Ghurid dynasty

The Ghurids or Ghorids (Persian: سلسله غوریان‎; self-designation: شنسبانی, Shansabānī) were a dynasty of Iranian descent from the Ghor region of present-day central Afghanistan, but the exact ethnic origin is uncertain.[7] The dynasty converted to Sunni Islam from Buddhism,[5][6] after the conquest of Ghor by the Ghaznavid sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in 1011. The dynasty overthrew the Ghaznavid Empire in 1186 when Sultan Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad of Ghor conquered the last Ghaznavid capital of Lahore.[8]

Ghurid Sultanate
before 879–1215
Map of the Ghurid dynasty at its greatest extent under Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad
Capital	Firozkoh[1] Herat[2] Ghazna (1170s–1215)[3]
Common languages	Persian (court)[4]
Religion	before 1011: Buddhism[5] From 1011: Sunni Islam[6]
Government	Hereditary monarchy
Malik/Sultan
• 9th-century–10th-century	Amir Suri (first)
• 1214–1215	Ala al-Din Ali (last)
History
• Established	before 879
• Disestablished	1215
Preceded by Succeeded by Ghaznavids Great Seljuq Empire Gurjara-Pratihara Delhi Sultanate Khwarazmian dynasty

At their zenith, the Ghurid empire encompassed Khorasan in the west and reached northern India as far as Bengal in the east.[9] Their first capital was Firozkoh in Mandesh, Ghor, which was later replaced by Herat,[2] and finally Ghazna.[3] The Ghurids were patrons of Persian culture and heritage.[10]

Abu Ali ibn Muhammad (reigned 1011–1035) was the first Muslim king of the Ghurid dynasty to construct mosques and Islamic schools in Ghor.

The Ghurids were succeeded in Khorasan and Persia by the Khwarazmian dynasty, and in northern India by the Mamluk dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.

Origins

In the 19th century some European scholars, such as Mountstuart Elphinstone, favoured the idea that the Ghurid dynasty relate to today's Pashtun people[11][12][13] but this is generally rejected by modern scholarship and, as explained by Morgenstierne in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, is for "various reasons very improbable".[14] Instead, the consensus in modern scholarship (incl. Morgenstierne, Bosworth, Dupree, Gibb, Ghirshman, Longworth Dames and others) holds that the dynasty was most likely of Tajik origin.[15][16][17] Bosworth further points out that the actual name of the Ghurid family, Āl-e Šansab (Persianized: Šansabānī), is the Arabic pronunciation of the originally Middle Persian name Wišnasp.[18]

The Ghuristan region remained primarily populated by Buddhists till the 12th century. It was then Islamised and gave rise to the Ghurids.[lower-alpha 1][5]

Language

The Ghurids' native language was apparently different from their court language Persian. Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi, the famous historian of the Ghaznavid era, wrote on page 117 in his book Tarikh-i Bayhaqi: "Sultan Mas'ud I of Ghazni left for Ghoristan and sent his learned companion with two people from Ghor as interpreters between this person and the people of that region." However, like the Samanids and Ghaznavids, the Ghurids were great patrons of Persian literature, poetry, and culture, and promoted these in their courts as their own. Contemporary book writers refer to them as the "Persianized Ghurids".[19]

There is nothing to confirm the recent surmise that the inhabitants of Ghor were originally Pashto-speaking, and claims of the existence of Pashto poetry (as in Pata Khazana) from the Ghurid period are unsubstantiated.[20][15]

