The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a
Persianate dynasty and a
clan of presumably
eastern Iranian
The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from c. the 4th century BC). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian diale ...
Tajik origin, which ruled from the 10th-century to 1215. The Ghurids were centered in the
Ghor of present-day central
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
, where they initially started out as local chiefs. They gradually converted to
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disag ...
from
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
after the conquest of Ghor by the
Ghaznavid ruler
Mahmud of Ghazni in 1011. The dynasty ultimately overthrew the Ghaznavid Empire when
Muhammad of Ghor conquered the last Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186 from
Khusrau Malik.
The Ghurids initially ruled as vassals of the
Ghaznavids and later of the
Seljuks. However, during the early twelfth century the long-standing rivalry between the Seljuks and Ghaznavids created a power vacuum in
Khurasan which the Ghurids took advantage of and began their territorial expansion.
Ala al-Din Husayn launched a devastating raid in the Ghaznavid territory and sacked their capital, although he was defeated by the Seljuks which, for a brief period of time, would halt the rapid Ghurid expansion.
Alauddin's nephews, however,
Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad and
Muhammad of Ghor expanded the Ghurid domains on an unprecedented scale. While, Ghiyasuddin was occupied with the Ghurid expansion in the west, his sibling Muhammad of Ghor along with his Turkic slaves began
raiding in the east and by the turn of the 12th century expanded the Ghurid empire to
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
in the east, while the Ghurids briefly reached
Gorgan in the west under Ghiyath al-Din Ghori.
Ghiyath al-Din Ghori died in 1203 and soon after the Ghurids suffered a catastrophic defeat against the
Qara Khitais (aid of
Khwarezmian Empire) in
battle fought on the bank of river Amu Darya. Muhammad of Ghor
was assassinated after a year or so in March 1206 on the bank of
Indus which effectively ended the Ghurid sovereignty as the subsequent rulers were vassalized by the
Khwrezmian ruler
Muhammad II of Khwarezm after the assassination of Muhammad of Ghor. The Ghurids continued to rule as their vassals, before they were overthrown in 1215, although their conquests in the
Indian Subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
survived for several centuries under the
Delhi Sultanate established by the Ghurid Mamluk
Qutb ud-Din Aibak.
Origins
In the 19th century some European scholars, such as
Mountstuart Elphinstone, favoured the idea that the Ghurid dynasty was related to today's
Pashtun people but this is generally rejected by modern scholarship and, as explained by
Morgenstierne in the ''
Encyclopaedia of Islam'', is for "various reasons very improbable".
Some scholars state that the dynasty was of
Tajik origin.
''
Encyclopædia Iranica'' states: "Nor do we know anything about the ethnic stock of the Ḡūrīs in general and the Šansabānīs in particular; we can only assume that they were eastern Iranian Tajiks".
Bosworth further points out that the actual name of the Ghurid family, ''Āl-e Šansab'' (Persianized: ''Šansabānī''), is the Arabic pronunciation of the originally
Middle Persian name ''Wišnasp''.
The historian
André Wink
André Wink is an emeritus professor of history at University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is known for his studies on India and the Indian Ocean area, particularly over the medieval and early modern age (700 to 1800 CE). He is the author of a series ...
explains in ''
The New Cambridge History of Islam
''The New Cambridge History of Islam'' is a six volume history of Islam published by Cambridge University Press in 2010. The general editor is Michael Cook.
The history replaced the original '' Cambridge History of Islam'' which was published ...
'':
When the Ghurids started to distinguish themselves through their conquests, courtiers and genealogists (such as
Fakhr-i Mudabbir and
al-Juzjani Al-Juzjani is a toponymic surname or nisba for people from Juzjan (or Guzgan). Notable people with the surname include:
* Abu 'Ubayd al-Juzjani (980–1037), physician and pupil of Ibn Sina
* Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub al-Juzajani (790–872), Islamic had ...
