The Ghurid sultanate

Who rules

Name

Ghiyath al-Din Abu'l-Fath Muhammad ibn Baha al-Din Sam, at Firuzkuh; with his younger brother Mu'izz al-Din (Shihab al-Din) Muhammad ibn Sam, sultan at Ghazni

Title

Sultan (al-sultan al-a'zam), the senior of two ruling brothers

Since

558 AH (1163); Mu'izz al-Din at Ghazni since 569 AH (1173-74)

Born

Ghiyath al-Din about 1139-1140; Mu'izz al-Din a few years younger (not pinned)

Family

Shansabani, the ruling house of Ghur

Confidence

high

Juzjani (the Ghurid court historian, writing in Delhi in 1259-60), Ibn al-Athir; Bosworth in Iranica 'Ghurids'; TDV 'Gurlular'. Reign dates firm; whereabouts on 1 January 1200 not pinned.

Overlord

None. Both brothers acknowledge the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir in the Friday sermon (khutba) and on the coins; Ghiyath al-Din was admitted to al-Nasir's futuwwa order (Iranica) and is the caliph's ally against the Khwarazmshah.

The realm that morning

On the morning of 1 January 1200 (about 12 Rabi I 596) the empire is whole and at peace on most fronts. Balkh is Ghurid (held by the Bamiyan branch, khutba for Ghiyath al-Din); the Qara Khitai were beaten in 1198 and have not returned; Tekish is alive, so the Ghurid conquest of Khurasan has not begun and Merv, Sarakhs, Tus and Nishapur are Khwarazmian. Tirmidh is NOT Ghurid: the Ghurids take it only in 601 AH (1204-05).

Where the sultans are that winter is not pinned: Ghiyath al-Din's seats are Firuzkuh and Herat; Mu'izz al-Din's is Ghazni, and no Indian campaign of his is recorded for 595-596 AH. In India the slave commanders are pressing on: Gwalior is under blockade by Baha al-Din Tughril and surrenders to Aibak about this time (the date is not pinned).

Wealth

The plunder of India (temple treasure, gold, elephants) and the tribute of Indian princes; the revenue of the Punjab, Multan and the Doab; the Herat oasis and its crafts; the silver mines of the Panjshir and Andarab in the Hindu Kush; the rubies (la'l) and lapis of Badakhshan through the Bamiyan branch; the Balkh oasis; the horse trade from the north into India; the slave trade; the iron and arms of Ghur; tolls on the Khurasan, Sistan and Indian roads.

Military

See host. Castles: Firuzkuh, Tulak and the other Ghur castles, Herat's citadel, Ghazni, Lahore, Sialkot, Multan, Uch, Andkhud on the Oxus frontier, Balkh. The frontier with the Qara Khitai runs along the Oxus; with Khwarazm along the Murghab and the Herat-Sarakhs road.

Threats

• Khwarazm: Tekish's heir Ala al-Din Muhammad will contest Khurasan for six years after July 1200.
• The Qara Khitai, who want Balkh back and will crush the Ghurids at Andkhud in 1204.
• The Nizaris of Quhistan and their assassins (Mu'izz al-Din is murdered in 1206, by Nizaris or Khokhars).
• The Khokhars of the Salt Range, who cut the Lahore road in 1204-05.
• The succession: Ghiyath al-Din is sick, Mu'izz al-Din has no son; after both die (1203, 1206) the slave commanders and the princes divide the empire.
• Religious strife between Karramis and Shafi'is in Ghur and Herat.

Ruler

Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad (born about 1139-40), sultan since 558 AH (1163). In his last years he was crippled by gout (Ibn al-Athir and Juzjani describe it in the years before his death); how far it has gone by January 1200 is not pinned. He was brought up a Karrami, like most of Ghur, and later went over to the Shafi'i school, favouring the Ash'ari theologian Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, for whom he founded a college (madrasa) by the Great Mosque of Herat.

