, they repeatedly raided and traded territory with his successors across Khorasan and Balkh and even sacked Ghazni in 1037. In 1040, at

5712-432: The defences of Bukhara and Samarkand went unused. However, this later had consequences; at the end of the dynasty, the walls—earlier strong, but now falling apart—were greatly missed by the Samanids, who were constantly under attack by the Karakhanids and other enemies. Ismail died in November 907, and was succeeded by his son Ahmad Samani (r. 907–914). Not long after his accession, Ahmad invaded Sistan; by 911, Sistan

5814-428: The extinction of Eastern Iranian languages like Bactrian and Khwarezmian with only a tiny amount of Sogdian -descended Yaghnobi speakers remaining among the now Persian-speaking Tajik population of Central Asia. This was due to the fact that the Arab-Islamic army which invaded Central Asia at the time also included some Persians who later governed the region like the Samanids. Persian was rooted into Central Asia by

5916-413: The fall of the Samanid Empire. He later completed a second version of the Shahnameh in 1010, which he presented to the Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud. However, his work was not as appreciated by the Ghaznavids as it had been by the Samanids. Under the Samanid Empire, the Zarafshan valley, Kashka Darya and Usrushana were populated by Sogdians ; Tukharistan by the Bactrians; Khwarezm by the Khwarazmians;

6018-455: The first centre of Persian literature , into one of the leading cities of Central Asia, patronizing scholars, establishing colleges, laying out gardens, and building mosques, palaces, and caravansaries. Mahmud brought whole libraries from Ray and Isfahan to Ghazni. He even demanded that the Khwarizmshah court send its men of learning to Ghazni. Mahmud patronized the notable poet Ferdowsi, who after laboring 27 years, went to Ghazni and presented

6120-462: The governor of Greater Khorasan, Ghassan ibn Abbad, rewarded the four sons of Asad ibn Saman for their aid against the rebel Rafi ibn al-Layth . Nuh ibn Asad received Samarkand ; Ahmad ibn Asad received Farghana ; Yahya ibn Asad received Tashkent , and Ilyas ibn Asad received Herat . Ilyas died in 856, and his son Ibrahim ibn Ilyas became his successor. The Tahirid governor of Khorasan, Muhammad ibn Tahir , subsequently appointed him as

6222-453: The hands of Mahmud's father, who had controlled Ghazni in the late 980s and had cost Jayapala extensive territory. His son Anandapala succeeded him and continued the struggle to avenge his father's suicide. In the Battle of Chach , he assembled a powerful confederacy that suffered defeat as his elephant turned back from the battle at a crucial moment, turning the tide in Mahmud's favor once more at Lahore in 1008 and bringing Mahmud control of

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6324-416: The heir of the Saffarids. In the spring of 900, Amr clashed with Ismail near Balkh , but was defeated and taken into captivity. Ismail thereafter sent him to Baghdad, where he was executed. Ismail was thereafter recognized as the ruler of all of Khorasan and Transoxiana by the caliph. Furthermore, he also received the investiture over Tabaristan , Ray and Isfahan . It was also during this period that

6426-545: The iconoclastic historiography of this incident. Thapar quoted Majumdar (1956): But, as is well known, Hindu sources do not give any information regarding the raids of Sultan Mahmud, so that what follows is based solely on the testimony of Muslim authors. Thapar also argued against the prevalent narrative: Yet in a curiously contradictory manner, the Turko-Persian narratives were accepted as historically valid and even their internal contradictions were not given much attention, largely because they approximated more closely to

6528-401: The kings of this realm are Persian kings." The Samanid dynasty was founded by Saman Khuda , his descendants became rulers of the Samanid Empire. He was a dehqan of Iranian origin from the village of Saman in Balkh province , in present-day northern Afghanistan. The earliest appearance of the Samanid family appears to be in Greater Khorasan rather than Transoxiana . In some sources,