) forged a fictive genealogy which connected the Ghurids with the Iranian past. They traced the Ghurid family back to the mythical Arab tyrant
Zahhak, mentioned in the medieval Persian epic ("The Book of Kings"), whose family had reportedly settled in Ghur after the Iranian hero
Fereydun had ended Zahhak's thousand-year tyranny.
Ghur remained primarily populated by
Buddhists until the 11th century. It was then Islamised and gave rise to the Ghurids.
[Satish Chandra, ''Medieval India:From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526)'', Part 1, (Har-Anand Publications, 2006), 22.]
Language
The Ghurids' native language was apparently different from their court language, Persian.
Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi, the famous historian of the Ghaznavid era, wrote on page 117 in his book ''
Tarikh-i Bayhaqi'': "Sultan
Mas'ud I of Ghazni left for Ghoristan and sent his learned companion with two people from Ghor as interpreters between this person and the people of that region." However, like the
Samanids and Ghaznavids, the Ghurids were great patrons of
Persian literature,
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...
, and
culture, and promoted these in their courts as their own. Modern-day authors refer to them as the "
Persianized
Persianization () or Persification (; fa, پارسیسازی), is a sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Persian society becomes "Persianate", meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Persian ...
Ghurids".
Wink describes the tongue of the Ghurids as a "distinct Persian dialect".
There is nothing to confirm the recent conclusion that the inhabitants of Ghor were originally
Pashto-speaking, and claims of the existence of "
Pashto poetry
Pashto literature ( ps, ) refers to literature and poetry in Pashto language. The history of Pashto literature spreads over five thousands years having its roots in the oral tradition of tapa. However, the first recorded period begins in 7th cen ...
", such as
Pata Khazana
Pata Khazāna ( ps, پټه خزانه, translation=The Hidden Treasure) is the title of a manuscript written in the Pashto language. According to its discoverer, the script contains an anthology of Pashto poetry, which precedes the earliest known ...
, from the Ghurid period are unsubstantiated.
History
Early history
A certain Ghurid prince named Amir Banji was the ruler of
Ghor and ancestor of the medieval Ghurid rulers. His rule was legitimized by the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...
caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Harun al-Rashid.
Before the mid-12th century, the Ghurids had been bound to the
Ghaznavids and
Seljuks for about 150 years. Beginning in the mid-12th century, Ghor expressed its independence from the Ghaznavid Empire. In 1149 the Ghaznavid ruler
Bahram-Shah of Ghazna poisoned a local Ghurid leader, Qutb al-Din Muhammad, who had taken refuge in the city of
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
after having a quarrel with his brother
Sayf al-Din Suri
Sayf al-Din Suri (Persian: سیف الدین سوری) was the king of the Ghurid dynasty from 1146 to 1149. He was the son and successor of Izz al-Din Husayn.
Biography
When Sayf al-Din Suri ascended the throne, he divided the Ghurid kingdom a ...
. In revenge, Sayf marched towards Ghazni and defeated Bahram-Shah. However, one year later, Bahram returned and scored a decisive victory against Sayf, who was shortly captured and crucified at Pul-i Yak Taq.
Baha al-Din Sam I
Baha al-Din Sam I (Persian: بهاء الدین سام), was the king of the Ghurid dynasty who reigned briefly in 1149. He was the brother and successor of Sayf al-Din Suri.
Biography
When Sayf al-Din Suri ascended the throne, he divided the G ...
, another brother of Sayf, set out to avenge the death of his two brothers, but died of natural causes before he could reach Ghazni.
Ala al-Din Husayn, one of the youngest of Sayf's brothers and newly crowned Ghurid king, also set out to avenge the death of his two brothers. He managed to defeat Bahram-Shah, and then had Ghazni sacked; the city burned for seven days and seven nights. It earned him the title of ''Jahānsūz'', meaning "''the world burner"''. The Ghaznavids retook the city with
Seljuq help, but lost it to
Oghuz Turks.
