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The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c12: 6. Mahmud of Ghazni

The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c12

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6. Mahmud of Ghazni

Rise of the Turks

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Inspite of their initial success the Arabs had not been able to extend their dominion beyond Sindh and Multan. In fact, their rule dwindled into insignificance by the middle of the ninth century A.D. It was left to the Turks to complete the work begun by the Arabs. The Turks had, a short time before our period, embraced Islam and possessed all the zeal and narrowmindedness of neophytes. They were intrepid, brave, full of boundless energy and push and thoroughly materialistic in their outlook. Islam had given them a thin veneer of religiosity. They were inordinately ambitious and their qualities and faults combined to make them eminently fit for founding a big military empire in the east.

Their early raids : Sabuktigin

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The Turks who first came into contact with India belonged to an upstart ruling family of Ghazni. A Turkish adventurer named Alaptagin, who was originally a slave and vassal of the Samanid king of Khurasan and Bukhara, established himself as an independent ruler at Ghazni in 962 A.D. One of his successors, named Pirai, signalized his rule by undertaking an invasion of the Indian territory in the possession of the raja of the Panjab. This raja, who belonged to the Hindushahi dynasty, ruled over an extensive territory extending from the river Chenab to the Hindukush mountain, including Kabul. The Hindushahi kingdom had once embraced the whole of modern Afghanistan which was geographically and culturally a part of India. Politically, too, though not continuously, it had been a province of our country since the days of Chandragupta Maurya in the third century B.C. The royal house of this 'Kingdom of Kabul and Zabul' had manfully resisted the Arab aggression. In 664 A.D., however, the latter succeeded in encroaching upon a part of its territory and converting 12,000 of its inhabitants to Islam. For more than three hundred years the Shahi kings fought bravely, and with considerable success, though single-handed, in self-defence, against This page appears to be completely blank.

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INDIA IN 1030 A.D. Mahmud of Ghazni.

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their aggressive Muslim neighbours, first the Arabs and then the Turks. The nascent kingdom of Ghazni wanted to blot this Shahi kingdom out of existence, for it had barred its path of progress to India. Accordingly, Pirai's foreign policy was followed by his successor, Sabuktigin who was a slave and son-in-law of Alaptagin and became king of Ghazni in April 977 A.D. Sabuktigin was a powerful and ambitious chief. Inspite of his constant occupation in Central Asian politics, he found time to raid the frontier of India. Jaipala, the raja of the Panjab, being conscious of the danger of the existence of a rising kingdom in his immediate neighbourhood, pursued the policy of trying to nip the evil in the bud. So he invaded Ghazni with a large force in 986-87 A.D. The parties were wellmatched and neither side seemed to give in. Unfortunately, however, owing to a great storm, which disorganised Jaipala's army, the raja had to agree to a peace by which he promised a large indemnity and fifty elephants and some territory to Sabuktigin. But, on his return to Lahore, he repudiated these humiliating terms. Sabuktigin now retaliated by an invasion of the raja's territory and plundering Lamghan. Jaipala called to his aid a number of rulers of the Indian principalities, and marched on Ghazni at the head of a powerful force. In the contest that followed Sabuktigin was again victorious, and he captured Lamghan and Peshawar.

Accession of Mahmud

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Sabuktigin died in 997 A.D. and was succeeded by his famous son, Mahmud, though not without a war of succession between him and his younger brother, Ismail, who was nominated heir by their dying father. Mahmud was born on 1st November 971 A.D., and was, at the time of his accession in 998 A.D., twenty-seven years of age. At that time his kingdom comprised Afghanistan and Khurasan. Mahmud secured the formal recognition of his sovereignty from the Caliph of Baghdad (al-Qadir Billah). He was also given the title Yamin-ud-Daulah and Amin-ul-Millah. His dynasty is, therefore, known as the Yamini dynasty.

