The Lawīk dynasty or (Pashto: د لویکانو شاهي کورنۍ) Lōyak dynasty was based in Ghazni and

Gardez , settlement_type =City , image_skyline =gardez_paktya.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption =The Bala Hesar fortress in the center of Gardez City , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_sea ...

, present-day Afghanistan. The Lawik were closely related to the

Turk Shahi The Turk Shahis or Kabul Shahis were a dynasty of Western Turk, or mixed Turko-Hephthalite, origin, that ruled from Kabul and Kapisa to Gandhara in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. They may have been of Khalaj ethnicity."The new rulers of Kabul, ...

dynasty. The '' Siyasatnama'' of

Nizam al-Mulk Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi (April 10, 1018 – October 14, 1092), better known by his honorific title of Nizam al-Mulk ( fa, , , Order of the Realm) was a Persian scholar, jurist, political philosopher and Vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising fro ...

, the '' Tabaqat-i Nasiri'' of Juzjani, and the ''Majma' al-ansāb fī't-tawārīkh'' of

Shabankara'i Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad Shabankara'i ( fa, محمد بن علی بن محمد شبانکرائی; c. 1298–1358), better known as Shabankara'i () was a Persian poet and historian of Kurdish origin. He wrote in the Persian language and flou ...

(14th century) mentioned Lawiks.

Wujwir Lawik

According to Afghan historian Abdul Hai Habibi, Wujwir Lawik built a great idol-temple at Bamyan Gate, Ghazni in honor of the Ratbil and the Kabul Shah.

Khanan Lawik

Wujwir's son, Khanan (referred to as ''Khaqan'' in ''Zayn al-Akhbar''), converted to Islam around 782 but then became an apostate. Around 784, Khanan demolished the idol-temple and buried his father's idol underneath it, converting the site into a mosque. Khanan was sent a poem by the Kabul Shahis, saying: "Alas! The idol of Lawik has been interred beneath the earth of Ghazna, and the Lawiyan family have given away

he embodiment of He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

their kingly power. I am going to send my own army; do not yourself follow the way of the Arabs .e. Islam"

Abu Mansur Aflah

According to ''Zayn al-Akhbar'', written by historian

Abu Sa'id Gardezi Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd-al-Ḥayy ibn Żaḥḥāk b. Maḥmūd Gardīzī ( fa, ابوسعید عبدالحی بن ضحاک بن محمود گردیزی), better known as Gardizi (), was an 11th-century Persian historian and official, who is notable for ...

, Abu Mansur Aflah Lawik was reduced to a tributary status in Gardez by Emir Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar in 877. Around this time nevertheless, it is thought that the Lawik dynasty remained as a ruling family under the suzerainty of the

Hindu Shahis The Hindu Shahis (also known as Odi Shahis, Uḍi Śāhis, or Brahman Shahis, 822–1026 CE) were a dynasty that held sway over the Kabul Valley, Gandhara and western Punjab during the early medieval period in the Indian subcontinent. Details r ...

Abu Bakr Lawik

In 962, the

Turkic Turkic may refer to: * anything related to the country of Turkey * Turkic languages, a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages ** Turkic alphabets (disambiguation) ** Turkish language, the most widely spoken Turkic language * ...

slave commander of the Samanid Empire,

Alp-Tegin , image = Pınarbaşı 5.JPG , caption = Bust of Alp Tegin as one of the founders of the " 16 Great Turkic Empires", part of the "Turkishness Monument" (''Türklük Anıtı'') in Pınarbaşı, Kayseri (opened 2000, 2012 ph ...

, attacked Ghazni and besieged the

Citadel of Ghazni The Citadel of Ghazni (or Ghuznee, Ghazna) is a large medieval fortress located in Ghazni city, east-central Afghanistan. It was built in the 13th century surrounding the Ghazni town to form a walled city. The 45 metre (147 foot) high citadel dom ...

for four months. He wrested the town from its ruler

Abu Bakr Lawik Abu Bakr Lawik was a ruler of Ghazna (in modern Afghanistan) from the Lawik dynasty. He was most likely a vassal of the Samanid Empire. In 962, the Turkic slave commander Alp-Tegin captured Ghazna after besieging the Citadel of Ghazni for four m ...

. Alp-Tegin was accompanied by Sabuktigin during this conquest. Around 965, Abu Bakr Lawik recaptured Ghazni from Alp-Tegin's son, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim of Ghazna, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim, forcing him to flee to Bukhara. However, this was not to last long because Abu Ishaq Ibrahim shortly returned to the town with Samanid aid, and took control of the town once again. Abu Bakr Lawik was thereafter no longer mentioned; he died before 977, the year that Ghaznavid control was established in Ghazni. Although Juzjani gave Abu Bakr Lawik the Islamic ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' of ''Abu Bakr'', Shabankara'i claimed he was a non-Muslim.

Abu Ali Lawik

Abu Ali Lawik was the son of Abu Bakr Lawik, and also a brother-in-law of the Turk Shahi ruler of the region, Kabul Shah. About one decade after Abu Ishaq Ibrahim's capture of Ghazni, the people of Ghazni invited Abu Ali Lawik to come back, take the throne, and overthrow the tyrant Samanid-appointed governor, Böritigin of Ghazni, Böritigin. The Kabul Shahis allied with Lawiks and the king, most likely Jayapala, sent his son to assist Lawiks in the invasion. When the allied forces reached near Charkh District, Charkh on Logar River, they were attacked by Sabuktigin who killed and captured many of them while also capturing ten elephants. Böritigin was expelled and Sabuktigin became governor in 977 A.D. The accession was endorsed by the Samanid ruler Nuh II. Lawik himself was killed in the battle along with his ally.

Later Lawiks

Habibi identified two Lawiks living in later times. One was Umiddudin Lawik, who was a member of the royal court of ''Sultan'' Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah, Sultan of Delhi, Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah in Delhi. Another was the 11th-century Pashto poet Nasr Lawī.

References

{{Authority control Dynasties of Afghanistan Medieval Afghanistan