History

Early history

A certain Ghurid prince named Amir Banji, was the ruler of Ghor and ancestor of the medieval Ghurid rulers. His rule was legitimized by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. Before the mid-12th century, the Ghurids had been bound to the Ghaznavids and Seljuks for about 150 years. Beginning in the mid-12th century, Ghor expressed its independence from the Ghaznavid Empire. In 1149 the Ghaznavid ruler Bahram-Shah of Ghazna poisoned a local Ghurid leader, Qutb al-Din Muhammad, who had taken refuge in the city of Ghazna after having a quarrel with his brother Sayf al-Din Suri. In revenge, Sayf marched towards Ghazna and defeated Bahram-Shah. However, one later year, Bahram returned and scored a decisive victory against Sayf, who was shortly captured and crucified at Pul-i Yak Taq. Baha al-Din Sam I, another brother of Sayf, set out to avenge the death of his two brothers, but died of natural causes before he could reach Ghazna. Ala al-Din Husayn, one of the youngest of Sayf's brothers and newly crowned Ghurid king, also set out to avenge the death of his two brothers. He managed to defeat Bahram-Shah, and then had Ghazna sacked and burned and put the city into fire for seven days and seven nights. It earned him the title of Jahānsūz, meaning "the world burner".[21] The Ghaznavids retook the city with Seljuq help, but lost it to Oghuz Turks.[21]

In 1152, Ala al-Din Husayn refused to pay tribute to the Seljuks and instead marched an army from Firozkoh but was defeated and captured at Nab by Sultan Ahmed Sanjar.[22] Ala al-Din Husayn remained a prisoner for two years, until he was released in return for a heavy ransom to the Seljuqs. Meanwhile, a rival of Ala al-Din named Husayn ibn Nasir al-Din Muhammad al-Madini had seized Firozkoh, but was murdered at the right moment when Ala al-Din returned to reclaim his ancestral domain. Ala al-Din spent the rest of his reign in expanding the domains of his kingdom; he managed to conquer Garchistan, Tukharistan, and Bamiyan, and later gave Bamiyan and Tukharistan to Fakhr al-Din Masud, starting the Bamiyan branch of the Ghurids. Ala al-Din died in 1161, and was succeeded by his son Sayf al-Din Muhammad, who shortly died two years later in a battle.

The Ghurids at their zenith

Sayf al-Din Muhammad was succeeded by his cousin Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, who was the son of Baha al-Din Sam I, and proved himself to be a capable king. Right after Ghiyath's ascension, he, with the aid of his loyal brother Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad, killed a rival Ghurid chief named Abu'l Abbas. Ghiyath then defeated his uncle Fakhr al-Din Masud who claimed the Ghurid throne and had allied with the Seljuq governor of Herat, and Balkh.[23]

In 1173, Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad reconquered the city of Ghazna and assisted his Ghiyath in his contest with Khwarezmid Empire for the lordship of Khorasan. In 1175, Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad captured and annexed the Ghaznavid principality of Punjab in 1186. He was alleged by contemporary historians to exact revenge for his great grandfather Muhammad ibn Suri. After the death of his brother Ghiyath in 1202, he became the successor of his empire and ruled until his assassination in 1206 near Jhelum by Khokhar tribesmen (in modern-day Pakistan).[24]

Decline and fall

A confused struggle then ensued among the remaining Ghūrid leaders, and the Khwarezmids were able to take over the Ghūrids' empire in about 1215. Though the Ghūrids' empire was short-lived, Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad's conquests strengthened the foundations of Muslim rule in India. On his death, the importance of Ghazna and Ghor dissipated, and they were replaced by Delhi as power centre in India during the rule of his Mamluk successors.[25]

Cultural influences

The Ghurids were great patrons of Persian culture and literature and lay the basis for a Persianized state in India.[26][27] However, most of the literature produced during the Ghurid era has been lost. They also transferred Iranian architecture to India.[28]

Out of the Ghurid state grew the Delhi Sultanate which established the Persian language as the official court language of the region – a status it retained until the late Mughal era in the 19th century.

• 
  The two mausoleums of Chisht (the western was built in 1167)
• 
  The eastern mausoleum of Chisht (built in 1194)
• 
  The Minaret of Jam in Ghor Province of Afghanistan (finished in 1174/75) – UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002
• 
  Inscription on the Minaret of Jam, showing the name and titles of Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Muhammad
• 
  Ornamental bands on the Minaret of Jam, bearing the 19th Sura of the Koran
• 
  Ruins of the Shah-i Mashhad madrasa (built in 1176)

