Amīr Sūrī ( fa, امیر سوری) was the king of the

Ghurid dynasty The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty and a clan of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from th ...

from the 9th-century to the 10th-century. According to some legends, He was a descendant of the Ghurid king

Amir Banji Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

, whose rule was legitimized by the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Harun al-Rashid Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar , أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...

. Amir Suri is known to have fought the

Saffarid The Saffarid dynasty ( fa, صفاریان, safaryan) was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian origin that ruled over parts of Persia, Greater Khorasan, and eastern Makran from 861 to 1003. One of the first indigenous Persian dynasties to emer ...

ruler

Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar , title = Amir of the Saffarid dynasty , image = مجسمه یعقوب لیث در زابل.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Statue of Ya'qub in Zabol, Iran , reign = 861–879 , coronation = , predece ...

, who managed to conquer much of

Khurasan Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plat ...

except

Ghur Ghōr (Dari: ), also spelled Ghowr or Ghur, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is located in the western Hindu Kush in central Afghanistan, towards the northwest. The province contains eleven districts, encompassing hundreds ...

.''History of Civilizations of Central Asia'', C.E. Bosworth, M.S. Asimov, p. 184. Amir Suri was later succeeded by his son

Muhammad ibn Suri Muhammad ibn Suri (Persian: محمد بن سوری, died 1011) was the king of the Ghurid dynasty from the 10th-century to 1011. During his reign, he was defeated by the Ghaznavid emperor Mahmud of Ghazni and his domains were conquered. According ...

. Although Amir Suri bore an Arabic title and his son had an Islamic name, they were both

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Medieval India Part 1 Satish Chandra Page 22 and were considered

pagans Pagans may refer to: * Paganism, a group of pre-Christian religions practiced in the Roman Empire * Modern Paganism, a group of contemporary religious practices * Order of the Vine, a druidic faction in the ''Thief'' video game series * Pagan's M ...

by the surrounding Muslim people, and it was only during the reign of Muhammad's son

Abu Ali ibn Muhammad Abu Ali ibn Muhammad (Persian: ابو علی بن محمد) was the king of the Ghurid dynasty. He succeeded his father Muhammad ibn Suri in 1011, after the latter was deposed by Mahmud of Ghazni, who then sent teachers to teach about Islam in Gh ...

that the Ghurid dynasty became an Islamic dynasty. The Ghurids originated from the Ghuristan mountains, and were divided into numerous tribes, among which, the Shansabani tribe had the most authority. Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi, the famous historian of the Ghaznavid era, wrote on page 117 in his book

Tarikh-i Bayhaqi ''Tārīkh-i Bayhaqī'' ( fa, تاریخ بیهقی, italics=yes; ) is a history book written by Abul-Fazl Bayhaqi, in Persian, in the 11th century CE. Much of this voluminous work is lost, but its remains is the most important source on the his ...

: "Sultan

Mas'ud Masoud (; ) is a given name and surname, with origins in Persian and Arabic. The name is found in the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and China. Masoud has spelling varia ...

left for Ghuristan and sent his learned companion with two people from Ghor as interpreters between this person and the people of that region."

References

Sources

* * {{Ghurid dynasty 9th-century Iranian people 10th-century Iranian people Iranian Buddhists Ghurid dynasty Buddhist monarchs 10th-century deaths Year of birth missing 10th-century rulers in Asia 9th-century rulers in Asia