6630-412: The landscape of Punjab region . After the decline of the Mughal Empire , the Sikh Empire invaded and occupied Rawalpindi District . The local Muslims faced restrictions and oppression during the Sikh rule in the area. In 1849, the area was then conquered by the British after the Second Anglo-Sikh War . During the period of British rule , Kahuta Tehsil increased in population and importance. In

6732-459: The last Ghaznavid stronghold at Lahore in 1187. Despite Mahmud's remarkable abilities as a military commander, he failed to consolidate his empire's conquests with subtle authority. Mahmud also lacked the genius for administration and could not build long term enduring institutions in his state during his reign. The military of Pakistan has named its short-range ballistic missile the Ghaznavi Missile in honour of Mahmud of Ghazni. In addition,

6834-540: The latest census of Pakistan which was held in 2017. The tribes living in Kahuta include the Janjua Rajput, Shaikhs, Awans, Dhund Abbasi, Jasgam Abbasi, Sudhan, Syed, Satti, Gakkhar, Gujjar, Khattar, Qazi, Janhal, Mughal, Chauhan, Siddiqui and Dhanyal. Mahmud of Ghazni Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin ( Persian : ابوالقاسم محمود بن سبکتگین , romanized :  Abu al-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sabuktigīn ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( محمود غزنوی ),

6936-515: The major cultural centres under the state. Scholars, poets, artists and other men of education from many Muslim countries assembled in the Samanid capital of Bukhara, where a rich soil was created for the prosper of creative thought, thus making it one of the most distinguished cultural centres of the Eastern world. An outstanding library known as Siwān al-Hikma ("Storehouse of Wisdom") was put together in Bukhara, known for its various types of books. Due to extensive excavations at Nishapur , Iran, in

7038-508: The mid-twentieth century, Samanid pottery is well-represented in Islamic art collections around the world. These ceramics are largely made from earthenware and feature either calligraphic inscriptions of Arabic proverbs, or colorful figural decorations. The Arabic proverbs often speak to the values of "Adab" culture—hospitality, generosity, and modesty. In commending the Samanids, the epic Persian poet Ferdowsi says of them: کجا آن بزرگان ساسانیان ز بهرامیان تا به سامانیان "Where have all

7140-579: The more experienced and older Mahmud is uncertain. It may have been due to Ismail's mother being the daughter of Sabuktigin's old master, Alptigin . Mahmud shortly revolted, and with the help of his other brother, Abu'l-Muzaffar, the governor of Bust , he defeated Ismail the following year at the battle of Ghazni and gained control over the Ghaznavid kingdom. That year, in 998, Mahmud then traveled to Balkh and paid homage to Amir Abu'l-Harith Mansur b. Nur II . He then appointed Abu'l-Hasan Isfaraini as his vizier , and then set out west from Ghazni to take

7242-432: The present Zoroastrian population. Despite the fact that the Samanids professed Sunni Islam, however, they were much more tolerant towards its Zoroastrian population than the previous empires. Through zealous missionary work as many as 30,000 tents of Turks came to profess Islam and later under the Ghaznavids more than 55,000 under the Hanafi school of thought. The mass conversion of the Turks to Islam eventually led to

7344-656: The region, and Isma'il decided it necessary to flee again. In 1003 Isma'il came back to Transoxiana, where he requested and received assistance from the Oghuz Turks of the Zarafshan valley. They defeated the Karakhanids in several battles, even when Nasr Khan was involved. For various reasons, however, Isma'il came to feel that he could not rely on the Oghuz to restore him, so he went back to Khorasan. He tried to gain Mahmud's support for

7446-459: The region. In 935, Nasr II re-established Samanid control in Gurgan and made Mardavij's successor Vushmgir his vassal. However, in 939 he declared independence, but was defeated the following year at Iskhabad . In 943 several Samanid army officers, angry at Nasr's support of Isma'ili missionaries, formed a conspiracy to murder him. Nasr's son Nuh I , however, learned of the conspiracy. He went to

