← Explore on the interactive map
Ghaznavid Empire
The Ghaznavid Empire was a Central and South Asian polity that rose in 10th-century Ghazni, Afghanistan, built around a Turkic military elite and fra…
Timeline
- c. 963–977Ghazni · AfghanistanSebüktigin received the governorship of Ghazni from the Samanid dynasty, integrating local forces with Turkic ghulam cavalry and gradually accumulating military strength and administrative foundations on the southeastern frontier of Khorasan.
- c. 977–997Khorasan and the Hindu Kush highlands · KhorasanSebüktigin broke free of Samanid suzerainty, made Ghazni his capital, and expanded toward the northwestern frontier of India, defeating the Indian Shahi dynasty and establishing the empire's dual-axis model of military-financial expansion.
- c. 998–1000Lahore and Punjab · Punjab ProvinceAfter consolidating his throne, Sultan Mahmud launched continuous jihad-style campaigns against India; by the end of the 10th century he controlled key positions in Punjab, formally wedging the empire's power into the South Asian subcontinent and attracting Persian men of letters and scholars to the Ghaznavid court.
Sources
- The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 4: The Period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs — R. N. Frye et al. (1975)
- Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition: Ghaznavids — C. E. Bosworth (2000)