Consort

Not pinned. Juzjani names a daughter of Ghiyath al-Din, the princess Mah Malik (Raverty, vol. 1, front matter); her mother is not pinned.

Heirs and children

Ghiyath al-Din's son Ghiyath al-Din Mahmud (birth date not pinned; he is old enough to receive Bust, Farah and Isfizar on his father's death in 1203) and his daughter Mah Malik. Mu'izz al-Din has no son: his only child, a daughter, died in his lifetime (Wikipedia, after Juzjani). The tacit heir of the whole is Mu'izz al-Din, who succeeds his brother in 1203.

Kin holding land

Mu'izz al-Din at Ghazni (see Mu'izz al-Din). Baha al-Din Sam II of Bamiyan, son of the sultans' sister and of their cousin Shams al-Din Muhammad (see Baha al-Din Sam of Bamiyan), and his sons Jalal al-Din Ali and Ala al-Din Muhammad. Diya al-Din Muhammad, son of Shuja al-Din Abi Ali ibn al-Husayn (Ghiyath al-Din's uncle), the sultan's cousin and son-in-law, who receives Ghur, Garmsir, Zamindawar and Firuzkuh in 1203 and Nishapur in 1201; his holding on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

Nasir al-Din Alp Ghazi, son of the Seljuk prince Qizil Arslan by Ghiyath al-Din's sister (Juzjani), who receives Herat in 1203; his post in January 1200 is not pinned. Taj al-Din Zangi of the Bamiyan line, made governor of Sarakhs in 1201; his post in January 1200 is not pinned. Ala al-Din Atsiz, son of Ala al-Din Husayn 'the World-Burner', a cousin with no known land that winter. Raverty's index of the Shansabani maliks lists Malik Shihab al-Din Muhammad Kharnak, son of al-Husayn, malik of Madin in Ghur, a kinsman holding a Ghur district; Raverty identifies him with the Muhammad Kharnak who beat the Qara Khitai in 1198 (Ibn al-Athir and Wikipedia call that commander Nasir al-Din Muhammad Kharnak; the identification is not certain).

Officers and household

Mu'izz al-Din's Turkish slave commanders (bandagan) are the backbone of the eastern army and hold the great governorships: Qutb al-Din Aibak at Delhi, Taj al-Din Yildiz in the Kurram (Juzjani's 'Karman and Sankuran'), Nasir al-Din Aytam at Uch (governor until his death at Andkhud in 1204; his start date is not pinned), Baha al-Din Tughril at Bayana, with Nasir al-Din Qabacha and Iltutmish rising beneath them. The free Ghurid and Khalaj commanders of the west include Husayn ibn Kharmil of Gurziwan (governor of Sialkot from 1185-86) and Muhammad Kharnak (probably the Ghurid malik of Madin in Ghur, see kin), who together destroyed the Qara Khitai army in 1198 (Ibn al-Athir, tr. Richards, part 3, p.

36). The vizier of either sultan on 1 January 1200 is not pinned. The judge of the army in India (qadi-yi lashkar) is Juzjani's father, Siraj al-Din Minhaj, by Juzjani's own account (his tenure in 1200 not pinned).

Great families

The Shansabani house and its branches (Firuzkuh, Ghazni, Bamiyan); the lesser maliks of Ghur, who hold their valleys and castles under the sultans; the Khalaj Turks of Garmsir and Ghazni; the Turkish slave commanders; the old Ghaznavid families of Lahore and Ghazni who serve the new masters; the Karrami religious leaders of Ghur, Herat and Nishapur (the Karrami imam Sadr al-Din Ali Haysam of Nishapur mocked Ghiyath al-Din's turn to the Shafi'is in verse, TDV); the Chishti Sufis of Chisht on the Hari Rud.

