Ibrahim of Ghazna (b. 1033 – d. 1099) was sultan of the
Ghaznavid empire
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic peoples, Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, ...
from April 1059 until his death in 1099. Having been imprisoned at the fortress of Barghund, he was one of the Ghaznavid princes that escaped the usurper
Toghrul
Toghrul ( mn, Тоорил хан ''Tooril han''; ), also known as Wang Khan or Ong Khan ( ''Wan han''; ; died 1203) was a khan of the Keraites. He was the blood brother (anda) of the Mongol chief Yesugei and served as an important early patron ...
's massacre in 1052. After his brother
Farrukh-Zad
Farrukh-Zad (Full name: ''Jamal ad-Dawlah Abu Shuja Farrukh-Zad''), was sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire from (1053 – 4 April 1059). His reign was considered one of benevolence, prosperity and tranquility for the Ghaznavid empire. It was free of th ...
took power, Ibrahim was sent to the fortress of Nay, the same fortress where the poet
Masud Sa'd Salman
Mas'ud-i Sa'd-i Salmān ( fa, مسعود سعد سلمان) was an 11th-century Persian poet of the Ghaznavid empire who is known as the prisoner poet. He lived from ca. 1046 to 1121.
Early life
He was born in 1046 in Lahore to wealthy parents fr ...
would later be imprisoned for ten years.
Following Farrukh's death, Ibrahim was recognized as the last surviving male Ghaznavid. A military escort was sent to fetch him from Nay and he entered Ghazna on 6 April 1059. Ibrahim's reign was considered a ''golden age'' for the Ghaznavid empire, due to the treaties and cultural exchanges with the
Great Seljuq empire
The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turko-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total are ...
.
Life
Ibrahim was born during his father's campaign into
Gurgan
Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also Romanization of Persian, romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Provi ...
and
Tabaristan
Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...
(c. 1033). He reportedly had 40 sons and 36 daughters. One of these daughters married the great-great-grandfather of the historian
Juzjani.
Ibrahim's son, Mas'ud, married
Gawhar Khatun
Gawhar Khatun ( fa, گوهر خاتون, also spelled Gowhar, Gohar, Jauhar, and Jawhar), known in other sources as Mahd-i Iraq (“the bride from Persian Iraq”), was a Seljuq princess who during an unknown date married the Ghaznavid ''Sultan'' M ...
, daughter of Seljuq sultan
Malik Shah, as a condition of peace between the Great Seljuq empire and the Ghaznavid empire.
Every year Ibrahim would copy the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
by hand and send it to the caliph in
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
.
Reign
Ibrahim rebuilt towns and settlements and instituted a vigorous policy for the restoration of social peace and economic prosperity in the Ghaznavid empire, which had been initiated by his brother Farrukh-Zad. At an unknown time, Ibrahim also arrested his
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
Abu Sahl Khujandi Abu Sahl Khujandi was a Persian''Ghaznavids'', Clifford Edmund Bosworth, Encyclopaedia Iranica, (December 15, 2001);"''The offices of vizier, treasurer, chief secretary, head of the war department, etc., were the preserves of Persians, and no Turks ...
for unknown reasons. In 1060, at the request of the nobles of
Ghur
Ghōr (Dari: ), also spelled Ghowr or Ghur, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is located in the western Hindu Kush in central Afghanistan, towards the northwest. The province contains eleven districts, encompassing hundreds ...
, Ibrahim invaded the region and deposed its ruler
Abbas ibn Shith
Abbas ibn Shith was the king of the Ghurid dynasty. He overthrew his uncle Abu Ali ibn Muhammad in 1035, and ascended the Ghurid throne. During his later reign, the nobles of Ghor requested aid from the Ghaznavid
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, ...
. He then had the latter's son
Muhammad ibn Abbas
Muhammad ibn Abbas (Persian: محمد بن عباس) was the king of the Ghurid dynasty. He succeeded his father Abbas ibn Shith in 1060, after the latter was deposed by the Ghaznavid sultan Ibrahim. When Muhammad ascended the throne, he agreed t ...
placed on the Ghurid throne.
Ibrahim sent his son, Mahmud, with an army of ''ghazis'' consisting of 40,000 cavalry to raid
Doaba
Doaba also known as Bist Doab, is the region of Punjab, India that lies between the Beas River and the Sutlej River. People of this region are given the demonym "Doabia". The dialect of Punjabi spoken in Doaba is called "Doabi". Th ...
in the eastern
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
, between 1063 and 1070. Following Mahmud's successful campaigns into India, Ibrahim initially appointed him governor of India. He occupied temporarily the cities of
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
and
Kannauj
Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...
. He also attacked and captured
Malwa
Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...
. However, for reasons unknown, Mahmud fell out of favor, was imprisoned in the fortress of Nay and his brother, Mas'ud, took his place as governor of India. Shorn of its western land, it was increasingly sustained by riches accrued from raids across Northern India, where it faced stiff resistance from Indian rulers such as the
Paramara
The Paramara dynasty (IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty that ruled Malwa and surrounding areas in west-central India between 9th and 14th centuries. They belonged to the Parmara clan of the Rajputs.
The dynasty was established in either th ...
of
Malwa
Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...
and the
Gahadvala of
Kannauj
Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...
.
After 14 years of peace with the
Seljuks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
, Ibrahim, in January 1073, sent an army into Sakalkand. His army met with initial success, capturing Seljuk sultan
Malik Shah's uncle, Usman Chaghri Beg, who was sent to Ghazna. However, an army led by the Seljuk ''
Amir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
'' Gumushtegin Bilge Beg and
Anushtegin Gharchai
Anushtegin Gharchai (also spelled Anush-Tegin; fa, , Anūštigin Ḡaṛčaʾī; died 1097) was a Turkic slave commander () of the Seljuks and the governor of Khwarazm from approximately 1077 until 1097. He was the first member of his family to ...
, drove out the Ghaznavid army that had devastated Sakalkand. In 1077/8, Ibrahim appointed
Abd al-Hamid Shirazi as his vizier.
In 1079, Ibrahim led a campaign into
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 ...
, besieging a fortress in
Pakpattan
Pakpattan (Punjabi and ), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf (; ''"Noble Pakpattan"''), is the capital city of the Pakpattan District, located in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 48th largest city of Pakistan by population according ...
120 ''Parasang'' (480 miles) from
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. ...
, taking it on 13 August 1079. The military commander 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. ...
, Abdul Najam Zarir Shaybani, carried out successful raids against the Hindu cities of
Benares
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tr ...
,
Thanesar
Thanesar city or old Kurukshetra city is a historic town and an important Hindu pilgrimage sites, Hindu pilgrimage centre in Kurukshetra district of the States and territories of India, state of Haryana in North India, northern India. It is loca ...
, and
Kannauj
Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...
. Another main achievement of Ibrahim's reign was the rise of Lahore as a great cultural center under the viceroyalty of his grandson Shirzad.
Death
Ibrahim died on 25 August 1099 ending a reign of 40 years. His tomb lies in the northeastern part of medieval Ghazna near Shaikh Radi d-Din 'Ali Lala's tomb in the
Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III
The Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III is a Ghaznavid palace in Ghazni, Afghanistan. The palace was built in 1112 by Sultan Mas'ūd III (1099-1114/5), son of Ibrahim of Ghazna.
Description
There is a dado with a poem in Persian and Kufic script and o ...
.
References
Sources
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{{Authority control
Ghaznavid rulers
11th-century rulers in Asia