Titular Name(s)	Personal Name	Reign
Malik ملک	Amir Suri امیر سوری	9th-century – 10th-century
Malik ملک	Muhammad ibn Suri محمد بن سوری	10th-century – 1011
Malik ملک	Abu Ali ibn Muhammad ابوعلی بن محمد	1011–1035
Malik ملک	Abbas ibn Shith عباس بن شیث	1035 – 1060
Malik ملک	Muhammad ibn Abbas محمد بن عباس	1060 – 1080
Malik ملک	Qutb al-din Hasan قطب‌ الدین حسن	1080 – 1100
Abul-Muluk ابولملک	Izz al-Din Husayn عز الدین حسین	1100–1146
Malik ملک	Sayf al-Din Suri سیف‌ الدین سوری	1146–1149
Malik ملک	Baha al-Din Sam I بهاء الدین سام	1149
Malik ملک Sultan al-Muazzam سلطان المعظم	Ala al-Din Husayn علاء الدین حسین	1149–1161
Malik ملک	Sayf al-Din Muhammad سیف‌ الدین محمد	1161–1163
Sultan Abul-Fateh سلطان ابوالفتح	Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad غیاث‌ الدین محمد	1163–1202
Sultan Shahāb-ud-din Muhammad Ghori سلطان شهاب‌ الدین محمد غوری	Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad معز الدین محمد	1202–1206
Sultan سلطان	Ghiyath al-Din Mahmud غیاث‌ الدین محمود	1206–1212
Sultan سلطان	Baha al-Din Sam III بهاء الدین سام	1212–1213
Sultan سلطان	Ala al-Din Atsiz علاء الدین دراست	1213–1214
Sultan سلطان	Ala al-Din Ali علاء الدین علی	1214–1215
Khwarazmian conquest

• Blue shaded rows signifies Ghurid vassalage under the Ghaznavids.
• Yellow shaded rows signifies Ghurid vassalage under the Seljuks.
• Green shaded row signifies Ghurid vassalage under the Khwarazmian dynasty.

• 
  Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad
• 
  Sultan Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad

Bamiyan Branch

Titular Name(s)	Personal Name	Reign
Malik ملک	Fakhr al-Din Masud فخرالدین مسعود	1152–1163
Malik ملک	Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Masud شمس‌ الدین محمد بن مسعود	1163–1192
Malik ملک	Abbas ibn Muhammad عباس بن محمد	1192
Malik ملک Abul-Mu'ayyid ابوالمؤید	Baha al-Din Sam II بهاء الدین سام	1192–1206
Malik ملک	Jalal al-Din Ali جلال‌ الدین علی	1206–1215
Khwarazmian conquest

• Green shaded row signifies Ghurid vassalage under the Khwarazmian dynasty.

Ghurid family tree

Amir Suri (9th-century-10th-century)

Muhammad ibn Suri (10th-century-1011)

Abu Ali ibn Muhammad (1011–1035)

Shith ibn Muhammad

Abbas ibn Shith (1035–1060)

Muhammad ibn Abbas (1060–1080)

Qutb al-din Hasan (1080–1100)

Izz al-Din Husayn (1100–1146)

Sayf al-Din Suri (1146–1149)

Shuja al-Din Muhammad

Qutb al-Din Muhammad

Baha al-Din Sam I (1149)

Nasir al-Din Muhammad Kharnak

Ala al-Din Husayn (1149–1161)

Fakhr al-Din Masud (1152–1163)

Ala al-Din Ali (1214–1215)

Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad (1163–1202)

Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad (1202–1206)

Shams al-Din Muhammad (1163–1192)

Sayf al-Din Muhammad (1149–1157)

Ala al-Din Atsiz (1213–1214)

Abbas ibn Muhammad (1192)

Baha al-Din Sam II (1192–1206)

Ghiyath al-Din Mahmud (1206–1212)

Jalal al-Din Ali (1206–1215)

Ala al-Din Muhammad

Baha al-Din Sam III (1212–1213)

