Ghaznavids

Ghaznavid portrait, Palace of Lashkari Bazar. Schlumberger noted that the turban, the small mouth and the strongly slanted eyes were characteristically Turkic.[9]

Two military families arose from the Turkic slave-guards of the Samanid Empire, the Simjurids and Ghaznavids, who ultimately proved disastrous to the Samanids. The Simjurids received an appanage in the Kohistan region of eastern Khorasan. The Samanid generals Alp Tigin and Abu al-Hasan Simjuri competed for the governorship of Khorasan and control of the Samanid Empire by placing on the throne emirs they could dominate after the death of Abd al-Malik I in 961. His death created a succession crisis between his brothers.

A court party instigated by men of the scribal class – civilian ministers rather than Turkic generals – rejected the candidacy of Alp Tigin for the Samanid throne. Mansur I was installed instead, and Alp Tigin prudently retired to south of the Hindu Kush, where he captured Ghazna and became the ruler of the city as a Samanid authority.[10] The Simjurids enjoyed control of Khorasan south of the Amu Darya but were hard-pressed by a third great Iranian dynasty, the Buyid dynasty, and were unable to survive the collapse of the Samanids and the subsequent rise of the Ghaznavids.

Fight between Mahmud of Ghazni and Abu 'Ali Simjuri of the Samanid Empire.

The struggles of the Turkic slave generals for mastery of the throne with the help of shifting allegiance from the court's ministerial leaders both demonstrated and accelerated the Samanid decline. Samanid weakness attracted into Transoxiana the Karluks, a Turkic people who had recently converted to Islam. They occupied Bukhara in 992, establishing in Transoxania the Kara-Khanid Khanate.

Alp Tigin's died in 963, and after two ghulam governors and three years, his slave Sabuktigin became the governor of Ghazna.

The core of the Ghaznavid army was primarily made up of Turks,[47] as well as thousands of native Afghans who were trained and assembled from the area south of the Hindu Kush in what is now Afghanistan.[48] During the rule of Sultan Mahmud, a new, larger military training center was established in Bost (now Lashkar Gah). This area was known for blacksmiths where war weapons were made. After capturing and conquering the Punjab region, the Ghaznavids began to employ Hindus in their army.[49]

The Kara-Khanid ruler "Ilig Khan" on horse, submitting to Mahmud of Ghazni, who is riding an elephant, in 1017. They agreed to partition former Samanid territory along the Oxus river.[50] Persian painting published circa 1306-14.

Like the other dynasties that rose out of the remains of the Abbasid Caliphate, the Ghaznavid administrative traditions and military practice came from the Abbasids. The Arabian horses, at least in the earliest campaign, were still substantial in Ghaznavid military incursions, especially in dashing raids deep into hostile territory. There is a record of '6000 Arab horse' being sent against king Anandapala in 1008, and evidence of this Arabian cavalry persists until 1118 under the Ghaznavid governor in Lahore.[51]

Due to their access to the Indus-Ganges plains, the Ghaznavids, during the 11th and 12th centuries, developed the first Muslim army to use war elephants in battle.[52] The elephants were protected by armour plating on their fronts. The use of these elephants was a foreign weapon in other regions that the Ghaznavids fought in, particularly in Central Asia.[53]

Mas'ud III's minaret in Ghazni was at least 44 meters tall, before its top half crumbled in 1902 due to an earthquake. It was built between 1099 and 1115 CE. It stood next to the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III.[54]

Although the dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was thoroughly Persianised in terms of language, culture, literature and habits[lower-alpha 5][55][lower-alpha 6][56] and has been regarded as a "Persian dynasty".[lower-alpha 7]

According to Clifford Edmund Bosworth:

The Ghaznavid sultans were ethnically Turkish, but the sources, all in Arabic or Persian, do not allow us to estimate the persistence of Turkish practices and ways of thought amongst them. Yet given the fact that the essential basis of the Ghaznavids' military support always remained their Turkish soldiery, there must always have been a need to stay attuned to their troops' needs and aspirations; also, there are indications of the persistence of some Turkish literary culture under the early Ghaznavids (Köprülüzade, pp. 56–57). The sources do make it clear, however, that the sultans' exercise of political power and the administrative apparatus which gave it shape came very speedily to be within the Perso-Islamic tradition of statecraft and monarchical rule, with the ruler as a distant figure, buttressed by divine favor, ruling over a mass of traders, artisans, peasants, etc., whose prime duty was obedience in all respects but above all in the payment of taxes. The fact that the personnel of the bureaucracy which directed the day-to-day running of the state, and which raised the revenue to support the sultans' life-style and to finance the professional army, were Persians who carried on the administrative traditions of the Samanids, only strengthened this conception of secular power.

Vessel with bull's head spout, Ghaznavid dynasty, late 11th to early 12th century, bronze. Linden-Museum – Stuttgart, Germany

Persianisation of the state apparatus was accompanied by the Persianisation of high culture at the Ghaznavid court... The level of literary creativity was just as high under Ebrāhīm and his successors up to Bahrāmšāh, with such poets as Abu’l-Faraj Rūnī, Sanāʾī, ʿOṯmān Moḵtārī, Masʿūd-e Saʿd-e Salmān, and Sayyed Ḥasan Ḡaznavī.[58] We know from the biographical dictionaries of poets (taḏkera-ye šoʿarā) that the court in Lahore of Ḵosrow Malek had an array of fine poets, none of whose dīvāns has unfortunately survived, and the translator into elegant Persian prose of Ebn Moqaffaʿ’s Kalīla wa Demna, namely Abu’l-Maʿālī Naṣr-Allāh b. Moḥammad, served the sultan for a while as his chief secretary.[59] The Ghaznavids thus present the phenomenon of a dynasty of Turkish slave origin which became culturally Persianised to a perceptibly higher degree than other contemporary dynasties of Turkish origin such as Saljuqs and Qarakhanids.[10]

Persian literary culture enjoyed a renaissance under the Ghaznavids during the 11th century.[60][61][62] The Ghaznavid court was so renowned for its support of Persian literature that the poet Farrukhi traveled from his home province to work for them.[63] The poet Unsuri's short collection of poetry was dedicated to Sultan Mahmud and his brothers Nasr and Yaqub.[64] Another poet of the Ghaznavid court, Manuchehri, wrote numerous poems about the merits of drinking wine.[65]

Detail of the Intricate Brickwork on the Mas'ud III Ghazni minaret.

Marble wall border, Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III, Ghazni, Afghanistan, 12th century CE.

Sultan Mahmud, modelling the Samanid Bukhara as a cultural center, made Ghazni into a center of learning, inviting Ferdowsi and al-Biruni. He even attempted to persuade Avicenna, but was refused.[66] Mahmud preferred that his fame and glory be publicized in Persian and hundreds of poets assembled at his court.[67] He brought whole libraries from Rayy and Isfahan to Ghazni and even demanded that the Khwarizmshah court send its men of learning to Ghazni.[68] Due to his invasion of Rayy and Isfahan, Persian literary production was inaugurated in Azerbaijan and Iraq.[69]

The Ghaznavids continued to develop historical writing in Persian that had been initiated by their predecessors, the Samanid Empire.[70] The historian Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi's Tarikh-e Beyhaqi, written in the latter half of the 11th century, is an example.[71]

Although the Ghaznavids were Turkic and their military leaders were generally of the same stock,[72] as a result of the original involvement of Sebuktigin and Mahmud of Ghazni in Samanid affairs and in the Samanid cultural environment, the dynasty became thoroughly Persianized, so that in practice one cannot consider their rule over Iran one of foreign domination. They also copied their administrative system from the Samanids.[73] In terms of cultural championship and the support of Persian poets, they were more Persian than their ethnically-Iranian rivals, the Buyid dynasty, whose support of Arabic letters in preference to Persian is well known.[74]

The 16th century Persian historian, Firishta, records Sabuktigin's genealogy as descended from the Sasanian kings: "Subooktu-geen, the son of Jookan, the son of Kuzil-Hukum, the son of Kuzil-Arslan, the son of Ferooz, the son of Yezdijird, king of Persia." However, modern historians believe this was an attempt to connect himself with the history of old Persia.[75]