His character

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Mahmud was an extremely ambitious young man. It is said that on the occasion of his investiture by the Khalifa he took a vow to undertake every year an expedition against the infidels of India. He tried to fulfil this vow. Mahmud was not gifted with kingly looks. He was a man of medium height and of strong build, but was rather ugly looking. He did not possess extraordinary personal prowess. Nevertheless, he was a great general and also an equally good soldier. He was an extremely intelligent and shrewd man, endowed with the royal gift of judging human character. His outstanding virtues were cool courage, prudence and resourcefulness. He was, moreover, a man of restless activity and overpowering ambition. He possessed a habitual air of command and was adept in statecraft. He considered no body as indispensable and used every one he came into contact with as an instrument for the attainment of his object. Professor Muhammad Habib says that his outlook on life was essentially secular and that he was not a man to follow the Muslim *ulema* blindly. He was not, according to this learned author, a fanatic. Mahmud’s life and his deeds, however, demonstrate the fact that he was, without doubt, devoted to his religion and that he believed that he was serving the cause of Islam in carrying unprovoked war into the territory of the Hindu idolators. His court historian, Utbi, looked upon Mahmud’s expeditions to India as *jihad*, that is, holy war for the extirpation of idolatry and propagation of Islam. “Sultan Mahmud,” he writes in his *Tarikh-i-Yamini*, “at first designed in his heart to go to Sijistan, but subsequently preferred to engage previously in a *holy war against Hind*.” Utbi adds that he called a council of his officers “*in order to secure* a blessing on his design of *exalting the standard of religion, widening* the plain of right, of illuminating the words of truth and strengthening the power of justice.” These words clearly show that Mahmud’s contemporaries believed that one of the main objects of his aggressive policy against our country was to serve his religion. There were, of course, other reasons. Mahmud was an ambitious man and wanted to rule over as big an empire as a man could possibly create. He was fond of wealth, as all powerful people are, and he had heard of the stories of India’s fabulous riches. He was, moreover, a warrior thirsting for military glory. Besides, being a realist, he might, possibly have considered the continued existence of a hostile Hindu power in his immediate neighbourhood as a menace to his independent existence, or, at any rate, to his policy of expansion. For all these reasons Mahmud decided, almost immediately after his accession, to pursue a policy of aggressive warfare against Hindustan.

His Indian expeditions

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Historians are divided in their opinion regarding the number of Mahmud's invasions on India. Our authorities are so conflicting that it is not possible to ascertain correctly from their statements their exact number. Nor is it very necessary to do so. Some of the most important of these invasions must, however, be noted.¹ The earliest of them took place in 1000 A.D. when Mahmud occupied a few frontier forts. Next he proceeded against Jaipala who is branded by his enlightened historian as 'the enemy of God'. The Sultan had taken all possible precautions in this expedition and selected 15,000 of his picked cavalrymen by a personal inspection of the members of his army. A well-contested battle was fought near Peshawar on 27th November, 1001 A.D. Mahmud's cavalry manoeuvres proved to be effective and, inspite of his valour, Jaipala suffered defeat. He was taken prisoner along with his sons and grandsons and a number of important relatives and officers. Utbi writes that they "being strongly bound with ropes, were carried before the Sultan, like as evil-doers, on whose faces the fumes of infidelity are evident......and will be bound and carried to Hell. Some had their arms forcibly tied behind their backs, some were seized by the cheek, some were driven by blows on the neck." Mahmud's men appropriated a necklace of gems and rubies from the neck of Jaipala whose value was two lakhs of dinars, and similar ornaments from the raja's companions. The victors got spoils 'beyond all bounds of calculation'. Jaipala was released on promise to pay a huge ransom and to surrender fifty of his elephants. Mahmud followed his victory by advance to Wai Mahmud and his hordes and whetted their appetite for fresh conquests and booty.