In 1152, Ala al-Din Husayn refused to pay tribute to the
Seljuks and instead marched an army from Firozkoh but was defeated and captured at Nab by
Sultan Ahmed Sanjar. Ala al-Din Husayn remained a prisoner for two years, until he was released in return for a heavy ransom to the Seljuqs. Meanwhile, a rival of Ala al-Din named Husayn ibn Nasir al-Din Muhammad al-Madini had seized
Firozkoh, but was murdered at the right moment when Ala al-Din returned to reclaim his ancestral domain. Ala al-Din spent the rest of his reign expanding the domains of his kingdom; he managed to conquer Garchistan,
Tukharistan
Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, sou ...
, and
Bamiyan, and later gave Bamiyan and Tukharistan to Fakhr al-Din Masud, starting the Bamiyan branch of the Ghurids. Ala al-Din died in 1161, and was succeeded by his son
Sayf al-Din Muhammad, who died two years later in a battle.
The Ghurids at their zenith
Sayf al-Din Muhammad was succeeded by his cousin
Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, who was the son of Baha al-Din Sam I, and proved himself to be a capable king. Right after Ghiyath's ascension, he, with the aid of his loyal brother
Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad (later known as "Muhammmad Ghori"), killed a rival Ghurid chief named Abu'l Abbas. Ghiyath then defeated his uncle Fakhr al-Din Masud who claimed the Ghurid throne and had allied with the Seljuq governor of Herat and Balkh.
In 1173, Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad reconquered the city of Ghazni and assisted his brother Ghiyath in his contest with the
Khwarezmian Empire for the lordship of
Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
.
After the death of his brother Ghiyath on 13 March 1203, Mu'izz al-Din became the successor of his empire and ruled until his assassination in 1206 near
Jhelum by
Ismāʿīlīs whom he persecuted during his lifetime.
Conquest of India and Bengal
Northern India and Bengal were conquered by
Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad during the period from 1175 to 1205, just before his death in 1206. His capital was in
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
(previously conquered in 1148 CE), while his elder brother
Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad ruled the western part of the Empire.
In 1175, Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad captured
Multan from its
Ismaili Muslim community, and also took
Uch by 1176.
In 1178, he turned south and marched through the waterless desert of Rajputana, his armies got exhausted in their march and were routed in the
hilly pass of Gadararaghatta by a coalition of Rajput chiefs, which forced him to change his route for further inroads into India. He
annexed the last Ghaznavid principality of the
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...
, with their capital in
Lahore in 1186.
In 1191, the Ghurid were defeated in the
First Battle of Tarain by the
Rajput confederacy led by
Ajmer-Chahamana ruler
Prithviraja III, but Mu'izz returned a year later with an army of Turkish mounted archers and routed the Rajput forces on the
same battlefield, and executed Prithviraja shortly afterwards. In 1193,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
was conquered by his general
Qutbu l-Din Aibak
Qutb ud-Din Aibak ( fa, قطبالدین ایبک), (1150 – 14 November 1210) was a Turkic general of the Ghurid king Muhammad Ghori. He was in charge of the Ghurid territories in northern India, and after Muhammad Ghori's assassination in ...
.
In 1194, Mu'izz returned to India and crossed the
Jamuna with an army of 50,000 horses and at the
Battle of Chandawar
The Battle of Chandawar was fought in 1194 between Muhammad of Ghor and Jayachandra of the Gahadavala dynasty. It took place at Chandawar (modern Chandawal near Firozabad), on the Yamuna River close to Agra. The victory of this battle gave Muh ...
defeated the forces of the
Gahadavala king
Jayachandra, who was killed in action. After the battle, Mu'izz continued his advance to the east, with his general
Qutb ud-Din Aibak in the vanguard. The city of
Benares (Kashi) was taken and razed, and "idols in a thousand temples" were destroyed.
