# Ghaznavid conquest of Bamiyan
The Ghaznavid conquest of Bamiyan was the takeover of the town of Bamiyan (بامیان) in central Afghanistan by the [Ghaznavids](https://www.edgepedia.org/ghaznavids) in the later tenth century.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghaznavids/) • [2](https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-islam-advanced/buddhist-muslim-interaction-later-abbasid-period/the-ghaznavids-and-seljuqs) One rendering of the Persian-language account dates the entry to AH 350 (961–962), a year that is inconsistent with the Ghaznavid rise described below.[3](https://ariaye.com/dari10/tarikh/kohzad.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date | Reign of Mansur ibn Nuh; AH 350 (961–962) in one rendering[3](https://ariaye.com/dari10/tarikh/kohzad.pdf) |
| Cultural effect | The colossal Buddhas were still undamaged in 982[2](https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-islam-advanced/buddhist-muslim-interaction-later-abbasid-period/the-ghaznavids-and-seljuqs) |
| Later history | Ghurid capital 550–609/1155–1212; razed by Jengiz Khan in 618/1221[4](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bamian-town-in-central-afghanistan/bamian-ii-history-and-monuments/?generate_pdf=1) |
## Background and causes
Bamiyan had long kept its own rulers. Its princes bore the title *sher* ("king," rendered incorrectly as "lion" by the chronicler Ya'qubi), and the Islamization of the valley had proceeded gradually: a *sher* of Bamiyan was even named governor of Yemen in 229/844, and although Ya'qub the Saffarid destroyed a great temple there and sent its idols to Baghdad, this did not end the pre-Islamic life of the town.[4](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bamian-town-in-central-afghanistan/bamian-ii-history-and-monuments/?generate_pdf=1) A non-Muslim indigenous dynasty therefore still ruled Bamiyan when the Ghaznavids rose.[4](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bamian-town-in-central-afghanistan/bamian-ii-history-and-monuments/?generate_pdf=1)
The Ghaznavid state itself was new. Alp-Tegin defeated an army sent by the new Samanid ruler near Balkh in AH 351 (962–963) and then captured Ghazni from Abubakr Lawik, a local Samanid vassal; he died in AH 352 (963–964).[5](https://ensani.ir/fa/article/629893/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%A8%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%81%D8%B6%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%B1-%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%DB%80-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%BE%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%80-%D9%85%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B4%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C) In 977 [Sabuktigin](https://www.edgepedia.org/sabuktigin), a Turkish slave to whom Alp-Tegin had given his daughter's hand, ascended the throne of Ghazni and annexed adjacent areas in Khurasan, Seistan, and Lamghan.[6](https://franpritchett.com/00islamlinks/ikram/part1_02.html) Bamiyan lay among the mountains stretching north of Ghazna.[7](https://ensani.ir/file/download/article/1563349403-9867-97-1-1.pdf)
## Course of events
The dating rests on the Persian-language account of Mir Mohammad Sadiq Kohzad, which places the entry in the Samanid era; one rendering of the passage gives the year as AH 350 (961–962).[3](https://ariaye.com/dari10/tarikh/kohzad.pdf) In 982 the colossal Buddha figures carved in the cliffs of Bamiyan were still undamaged.[2](https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-islam-advanced/buddhist-muslim-interaction-later-abbasid-period/the-ghaznavids-and-seljuqs)
## Conduct of the fighting
The fighting was a short engagement rather than a siege or campaign.[3](https://ariaye.com/dari10/tarikh/kohzad.pdf) The Ghaznavid method in this period was the same elsewhere: Sabuktigin crushed local resistances and repelled the Indian ruler Jaipal, opening the way for [Mahmud of Ghazni](https://www.edgepedia.org/mahmud-of-ghazni)'s later campaigns.[8](https://www.magiran.com/paper/1692346/%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%b1%d8%b3%db%8c-%d8%aa%d8%ad%d9%84%db%8c%d9%84%db%8c-%d8%ad%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%ba%d8%b2%d9%86%d9%88%db%8c%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a8%d9%87-%d9%87%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%a7%d8%b2-%d8%a2%d9%84%d9%be%d8%aa%da%af%db%8c%d9%86-%d8%aa%d8%a7-%d8%b3%d8%a8%da%a9%d8%aa%da%af%db%8c%d9%86)
## Outcome and losses
Persecution was not systematic: the Ghaznavids did not persecute Buddhism in their earlier holdings in [Sogdia](https://www.edgepedia.org/sogdia), Bactria, or Kabul, and in 982 the colossal Buddha figures carved in the cliffs of Bamiyan were still undamaged.[2](https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-islam-advanced/buddhist-muslim-interaction-later-abbasid-period/the-ghaznavids-and-seljuqs)