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Mahmud's next important invasion was directed against Multan which was ruled over by Fateh Daud who was a Karmathian. The Karmathians were heterodox Shia Muslims and were hated by orthodox Sunnis. As a preliminary to the conquest of Multan, Mahmud led an expedition to Bhera on the left bank of the Jhelam. Anandapala opposed the invader; but he was hustled out of the way, and in 1006 A.D. Mahmud marched upon Multan which he conquered. This new conquest was placed in the hands of Sukhapala, a grandson of Jaipala, who was one of the hostages taken by Mahmud to Ghazni after the final defeat of Jaipala and was there made to embrace Islam. He was called Nausha Shah. Sukhapala, however, adjured his new religion and revolted against Mahmud, who returned to Multan in 1008 A.D. and captured and imprisoned him and Daud. Multan, thus, became a part of Mahmud's wide kingdom.

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By allying himself with the Karmathian Daud, Anandapala had given great offence to Mahmud. On the other hand, the conquest of Multan by the ruler of Afghanistan had exposed Anandapala's dominion to attack from two directions. A final and decisive clash between the antagonists was, therefore, only a question of time. Moreover, Mahmud felt that without occupying the Panjab he could not hope to penetrate into the heart of Hindustan and reap the harvests of rich plunder. Anandapala, too, did not fail to appreciate the significance of these developments. He collected a large army, which was probably reinforced by contingents from the neighbouring princes who were anxious to stem the tide of the Turkish expansion. At the head of this force Anandapala proceeded towards Peshawar. Mahmud met him on the plain opposite Waihand near about the year 1009 A.D. and succeeded in inflicting a crippling blow upon the *raja*. The Indian army broke down and it retreated in disorder. Mahmud pursued them and besieged the fort of Nagarkot near Kangara. This fort fell into the enemy's hands after three days' stubborn resistance. Mahmud acquired rich booty here, including immense gold and various other precious commodities. The entire country from the Indus to Nagarkot fell into the hands of the victor. Utbi, the historian of Mahmud, writes that at Nagarkot so much booty was acquired that "the treasures were laden on the backs of as many camels as they could procure, and the officers carried away the rest. The stamped coin amounted to 70,000 royal *dirhams* and the gold and silver ingots amounted to seven lakhs and 400 *mans* in weight, besides wearing apparel and fine clothes of Sus, respecting which old men said that they never remembered to have seen so fine, soft and embroidered. Among the booty was a house of white silver, like to the houses of rich men, the length of which was thirty yards and the breadth fifteen. It could be taken to pieces and put together again. And there was a canopy made of the linen of Rum, forty yards long and twenty broad, supported on two golden and two silver poles, which had been cast in moulds."

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The Hindushahi kingdom had now shrunk to a small principality, yet Anandapala, its brave ruler, did not lose his spirits. In fact, his repeated reverses made him all the more determined to resist the enemy to the bitter end. He shifted his capital to Nandanah, situated on the northern spur of the Salt Range. He gathered a small army and made an attempt to consolidate his position in the Salt Range region. He died here a peaceful death and was succeeded by his son, Trilochanapala. The new ruler, like his father, had no peace, for Mahmud went on gradually advancing and, in 1014 A.D., captured Nandanah after a brief siege in which Trilochanapala's son, Bhimapala, played an important part. After this defeat Trilochanapala took shelter in Kashmir. But Mahmud pursued him there and defeated a combined army of Trilochanapala and his new ally, Tunga, the commander of the Kashmir ruler. Mahmud did not consider it safe to penetrate into Kashmir, but Trilochanapala, too, did not like to end his days as a refugee in Kashmir. His ambition was to rule over the Panjab, his ancestral kingdom, and, therefore, he returned to the eastern part of the Panjab and established himself in the Sivalik hills. He entered into an alliance with the Chandela ruler of Bundelkhand, named Vidyadhar, who was one of the most powerful princes in northern India. Mahmud wanted to break this alliance and with that end in view he came to India once again in 1009 A.D. and defeated Trilochanapala in a battle near the Rama Ganga. Trilochanapala had now only nominal territory to rule over. The decline in his fortunes gave rise to dissensions among his followers, and he was assassinated by some of them in 1021-22 A.D. He was succeeded by his son, Bhimapala, who was but a petty chieftain. He died in 1026 A.D., and with him came to an end the once glorious and mighty Hindushahi dynasty of north-western Hindustan.

