Machmud of Ghazni

Little is known about the early life of Machmud (also known as Mahmud). While his later life is well chronicled by a number of contemporary authors, his young life is a subject on which there is little material.

Machmud came from a line of military conquerors. His grandfather, Alptigin, was a Turk from Turkestan. He and his army traveled to Ghazni in what is now Afghanistan and took the land for themselves.

Alptigin’s slave son-in-law, Sabuktigin, took the reigns of the fledgling empire upon Alptigin’s death in 977 AD. Sabuktigin expanded upon the lands taken first by his father-in-law. During his reign he extended the empire to Balkh in the north, homeland of Alptigin, to the west in Kabul (capital of modern Afghanistan) and Kandahar, and to the east at the Indus River, on the border with the sub-continent of India.

Sabuktigin also legitimized his control of the land through the Caliph of Baghdad, the most important leader in the Muslim world of the time. Sabuktigin was named Sultan of Ghazni.

Upon his death in 997 AD, Sultan Sabuktigin passed control of the empire to his son, Ismail. He passed over Machmud, who was the elder son. Machmud did not take this slight lying down, however, and rebelled against his younger brother. In short order Machmud had become the new Sultan of Ghazni.

God and Gold

Like his father and his grandfather before him, Machmud would be a leader of conquest. He would in fact exceed both of them in the extent of his conquests and in the wealth which he accrued. By the end of his reign Machmud was one of the wealthiest men alive, and his empire had become a fountain of culture and enlightenment.

Machmud’s military campaigns had as their inspiration two motivations: God and Gold. His enemies were twofold: the heretic Shiites of Iran and the infidel Hindus of the Indian peninsula.

His earliest campaigns were against the Ismaili Shiites of Multan, in what is now Pakistan. He also fought battles against a number of the neighboring tribes and empires in a quest to expand his domains.

The Indian Campaigns

Although he fought in a number of campaigns against various enemies, Machmud is most notorious for his up to 17 raids of Indian lands. He is rumored to have vowed to raid Hind (India) every year of his rule.

Unlike many of his other campaigns, the Indian campaigns did little to extend the empire of Ghazni. These were pure raids with two goals: destroy and plunder. He ransacked numerous Hindu temples and brought vast amounts of wealth back to his home in Ghazni.

The most famous of Machmud’s Indian campaigns were against the temple of Somnath. Machmud took the temple with little effort, massacred the majority of the defenders of the city (said to be up to 50,000), destroyed many of its holy artifacts and took its grand wealth back with him to Ghazni. This was the last of his major Indian campaigns.

One permanent addition was made to the Empire of Ghazni during the time of the Indian campaigns: the Punjab, today shared by both Pakistan and India. Machmud spent years attempting to annex this land, finally succeeding in 1021. Some other minor kingdoms were brought under his dominion, although they were left in the hands of local leaders who did not share the religion of Islam.

The Legacy of Machmud of Ghazni

Machmud was not the greatest conqueror to come from the tribes of the steppes. Two centuries after his conquests the greatest conqueror the world has ever seen would arise to the east of Ghazni in Mongolia: Genghis Khan.

However Machmud was a terror of his times, and his name is still reviled in India. At the same time it is hailed in Pakistan. In fact there is a Pakistani missile named in honor of Machmud of Ghazni for the destruction that he brought to the people of India.

In his day Ghazni was one of the wealthiest places on earth. Machmud also fostered learning and culture, and his empire was filled with poets, artists and artisans, musicians. Ghazni was one of the cultural hotspots of the world at the turn of the millennium.

The empire of Ghazni continued to live for another 150 years after the death of Machmud in 1030, but it would never again reach the heights of greatness it reached under his leadership. In 1150 the empire would be defeated by the Persians. While few today remember the empire of Ghazni, the name of Machmud is one that resonates with violence and terror.