Castles and towns

Firuzkuh in Ghur (the senior capital, with the minaret of Jam); Herat (the great city of the west); Ghazni (Mu'izz al-Din's capital); Bust with the Ghaznavid palace city of Lashkari Bazar; Tiginabad (Kandahar); Farah; Isfizar; Pushang; the castles of Ghur (Tulak and others); Kabul; Gardez; Peshawar; Lahore; Sialkot (refortified 1185-86); Multan; Uch; Talaqan, Andkhud and the towns of Guzganan; through Bamiyan: Bamiyan, Balkh, Khulm, Qunduz, Taliqan of Tukharistan and Badakhshan. See the town records.

Mints tolls and markets

Coins are struck in both brothers' names at Ghazni, Herat, Firuzkuh and in the Indian mints (Lahore, Delhi), the Indian issues keeping the old bull-and-horseman type; from 1199 onwards the Ghurid coinage takes a more orthodox style with Qur'anic verses on both faces (Wikipedia, after the numismatic literature). The Bamiyan branch strikes in its own name (Baha al-Din Sam II at the Wakhsh mint). Tolls on the great roads: Herat to Merv and Nishapur, Herat to Sistan, Ghazni to Kabul and the Khyber, the Kurram and Gomal passes into India, Balkh to the Oxus crossings.

Treaties and wars

With the Qara Khitai: war in 1198 after Baha al-Din Sam took Balkh (594 AH) from the dead governor who had been a Qara Khitai tributary and read the khutba there for Ghiyath al-Din; a Qara Khitai army sent at Tekish's urging crossed the Oxus into Guzganan and was destroyed by Muhammad Kharnak and Husayn ibn Kharmil, many drowning in the river (Ibn al-Athir). No treaty is recorded; no fighting on the Oxus is recorded for the winter of 1199-1200. With Khwarazm: Tekish moved on Herat from Tus in 1198 and failed; relations since then are hostile but there is no war in progress that the sources record that winter (Wikipedia's 'Tekish' says he made peace with the Ghurids and the caliph after refusing the Qara Khitai demands; not pinned).

With the Nizaris of Quhistan: hostile; the Ghurids raid Quhistan in 1201 (later). In India: continuous war with the Rajput kings beyond the frame.

Relations with neighbours

The caliph al-Nasir: ally and patron against Tekish, who claims the old Seljuk sultanate and threatens Baghdad; caliphal envoys come to Firuzkuh. Khwarazm: the chief rival, for Khurasan (Merv, Sarakhs, Tus, Nishapur). The Qara Khitai: beaten in 1198 and resentful over Balkh. Sistan: tributary. The Nizaris: enemies (Quhistan borders Herat and Sistan). Kashmir: no war recorded. The Rajput kingdoms: being conquered (beyond the frame).

Religious communities

The sultans are Sunni: Ghiyath al-Din now Shafi'i, Mu'izz al-Din Hanafi; most of Ghur still holds to the Karramiyya, a pietist Sunni movement strong in Ghur, Herat and Nishapur. The quarrel came to a head at Firuzkuh in 595 AH (1198-99), when a disputation between Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and the Karrami scholar Ibn al-Qudwa brought riots and Razi was sent away (Ibn al-Athir; date from his annal of 595, medium confidence). Ismailis survive in Multan (the old Ismaili state there was destroyed by Mu'izz al-Din in 1175) and in Badakhshan (the mission of Nasir-i Khusraw, eleventh century).

The Church of the East keeps a metropolitan see of Herat (whether filled in 1200 is not pinned). Hindus are the great majority in the Punjab and Sindh; Jews trade at Firuzkuh (Judaeo-Persian tombstones of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries found near Jam) and lived in Ghazni in Ghaznavid times.

Coinage

Gold, silver and billon in the names of both sultans, with the caliph's name; the Indian billon (jital) of bull-and-horseman type with Sanskrit legends at Lahore and Delhi. The khutba names the caliph, then Ghiyath al-Din, then Mu'izz al-Din.