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The decline and decay of the Hindushahi kingdom, which was the first to bear the brunt of the Turkish onslaught, enabled Mahmud to penetrate into the heart of Hindustan. First of all he seiged, in 1004 A.D., the fort of Bhatinda which lay on the route from the north-west into the rich Ganga valley. It was bravely defended by the local ruler, named Bijai Rai, but Mahmud’s superior military strength succeeded in capturing it. All the inhabitants of the place, except those who became converts to Islam, were put to the sword. A huge booty was captured. Next, he decided to cover the flank of the Hindushahi territory so as not to leave the possibility of any danger from that side threatening his line of communication or the rear of the army of invasion. That was why he decided to conquer Multan from Fateh Daud, the Karmathian, in 1006 A.D., as already related.

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In 1009 A.D. Mahmud defeated Anandapala near Waihand and captured Nagarkot. In the same year he acquired possession of Narainpur in the modern district of Alwar. This place had great commercial importance and had become the emporium of foreign articles from Central Asia as well as indigenous ones from the various parts of our country. In 1014 A.D. Mahmud started from Ghazni in order to capture the sacred city of Thaneshwar, hallowed by the temple of Chakraswami. On his way to the place he was encountered by a Hindu ruler who inflicted a very heavy loss on Mahmud’s army; but, when he reached Thaneshwar, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the people offered no resistance whatever. Mahmud plundered the city and sent the image of Chakraswami to Ghazni where it was cast in the public square.

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Between 1015 and 1021 A D. Mahmud made two unsuccessful attempts to conquer Kashmir, but he was baffled both the times. At last he gave up the idea of enslaving that Happy Valley.

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Owing to the annihilation of the Hindushahi kingdom the flood-gates of Turkish invasions were opened up to submerge the very heart of Hindustan. Eager to exploit the opportunity to the best advantage, Mahmud now directed his march towards the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. He started from Ghazni in 1018 A.D. and proceeded towards Mathura which was one of the most thickly populated and wealthy cities. It was, moreover, the Hindu Bethelehem, being the birth-place of Shri Krishna. Mahmud found it a well-protected city, beautified by an array of imposing temples; but the garrison made no attempt to defend this holy city or its artistic shrines. The invading army destroyed many temples and captured immense treasure that had been accumulated there for generations. An idea of the splendour of Mathura and the destruction wrought by the Muslim fanatical invader can be had from a description of that city given by Utbi who says : “He (Mahmud) saw a city of wonderful fabric and conception, so that one might say there is a building of paradise, but its accidents or qualities could only come by the aid of the infernals, and an intelligent man would hardly receive favourably the account of it……Around it………they had placed 1,000 castles built of stones which they had made idol temples……And in the midst of the city they had built a temple higher than all, to delineate the beauty and decoration of which the pen of all writers and the pencils of all painters would be powerless, and would not be able to attain to the power fixing their minds upon it and considering it.” In the Memoir which the Sultan wrote of his journey he thus declares : “If any one should undertake to build a fabric like that he would expend thereon one lakh packets of a thousand dinar, and would not complete it in 200 years, with the assistance of the most ingenious architects.” These temples, according to Utbi, contained valuable idols of pure gold, five of which were of the height of five cubits, and in one of which there was a jacinth of the value of more than 50,000 *dinars*. Another idol had a sapphire of one solid piece, of azure water, of the value of 400 fine *miskals*. The invaders acquired a huge treasure buried under the feet of many an idol. They got from the feet of one *idol* as much treasure as was of the value of four lakh *miskals* of gold. There were many idols of silver which, too, were equally costly. Mahmud devastated the entire city and plundered it from one corner to the other. Vrindavan witnessed the same scene of plunder and arson, massacre and rape.

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From Mathura Mahmud proceeded to Kanauj which was the imperial seat of northern India since the days of the great Harsha. It was ruled by Rajyapala, the last Gurjara-Pratihara ruler, who fled as soon as he heard of the news of Mahmud's approach. The city was besieged and conquered without much resistance. It witnessed the same plunder and massacre that the holy city of Mathura had already seen. Here, too, Mahmud acquired treasure and booty ‘beyond all calculation’. After this he returned to Ghazni, conquering a few small forts on the way.

