The Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III is a
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 ...
palace 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 ...
,
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 bordere ...
. The palace was built in 1112 by Sultan
Mas'ūd III (1099-1114/5), son of
Ibrahim of Ghazna
Ibrahim of Ghazna (b. 1033 – d. 1099) was sultan of the Ghaznavid empire 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's massacr ...
.
Description
There is a dado with a poem in
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and
Kufic script
Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...
and one in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
. There is a marble arch bearing the name of the sultan. The site has a small cemetery that includes the domed ziyarat of
Ibrahim of Ghazna
Ibrahim of Ghazna (b. 1033 – d. 1099) was sultan of the Ghaznavid empire 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's massacr ...
in the west side of the palace.
File:MNAO-GhazniPalMasudIII-Lastra1.jpg, Carved relief from the Palace of Masud III
File:MNAO-GhazniPalMasudIII-DecorazioneCotto3.jpg, Carved relief from the Palace of Masud III
File:Architectural panel Afghanistan Ghaznavid dynasty reign of Mas ud III 1100-1150 CE Marble (2414429094).jpg, Ghaznavid panel, Palace of Masud III.
External links
Italian excavation of the Palace
References
{{Reflist
Buildings and structures in Ghazni Province
Palaces in Afghanistan