Sabuktigin
Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Distinguish Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox royalty Abu Mansur Nasir ad-Din wa'd-Dawla SabuktiginTemplate:Efn (Template:Langx; Template:Circa 940s – August-September 997) was the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, and amir of Ghazna from 977 to 997. Sabuktigin was a Turkic slave who was bought by Alp-Tegin, the commander of the royal guard of the Samanid dynasty. Alp-Tegin established himself as the governor of Ghazna in 962, and died a year later in 963. Afterwards, Sabuktigin built his prestige among other slave soldiers in Ghazna until he was elected by them as their ruler in 977.
Sabuktigin expanded his rule down to south of present-day Afghanistan and north of Balochistan. Through conflicts with the Hindu Shahi dynasty of Kabul, he invaded Indian lands, opening the gates of India for the future monarchs of his dynasty. As a vassal of the Samanid Empire, he answered Nuh II's call to help regarding Abu Ali Simjuri's rebellion, defeating the latter in several battles during 994 to 996. Towards the end of his life, Sabuktigin arranged an agreement with the Kara-Khanid Khanate, Samanids' rivals, to partition Nuh's realm between themselves. However, before he could realize this agreement, he died on his way to Ghazna on August-September 997.
As the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, Sabuktigin was later idealized by Ghaznavid historians as a just and forgiving ruler, though these traits may have no basis in reality. He was the image of the "founding monarch" archetype, developed by historians such as Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi, who drew a contrast between the humble and just Sabuktigin with his successors. This conclusion was shared by later historians such as Nizam al-Mulk and lived all the way to Babur, the founding monarch of the Mughal Empire, who was influenced by Sabuktigin half a millennium after his death.
Name
Sabuktigin is a Turkic name meaning "beloved prince", however, during his era, the Old Turkic Template:Lang had degenerated from "prince" to a synonym for Turkic slave commanders under the Abbasid service.Template:Sfn His Template:Lang (agnomen) Template:Lang means "Protector of the Faith and State".Template:Sfn According to al-Biruni, before Template:Lang, Sabuktigin held the Template:Lang Template:Lang.Template:Sfn As an autonomous vassal of the Samanid dynasty, Sabuktigin was referred to as amir, contrary to his descendants who assumed the royal title of sultan.Template:Sfn
Early years
Born around 940s, there is not much known about Sabuktigin's early life.Template:Sfn In Sabuktigin's Pandnama, a mirror for princes epistle, he attests that he came from a tribe in Barskhan, therefore he probably belonged to a Karluk tribe.Template:Sfn His father was called Juq, and in contemporary Chinese documents, Sabuktigin is referred to as Sabuktigin, son of Juq.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn However, Juzjani, a 13-century historian, citing Tarikh-i Majadwal by Abu Al-Qasim Imami (written in early twelfth-century) states that Sabuktigin's father was called Qara Bechkem, and through a fabricated genealogy, links him to the last Sasanian Template:Lang, Yazdegerd III (Template:Reign), claiming his daughter married a Turkic chief.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn
Sabuktigin recounts that his tribe was raided and he, along with all the women and the children, was captured.Template:Sfn His captors, a rival Karluk tribe, sold him at a slave market at Nakhshab (modern-day Qarshi).Template:Sfn Later, he was bought by Alp-Tegin, himself a slave and a prominent commander.Template:Sfn Sebuktigin quickly became integrated in the Persian community around him, despite being a stranger at first.Template:Sfn
He flourished under Alp-Tegin's patronage and by the age of eighteen, commanded 200 Template:Lang (military slaves).Template:Sfn At the time, Alp-Tegin served as the head of the royal guard of the Samanid dynasty, but in 962, after he fell from grace, he left his position and sought to establish an independent rule in Ghazna, in present-day eastern Afghanistan.Template:Sfn Sabuktigin accompanied him and helped defeating the Samanid army in Tokharistan.Template:Sfn Eventually, Alp-Tegin conquered Ghazna from its local ruler, Abu Bakr Lawik, and was recognised as governor by the Samanid administration.Template:Sfn He died shortly after in 963, and was succeeded by his son, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim, who also became Sabuktigin's new master.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
