Ghiyath al-Din Mahmud (), was

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

of the

Ghurid Empire The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; ; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Tajik people, Tajik origin, which ruled from the 8th-century in the region of Ghor, and became an Emp ...

from 1206 to 1212. He was son of

Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad (), also known as Ghiyath al-Din Ghori or Ghiyassuddin Ghori born, Muhammad (c. 1140–1203, ), was the Sultan of the Ghurid dynasty. During the diarchy of Ghiyath and his younger brother Muhammad of Ghor, who governed th ...

the nephew of Muhammad Ghuri whom he succeeded in 1206.

Rise to power

Ghiyath was the son of

, who was the brother of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad. When Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad was assassinated in 1206 in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the Ghurid Empire fell into civil war; the Turkic ''

ghulams Ghilman (singular ',Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . plural ')Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . were slave-soldiers and/or mercenaries in armies throughout the Islamic world. Islamic states from the early 9th centur ...

'' supported Ghiyath, while the native

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

soldiers supported

Baha al-Din Sam II Baha al-Din Sam II () was the fourth ruler of the Ghurid branch of Bamiyan, ruling from 1192 to 1206. Origins and rise Baha al-Din Sam II was the son of Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Masud and an unnamed sister of his relative Sultan Ghiyath al-Din ...

. Baha al-Din Sam II, however, died after a few days later, which made the Iranian soldiers support his two sons

Jalal al-Din Ali Jalal al-Din Ali () was the last ruler of the Ghurid branch of Bamyan, ruling from 1206 to 1215. Biography He was the son of Baha al-Din Sam II, and had a brother named Ala al-Din Muhammad. Not much is known about Jalal al-Din's early life, ex ...

and Ala al-Din Muhammad. Meanwhile,

Firuzkuh Firuzkuh () is a city in the Central District of Firuzkuh County, Tehran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Demographics Population At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 15 ...

was controlled by the Ghurid prince Diya al-Din Muhammad. Ghiyath, however, managed to defeat them all and crown himself as Sultan of the Ghurid Empire.''The Iranian World'', C.E. Bosworth, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 5, ed. J. A. Boyle, John Andrew Boyle, (Cambridge University Press, 1968), 161-170. However, Jalal al-Din managed to capture

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

, and made his brother the ruler of the city.

Reign

The Turkic general

Taj al-Din Yildiz Taj al-Din Yildiz (also spelled Yaldiz, Yildoz, and Yalduz, ) was a Turkic ghulam of the Ghurid dynasty, who, after the death of Sultan Muhammad of Ghor, became the ''de facto'' ruler of Ghazni, while, however, still recognizing Ghurid authorit ...

shortly managed to seize Ghazni from the sons of Baha al-Din Sam II, but shortly recognized the authority of Ghiyath. Ghiyath, not glad about Taj al-Din controlling Ghazni, and not daring to leave Ghur unprotected, requested help from the Khwarazmian

Muhammad II of Khwarezm 'Alā' al-Din Muhammad II ( Persian: علاءالدین محمد خوارزمشاه; full name: ''Ala ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Abul-Fath Muhammad Sanjar ibn Tekish'') was the Shah of the Khwarazmian Empire from 3 August 1200 to 11 January 1221. His anc ...

. Muhammad, however, instead invaded the domains of Ghiyath, capturing

Balkh Balkh is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan. It is located approximately to the northwest of the provincial capital city Mazar-i-Sharif and approximately to the south of the Amu Darya and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border. In 2021 ...

and

Tirmidh Termez ( ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is a district-level city. Its population is 182,800 (2021). It is notable as the site of Alexander the Great's city Alexandria on the Oxus, as a center ...

.Michel Biran, ''The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History'', (Cambridge University Press, 2005), 70. Luckily for Ghiyath, Muhammad was captured by the

Kara-Khitan Khanate The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai ( zh, t=喀喇契丹, s=哈剌契丹, p=Kālā Qìdān or zh, c=黑契丹, p=Hēi Qìdān, l=Black Khitan, links=no), also known as the Western Liao ( zh, t=西遼, p=Xī Liáo, links=no), officially the Great L ...

Husain ibn Kharmil Izz al-Din Husain ibn Kharmil al-Ghuri (), commonly known after his father as Ibn Kharmil, was an Iranian military leader of the Ghurid dynasty, and later the semi-independent ruler of Herat and its surrounding regions. Origins and early career ...

, a former Ghurid general, who had changed allegiance to the Khwarazmians, shortly entered a negotiation with Ghiyath. However, the negotiation turned fruitless, and Ghiyath sent an army against Husain, which, was, however, defeated. Thirteen months later, Muhammad was freed from captivity, and once again invaded the domains of Ghiyath, capturing

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

. Muhammad then invaded the Ghurid heartland of

Ghur Ghōr, 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 of vil ...

, and captured Ghiyath. Ghiyath then agreed to recognize Muhammad's authority, and remained ruler of the Ghurid dynasty until he was assassinated in 1212. He was succeeded by his son Baha al-Din Sam III.

References

Sources

* * * {{Ghurid dynasty 13th-century Iranian people Ghurid dynasty 1212 deaths Year of birth missing Murdered Persian monarchs 13th-century murdered monarchs