Historian Bosworth explains: "In fact with the adoption of Persian administrative and cultural ways the Ghaznavids threw off their original Turkish steppe background and became largely integrated with the Perso-Islamic tradition."[76] As a result, Ghazni developed into a great centre of Arabic learning.[4]

With Sultan Mahmud's invasions of North India, Persian culture was established at Lahore, which later produced the famous poet, Masud Sa'd Salman.[55] Lahore, under Ghaznavid rule in the 11th century, attracted Persian scholars from Khorasan, India and Central Asia and became a major Persian cultural centre.[77][66] It was also during Mahmud's reign that Ghaznavid coinage began to have bilingual legends consisting of Arabic and Devanagari script.[17] The entire range of Persianate institutions and customs that would come to characterize the political economy of most of India would be implemented by the later Ghaznavids.[78]

The Persian culture established by the Ghaznavids in Ghazna and Eastern Afghanistan survived the Ghurid invasion in the 12th century and endured until the invasion of the Mongols.[79]

1100

KARAKHANID
KHANATE

KIEVAN
RUS'

Cumans

Pechenegs

Kyrgyzs

FATIMID
CALIPHATE

GEORGIA

XI XIA

Jurchen

Kimeks

KHITAN EMPIRE

QOCHO

GHAZNAVID
EMPIRE

CHOLA
EMPIRE

WESTERN
CHALUKYAS

PAGAN

DALI

KHMER

MALAYU

PALA
EMPIRE

SELJUK
EMPIRE

SONG
DYNASTY

SULTANATE
OF RUM

GO-
RYEO

◁ ▷

The Ghaznavids and other polities in continental Asia c. 1100

At its height, the Ghaznavid empire grew to cover large parts of present-day Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all of Afghanistan, Pakistan and large parts of northwest India. The Ghaznavid rulers are generally credited with spreading Islam into the Indian subcontinent.

Coinage of Mas'ud I of Ghazni (1030–1041), derived from Hindu Shahi designs, with the name of Mas'ud (Persian: مسعود) around the head of the horserider.

In addition to the wealth accumulated through raiding Indian cities, and exacting tribute from Indian rajas, the Ghaznavids also benefited from their position as an intermediary along the trade routes between China and the Mediterranean.

They were, however, unable to hold power for long and by 1040 the Seljuk Empire had taken over their Persian domains and a century later the Ghurids took over their remaining sub-continental lands.

The Ghaznavid conquests facilitated the beginning of the Turko-Afghan period into India, which would be further conducted by the Ghurids until the Turko-Afghans successfully established themselves in the Delhi Sultanate.[80][81]

Part of a series on the
History of Afghanistan
Timeline
Ancient Indus Valley Civilisation 2200–1800 BC Oxus civilization 2100–1800 BC Gandhara Kingdom 1500–535 BC Median Empire 728–550 BC Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BC Seleucid Empire 330–150 BC Maurya Empire 305–180 BC Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 256–125 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Indo-Greek Kingdom 180–130 BC Indo-Scythian Kingdom 155–80? BC Kushan Empire 135 BC – 248 AD Indo-Parthian Kingdom 20 BC – 50? AD Sasanian Empire 230–651 Kidarite Kingdom 320–465 Alchon Huns 380–560 Hephthalite Empire 410–557 Nezak Huns 484–711
Medieval Kabul Shahi 565–879 Principality of Chaghaniyan 7th–8th centuries Rashidun Caliphate 652–661 Umayyads 661–750 Abbasids 750–821 Tahirids 821–873 Saffarids 863–900 Samanids 875–999 Ghaznavids 963–1187 Ghurids before 879–1215 Seljuks 1037–1194 Khwarezmids 1215–1231 Mongol Invasion 1219–1226 Chagatai Khanate 1226–1245 Qarlughids 1224–1266 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Kartids 1245–1381 Timurids 1370–1507 Arghuns 1520–1591
Modern Mughals 1501–1738 Safavids 1510–1709 Hotak dynasty 1709–1738 Sadozai Sultanate 1716–1732 Afsharid Iran 1738–1747 Durrani Empire 1747–1823 Principality of Qandahar 1818–1855 Emirate 1823–1926 Saqqawist Emirate 1929 Kingdom 1926–1973 Daoud coup 1973 Republic 1973–1978 Saur Revolution 1978 Democratic Republic 1978–1992 Tanai coup attempt 1990 Islamic State 1992–1996 Islamic Emirate 1996–2001 US invasion 2001 Islamic State (reinstated) 2001 Interim/Transitional Administration 2001–2004 Islamic Republic (politics) 2004–2021 Islamic Emirate (reinstated) since 2021
Related historical regions Arachosia Aria Ariana Bactria Gandhara Iran Kabulistan Kafiristan Khorasan Kushanshahr Paropamisadae Sistan Zabulistan
Related topics Political history Culture Name Afghan (ethnonym) List of years List of heads of state Wars List of wars Hinduism history Hindu and Buddhist heritage Jewish history Muslim conquests
Category  Afghanistan portal