The host

Ghurid hill infantry with great mantlets of hide and wood (kariwa), and Ghurid, Khalaj and Turkish horse; Mu'izz al-Din's Turkish slave cavalry; war elephants taken in India; contingents of the Bamiyan branch, the malik of Sistan and the lesser maliks of Ghur; Afghan and Indian levies. Victories: Tarain (1192), Chandawar (1194), the destruction of the Qara Khitai army (1198). No reliable numbers.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 3 July 1200 (19 or 20 Ramadan 596; computed from 1 Muharram 596 = about 22 October 1199)Tekish dies on campaign; his son Ala al-Din Muhammad is proclaimed in August. The news opens Khurasan to the Ghurids.Depends on: Tekish's illness (natural death). Stopped by: Nothing in Ghurid hands; only a recovery of Tekish.
2. From late 1200 into 597 AH (from about 11 October 1200 to 29 September 1201)The two brothers invade Khurasan: Merv, Sarakhs, Tus and Nishapur fall; Ghiyath al-Din appoints Nasir al-Din Muhammad Kharnak to Merv, Taj al-Din Zangi to Sarakhs and Diya al-Din Muhammad to Nishapur; Mu'izz al-Din pushes west to Gurgan and Bistam, and the brothers have their only recorded quarrel. The Ghurids also raid Nizari Quhistan.Depends on: Tekish's death and a weak start to Muhammad's reign; the Qara Khitai staying out. Stopped by: A strong Khwarazmian regency, a Qara Khitai attack on Balkh, or Ghiyath al-Din's illness.
3. About 1200 (not pinned)Gwalior, beyond the frame, surrenders to Qutb al-Din Aibak after the long blockade by Baha al-Din Tughril.Depends on: The garrison's endurance. Stopped by: Relief by another Rajput power.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201 onwards (later than this year)Ala al-Din Muhammad recovers Nishapur and most of Khurasan between 1201 and 1206; Ghiyath al-Din dies at Herat in 599 AH (early 1203; Wikipedia gives 13 March 1203).Depends on: The war in Khurasan. Stopped by: A Ghurid victory in Khurasan.

Places of note

• Minaret of Jam: The great brick minaret by the Hari Rud at or beside the site of Firuzkuh, bearing Ghiyath al-Din's titles; its date is read either as 570 AH (1174-75) or 590 AH (1193-94).
• Lashkari Bazar: The Ghaznavid palace city by Bust on the Helmand, burned by Ala al-Din Husayn in 1150-51 and partly reoccupied under the Ghurids.
• Chisht: Home of the Chishti Sufi masters on the upper Hari Rud, with domed tombs of the twelfth century.

Where the sources disagree

• GM dossier: 'The Bamiyan branch holds Balkh, Tirmidh, Wakhsh and Badakhshan.' Balkh, Wakhsh and Badakhshan are supported (Ibn al-Athir for Balkh in 594 AH; a Wakhsh mint of Baha al-Din Sam II; Juzjani for Badakhshan). Tirmidh is not: Ibn al-Athir has the Ghurid governor of Balkh take Tirmidh in 601 AH (Wikipedia dates it July 1205), and Juzjani's mentions of Tirmidh show no earlier Ghurid holding. Tirmidh is left to the Transoxiana researcher (tra).
• Wikipedia's articles 'Baha al-Din Sam II' and 'Yelu Zhilugu' put the Ghurid capture of Merv, Sarakhs, Nasa, Abivard, Tus and Nishapur in 1198; it follows Tekish's death (1200-1201).
• The diarchy line of the dossier is supported.
• Ghiyath al-Din's death date differs between accounts: 599 AH (1203; Wikipedia 13 March 1203) against TDV's table, which ends his reign in 1202. It lies after 1200.

Evidence: Juzjani, a Ghurid loyalist, is the main narrative, with Ibn al-Athir for the wars with Khwarazm and the Qara Khitai and the coins for titles and mints. The offices held on 1 January 1200 are often not pinned: Juzjani and Ibn al-Athir name governors when something happens to them, not year by year.