Rulers of Ghurid Dynasty

King	Reign
Amir Suri	9th Century
Muhammad ibn Suri	1007 - 1011
Abu Ali ibn Muhammad	1011 - 1035
Abbas ibn Shith	1035 - 1060
Muhammad ibn Abbas	1060 - 1080
Qutb al-din Hasan	1080 - 1100
Izz al-Din Husayn	1100 - 1146
Sayf al-Din Suri	1146 - 1149
Baha al-Din Sam I	1149
Ala al-Din Husayn	1149 - 1161
Sayf al-Din Muhammad	1161 - 1163
Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad	1163 - 1203
Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad	1172 - 1203
	1203 - 1206
Ghiyath al-Din Mahmud	1206 - 1212
Baha al-Din Sam III	1212 - 1213
Ala al-Din Atsiz	1213 - 1214
Ala al-Din Ali	1214 - 1215

See also

• List of battles involving the Ghurid dynasty
• Minaret of Jam
• Mandesh
• Ghor Province

Notes

1. The rise to power of the Ghurids at Ghur, a small isolated area located in the mountain vastness between the Ghaznavid empire and the Seljukids, was an unusual and unexpected development. The area was so remote that till the 11th century, it had remained a pagan enclave surrounded by Muslim principalities. It was converted to Islam in the early part of the 12th century after Mahmud raided it, and left teachers to instruct the Ghurids in the precepts of Islam. Even then it is believed that a variety of Mahayana Buddhism persisted in the area till the end of the century[5]