History of Greater Iran
Pre-Islamic BCE / BC Prehistory Kura–Araxes culture c. 3400 – c. 2000 Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Jiroft culture Mannaeans Lullubi Gutians Cyrtian Corduene Bactria–Margiana Complex 2200–1700 Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th century Neo-Assyrian Empire 911–609 Urartu 860–590 Median Empire 728–550 Scythian Kingdom 652–625 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Ancient kingdom of Armenia 331 BCE – 428 CE Seleucid Empire 330–150 Caucasian Iberia c. 302 BCE – 580 CE Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250–125 Parthian Empire 248 BCE–224 CE Caucasian Albania 2nd century BCE – 8th century CE Roman Empire 27 BCE – 330 CE CE / AD Kushan Empire 30–275 Sasanian Empire 224–651 Afrighid dynasty 305–995 Hephthalite Empire 425–557 Kabul Shahi kingdom 565–879 Dabuyid dynasty 642–760 Bagratid Armenia 880s – 1045 Alania 8th/9th century – 1238 / 9 Kingdom of Georgia 1008–1490
Islamic Rashidun Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Shirvanshah 799–1607 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Dulafid dynasty 840–897 Zaydis of Tabaristan 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid Empire 819–999 Sajid dynasty 889/90–929 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Sallarid dynasty 941–1062 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghurid dynasty pre-879 – 1215 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarazmian dynasty 1077–1231 Sultanate of Rum 1077–1307 Salghurids 1148–1282 Ilkhanate 1256–1353 Kart dynasty 1231–1389 Ottoman Empire 1299–1923 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalairid Sultanate 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1507 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722 Mughal Empire 1526–1857 Hotak dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid Iran 1736–1750 Zand dynasty 1750–1794 Durrani Empire 1794–1826 Qajar Iran 1794–1925