7548-570: The region. Anandapala flees to Kashmir , fort in the hills on the western border of Kashmir . Under the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni, the region broke away from the Samanid sphere of influence. While he acknowledged the Abbasids as caliph as a matter of form, he was also granted the title Sultan in recognition of his independence. Following Mahmud's recognition by the Abbasid caliphate in 999, he pledged

7650-527: The rightful ruler. Because of this, Ismail continued to recognize his brother as well, but Nasr was completely powerless, a situation that would continue until his death in August 892. Following Nasr's death, Ismail moved the capital of the Samanid dynasty from Samarkand to Bukhara. A few months later the Saffarid emir, Ya'qub al-Saffar, also died and was succeeded by his brother Amr ibn al-Layth , who saw himself as

7752-577: The royal garden. He was often generous to them, paying unstintingly for their works according to their talent and worth. Samanids The Samanid Empire ( Persian : سامانیان , romanized :  Sāmāniyān ) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, ruled by a dynasty of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Khorasan and Transoxiana , at its greatest extent encompassing northeastern Iran and Central Asia , from 819 to 999. Four brothers— Nuh , Ahmad , Yahya , and Ilyas —founded

7854-496: The same time preserving an ideological link to the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphs . During his rule, he invaded and plundered the richest cities and temple towns, such as Mathura and Somnath in medieval India seventeen times, and used the booty to build his capital in Ghazni. Mahmud was born in the town of Ghazni in the region of Zabulistan (in present-day Afghanistan ) on 2 November 971. His father, Sabuktigin ,

7956-454: The slave markets of Afghanistan. Mahmud used his plundered wealth to finance his armies which included mercenaries. The Indian soldiers, whom Romila Thapar presumed to be Hindus , were one of the components of the army with their commander called sipahsalar -i-Hinduwan and lived in their own quarter of Ghazna practicing their own religion. Indian soldiers under their commander Suvendhray remained loyal to Mahmud. They were also used against

8058-546: The southeast, particularly the highly fertile lands of the Punjab region . Mahmud's first campaign to the south was against an Ismaili state first established at Multan in 965 by a da'i from the Fatimid Caliphate in a bid to curry political favor and recognition with the Abbasid Caliphate ; he also engaged elsewhere with the Fatimids. At this point, Jayapala attempted to exact revenge for an earlier military defeat at

8160-472: The state affairs. Jaihani was not only an experienced administrator, but also a prominent geographer and greatly educated man. Almost right after Nasr II had ascended the throne, several revolts erupted, the most dangerous one being under his paternal grand-uncle, Ishaq ibn Ahmad, who seized Samarkand and began minting coins there, while his son Abu Salih Mansur seized Nishapur and several cities in Khorasan. Ishaq

8262-441: The time he was suspicious of his ministers, particularly of the wazir, and the following words are widely believed to be his: "wazirs are the enemies of kings..." Sultan Mahmud had numerous spies (called mushrifs ) across his empire, supervised by the special department within his diwan. Mahmud was a patron of literature, especially poetry, and he was occasionally found in the company of talented poets either in his palace or in

8364-585: The title (as it appears from his tomb inscription ) of al-ḥājeb al-ajall (most noble commander). He would later be the founder of an independent dynasty based in Ghazna, following the decline of the Samanid Empire in the 990s. The power of the Samanids began to crumble in the latter half of the 10th century. In 962, one of the ghulams , Alp Tigin , commander of the army in Khorasan, seized Ghazna and established himself there. His successors, however, including Sebük Tigin , continued to rule as Samanid "governors". With

8466-579: The weakened Samanids facing rising challenges from the Karakhanids for control of Transoxiana , Sebük later took control of all the provinces south of the Oxus and established the Ghaznavid Empire . In 992, a Karakhanid , Harun Bughra Khan, grandson of the paramount tribal chief of the Karluk confederation Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan , captured Bukhara , the Samanid capital. Harun died shortly afterwards, however, and

