The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c6.s1.6

c6.s1.6

city. He soon returned in 543/1148 and, taking advantage of the absence of the Ghoride troops, sent home for the winter, seized Saifuddin and sent his head to Sanjar¹. Alauddin Hussain, Saifuddin's younger brother, then advanced on Ghazni and wreaked a terrible vengeance; after plundering the city he set fire to the buildings, which were left burning for seven days, and massacred the whole population². This action which earned him the unenviable nickname of *Jahan Soz* (the world-burner), combined with his refusal to pay the stipulated tribute due from Bahram, enraged Sanjar whom he had already provoked by unwarrantedly capturing Herat and Balkh³ during his preoccupation with Atsiz's rebellion. His consequent defeat and imprisonment has already been aluded to¹. His wit and refined intelligence, however, impressed his captor who restored him to his principality. Taking advantage of Sanjar's subsequent captivity, Alauddin later conquered Bamian, Tukharistan, the districts of Jarum and Bust, and reduced Garjistan in the valley of the Murghab river; he even made an inroad into Khurasan by capturing Tulak near Herat². His conquests in Balkh and Tukharistan, however, were soon lost to the Ghuzz while one of their allies, Aetigin, possessed himself of Herat. The 'world-burner' died in 1161³, and was succeeded by another of his brothers named Saifuddin who recovered and successfully defended a part of Herat against Muayyid's attack⁴. Following his death in an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the Ghuzz from Balkh, Ghazni was also lost to them who occupied the city for twelve years⁵. Ghiyasuddin, succeeding to his cousin's throne in Ghor, however, resumed the struggle and is stated to have liberated Garmsir and Zamin Dawar⁶. The waning power of the Ghuzz enabled him to annex Faras, Kaliyun, Garjistan, Baghshor and Talqan and finally, in 568/1173-4, to recover Ghazni⁷. Sijistan also acknowledged his away and, four years later, Herat was delivered by the citizens who opposed the pro-Ghuzz policy of its ruler.¹ The Ghuzz chief of Kirman eventually accepted his vassalage; Balkh, and parts of Khurasan, adjacent to Herat, were thus gradually annexed to his growing empire.