Part of a series on the
History of Pakistan
Timeline
Ancient Palaeolithic Soanian culture, c. 500,000 – 250,000 BCE Neolithic Mehrgarh, c. 7000 – c. 3000 BCE Indus Valley Civilisation, c. 3300 – c. 1700 BCE Vedic Civilization, c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE Achaemenid Empire, c. 550 – c. 330 BCE Gedrosia, c. 542 – c. 330 BCE Gandhara, c. 518 – c. 330 BCE Arachosia, c. 518 – c. 330 BCE Hindush, c. 517 – c. 330 BCE Sattagydia, c. 516 – c. 330 BCE Ror dynasty, c. 489 – c. 450 BCE Macedonian Empire, c. 329 – c. 323 BCE Arachosia, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Gedrosia, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Paropamisadae, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Porus, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Taxiles, c. 323 – c. 312 BCE Mauryan Empire, c. 322 – c. 200 BCE Seleucid Empire, c. 312 – c. 63 BCE Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, c. 190 – c. 140 BCE Indo-Greek Kingdom, c. 170 – c. 50 BCE Indo-Scythian Kingdom, c. 110 BCE – c. 95 CE Apracharajas, c. 25 BCE – c. 50 CE Paratarajas, c. 120 – c. 300 CE
Classical Parthian Empire, c. 90 BCE – c. 25 CE Indo-Parthian Kingdom, c. 25 – c. 80 CE Kushan Empire, c. 60 – 345 CE Sasanian Empire, c. 250 – 655 CE Indo-Sasanians, c. 240 – 410 CE Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom, c. 240 – 410 CE Gupta Empire, c. 345 – c. 455 CE Rai dynasty, c. 415 – 644 CE Hephthalite Empire, c. 450 – 560 CE Brahman dynasty, c. 641 – 725 CE
Medieval Caliphate, c. 643 – 860 CE Rashidun Caliphate, c. 643 – 661 CE Umayyad Caliphate, c. 670 – 860 CE Pala Empire, c. 770 – 850 CE Habbari dynasty, c. 841 – 1024 CE Hindu Shahi, c. 870 – 1010 CE Samanid Empire, c. 905 – 999 CE Ghaznavids, c. 999 – 1186 CE Soomra dynasty, c. 1024 – 1351 CE Ghurid dynasty, c. 1170 – 1215 CE Delhi Sultanate, c. 1206 – c. 1526 CE Mamluk dynasty, c. 1206 – c. 1290 CE Khalji dynasty, c. 1290 – c. 1320 CE Tugluq dynasty, c. 1320 – c. 1413 CE Sayyid dynasty, c. 1414 – c. 1451 CE Lodhi dynasty, c. 1451 – c. 1526 CE Mongol Empire, c. 1221 – c. 1327 CE Chagatai Khanate, c. 1225 – c. 1485 CE Ilkhanate, c. 1256 – c. 1353 CE Raees dynasty, c. 1320 – 1620 CE Katoor dynasty, c. 1570 – c. 1947 CE Samma dynasty, c. 1351 – c. 1524 CE Arghun dynasty, c. 1520 – c. 1554 CE Mughal Empire, c. 1526 – c. 1707 CE Bombay Presidency, c. 1618 – c. 1947 CE Suri dynasty, c. 1540 – c. 1556 CE Tarkhan dynasty, c. 1554 – 1591 CE
Early modern Durrani Empire, c. 1747 – c. 1826 CE Las Bela, c. 1802 – c. 1947 CE Misl, c. 1716 – c. 1799 CE Maratha Empire, c. 1758 – c. 1760 CE Sikh Empire, c. 1799 – c. 1849 CE British Raj, c. 1858 – c. 1947 CE Independence Movement
Modern Pakistan, c. 1947 CE – present Dominion of Pakistan, c. 1947 – 1956 CE Islamic Republic, c. 1956 CE – present
History of provinces Azad Kashmir Balochistan East Pakistan Gilgit-Baltistan Islamabad Capital Territory Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Punjab Sindh
Category Portal

Part of a series on the
History of Turkmenistan
Antiquity Ancient history Jeitun culture Gonur Depe Oxus civilization Massagetae Median Empire Achaemenid Empire Seleucid Empire Greco-Bactrian Kingdom Parthian dynasty Kushan Empire Proto-Turks Sassanian Empire Kidarite Kingdom Hephthalite Empire
Middle Ages Islamic period Rashidun Caliphate Umayyads Abbasids Tahirids Saffarids Samanids Oghuz Turkomans Ghaznavid Empire Seljuk Turkomans Khwarazmians Mongol conquest Chagatai Khanate Ilkhanate Karts Timurids
Early modern history Khanate of Khiva Emirate of Bukhara Safavid Iran Turkmenistan in the 16th and 17th centuries Afsharid Iran Qajar Iran
Modern history Russian conquest and the Great Game Transcaspian Oblast October Revolution and Civil War Soviet rule Turkmenistan SSR After Independence
Related historical regions Hyrcania Sogdia Margiana Greater Iran Greater Khorasan Khwarazm Transcaspia Turkmenia
Turkmenistan portal

