Muhammad of Ghor

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Muhammad of Ghor bigraphy, stories - Warlord and conqueror

Muhammad of Ghor : biography

1162 – March 15, 1206

Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori (also spelled Ghauri, Ghouri) (), originally called Mu’izzuddīn Muḥammad Bin Sām (and also referred to by Orientalists as Muhammad of Ghor and famously known as just Ghori) (1150 – March 15, 1206), was one of the rulers of the Ghurid dynasty from the famous house of Sur who were rulers of Ghor for five hundred years. He is credited with laying the foundation of Islamic occupation in India that lasted for several centuries. He reigned over a territory spanning present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India.

Muiz-ud-din, son of Sam Suri, nicknamed Shahab-ud-din which means "The (Flashing) Fire of Religion (Islam)" took the city of Ghazni in 1173 to avenge the death of his ancestor Muhammad Suri at the hands of Mahmud of Ghazni and used it as a launching-pad for expansion into northern India.Encyclopedia Iranica, Ghurids, C. Edmund Bosworth, Online Edition 2012, () In the meantime, he assisted his brother Ghiyasuddin in his contest with the Khwarezmid Empire for the lordship of Khorāsān in Western Asia. In 1175 Ghori captured Multan from the Hamid Ludi dynasty which was also Pashtun but were alleged to be un-Islamic on the account of their association with Ismailite Shi’iate sect and also took Uch in 1175. He also annexed the Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186, the last haven of his Afghan but Non-Pashtun Persianized rivals. After the death of Ghiyasuddin in 1202, he became the successor of the Ghurid Empire and ruled until his assassination in 1206 near Jhelum in modern-day Pakistan.

A confused struggle then ensued among the remaining Ghūrid leaders, and the Khwarezmids were able to take over the Ghūrids’ empire in about 1215. Though the Ghūrids’ empire was short-lived and petty Ghurid Suri states remained in power until the arrival of Timurids, Shahabuddin Ghori’s conquests laid the foundations of Muslim rule in India. Qutb-ud-din Aibak, a former slave (Mamluk) of Muhammad Ghori, was the first sultan of Delhi.

Ghurid-Ghaznavid struggles

Mahmud Ghazni had attacked Ghor and the King Amir Suri, an ancestor of Shahabuddin Ghori, who committed suicide with poison after being taken prisoner. Various sources including Ferishta and Siraj attest to these events. According to Minhaj us Siraj, Amir Suri was captured by Mahmud of Ghazni, taken prisoner along with his son, and taken to Ghazni, where Amir Suri died.The History of Inda as told by its own Historians by Eliot and Dowson, Volume 2 page 286

Shahabuddin Ghori is credited with the decimation of the Ghaznavids, his ancestral enemies.

Succession

Shahabuddin Ghori had no offspring, but he treated his Turkic slaves as his sons, who were trained both as soldiers and administrators and provided with the best possible education. Many of his competent and loyal slaves rose to positions of importance in Shahabuddin Ghori’s army and government.

When a courtier lamented that the Sultan had no male heirs, Shahabuddin Ghori retorted:

"Other monarchs may have one son, or two sons; I have thousands of sons, my Turkish slaves who will be the heirs of my dominions, and who, after me, will take care to preserve my name in the Khuṭbah (Friday sermon) throughout these territories."

Shahabuddin Ghori’s prediction proved true. After his assassination, his Empire was divided amongst his slaves. Most notably:

  • Qutb-ud-din Aibak became ruler of Delhi in 1206, establishing the Sultanate of Delhi, which marked the start of the Slave dynasty.
  • Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha became ruler of Multan in 1210.
  • Tajuddin Yildoz became ruler of Ghazni.
  • Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji became ruler in parts of Bengal.

Legacy

Muhammad of Ghor is revered by many Pakistanis as a Muslim hero who defeated the Hindu King Prithviraj Chauhan in the 2nd battle of Terain. Some Pakistani Muslims claim descent from Ghori and his Mamluke army. Pakistani military named three of its medium-range ballistic missile Ghauri-I, Ghauri-II and Ghauri-III, in the memory of Muhammad of Ghor.