8568-543: The year 1849, Kahuta along with much of the South Asia became part of British India , the undivided tehsil (which includes what is now Kallar Syedan Tehsil ) is described in the "Imperial Gazetteer of India" as follows: Kahuta-Eastern tehsil of Rawalpindi District, Punjab, lying in the Lower Himalayas, between 33° 18′ and 33° 48′ N. and 73° 15′ and 73° 39′ E., with an area of 206 square miles. Its eastern border rests upon

8670-447: Was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire , ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usually known by his honorific title Yamin al-Dawla ( یمین‌ الدوله , lit.   ' Right Hand of the State ' ). At the time of his death, his kingdom had been transformed into an extensive military empire, which extended from northwestern Iran proper to the Punjab in

8772-441: Was a Turkic slave commander who laid foundations to the Ghaznavid dynasty in Ghazni in 977, which he ruled as a subordinate of the Samanids , who ruled Khorasan and Transoxiana . Mahmud's mother was a local woman of possible Iranian descent from a landowning aristocrat family in the region of Zabulistan, and he is therefore known in some sources as Mahmud-i Zavuli ("Mahmud from Zabulistan"). Not much about Mahmud's early life

8874-499: Was a large amount of growth in literature, mostly in poetry. It was during the Samanid period that Persian literature appeared in Transoxiana and was formally recognized. The advancement of an Islamic New Persian literature thus started in Transoxiana and Khorasan instead of Fars , the homeland of the Persians. The best known poets of the Samanid period were Rudaki (d. 941), Daqiqi (d. 977) and Ferdowsi (d. 1020). Although Persian

8976-502: Was a native of Tus , began his career at the court of the Muhtajid ruler Abu'l Muzaffar ibn Muhammad in Chaghaniyan , and was later invited to the Samanid court. Under the Samanids, a special interest arose in ancient Iranian legends and heroic traditions, thus inspiring Daqiqi to write the Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings"), a long epic poem based on the history of the Iranians. However, by his death in 977, he had only managed to complete

9078-513: Was a rival to Baghdad in its glory. Scholars note that the Samanids revived Persian language and culture more than the Buyids and the Saffarids while continuing to use Arabic for sciences as well as religious studies. They considered themselves to be descendants of the Sasanian Empire . In a famous edict, Samanid authorities declared that "here, in this region, the language is Persian, and

9180-496: Was again not able to advance beyond the Loharkot fort. After the two failed invasion attempts, he did not attempt to invade Kashmir again. In 1018 Mahmud attacked Mathura and defeated a coalition of rulers there while also killing a ruler called Chandrapala. The city of Mathura was "ruthlessly sacked, ravaged, desecrated and destroyed". In particular, Al-utbi mentioned in his work Tarikh-e-yamini , that Mahmud Ghaznavi destroyed

9282-567: Was eventually defeated and captured, while Abu Salih Mansur died of natural causes in 915. Some time later Nasr II once again had to deal with rebels; in 919, the governor of Khorasan, Husayn ibn Ali Marvarrudhi, rebelled against Samanid authority. Nasr responded by sending an army under Ahmad ibn Sahl to suppress the rebellion, which the latter managed to accomplish. After a few weeks, however, Ahmad shortly rebelled himself at Nishapur, made incursions into Gorgan, and then fortified himself in Merv to avoid

9384-555: Was followed by a punitive invasion of Anhilwara . Some historians claim that there are records of pilgrimages to the temple in 1038 that do not mention damage to the temple. However, powerful legends with intricate detail had developed regarding Mahmud's raid in the Turko-Persian literature, which "electrified" the Muslim world according to scholar Meenakshi Jain . Historians including Thapar, Eaton, and A. K. Majumdar have questioned