History of the Turkic peoples pre–14th century
Mural of Turkic cavalry, Beshbalik, 10th c.
Turkic peoples Oghuz Turks Karluks Kipchaks Onogurs Kumyks Yakuts Dolgans Krymchaks Sabir people Crimean Karaites
Turkic Languages Turkish Azerbaijani Uzbek Kazakh Uyghur Turkmen Tatar Kyrgyz Bashkir Chuvash Qasgqai Karakalpak Sakha Kumyk Karachay-Balkar Tuvan Gagauz Karaim Krymchak
Turkic Mythology Belief system: Tengrism and Shamanism Chief gods and goddesses: Kayra and Ülgen Epics and heroes: Ergenekon and Asena Major concepts: Sheka and Grey wolf
Pre-14th century Yenisei Kyrgyz People 202 BCE–13th CE Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate Dingling 71 BC–?? AD Tiele (Gaoche) Göktürks First Turkic Khaganate 552–581 Western Turkic Khaganate 581–657 (Tokhara Yabghus, Turk Shahis) Eastern Turkic Khaganate 581–650 Second Turkic Khaganate 682–744 Sabiri People Khazar Khaganate 618–1048 Xueyantuo 628–646 Kangar union 659–750 Turk Shahi 665-850 Türgesh Khaganate 699–766 Kimek confederation 743–1035 Uyghur Khaganate 744–840 Oghuz Yabgu State 750–1055 Karluk Yabgu State 756–940 Kara-Khanid Khanate 840–1212 Western Kara-Khanid Eastern Kara-Khanid Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom 848–1036 Qocho 856–1335 Pecheneg Khanates 860–1091 Ghaznavid Empire 963–1186 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Sultanate of Rum Cuman–Kipchak confederation 1067–1239 Khwarazmian Empire 1077–1231 Kerait Khanate 11th century–13th century Atabegs of Azerbaijan 1136–1225 Delhi Sultanate 1206–1526 Mamluk dynasty Khalji dynasty Tughlaq dynasty Qarlughid Kingdom 1224–1266 Golden Horde 1242–1502 Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) 1250–1517 Bahri dynasty Ottoman State 1299–1922

• List of battles involving the Ghaznavid Empire
• History of Afghanistan
• History of Pakistan
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