## Consequences and political influence
According to *Encyclopaedia Iranica*, Sabuktigin governed Ghazna for twenty years until 387/997 with the title *al-hajeb al-ajall*; on his death in 997 his son Mahmud asserted his right to succeed over a brother, Esmail, in 388/998, and took control of all former Samanid lands south of the Oxus, comprising Khorasan and what is now Afghanistan, Bamiyan included.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghaznavids/) • [9](https://iranchamber.com/history/ghaznavids/ghaznavids.php) Mahmud, aged 27 at his accession, took the title Emir in deference to the [Abbasid Caliphate](https://www.edgepedia.org/abbasid-caliphate) in [Baghdad](https://www.edgepedia.org/baghdad), which legitimized his rule, and also adopted the title Sultan.[9](https://iranchamber.com/history/ghaznavids/ghaznavids.php)
The valley's later institutional history ran through the Ghurids: under them Bamiyan was (550–609/1155–1212) the capital of a great kingdom extending north of the Oxus, ruled by governors related by kinship to the Ghurid royal family, such as Malak Fakhr al-Din and Malak Baha al-Din Sam.[4](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bamian-town-in-central-afghanistan/bamian-ii-history-and-monuments/?generate_pdf=1) • [3](https://ariaye.com/dari10/tarikh/kohzad.pdf) According to *Bāmīān ii. History and Monuments*, in 618/1221 Jengiz Khan totally razed the city and massacred its inhabitants to avenge the death of his grandson.[4](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bamian-town-in-central-afghanistan/bamian-ii-history-and-monuments/?generate_pdf=1)
## Historians' assessment
Sabuktigin's consolidation repelled Jaipal and prepared [Mahmud of Ghazni's Indian campaigns](https://www.edgepedia.org/mahmud-of-ghaznis-indian-campaigns).[8](https://www.magiran.com/paper/1692346/%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%b1%d8%b3%db%8c-%d8%aa%d8%ad%d9%84%db%8c%d9%84%db%8c-%d8%ad%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%ba%d8%b2%d9%86%d9%88%db%8c%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a8%d9%87-%d9%87%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%a7%d8%b2-%d8%a2%d9%84%d9%be%d8%aa%da%af%db%8c%d9%86-%d8%aa%d8%a7-%d8%b3%d8%a8%da%a9%d8%aa%da%af%db%8c%d9%86) The principal early chronicles are the Arabic Tarikh-i Yamini of Abu Nasr al-Utbi and the Persian Zayn al-Akhbar of Gardizi; al-Utbi's chronicle was translated into English by the Rev. James Reynolds in 1858.[10](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00194646211041162) • [11](https://www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org/postDetail.php?id=196174216674_10153404411876675)
## References
1. C. E. Bosworth, "Ghaznavids," Encyclopaedia Iranica, https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghaznavids/
2. Alexander Berzin, "The Ghaznavids and Seljuqs," Study Buddhism, https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-islam-advanced/buddhist-muslim-interaction-later-abbasid-period/the-ghaznavids-and-seljuqs
3. Mir Mohammad Sadiq Kohzad, *Afghanistan before Islam* (Persian/Dari text), https://ariaye.com/dari10/tarikh/kohzad.pdf
4. "Bamiyan ii. History and monuments," Encyclopaedia Iranica, https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bamian-town-in-central-afghanistan/bamian-ii-history-and-monuments/?generate_pdf=1
5. "Recovering the spatial structure of the city of Ghazna," Ensani.ir, https://ensani.ir/fa/article/629893/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%A8%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%81%D8%B6%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%B1-%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%DB%80-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%BE%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%80-%D9%85%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B4%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C
6. S. M. Ikram, *Muslim Rule in India*, chapter text, https://franpritchett.com/00islamlinks/ikram/part1_02.html
7. "The economic crisis of the Ghaznavids," Ensani.ir (PDF), https://ensani.ir/file/download/article/1563349403-9867-97-1-1.pdf
8. "An analytical study of the Ghaznavid attacks on India: from Alp-Tegin to Sabuktigin," Magiran, https://www.magiran.com/paper/1692346/%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%b1%d8%b3%db%8c-%d8%aa%d8%ad%d9%84%db%8c%d9%84%db%8c-%d8%ad%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%ba%d8%b2%d9%86%d9%88%db%8c%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a8%d9%87-%d9%87%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%a7%d8%b2-%d8%a2%d9%84%d9%be%d8%aa%da%af%db%8c%d9%86-%d8%aa%d8%a7-%d8%b3%d8%a8%da%a9%d8%aa%da%af%db%8c%d9%86
9. "Ghaznavids," Iran Chamber Society, https://iranchamber.com/history/ghaznavids/ghaznavids.php
10. "The Ghaznavid Empire of India," *The Indian Economic and Social History Review*, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00194646211041162
11. *The Kitab-i-Yamini*, trans. James Reynolds (London, 1858), bibliographic record, https://www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org/postDetail.php?id=196174216674_10153404411876675
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Other history › Middle East and North Africa › Iranian dynasties: Saffarids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, and Ghurids (861 to 1215) › Ghaznavid dynasty*
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