After Abu Ishaq's brief reign and death in 966, the Turkic Template:Lang in Ghazna reconciled with the Samanid government but remained autonomous and chose their leaders from their commanders.Template:Sfn During the successive reigns of Bilgetegin (966–975) and Böritigin (975–977), Sabuktigin increased his prestige among his troops.Template:Sfn In 977, the citizens of Ghazna, tired of the unpopular Böritigin, invited Abu Ali Lawik, Abu Bakr's son, to rule their city. The Hindu Shahi dynasty of Kabul supported Lawik and sent a large force under his leadership towards Ghazna. Sabuktigin united the Turkic garrisons of Gardez, Ghazna and Bamyan and defeated the invading forces at Charkh, killing Lawik in the process.Template:Sfn Afterwards, with the support of the army, Sabuktigin replaced Böritigin as the governor.Template:Sfn
Reign
Land expansions
In 978, Sabuktigin invaded Rukkhaj and Bust in the south of his realm and subdued a rival Turkic group who were installed there earlier in the century by Qaratigin Isfijabi (d. 929), another rebellious Samanid Template:Lang.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He continued his expansion into Qusdar in north-east Baluchistan and a number of frontier forts belonging to Shahi dynasty.Template:Sfn
With the backing of Template:Lang as a Template:Lang, Sabuktigin raided the neighbouring Indian lands and destroyed Hindu temples, replacing them with mosques.Template:Sfn The Shahi Template:Lang, Jayapala, placed Afghan garrisons in Multan and Laghman, but they joined Sabuktigin.Template:Sfn His threat prompted Jayapala to form an alliance with the Punjabi Muslim Emirate of Multan and march towards Ghazna with a large army in 986.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn A battle took place in Laghman which after days had no definitive winner. However, a sudden snowstorm devastated Jayapala's army.Template:Sfn The cause of this storm's eruption, according to al-Utbi's history book Tarikh-i Yamini, was Sabuktigin himself.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn
Jayapala conceded to a humiliating treaty with conditions such as paying 1 million dirhams, and granting his relatives as hostages to Sabuktigin. Yet, he did not uphold the treaty once he returned to his realm,Template:Sfn causing Sabuktigin to march towards his realm with an army composed of Afghans and Khalajs in 988.Template:Sfn Jayapala, who held some prestige among Indian rulers, mustered an army with the assistance of Delhi, Ajmer, Kalinjar and Kannauj.Template:Sfn They again battled in Laghman, and this time Sabuktigin defeated Jayapala completely and captured the lands between Lamghan and Peshawar, housing 2000 horsemen in the latter as garrison.Template:Sfn
Revolt of Fa'iq Khassa and Abu Ali Simjuri
Throughout his reign, Sabuktigin acknowledged Samanid sovereignty, he minted the names of Samanid amirs before his own name in his coins, and used the title Template:Lang (Most Exalted Commander) to indicate his subordinate status.Template:Sfn This display was only nominal, since he was not bound to any vassalage obligations.Template:Sfn The Samanid amir, Nuh II, came to gradually rely on Sabuktigin's military for defense against Kara-Khanid Khanate in the north, who were a constant threat to his borders.Template:Sfn In 994, Nuh requested Sabuktigin's help in subduing the rebellious Abu Ali Simjuri and his Kara-Khanid supporter, Fa'iq Khassa.Template:Sfn
Sabuktigin with his son Mahmud in tow, met Simjuri's army at Herat.Template:Sfn During initial negotiations, Sabuktigin agreed to peace if only Abu Ali pledged obedience to Nuh II and paid a sum of 15 million dirhams as compensation. Abu Ali's warriors found these terms too humiliating and thus attacked Sabuktigin's army on their own.Template:Sfn Fa'iq's men quickly disarrayed Sabuktigin's war elephants, which made him furious.Template:Sfn The battle was a victory for Abu Ali until one of his allies, the Ziyarid prince Dara who ruled Gorgan, deserted his army and joined Sabuktigin.Template:Sfn Abu Ali and Fa'iq fled towards Gorgan to seek help from their ally, Fakhr al-Dawla (Dara's overlord).Template:Sfn For their victory, Sabuktigin and Mahmud were rewarded with Template:Lang and Mahmud became the commander of the army of Khorasan.Template:Sfn In 995, Fa'iq and Abu Ali invaded Nishapur, and when Sabuktigin arrived, instead of fighting him, asked for forgiveness. Sabuktigin refused and launched an attack.Template:Sfn His war elephants crushed many of Abu Ali's soldiers and chief commanders.Template:Sfn Abu Ali was imprisoned in 996 and was killed in 997 on Sabuktigin's order.Template:Sfn
Administration
Sabuktigin put forth a set of reforms regarding the Template:Lang system in his realm.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn During Alp-Tegin's tenure, soldiers earned their pay through plunder and raids, but from his death to Sabuktigin's ascension, payment from raids ceased and soldiers turned to Template:Lang as a source of income.Template:Sfn Gradually, the soldiers turned their Template:Lang lands into independent ownerships and grew disinclined to fight for their ruler.Template:Sfn Moreover, their dominance upon farming lands burdened the farmers and had pampered their production.Template:Sfn Therefore, upon ascension, Sabuktigin's treasury was empty of gold and silver and reportedly only contained "swords and silks".Template:Sfn Sabuktigin first ordered his commanders to give him gifts for his ascension, and then confiscated farming and Template:Lang lands back into governmental domains, promising to pay his army from his treasury and from spoils of war, making his army dependent on him for their earnings.Template:Sfn