• Ahmadi, Wali (2004). "The Institution of Persian Literature and the Genealogy of Bahar's "Stylistics"". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 31 (2 (Nov.)).
• Alam, Muzaffar; Nalini, Françoise Delvoye; Gaborieau, Marc (2000). The making of Indo-Persian Culture: Indian and French Studies. Manohar Publishers & Distributors.
• Amirsoleimani, Soheila (1999). "Truths and Lies: Irony and Intrigue in the Tārīkh-i Bayhaqī: The Uses of Guile: Literary and Historical Moments". Iranian Studies. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 32 (2, Spring). doi:10.1080/00210869908701955.
• Arjomand, Said Amir (2012). "Patrimonial state". In Böwering, Gerhard; Crone, Patricia; Mirza, Mahan (eds.). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press.
• Asher, Catherine B.; Talbot, Cynthia (2006). India Before Europe. Cambridge University Press.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1963). The Ghaznavids:994–1040. Edinburgh University Press.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1968). "The Development of Persian Culture under the Early Ghaznavids". Iran. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 6: 33–44. doi:10.2307/4299599. JSTOR 4299599.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1975). "The Early Ghaznavids". In Bosworth, C. E. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1977). The Later Ghaznavids. Columbia University Press.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1994). "Rulers of Makrān and Quṣdār in the Early Islamic Period". Studia Iranica. Peeters Publishers. 23 (2): 199–209. doi:10.2143/SI.23.2.2014304.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1996). The New Islamic Dynasties. Columbia University Press.
• Bosworth, C.E. (2006). "Ghaznavids". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Eaton, Richard M. (2019). India in the Persianate Age: 1000-1765. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-0-14-196655-7.
• Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. Vol. 2. BRILL. p. 151. ISBN 978-90-04-08265-6. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
• Katouzian, Homa (2003). Iranian history and politics:The Dialectic of State and Society. Routledge.
• Kennedy, Hugh (1986). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century. Taylor & Francis.
• Levi, Scott Cameron; Sela, Ron, eds. (2010). Islamic Central Asia: an anthology of historical sources. Indiana University Press.
• Lewis, Bernard (1992). The World of Islam. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-27624-2.
• Meisami, J. S. (1993). "The Past in Service of the Present: Two Views of History in Medieval Persia". Poetics Today:Cultural Processes in Muslim and Arab Societies: Medieval and Early Modern Periods. Duke University Press. 14 (2, (Summer)).
• Meisami, Julie Scott (1999). Persian historiography to the end of the twelfth century. Edinburgh University Press.
• Notghi, Hamid; Sabri-Tabrizi, Gholam-Reza (1994). "Hail to Heydarbaba: A Comparative View of Popular Turkish & Classical Persian Poetical Languages". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 21 (2): 240–251. doi:10.1080/13530199408705603.
• Poliakova, E. A. (1984). "The Development of a Literary Canon in Medieval Persian Chronicles: The Triumph of Etiquette". Iranian Studies. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 17 (2/3 (Spring – Summer)): 237–256. doi:10.1080/00210868408701630.
• Rowson, E.K. (1998). "Ghaznavids". In Meisami, Julie Scott; Starkey, Paul (eds.). Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature. Vol. 1. Routledge.
• Roy, Kaushik (2015). Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500BCE to 1740CE. Routledge.
• Roy, Kaushik (2016). Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge.
• Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 146, map XIV.2 (l). ISBN 0226742210.
• Sharlet, Jocelyn (2011). Patronage and Poetry in the Islamic World: Social Mobility and Status in the Medieval Middle East and Central Asia. Tauris Academic Studies.
• Spooner, Brian; Hanaway, William L. (2012). Literacy in the Persianate World: Writing and the Social Order. University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Spuler, B. (1970). "The Disintegration of the Caliphate in the East". In Holt, P.M.; Lambton, Ann K.S.; Lewis, Bernard (eds.). Cambridge History of Islam. Vol. IA: The Central islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War. Cambridge University Press.
• Yagnik, Achyut; Sheth, Suchitra (2005), The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond, Penguin Books India, p. 39, ISBN 978-0-14-400038-8
• Spuler, B. (1991). "Ghaznawids". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, C.; Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. II. Brill.
• Taagepera, Rein (1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia". International Studies Quarterly. Wiley. 41 (3):(September) (3): 475–504. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053.
• Thapar, Romila (2004). Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History. Penguin Books India. ISBN 1-84467-020-1.
• Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of World-Systems Research. University of Pittsburgh Press. 12 (2):(December). ISSN 1076-156X.
• Wink, Andre (2002). Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Vol. 2. Brill.
• Yarshater, E. (1960). "The Theme of Wine-Drinking and the Concept of the Beloved in Early Persian Poetry". Studia Islamica. Brill. No. 13.
• Yarshater, Ehsan (2008). "Iran". Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica. Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Ziad, Homayra (2006). "Ghaznavids". In Meri, J. (ed.). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge.

• Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1963) The Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran 994–1040 Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, OCLC 3601436
• Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1977) The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay, The Dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India 1040–1186 Columbia University Press, New York, ISBN 0-231-04428-3
• Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1998), "THE GHAZNAVIDS", in Asimov, M.S.; Bosworth, C.E. (eds.), History of Civilisations of Central Asia (PDF), UNESCO Publishing, ISBN 978-92-3-103467-1
• M. Ismail Marcinkowski (2003) Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey Pustaka Nasional, Singapore, ISBN 9971-77-488-7

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ghaznavid Empire.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Ghaznavids.

• Mahmud of Ghazna Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition)
• Mahmud Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition)
• Ghaznavid Dynasty Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition)
• Ghaznavids and Ghurids Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition)
• Mahmud Ghaznavi's 17 invasions of India
• The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Periodby Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; London Trubner Company 1867–1877 Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period published by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy: – Online version posted by: The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in translation)
• Afghan secrets revealed on Google Earth
• Ethé, Karl Hermann (1911). "Persia" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 187–252.