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The desecration and destruction of the beautiful temples of the holy Mathura touched the conscience of some of the notable leaders, prominent among whom was the Chandela ruler of Bundelkhand. This notable chief (who is variously called Ganda or Vidyadhar), made an attempt to organise a league of some prominent rulers for the defence of their religion and country. The members of this league were dissatisfied with Rajyapala of Kanauj who had fled from his capital without offering any resistance to the invader. So they attacked Rajyapala and defeated and killed him. This brought Mahmud once again to our country, for he was naturally anxious to prevent the formation of a league against him. Starting from Ghazni at the end of 1019 A.D., he met opposition from Trilochanapala of the Hindushahi dynasty. Trilochanapala was defeated and Mahmud proceeded towards Bundelkhand. The Chandela prince tried to obstruct his passage and met him at the head of a powerful army. But, for some unrecorded reason, he left the field during the night, and Mahmud, who was about to give way to despair at the sight of so big a force, ravaged the Chandela territory and became the master of an enormous booty. He returned to Ghazni in 1022.

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Towards the end of the same year he returned to India to crush the power of the Chandelas. While on his way to Kalinjar, an important Chandela fortress, he tried to capture Gwalior, the ruler of which was one of the feudatories of the Chandela prince; but Gwalior was so formidable a fortress that it could not be captured. Mahmud did not like to be delayed on the way and so he made peace with the Kachhawaha ruler of that place and resumed his journey to Kalinjar. Kalinjar was besieged, but it could not be easily captured. The siege lasted for a long time and Mahmud, anxious to return to Ghazni, made peace with the Chandela prince who agreed to the payment of a tribute in the form of 300 elephants. It is said that the Chandel ruler even composed a poem in praise of the invader which so pleased Mahmud that he rewarded him with the government of fifteen fortresses. After this peace he returned to Ghazni with his spoils.

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Mahmud’s last famous expedition to Hindustan was that to Somanath. It is said that the Brahmans of the Somanath temple, situated on the coast of Kathiawar, had boasted that Lord Somanath was displeased with other dieties; that was why they had been sacked and broken to pieces by Mahmud, the Idol-breaker. It was this vaunt which is said to have been responsible for Mahmud’s resolve to attack Somanath. Starting from Ghazni on 17th October, 1024 A.D., with the biggest army that he had so far commanded, he reached Multan on 20th November. He took elaborate precautions on the way, for his route lay through the inhospitable desert of Rajputana. Every trooper had to carry with him food, water and fodder for seven days. Besides this Mahmud had arranged to have provisions and water for the entire army sufficient for the duration of the march through the desert, which was loaded on 30,000 camels. On his arrival at Anhilwara in January, 1025 A.D., Mahmud was pleasantly surprised to learn that Raja Bhima Deo, with most of his followers, had fled from the place. Those who had remained behind were defeated and plundered. The people in the town and in the shrine of Somanath, however, stuck to their places, believing that they would be absolutely safe owing to the protection given to them by Lord Somanath. Mahmud captured the place without much difficulty and ordered a general slaughter in which more than 50,000 persons are said to have perished. The idol of Somanath was broken to pieces which were sent to Ghazni, Mecca and Madina and cast in streets and the staircases of chief mosques to be trodden by the Muslims going there for their prayers. This idol was considered to be one of the great wonders of the place. “It was in the middle of the temple, without anything to support it from below or to suspend it from above. It was held in the highest honour amongst the Hindus, and whoever beheld it floating in the air was struck with amazement whether he was a Musalman or an infidel. Mahmud ordered the loadstones in the canopy to be removed. The idol, therefore, fell to the ground. It was then broken to pieces.” It is said that the value of the spoils found in the temple exceeded twenty lakhs of dinars. Laden with this rich booty, Mahmud returned to Ghazni through Sindh. His last expedition was undertaken only against the Jats of Sindh who had harassed him during his return march from Somanath to Ghazni in the previous year. This ended his Indian career. He died in 1030 A.D. !

