Ahmad Inaltigin (also spelled Yinaltigin), was a Turkic commander who served under the early

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

rulers, but later rebelled against them.

Biography

During his early career, Ahmad served as treasurer of the

ruler

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''. Siam Mahmud *Mahmood (singer) (born 199 ...

, and had good relations with him. When Mahmud died in 1030, he was succeeded by his son

Mohammad Ghaznavi Muhammad of Ghazni ( fa, محمد غزنوی) (b. 998 – d. 1041) was ''sultan'' of the Ghaznavid Empire briefly in 1030, and then later from 1040 to 1041. He ascended the throne upon the death of his father Mahmud in 1030. He was the younger of ...

, who was, however, shortly deposed by his more capable brother Mas'ud I, who disliked the servants of his father, and forced Ahmad to surrender the riches he had gathered. Although Ahmad had no military experience, he was appointed in 1031 as the commander-in-chief of the army in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and was stationed at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. His task was mainly to collect tribute from the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

princes, but in order to avenge the bad treatment he had undergone during his career, he began recruiting Turkic mercenaries from

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, and in 1033 rebelled against Mas'ud, who shortly sent an army, which Ahmad with no difficulty defeated, and even managed to kill the general of the army. Mas'ud then sent another army under an Indian statesman who had converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

named Tilak, who managed to rout Ahmad Inaltigin, who drowned while he was trying to cross the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

in order to escape from Tilak.

References

Sources

* * {{cite encyclopedia , article = AḤMAD INALTIGIN , last = Bosworth , first = C. Edmund , url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahmad-inaltigin-in-the-sources-usually-spelt-yenaltegin-or-erroneously-nialtegin-turkish-commander-and-rebel-under- , editor-last = , editor-first = , editor-link = , encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 6 , pages = 647 , location = London et al. , publisher = C. Edmund Bosworth , year = 1984 , isbn = 1033 deaths Year of birth unknown 11th-century Turkic people Ghaznavid generals