Sparse details remain about Sabuktigin's bureaucratic retinue; there are no recorded names of his viziers (ministers), and it is speculated that he utilized the local Persian secretaries and officials in Ghazna.Template:Sfn After his conquest of Bust, Sabuktigin brought with himself the local secretary and poet Abu al-Fath al-Busti, who became his chancellor.Template:Sfn Moreover, al-Utbi, who previously served the Samanids, Abu Ali Simjuri and the Ziyarid ruler Qabus, became his secretary.Template:Sfn According to al-Utbi, Sabuktigin was initially mistrustful of him and of al-Busti, because both had served his rivals, but then both successfully gained his favour and served in high positions.Template:Sfn
Sabiktigin was the first ruler to bring Islam into northwest India.Template:Sfn He believed in the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam and converted into a Hanafite sect called the Karramiyya.Template:Sfn According to Bosworth, the reason for his conversion was his entrancement with the Karramiyya leader, the ascetic Abu Ya'qub Ishaq ibn Mahmudshadh (d. 993).Template:SfnTemplate:Efn
Death and succession
In 996, Nuh II again requested Sabuktigin's support against Nasr ibn Ali, the Kara-Khanid Template:Lang, however, after a falling out between the two, Sabuktigin made a secret agreement with Nasr to separate the Samanid realms in Transoxiana between themselves.Template:Sfn But shortly after, when he was returning to Ghazna, Sabuktigin died in a village north of Hindu Kush on August-September 997.Template:Sfn
According to Juzjani, Sabuktigin had a total of six sons, of which three were in their adolescence when he died: Mahmud, Abu al-Muzzafar Nasr, and Ismail.Template:Sfn One other son, Yusuf, was still a child at the time of his death.Template:Sfn He also had a daughter called Hurra-yi Khuttali who later married two rulers of Khwarazm from the Ma'munid dynasty: Abu al-Hasan Ali and Ma'mun II.Template:Sfn Though there are no given birth dates, Ismail seems to have been his youngest adult son, born from a daughter of Alp-Tegin.Template:Sfn His maternal lineage may have influenced Sabuktigin to pass Ghazna onto Ismail upon his death, since it was befitting that a descendant of Alp-Tegin would rule Ghazna.Template:Sfn For Nasr, he left Bust, and since Mahmud was commanding the army of Khorasan, Sabuktigin could not bestow him any titles and left nothing for him.Template:Sfn
According to Mirat-i-Masudi ("Mirror of Masud"), a Persian-language hagiography written by Abdur Rahman Chishti in the 1620s, he also had another daughter named Sitr-e-Mu'alla, who was purportedly married to Dawood bin Ataullah Alavi, also known as Gazi Saiyyed Salar Sahu, whose son was Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 998, during a succession struggle, Mahmud deposed Ismail and took his place.Template:Sfn In 999, his invasion of Khorasan, along with Kara-Khanid intrusion from north, finally put an end to the Samanid Empire, after which, Mahmud and Nasr ibn Ali partitioned the Samanid lands between themselves.Template:Sfn
Assessment and legacy
Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi, in his history book Tarikh-i Bayhaqi, portrayed Sabuktigin as a just ruler, contrasting him with his patron and Sabuktigin's grandson, Masʽud I.Template:Sfn Before him, al-Utbi had portrayed Sabuktigin as an approachable, forgiving and just ruler, to contrast him with Mahmud.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn However, according to the British orientalist Clifford Edmund Bosworth, no traits can be attributed to Sabuktigin's personality because of a lack in evidence.Template:Sfn In truth, Ghaznavid historians such as Bayhaqi conceptualized Sabuktigin as the ideal image of an archetype: the founding monarch, who lived a simple life and was a humble soldier who imposed justice.Template:Sfn This representation continued with Nizam al-Mulk, the vizier of the Seljuk Empire, who idealized Sabuktigin.Template:Sfn This image persisted even half a millennium later, when Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, citing al-Utbi's work, sought to find a way to erupt a snowstorm just as Sabuktigin had done.Template:Sfn
Sabuktigin was the first Ghaznavid ruler to invade India.Template:Sfn According to al-Biruni, he opened the gates of India for his successor, Mahmud.Template:Sfn Sabuktigin's conquests facilitated the beginning of the Turko-Afghan period into India, which would be further conducted by Mahmud, and later the Ghurids until the Turko-Afghans successfully established themselves in the Delhi Sultanate.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
References
Notes
Citations
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Bibliography
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| Preceded by: Böritigin |
Amir of Ghazna 977–997 |
Followed by: Ismail |