On the map: Ghurid rule is a web of castles, towns and oases held by governors and lesser maliks, with tribal mountains and deserts between; the outline joins them. The line between the two brothers' halves follows the division of 1203 (Juzjani, TDV) and is approximate.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Chronography of Bar Hebraeus, Gregory Bar Hebraeus (Abu'l-Faraj) (about 1275 to 1286). A later compilation that for 1200 relies on Michael the Syrian and Ibn al-Athir, but adds the Jacobite church's own memory of the Jazira, Mosul, Melitene and the Artuqid and Zangid courts, and carries Michael's story past 1195: the Seljuk brothers' war in Rum, the Khwarazmian and Ghurid wars in the east, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah, and the caliph al-Nasir. Read online
• The Complete History, Izz al-Din Ibn al-Athir (about 1200 to 1231, at Mosul). The widest Muslim narrative for the years 596 to 597 AH (1199 to 1201): al-Adil's entry into Cairo and his taking of the sultanate from his nephew al-Mansur Muhammad early in 1200, the quarrels of the Ayyubid princes at Damascus, Aleppo and Hama, the Nile failure and the great famine of Egypt, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah and the Jazira under Gokbori and the Artuqids, Baghdad under the caliph al-Nasir, the Khwarazmshah Tekish's death in 1200 and Muhammad's accession, the Ghurid wars in Khurasan, the Eldiguzids and Georgia, the Almohads in the west, and the Seljuks of Rum in passing. Read online
• The History of the World Conqueror, Ata-Malik Juvayni (1252 to 1260). Written for the Mongols but with a long retrospective on the powers they destroyed. Read online
• The Life of Sultan Jalal al-Din Mankubirti, Shihab al-Din Muhammad al-Nasawi (about 1241, at Aleppo). A Khwarazmian secretary's life of the last Khwarazmshah. Read online
• The Nasirid Generations: a General History of the Muslim Dynasties, Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (1259 to 1260, at Delhi). The Ghurid court's own history, by a man born in 1193 whose family served the sultans of Ghur and Ghazna. Read online
• The Crown of Glorious Deeds, Hasan Nizami (Sadr al-Din Muhammad ibn Hasan Nizami of Nishapur) (begun about 1205 at Delhi, carried on to about 1217). The earliest history written in Muslim India and the only contemporary account of Qutb al-Din Aibak's campaigns. Read online
• The Nasirean Generations (a general history of the Muslim dynasties), Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (completed 1260 at Delhi). The fullest narrative of the Ghurid conquest of northern India. Read online
• The Tree of Genealogies, and the Manners of War and Bravery, Fakhr-i Mudabbir (Fakhr al-Din Muhammad ibn Mansur Mubarakshah) (the Shajara about 1206, dedicated to Qutb al-Din Aibak; the Adab al-harb in the 1220s for Iltutmish). The prose introduction to the Shajara, written within six years of 1200, praises Aibak and tells of his rise under Mu'izz al-Din of Ghur, his consecration at Lahore in 1206 and the Ghurid campaigns in Hindustan, with some notice of the Turkish peoples.
• Dictionary of Countries, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1224 to 1228, at Aleppo). An alphabetical gazetteer of every place Yaqut had read of or seen: he travelled as a bookseller's agent through Syria, Iraq, Persia, Khurasan and Khwarazm (about 1213 to 1220) and settled in Aleppo. Read online
• The Victory of Prithviraja, Jayanaka (a Kashmiri poet at the Chahamana court) (about 1191 to 1192, left unfinished). A court epic written at Ajmer in the months between Prithviraja III's victory at Tarain in 1191 and his defeat and death in 1192. Read online
• The History of India as Told by its Own Historians: the Muhammadan Period, vol. 2, Various (Ibn al-Athir, Hasan Nizami, Awfi, Juzjani and others), edited by H. M. Elliot and John Dowson (the sources date from the 1190s to the 14th century; the collection was published in 1869). A one-volume anthology of the Arabic and Persian accounts of the Ghurid conquest. Read online