حبیب السیر 9: Transactions in Ghurjistán.

9

In the middle of all this, Shár Sháh, King of Ghurjistán, rebelled against the Sultán and was taken prisoner; the whole of which story, collected into a small compass, amounts to this: In those times, the inhabitants of Ghurjistán called their rulers by the name of Shár, just as the Hindus call their kings Rái. In the time of Nuh bin Mansúr Sámání the Shár of Ghurjistán was Abú Nasr. This Abú Nasr, from the excessive integrity of his mind, and the inclination which he had towards the society of men of learning, resigned the reins of government into the hands of his son Muhammad. When the star of the prosperity of Yamínu-d daula had travelled to the summit of honour, having sent 'Utbí, the author of the Táríkh-i Yamíní, to the Shár, he demanded his obedience and submission. The Shár attended to his orders and to his prohibitions. The son of Shár Abú Nasr, whom they call Shár Sháh, came to the Sultán, and having been treated with much kindness and courtesy, and decorated with robes of honour, returned to his country.
After some time, the resolution of making war having come again into the mind of the Sultán, he summoned by royal mandate Shár Sháh to his presence, but through sensual imaginations and satanical delusions, he would not obey the order of the Sultán. Yamínu-d daula appointed Altúntásh the chamberlain, and Arslán Jázib, to put him out of the way, and when these two officers arrived near the royal residence of the Shár, Shár Abú Nasr took shelter with Altúntásh, and acquitted himself of all responsibility for the deeds of his son. Altúntásh sent him to Hirát, and Shár Sháh having taken refuge in a fort, gave himself up after a few days, in consideration of quarter, and the chief amírs were sent off to Ghaznín. When he arrived before Mahmúd, the Sultán showed him his mercy by only flogging him, and then shut him up in one of the forts; but the superintendent of the finances, according to the Sultán's orders, supplied him with all the necessaries of life. After this, Yamínu-d daula sent for Shár Abú Nasr from Hirát, and showed great kindness to him; he bought with gold all the villages and estates of the Shárs, and Khwája Ahmad bin Hasan Maimandí took Shár Abú Nasr under the shadow of his patronage. He died in the year 406 A.H. (1014-15 A.D.)