Ghurid Sack of Ghazni

Timeline

1. 1149–1150Ghur highlands · GhurBahram Shah of Ghazni had previously executed members of the Ghurid royal family (including Ala al-Din's brother), escalating conflict between vassal and overlord into a blood feud. Ala al-Din Husayn marshaled Ghur's mountain forces and prepared a punitive expedition against Ghazni.
2. 1150Ghazni · AfghanistanAla al-Din stormed Ghazni, letting his troops burn palaces, markets, and library collections; the city was devastated for days, and he thereby acquired the epithet 'World-Burner.' Ghazni's glory as a capital since the time of Mahmud was utterly broken.
3. 1150–1152Lahore · PunjabBahram Shah and his successors could not recover control of Afghanistan's core, and the Ghurid dynasty's center of gravity shifted east to the Punjab. The Ghurids, holding the Herat–Ghazni line, secured a forward base for the conquest of northern India at the end of the twelfth century.