Imad al-Dawla Muhammad ibn Ali ( fa, عماد الدوله محمد بن علی), was a military officer from the
Bu Halim Shaybani family The Bu Halim Shaybani family ( fa, بو حلیم شیبانی), also simply known as the Bu Halim family (بو حلیم), was a family of governors and military commanders from Khorasan, which served the Ghaznavid Empire during the 11th and 12th-cen ...
, who served as the commander-in-chief 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 ...
under the
Ghaznavids
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 ...
.
Biography
Imad al-Dawla Muhammad belonged to the Bu Halim Shaybani family; he was the son of a certain Ali, and had a brother named Rabi ibn Ali. The last mentioned member of the Bu Halim before Imad al-Dawla Muhammad was Najm al-Din Zarir, who was the son of Bu Halim, the eponymous founder of the family. Imad al-Dawla Muhammad and his brother are first mentioned during the reign of
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
Arslan-Shah, where Imad al-Dawla Muhammad is mentioned as the commander-in-chief (''
sipahsalar
''Ispahsālār'' ( fa, اسپهسالار) or ''sipahsālār'' (; "army commander"), in Arabic rendered as ''isfahsalār'' () or ''iṣbahsalār'' (), was a title used in much of the Islamic world during the 10th–15th centuries, to denote the se ...
'') of the Ghaznavid army in India, and his brother Rabi ibn Ali is also mentioned, but his office is unknown.
However, Arslan-Shah's reign turned out short; his mother, a
Seljuq Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to:
* Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia
* Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities
* Seljuk (warlord) (d ...
princess named
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 ...
was treated badly, which resulted in her brother
Ahmad Sanjar
Senjer ( fa, ; full name: ''Muizz ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Adud ad-Dawlah Abul-Harith Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malik-Shah'') (''b''. 1085 – ''d''. 8 May 1157) was the Seljuq ruler of Khorasan from 1097 until in 1118,Bahram-Shah the new ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty, while at the same time acknowledging Sejluq suzerainty. However, Arslan-Shah managed to survive the invasion, and fled to India, where he was supported by the Bu Halim brothers and other officers.
After Ahmad Sanjar left the Ghaznavid capital 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 ...
, Arslan-Shah returned to the capital, where he defeated Bahram-Shah, but Ahmad Sanjar shortly returned and defeated Arslan-Shah, who once again fled, but was captured by a Seljuq commander, and was executed. However, the two Bu Halim brothers kept opposing Bahram-Shah; Imad al-Din Muhammad, who was still in India, managed to withstand an attack by Bahram-Shah, but in the end was defeated and captured 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. ...
in 1119 by the latter.
However, because of Imad al-Din Muhammad's great service in India to the Ghaznavids, Bahram-Shah pardoned him and restored him as the commander-in-chief of the Ghaznavid army in India. However, Imad al-Din Muhammad, along with several of his sons such as Mu'tasim ibn Muhammad, shortly rebelled against Bahram-Shah, but he along with his sons were killed by an army sent by Bahram-Shah. After this event, mention of the Bu Halim family completely disappears.