9486-497: Was imprisoned by the Karakhanids after their conquest of Bukhara in 999. Some time later, Isma'il managed to escape to Khwarazm, where he gained support. Driving the Karakhanids out of Bukhara, he then moved on to and captured Samarkand. The approach of the Karakhanid army, however, forced Isma'il to give up all of his possessions, following which he travelled to Khorasan, where he captured Nishapur. Mahmud's army, however, made its way to

9588-405: Was managed by the mustawfi , diplomatic correspondence and important state papers by the diwanal-rasa'il , and the royal guard and military affairs by the sahib al-shurta . The main responsibility of both governors and local rulers was to collect taxes and support the Samanid ruler with troops if needed. The most important province in the Samanid Empire was Khorasan, which was initially given to

9690-407: Was nearly killed. Following this, he sought the hospitality of an Arab tribe near Merv . Their chief, however, killed Isma'il in 1005. His death marked the defeat of the last attempt to restore the Samanid state. Descendants of the Samanid family continued to live in Transoxiana where they were well regarded, but their power was relatively broken. Along with several other states, the Samanid Empire

9792-517: Was part of the Iranian Intermezzo , or "Persian renaissance". This period has been described as having a key importance in the formation of the Islamic civilization, both politically and culturally. In political terms, it saw an effective break up of the Abbasid power and the rise of several successor states such as the Samanids and Buyids while in cultural terms, it witnessed the rise of new Persian as an administrative and literary language. The system of

9894-445: Was spread deep into the heartlands of Central Asia by the Samanids. Following the first complete translation of the Qur'an into Persian in the 9th century, populations under the Samanid empire began accepting Islam in significant numbers. The arabization of the Samanids was clearly minimal compared to the almost entirely arabized Tahirids. Despite Arabic literature and science flourishing in

9996-410: Was successful; Muhammad ibn Zayd was killed and Tabaristan was conquered by the Samanids. However, Muhammad ibn Harun shortly revolted, forcing Ismail himself to invade the region the following year. Muhammad ibn Harun thereafter fled to Daylam , while Ismail reconquered Tabaristan and Gorgan. In 901, Amr Saffari was defeated at the battle of Balkh by the Samanids, which reduced the Saffarid dynasty to

10098-449: Was the following year murdered by some of his slaves in a tent near Bukhara. During his reign, Ahmad is also said to have replaced the language of the court from Persian to Arabic , which made him unpopular among his subjects, and forced him to change it back to Persian. After Ahmad's death, his eight-year-old son Nasr II (r. 914–943) succeeded him. Due to Nasr's youth, his prime minister Abu 'Abd-Allah al-Jaihani took care over most of

10200-469: Was the most-favored language, Arabic continued to enjoy a high status and was still popular among the members of the Samanid family. For example, al-Tha'alibi wrote an Arabic anthology named Yatimat al-Dahr ("The Unique Pearl"). The fourth section of the anthology included a detailed account of the poets that lived under the Samanids. It also states that the poets of Khwarazm mostly wrote in Arabic. The acknowledged founder of Persian classical poetry, and

10302-469: Was under complete Samanid control, and Ahmad's cousin Abu Salih Mansur was appointed as its governor. Meanwhile, an Alid named Hasan al-Utrush was slowly re-establishing Zaydi over Tabaristan. In 913, Ahmad sent an army under Muhammad ibn Sa'luk to deal with him. Although the Samanid army was much larger, Hasan managed to emerge victorious. Ahmad, before he could plan another expedition to Tabaristan,

10404-522: Was unpopular with the people of Bukhara, and Nuh soon retaliated by retaking the city and blinding Ibrahim and two brothers. When Abu Ali Chaghani received the news of the re-capture of Bukhara, he once again marched towards it, but was defeated by an army sent by Nuh and withdrew back to Chaghaniyan. After some time, he left the region and tried to obtain support from other Samanid vassals. Meanwhile, Nuh had Chaghaniyan ravaged and its capital sacked. Another battle shortly ensued between Abu 'Ali Chaghani and

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