References

1. Firoz Koh in Ghur (a region to the west of Ghazni), the Ghurids' summer capital
2. Firuzkuh: the summer capital of the Ghurids, by David Thomas, pg. 18.
3. The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-volume set, by Jonathan Bloom, Sheila Blair, pg. 108.
4. The Development of Persian Culture under the Early Ghaznavids, C.E. Bosworth, Iran, Vol. 6, (1968), 35;;"Like the Ghaznavids whom they supplanted, the Ghurids had their court poets, and these wrote in Persian"
5. Satish Chandra, Medieval India:From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526), Part 1, (Har-Anand Publications, 2006), 22.
6. The Ghurids, K.A. Nizami, History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol.4, Part 1, ed. M.S. Asimov and C.E. Bosworth, (Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1999), 178.
7. C. E. Bosworth: GHURIDS. In Encyclopaedia Iranica. 2001 (last updated in 2012). Online edition.
8. Kingdoms of South Asia – Afghanistan in Far East Kingdoms: Persia and the East
9. Encyclopedia Iranica, Ghurids, Edmund Bosworth, Online Edition 2001, ()
10. Finbarr Barry Flood, Objects of Translation: Material Culture and Medieval "Hindu-Muslim" Encounter, (Princeton University Press, 2009), 13.
11. Elphinstone, Mountstuart. The History of India. Vol. 1. J. Murray, 1841. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. Link: "...the prevalent and apparently the correct opinion is, that both they and their subjects were Afghans. " & "In the time of Sultan Mahmud it was held, as has been observed, by a prince whom Ferishta calls Mohammed Soory (or Sur) Afghan." p.598-599
12. A short history of India: and of the frontier states of Afghanistan, Nipal, and Burma, Wheeler, James Talboys, ( LINK): "The next conqueror after Mahmud who made a name in India, was Muhammad Ghori, the Afghan."
13. Balfour, Edward. The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, Commercial Industrial, and Scientific: Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1885. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. Link: "IZ-ud-DIN Husain, the founder of the Ghori dynaasty, was a native of Afghansitan. The origin of the house of Ghor has, however, been much discussed, – the prevailing opinion being that both they and their subjects were an Afghan race. " p.392
14. G. Morgenstierne (1999). "AFGHĀN". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV.
15. M. Longworth Dames; G. Morgenstierne; R. Ghirshman (1999). "AFGHĀNISTĀN". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. "... there is no evidence for assuming that the inhabitants of Ghūr were originally Pashto-speaking (cf. Dames, in E I1). If we are to believe the Paṭa Khazāna (see below, iii), the legendary Amīr Karōṝ, grandson of Shansab, (8th century) was a Pashto poet, but this for various reasons is very improbable ..."
16. Encyclopaedia Iranica, "Ghurids", C.E. Bosworth, (LINK): ". . . The Ghurids came from the Šansabānī family. The name of the eponym Šansab/Šanasb probably derives from the Middle Persian name Wišnasp (Justi, Namenbuch, p. 282). . . . The chiefs of Ḡūr only achieve firm historical mention in the early 5th/11th century with the Ghaznavid raids into their land, when Ḡūr was still a pagan enclave. Nor do we know anything about the ethnic stock of the Ḡūrīs in general and the Šansabānīs in particular; we can only assume that they were eastern Iranian Tajiks. . . . The sultans were generous patrons of the Persian literary traditions of Khorasan, and latterly fulfilled a valuable role as transmitters of this heritage to the newly conquered lands of northern India, laying the foundations for the essentially Persian culture which was to prevail in Muslim India until the 19th century. . . ."
17. Encyclopaedia of Islam, "Ghurids", C.E. Bosworth, Online Edition, 2006: "... The Shansabānīs were, like the rest of the Ghūrīs, of eastern Iranian Tājik stock ..."
18. Encyclopaedia Iranica, "Ghurids", C.E. Bosworth, (LINK); with reference to Justi, "Namenbuch", p. 282
19. Finbarr Barry Flood, Objects of Translation: Material Culture and Medieval "Hindu-Muslim" Encounter, (Princeton University Press, 2009), 13.
20. Encyclopaedia of Islam, "Ghurids", C.E. Bosworth, Online Edition, 2006: "... There is nothing to confirm the recent surmise that the Ghūids were Pashto-speaking [...] the Paṭa Khazāna "Treasury of secrets", claims to include Pashto poetry from the Ghūid period, but the significance of this work has not yet been evaluated ..."
21. Encyclopedia Iranica, Ghaznavids, Edmund Bosworth, Online Edition 2007, (LINK Archived 15 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine)
22. Ghurids, C.E. Bosworth, Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol.2, Ed. Bernard Lewis, C. Pellat and J. Schacht, (E.J.Brill, 1991), 1100.
23. The Iranian World, C.E. Bosworth, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 5, ed. J. A. Boyle, John Andrew Boyle, (Cambridge University Press, 1968), 163.
24. Balaji Sadasivan, The Dancing Girl: A History of Early India, (ISEAS Publishing, 2011), 147.
25. Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press 2002
26. Ghurids, C.E.Bosworth, Encyclopaedia Iranica, (15 December 2001);
27. Persian Literature in the Safavid Period, Z. Safa, The Cambridge history of Iran: The Timurid and Safavid periods, Vol.6, Ed. Peter Jackson and Laurence Lockhart,(Cambridge University Press, 1986), 951;"...Ghurids and Ghurid mamluks, all of whom established centres in India where poets and writers received ample encouragement.".
28. Encyclopedia Iranica, "Delhi Sultanate", Catherine B. Asher,"Although parts of the Indian subcontinent had experienced the impact of Persian culture since the invasion by the Ghaznavid sultan Maḥmūd in the 10th century, Delhi was little affected before 1192, when the Ghurid general Qoṭb-al-Dīn Aybak defeated Prithvi Raj Chauhan, the last Hindu ruler of the city. By 1193 Aybak had taken Delhi itself and had established Islam as the new state religion; the Friday sermon (ḵoṭba) was read in the name of the Ghurid ruler Moʿezz-al-Dīn Moḥammad...[...].. Persian influence on the architecture of the newly established Ghurid splinter state in Delhi was manifest in the very types of buildings constructed, particularly mausolea."

Sources

• C. Edmund, Bosworth (2001). "GHURIDS". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
• Frye, R.N. (1975). "The Ghaznavids and Ghūrids". In Frye, R.N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Iranian world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 157–165. ISBN 0-521-20093-8.

External links

• Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition) – Ghurid Sultanate
• Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition) – Muizz-ud-Din-Muhammad a.k.a. Mohammad of Ghor
• Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition) – Muhammad of Ghor
• The Ghurid Rulers
• The Ghurids
• The Ghurids´ Firuzkuh, the summer capital of the Sultans