An estimate of Mahmud

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Mahmud was one of the greatest Muslim kings of Asia. He ruled over a vast dominion which extended from Iraq and the Caspian Sea to the Ganga and was more extensive than the empire of the Caliph of Baghdad. This empire was practically created by him. He had inherited from his father the provinces of Ghazni and Khurasan only. Mahmud was a thorough-going despot in whose hands were concentrated all power and authority. His ministers were his servants and creatures who could be appointed and dismissed at will. Mahmud’s will had the force of law. He was the chief executive and judicial authority of his kingdom and he was also his own commader-in-chief. His powers and prerogatives were limited only by the customary Muslim law and by the fear of a military rising. But Mahmud discharged his duties in his home kingdom successfully and maintained law and order. These achievements entitle him to a high place among the monarchs of the time and show that he was gifted with considerable administrative ability.

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Mahmud was a brave soldier and a great general. It is said that he was not gifted with extraordinary personal prowess, but he was fearless and extremely intrepid. As a general his success lay in making a clever use of the extant material and in infusing a new life into the old system then in existence. He was a judge of human character and understood and appreciated the qualities of his subordinates and troops and thus he made each individual contribute to his success in the manner in which he liked and to the extent to which each man was capable of contributing. He was a born leader of men. His army was not a homogeneous force; it was composed of diverse racial and religious elements, such as Arabs, Afghans, Turks and Hindus. But his able generalship welded them all into a powerful unit. It is sometimes supposed that Mahmud displayed conspicuous military capacity against the then effete Hindus only and hence his generalship has been unduly exaggerated. This is a mistaken view, for we know that he attained equal success in Central Asia and in Persia.

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Mahmud was a cultured patron of scholarship and art. He had himself some skill as a poet and a scholar. He beautified the city of Ghazni by erecting stately palaces and mosques, colleges and tombs. He gathered around him scholars of ability and reputation. He held religious and literary discussions with them at his court.

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Among the topmost literary lights that thronged the court of Ghazni, the most important were Al Beruni, Firdausi, Unsuri and Farrukhi. His secretary was the famous Utbi, to whose scholarship we owe not a little material for a history of Mahmud and his time. Mahmud founded a university at Ghazni. He also collected brilliant artists from all parts of the Muslim world.

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Mahmud enjoyed a reputation for his great sense of justice in his kingdom. According to a great authority, “Mahmud was a just sovereign, a lover of learning, a man of generous nature and a pure faith.” He was an orthodox Sunni Musalman punctilious in the observance of his religious rites. He was careful to see that his Muslim subjects did not deviate from Sunni orthodoxy. He punished heresy and persecuted such heretics in Islam as the Karmathians.

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According to Professor Muhammad Habib of Aligarh University, 'Mahmud was not a fanatic and his expeditions against India were not motivated by religion but by love of plunder. The learned Professor concludes by saying that Islam does not sanction plundering raids and vandalism and that Mahmud rendered disservice to his religion by his acts of barbarism in India. That Mahmud was a deeply pious Muslim king and punctilious in the observances of his faith was not a subject of controversy with contemporaries who believed that the ruler of Ghazni was an ideal Islamic monarch. Likewise, contemporary Muslim opinion is unanimous in its belief and assertion that Mahmud not only rendered a great service to his religion by his Indian expeditions, but even exalted Islam. As regards the view that Islam does not sanction vandalism and atrocities of the type committed by Mahmud, it may be said that a student of history is not concerned with the dogmas of a religion. He has to assess their effect on the conduct and actions of its adherents. It is an incontrovertible fact that those who were qualified to interpret the principles of Muslim religion, during the lifetime of Mahmud and for centuries after his death, held the view that that ruler of Ghazni not only did not depart from strict Islamic principles, but glorified them by his conduct in India.

