The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.88

v3.c20.88

The later years of Bahrām's reign were overshadowed by the menace of the growing power of the Shansabānī princes of Ghūr, who had husbanded their resources while the Ghaznavids and the Saljūqs were at strife. Qutb-ud-dīn Muhammad of Ghūr, having quarrelled with his brother, fled to Ghaznī and married a daughter of Bahrām, who, after harbouring him for some time, suspected him of plotting against him and removed him by poison. Qutb-ud-dīn's next brother, Saif-ud-dīn, prince of Ghūr, invaded the Ghaznavid dominions to avenge his brother's death, defeated Bahrām, drove him to India, and occupied Ghaznī, appointing his brother Bahā-ud-dīn Sām his lieutenant in Ghūr. In 1149 Bahrām returned suddenly from India, surprised Saif-ud-dīn, and put him to flight. He was pursued and overtaken and was induced to surrender by a promise that his life should be spared, but the perfidious Bahrām, having secured his enemy, first publicly exposed him to the derision of the populace and then put him to death. Bahā-ud-dīn Sām is said to have died of grief for his brother, and another brother, ‘Alā-ud-dīn Husain, succeeded to the principality and in 1115 took a terrible revenge for Saif-ud-dīn's death. He invaded the Ghaznavid kingdom, defeated Bahrām in three successive battles, captured Ghaznī, and burnt it to the ground. The flames raged for seven days and the outrage earned for its author the name of ‘Jahānsūz,’ ‘the World-burner.’ The remains of the kings, except Mahmūd, Mas‘ūd I and Ibrāhīm, were torn from their graves and burnt, and their tombs were destroyed, the male inhabitants, except the Sayyids¹, who were carried to Ghūr to be put to death there, were slaughtered and the women and children carried off into slavery, and ‘Alā-ud-dīn, after leaving Ghaznī, marched through other provinces of the kingdom, destroying the monuments of the taste and munificence of its former rulers.