Abu'l Haret Ahmad (died ca. 1000) was the third Farighunid ruler of

Guzgan Guzgan (, also known as Gozgan, Guzganan or Quzghan) was a historical region and early medieval principality in what is now northern Afghanistan. Etymology The area was known as "Guzgan" or in the plural form "Guzganan". Orientalist Vladimir Mi ...

from 982 to 1000. He was the son and successor of

Abu'l Haret Muhammad Abu'l Haret Muhammad (; died c. 982) was the second Farighunid ruler of Guzgan from an unknown date during the 10th century to 982. He was the son and successor of Ahmad ibn Farighun. Abu'l Haret's father died at an unknown date during the 10th-c ...

Biography

In 982, Abu'l Haret's father died, leaving him a kingdom at its height. In 990, Abu'l-Haret was sent by the

Samanid The Samanid Empire () was a Persianate society, Persianate Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, ruled by a dynasty of Iranian peoples, Iranian ''dehqan'' origin. The empire was centred in Greater Khorasan, Khorasan and Transoxiana, at its greatest ...

ruler

Nuh II Nuh II (, r. 13 June 976–22 July 997)'' Tabaqat-i Nasiri'' by Minhaj-i-Siraj, pg. 107, Lahore Sangmil Publications 2004 was amir of the Samanids (976–997). He was the son and successor of Mansur I. Beginning and Middle of Reign Havin ...

to suppress the rebellion of the Turkic military leader Fa'iq. Abu'l Haret was, however, defeated by Fai'q, and was forced to flee. Some time later, Abu'l Haret's relations with the

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus to the Indus Va ...

noble and Samanid general

Sebüktigin Abu Mansur Nasir ad-Din wa'd-Dawla Sabuktigin (; 940s – August-September 997) was the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, and amir of Ghazna from 977 to 997. Sabuktigin was a Turkic slave who was bought by Alp-Tegin, the commander of the roya ...

and his son

Mahmud Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Given name Mahmood * Mahmood Ali (1928 ...

began to flourish; they attacked Fa'iq and the

Simjurid The Simjurids were a Turkic family that served the Samanid emirs of Bukhara in the 10th century. They played an influential role in the history of eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan during that time, and by the second half of the 10th century t ...

Abu 'Ali Simjuri at

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

, where they won a decisive victory over them. They also made an alliance by double marriage; Abu'l Haret's son, Abu'l-Nasr Muhammad, married Sebüktigin's daughter, while Mahmud married one of Abu'l Haret's daughters. Meanwhile, the Samanids began to quickly decline. Sebüktigin later died in 997, and his kingdom was soon thrown into civil war between his sons Mahmud and

Ismail In the biblical Book of Genesis, Ishmael (; ; ; ) is the first son of Abraham. His mother was Hagar, the handmaiden of Abraham's wife Sarah. He died at the age of 137. Traditionally, he is seen as the ancestor of the Arabs. Within Islam, Ish ...

. During the civil war, Abu'l Haret stayed neutral, and by 998, Mahmud managed to emerge victorious, and Ismail was shortly allowed to live at the court of Abu'l Haret. One year later, the remains of the Samanid kingdom was conquered by the

Kara-Khanid Khanate The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; zh, t=喀喇汗國, p=Kālā Hánguó), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Karluk Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the early 13th century. Th ...

. Abu'l Haret later died in ca. 1000 and was succeeded by his son Abu'l-Nasr Muhammad, who shortly became a vassal of the Ghaznavids.

Sources

*Bosworth, C. E. "ĀL-E FARĪḠŪN." ''Encyclopedia Iranica.'' 1 August 2012. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abul Haret Ahmad 1000s deaths 10th-century births 10th-century Iranian people 11th-century Iranian people Farighunids 10th-century monarchs in Asia 11th-century monarchs in Asia Rulers of Guzgan