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To the Indian world of his day Mahmud was a veritable devil incarnate—a daring bandit, an avaricious plunderer and wanton destroyer of Art. He plundered many dozens of our flourishing cities; he razed to the ground great temples which were wonderful works of art; he carried thousands of innocent women and children into slavery; he indulged in wanton massacre practically everywhere he went; and, above all, he forcibly converted hundreds of our unwilling people to Islam. A conqueror who leaves behind desolate towns and villages and dead bodies of innocent human beings cannot be remembered by posterity by any other title.

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Mahmud was not a ruler so far as India was concerned. He annexed the Panjab after the fall of the Hindushahi dynasty, owing to geographical, military and strategic reasons. Without occupying this part of the country his line of communications would have been unsafe and he would not have been in a position to move fearlessly into the heart of the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. Yet Mahmud became the founder of the Turkish power in India, for he paved the way for the establishment of the future Sultanate of Delhi. Mahmud was not a statesman. His ability even as a ruler has been exaggerated. Professor S. R. Sharma calls him an angel to his own people. On the other hand, he did little beyond giving his dominions peace and order. No permanent institution and no nation-building activity was associated with his name. If he did a little for education, it was not for the people at large, but for a select class and for personal glorification. Lane-Poole is right in concluding : "He left his dominion so ill-knitted together that they began to fall assunder as soon as he was no longer alive to guard them by his vigilant activity." His inordinate fondness for wealth was a blot on his character, as it weakened rather than strengthened his usefulness and his reputation. The story of his refusal to pay Firdausi a gold piece for every verse of his celebrated *Shah Nama* to which he was pledged, and that of his death-bed sobs at the thought that he was leaving his riches behind, may not have been literally true, but they do reflect the popular opinion of his character long after he was dead.

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Inspite of these faults he must be called a monarch of outstanding ability, if not of character. Professor Habib is right when he says that Mahmud's pre-eminence among his contemporaries was due to his ability and not to his character.

Successors of Mahmud

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Mahmud seems to have been conscious of the unwieldiness of his empire. Before his death he divided it among his two sons, Masud and Muhammad; but there was no peaceful succession to his throne. As soon as his eyes were closed in death, there was a war of succession between them. Masud gained the upper hand. He defeated his brother, blinded him and threw him into prison. Masud reigned for ten years, from 1030 to 1040 A.D., and was invested with the title of Sultan by the Khalifa. Though Masud was gifted with great personal prowess, he was badly defeated by the Seljuqs in 1040 A.D. near Merv and compelled to flee towards Lahore. The province of the Panjab had been ruled, during the later days of Mahmud’s reign and throughout that of Masud, by deputies. The administration of the province was disorganised by the disloyalty, selfishness and inefficiency of Muslim officers. Masud was, however, ably and loyally served by a Hindu general, named Tilak, who had risen from obscurity to the rank of a minister in the time of his (Masud’s) father. The affairs of the Panjab, inspite of Tilak’s loyalty and devotion, were not going on well when Masud fled to Lahore for shelter. His defeat at the hands of the Seljuqs had disorganised his army. His troops mutinied on the way, dethroned and handed him over to his blind brother, Muhammad, who now crowned himself king. Masud was put to death by the new ruler. A little later, Masud’s son, Maudud, organised a party of his own with the help of some prominent nobles. He defeated Muhammad and put him and his son to death.

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Maudud was a weak ruler. He ruled from 1040 to 1049 A.D. On his death there was again a war of succession, and one after another, a series of incompetent rulers sat upon the throne at Ghazni. The reigns of these weaklings were short and inglorious. Besides the trouble in the Panjab, these rulers were constantly menaced by the rising power of the Seljuqs. The greatest danger to the decadent house of Ghazni, however, came from the principality of Ghur. The family feud between these two ruling houses, namely, those of Ghazni and Ghur, developed into a conflict which reached a climax in 1155 A.D. when Ala-ud-din Husain of Ghur invaded Ghazni, subjected it to thorough plunder and burnt it so completely that he earned the nickname of *Jahan Soz*, ‘the World Burner’. Ala-ud-din slaughtered the people of Ghazni in thousands and enslaved its women and children. All its buildings were dug up and destroyed except the tomb of Mahmud. In the forth quarter of the 12th century A.D. the house of Mahmud was extinguished by Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Ghuri.

