The Ghaznavid dynasty (Persian: غزنویان‎) was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin at their greatest extent ruling large parts of Iran, much of Transoxiana, and North India from 977-1186. The dynasty was founded by Sabuktigin, upon his succession to rule of Ghazna after the death of his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, who was a breakaway ex-general of the Samanid Empire from Balkh, north of the Hindu Kush in Greater Khorasan. Although the dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was thoroughly Persianized in terms of language, culture, literature, and habits, and hence is regarded by some as a "Persian dynasty" rather than Turkic. Sabuktigin's son, Mahmud of Ghazni, declared independence from the Samanid Empire and expanded the Ghaznavid Empire to the Amu Darya, the Indus River and the Indian Ocean in the East, and to Rey and Hamadan in the west. Under the reign of Mas'ud I, the Ghaznavid dynasty began losing control over its western territories to the Seljuq dynasty after the Battle of Dandanaqan, resulting in a restriction of its holdings to modern-day Afghanistan, Punjab, Pakistan, and Balochistan. In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to the Ghurid king Ala al-Din Husayn. Video is targeted to blind users Attribution: Article text available under CC-BY-SA

• published: 05 Aug 2015
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