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Mahmud of Ghazni : (971–1030) (1) also known as Mahmūd-i Zābulī, was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire. He conquered the eastern Iranian plateau, modern Afghanistan, & the north-western Indian subcontinent from 997 to his death in 1030. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire that covered most of today's Afghanistan, eastern Iran, & Pakistan, by looting the riches & wealth from the then Indian subcontinent. ― (2) Ghazni, a fortified mountain town in Afghanistan, 78 miles south-west of Kabul, is a great trading centre. It sprang into fame in the 10th century when it became the capital of a kingdom set up by a Turk named Alpitgin who died in AD 963. The city was adorned with many buildings, wide roads, museums etc., by Alpitgin’s grandson Sultan Mahmud (997-1030). He attacked & plundered the fortress & temples of Kangra & Bhimnagar…. These successes practically made him the master of Panjab. In the following years he raided Thāneshwar, Mathura & Kanauj & received also the submission of Gwalior & Kālinjar. In 1026 he led an expedition into Kathiawar sacked the temple of Sōmanātha, broke the lingam within the temple which he defiled & destroyed & plundered all the accumulated wealth within the temple & the city. His last expedition was made in 1027 against Multan. Sultan Mahmud, who was a very capable general, was also a patron of learning & lover of art & architecture. He adorned his capital Ghazni with many beautiful edifices & useful public works like aqueducts & libraries. He annexed to his dominions the Panjab & left the rest of India bleeding & demoralised. But beautiful Ghazni was burnt to ashes during the rule of Baihrām Shah in 1151 by ‘Alā-du-din Husain of Ghur who received on this account the title of Jahan-soz (world burner). Later on it was partially restored when it became the headquarters of the kingdom ruled over by Shihabuddin Muhammad Ghuri, the first conqueror of Hindusthan & has continued till modern times to be a place of great strategic importance, though its fortifications were all destroyed by the British General Nott, in the course of the first Anglo-Afghan War (1838-42). ― (3) A former Turkish slave who founded the Ghaznavid dynasty, had been appointed by Iranian Muslims as governor of Ghazni, a town near Kandahar. Among the more important of his successors were Amir Sabuktigin & his son Mahmud who succeeded him in 997-98. Mahmud converted the Ghaznavids thus bringing Islam into the sub-continent’s local population. By 11th century, he made Ghazni the capital of the vast empire of the Ghaznavids, Afghanistan’s first Muslim dynasty. The atrocities by Mahmud of Ghazni make the Taliban’s atrocities look benign by comparison. Mahmud knew that his throne was young & poor, & saw that India, across the border, was old & rich; the conclusion was obvious. Pretending a holy zeal for destroying Hindu idolatry across the frontier with a force inspired by a pious aspiration for booty, he met the unprepared Hindus at Bhimnagar, slaughtered them, pillaged their cities, destroyed their temples, & carried away the accumulated treasures of centuries. Returning to Ghazni he astonished the ambassadors of foreign powers by displaying “jewels & un-bored pearls & rubies shinning like sparks, or like wine congealed with ice & emeralds like fresh sprigs of myrtle, & diamonds in size & weight like pomegranates”. Each winter Mahmud descended into India, filled his treasure chest with spoils, & amused his men with full freedom to pillage & kill; each spring he returned to his capital richer than before. At Mathura he took from the temple its statues of gold encrusted with precious stones, & emptied it coffers of a vast quantity of gold, silver & jewellery; he expressed his admiration for the architecture of the great shrine, judged that its duplication would cost one hundred million dinars & the labour of two hundred years, & then ordered it to be soaked with naphtha & burnt to the ground. Six years later he sacked another opulent city of northern India, Sōmanātha, killed all its fifty thousand inhabitants, & dragged its wealth to Ghazni. In the end he became, perhaps, the richest king that history has ever known…. Sometimes he spared the population of the ravaged cities, & took them home to be sold as slaves; but so great was the number of such captives that after some years no one could be found to offer more than a few schillings for a slave. Before every important engagement Mahmud knelt in prayer, & asked the blessing of God upon his arms. He reigned for a third of a century; & when he died, full of years & honours, Moslem historians ranked him greatest monarch of his time, & one of the greatest sovereigns of any age. Mahmud of Ghazni set the stage for the orgy of plunder & brutality of other Muslim invaders of India. ― (4) “Mahmud, who carried to fruition the policy of his father Sabuktigin, was undoubtedly one of the greatest military leaders the world has even seen. His cool courage, prudence, resourcefulness & other qualities make him one of the most interesting personalities in Asiatic history. In addition to his victorious expeditions in India he had to his credit two memorable campaigns against hostile Turks in the course of which he routed the hosts of Īlak Khān & the Seljuqs. Great as a warrior, the Sultan was no less eminent as a patron of arts & letters (sic). But in spite of all this, to the historians of India he appears mainly an insatiable invader. He was neither a missionary for the propagation of religion in this country nor an architect of empire. The main object of his eastern expeditions seems (sic) to have been the acquisition of the “wealth of al-Hind” & the destruction of its custodians…. From the political point of view the conquest of the Punjab by the Sultans of Ghazni was of greater importance than the establishment of Arab principalities in the lower Indus valley. The annexation of the Punjab was a measure of necessity (sic) rather than of choice (sic). Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to assume that his invasions had no permanent political results in India. He drained the wealth of the country & despoiled it of its military resources to an appalling extent. The Ghaznavid occupation of the Punjab served as the key to unlock the gates of the Indian interior…. Neither the Arabs nor the Ghaznavid Turks succeeded in adding India to the growing empire of Islam, but they paved the way for that final struggle which overwhelmed the Gangetic kingdoms some two hundred years later.” [(1) Wikipedia; (2) Bhattacharya; (3) Malhotra’s How Gāndhāra became Kandahār, 2001; (4) Dr Kalikinkar Datta in Advanced History of India, pp.267-68]