The Panjab under the Ghaznavides

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Mahmud annexed the Panjab whose administration he entrusted to the care of a governor. This was, thus, our third province, Sindh and Multan being the first two, to have passed into the hands of Muslim invaders from the north-west. Mahmud may be said to have been the first Turk who ruled over a province of our country and became the founder of a dynasty. His successors, after they had lost their hereditary kingdom of Ghazni, sought protection at Lahore and ruled there till the extinction of his dynasty in 1186 A.D.

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The administration of the Panjab suffered from progressive deterioration owing to the disloyalty and incompetence of the Turkish officers during the reigns of Mahmud’s successors. The governor, Ariyaruq, was found guilty of misappropriation of the royal revenue. He was summoned to Ghazni by Masud and put to death. He was succeeded by the notorious Ahmad Nialtigin who was innocent of a sense of honesty as well as of experience of civil and military affairs. This man quarrelled with the *qazi*, Abul Hasan, and led, in 1033 A.D., a plundering expedition to Banaras from where he brought enormous wealth. Masud was alarmed at the reports of Nialtigin’s pretensions and mismanagement and sent his Hindu general, Tilak, a handsome and accomplished soldier and a man of letters who had risen to a high rank in Mahmud’s service, to chastise the delinquent. In the contest that followed Ahmad Nialtigin was killed and his head was sent by Tilak to Masud, who appointed, in 1036 A.D., his own son, Majdud, governor in the vacant office. In 1037 A.D. Masud in person came to India and besieged Hansi and stormed it on January 1, 1039 A.D. indulging in the massacre of the innocent population and enslaving many women and children. In 1040 A.D., Masud, having been badly defeated by the Seljuqs, abandoned Ghazni and retreated towards Lahore. He was, however, waylaid and imprisoned by his own followers who placed his brother, Muhammad, on the throne. Maudud was the next ruler (1041-42), who defeated and killed Nami, governor of Lahore, and occupied the province.

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The Panjab remained a part of the Ghazni empire under Maudud; but the people of the province had little regard for his rule. In 1044 A.D. Mahipala, the raja of Delhi, wrested Hansi, Thaneshwar and Kangara from the Ghaznavide governor and re-established Hindu worship in those places. He even besieged Lahore, but had to return without success. In 1048 A.D. Maudud appointed his sons, Mahmud and Mansur, governors of Lahore and Peshawar respectively; but corruption and inefficiency continued as before. Maudud's death in December, 1049 A.D. led to a protracted intrigue and palace disturbance. One after another, there came to the throne of Ghazni a number of weaklings who were rulers in name only. One of them, Ibrahim, enjoyed a long and comparatively peaceful reign of forty-two years and died in August, 1099 A.D. His son, Masud III, reigned for seventeen years. Sometime after his death which occurred in 1115 A.D., the Seljuqs intervened in a succession quarrel and supported Bahram against Arsalam who was defeated and put to death in 1118 A.D. His son and successor, Khusrav Shah, was defeated and driven from Ghazni by the Ghuzz Turkomans about 1160 A.D. He fled to the Panjab, for that province alone remained in the hands of Ghaznavides. On his death, in 1160 A.D., the throne of the Panjab passed to his son, Malik Khusrav, who was a mild and voluptuous ruler and allowed the district officers of his dwindling kingdom to exercise semi-independent authority. A new danger for the Ghaznavides now made its appearance. Slice after slice the territory of the Panjab was conquered by Muhammad of Ghur, who was assigned the Jagir of Ghazni by his brother, Ghiyas-ud-din, until in 1186 A.D., he imprisoned Malik Khusrav and occupied the entire Panjab. Since 1186 A.D. Khusrav was kept a prisoner by Muhammad Ghur and was put to death in 1192 A.D.

Genealogical Table: The Yamini Dynasty

Cites (1)