It is generally thought that the Buddhist city of
Sarnath was also ravaged at that time.
This new territory was then put under the governorship of Qutb ud-Din Aibak.
In 1202-1203 CE, Qutbu l-Din Aibak, now Ghurid governor of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, invaded the
Chandela kingdom in the
Ganges Valley. The Ghurids toppled local dynasties and destroyed Hindu temples during their advance across northern India, in place constructing
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s on the same sites.
Around 1203,
Bakhtiyar Khalji, another
Turkic general of the Ghurid Empire, led the
Muslim conquests of the eastern Indian regions of
Bihar and
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, also on behalf of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad.
In Bihar, he is said to have destroyed Buddhist centers of learning such as
Nalanda University, greatly contributing to the decline of pre-Islamic Indic scholarship. In Bengal, he sacked the ancient city of
Nudiya in central Bengal, and established an Islamic government in the former
Sena
Sena may refer to:
Places
* Sanandaj or Sena, city in northwestern Iran
* Sena (state constituency), represented in the Perlis State Legislative Assembly
* Sena, Dashtestan, village in Bushehr Province, Iran
* Sena, Huesca, municipality in Hue ...
capital of
Lakhnauti in 1205.
Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad placed his faithful Turkic generals, rather than his own Ghurid brethens, in position of authority over local tributary kings, throughout the conquered Indian lands. After the death of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad in early 1206, his territories fragmented into smaller Sultanates led by his former
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
generals.
Taj-ud-Din Yildoz became the ruler of
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
.
Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha
Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha or Kaba-cha ( fa, ناصرالدین قباچه) was the Muslim Turkic Kipchak governor of Multan, appointed by the Ghurid ruler Muhammad Ghori in 1203.
Successors of Ghori
Ghori had no offspring, but he treated thousa ...
became Sultan of
Multan.
Qutb ud-Din Aibak became Sultan of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
.
Bakhtiyar Khilji
Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī, (Pashto :اختيار الدين محمد بختيار غلزۍ, fa, اختیارالدین محمد بختیار خلجی, bn, ইখতিয়ারউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ � ...
became Sultan of
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, but was soon assassinated and succeeded by several
Khalji rulers, until Bengal was incorporated into the
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
Sultanate in 1227. Between 1206 and 1228 the various Turkic rulers and their successors rivaled for preeminence until the Sultan of Delhi
Iltutmish prevailed, marking the advent of the
Mamluk dynasty. This was the first dynasty of the
Delhi Sultanate, which in total had five dynasties and would rule most of India for more than three centuries until the advent of the
Mughal Empire in 1526.
Decline and fall
Ghiyath died on 13 March 1203 and was succeeded by Mu'izz al-Din as the sole ruler of the vast Ghurid realm. Soonafter,
Alauddin Khwarazm Shah besieged and captured some of the strongholds of the Ghurids around
Merv, although Mu'izz drove him back and further besieged their capital
Gurgānj. However, Alauddin forces were supplemented by a large contingent from the
Qara-Khitai
The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai (), also known as the Western Liao (), officially the Great Liao (), was a Sinicized dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan. The Qara Khitai is considered by historians to be an ...
rulers of Samarkand. In the ensuring battle fought near the river Oxus, Mu'izz troops were
completely routed by the combined forces of
Qara Khitai and
Kara-Khanid Khanate led by Tayangu of Taraz and he himself escaped the debacle after paying hughe ransom to Tayangu. The defeat at Andkhud was a watershed for the Ghurids who lost their control over most of the
Khurasan. Notwithstanding, Mu'izz within a year or so raised a vast army and build bridge across the Oxus to launch a full-scale invasion of
Transoxiana to avenge his defeat. However, he was forced to move towards Punjab to crush a
Khokhar
Khokhar are a Punjabi community native to Pothohar Plateau of Pakistan, and the adjoining areas of India. Khokhars now predominantly follow Islam, though a minority continue to follow Hinduism. Many Khokhars converted to Islam from Hinduism ...
rebellion whom he defeated and massacred in large number. On his way back, Mu'izz was assassinated near the Indus on March 15, 1206.
After the death of
Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad in 1206, a confused struggle then ensued among the remaining Ghūrid leaders, and the
Khwarezmians were able to take over the western part of the Ghūrid empire in about 1215. Though the Ghūrids' empire was short-lived, Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad's conquests strengthened the foundations of Muslim rule in India. On his death, and major defeats from
Khwarazmian Empire and loss of
Ghor and
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
, the capital was transferred to
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
recognizing Khwarazmian rule on north and central
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
. The Ghurids continued their rule on much of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
,
Sisitan region of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and south of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
.
Culture
The Ghurids were great patrons of
Persian culture and
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
and lay the basis for a
Persianized
Persianization () or Persification (; fa, پارسیسازی), is a sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Persian society becomes "Persianate", meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Persian ...
state in the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
.
[''Persian Literature in the Safavid Period'', Z. Safa, The Cambridge history of Iran: The Timurid and Safavid periods, Vol.6, Ed. Peter Jackson and Laurence Lockhart,(Cambridge University Press, 1986), 951;"''...Ghurids and Ghurid mamluks, all of whom established centres in India where poets and writers received ample encouragement.''".] However, most of the literature produced during the Ghurid era has been lost. They also transferred
Iranian architecture to India. According to
Amir Khusrau
Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian sub ...
(died 1325), the Indians learned Persian because of the influence of the "Ghurids and Turks." The notion of Persian kingship served as the basis for the imperial formation, political and cultural unity of the Ghurids.
Out of the Ghurid state grew the
Delhi Sultanate which established the Persian language as the official court language of the region – a status it retained until the late
Mughal era
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the ...
in the 19th century.
There was a strong Turkic presence among the Ghurids, since Turk slave-soldiers formed the vanguard of the Ghurid armies.
There was intense amalgamation between these various ethnic groups: "a notable admixture of Tajik, Persian, Turkish and indigenous Afghan ethnicities therefore characterized the Shansabanis".
At least until the end of the 13th century when they ruled the
Mamluk Sultanate in India, the Turks in the Ghurid realm maintained their ethnical characteristics, continuing to use Turkish as their main language, rather than Persian, and persisting in their rude and bellicose ways as "men of the sword", in opposition to the Persian "men of the pen".
File:Cheheltan-chisht.-2.jpg, The two mausoleums of Chisht
Chishti Sharif (also known as Chisht-e Sharif or Chisht) is a town situated on the northern bank of the Hari River in Herat Province, Afghanistan. It is the administrative center of Chishti Sharif District.
History
The Chishti Order of Sufi m ...
(the western was built in 1167)
File:Cheheltan-chisht.-1.jpg, The eastern mausoleum of Chisht (built in 1194)
File:Jam afghan architecture brick decor ghor province.jpg, Ornamental bands on the Minaret of Jam, bearing the 19th Sura of the Koran
File:Shah-i Mashhad-1.jpg, Ruins of the ''Shah-i Mashhad'' madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
(built in 1176)
File:Ghurid arch of Qala-e-Bost.jpg, Ghurid arch in Qala-e-Bost
Qala-e-Bost ( fa, قلعه بست), also romanized Qalai Bust, is a fortress in Bost, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, built 3000 years ago. It is located at 31° 30’ 02″ N, 64° 21’ 24″ E near the convergence of the Helmand and Arghandab ...
List of rulers
Bamiyan Branch
*''Green shaded row signifies Ghurid vassalage under the
Khwarazmian dynasty.''
Ghurid family tree
See also
*
History of Afghanistan
*
List of battles involving the Ghurid dynasty
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
1212 disestablishments in Asia
Empires and kingdoms of Iran
Ancient history of Pakistan