Medieval Central Asia and thePersianate World

Iranian Tradition and Islamic Civilisation

Published in 2015 by

I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd

London•N ew Yorkw w w .ib ta uris.com

Copyrig h t© 2015 A .C.S. Pea cocka nd D .G . Tor

a sserted b yth ea uth orina ccorda ncew ith th eCopyrig h t, D esig nsa nd Pa tentsA ct198 8 .

A llrig h tsreserv ed. E xceptforb rief quota tionsina rev iew ,th isb ook,ora nypa rtth ereof,m a ynotb ereproduced,stored inorintroduced intoa retrieva lsystem ,ortra nsm itted,ina nyformorb ya nym ea ns, electronic, m ech a nica l, ph otocopying , recording oroth erw ise, w ith outth epriorw rittenperm issionof th epub lish er.

E v erya ttem pth a sb eenm a detog a inperm issionforth euseof th eim a g esinth isb ook. A ny

Referencestow eb sitesw erecorrecta tth etim eof w riting .

ISB N : 978 1 78453 239 0eISB N :

A fullCIP record forth isb ookisa v a ila b lefrom th eB ritish Lib ra ryA fullCIP record isa v a ila b lefrom th eLib ra ryof Cong ress

Lib ra ryof Cong ressCa ta log Ca rd N um b er:a v a ila b le

Typesetb ySw a les& W illisLtd, E xeter, D ev onP rinted a nd b ound b yCP IG roup(UK ) Ltd, Croydon, CR 04YY

108

ë

A VENTURE ON THE FRONTIER:ALPTEGIN’S CONQUEST OF GHAZNA

AND ITS SEQUEL

Ó ·²±®« ײ¿¾¿

-

the thirteenth century witnessed a third wave of conquests, especially in CentralAsia and South Asia, which were carried out by the non-Arab local Muslims. In

western part of present-day Afghanistan, and eventually incorporated Afghanistan

and Deborah Tor, both dynasties implemented a common policy of conductingvigorous against non-Islamic lands to bolster their political legitimacy,1 andthis policy of is a distinct feature of expansion in the period in question.

It was, however, the Ghaznavids who continued this policy and openeda new frontier in north-western India.2

origin. In this sense, the Ghaznavids inherited the legacy of these two earlierdynasties, and this paper outlines how these precedents were integrated withinthe process of Ghaznavid state formation, and how this was related to the fron-tier features of this region, thereby illustrating not only the economic aspects ofthe frontier but also the politico-military potential of this eastern frontier of theIslamic world in the period in question.

ïò ß´°¬»¹·²

characteristics of the Samanid military and policy. Alptegin originally hadbeen a Turkish

109

the state.3 -tial in the Samanid court as (Chief Chamberlain). According to

also a Turkish general, was appointed as Bakr’s successor.4

same time, the post of5

chronicler of the eleventh century, the ‘Abd al-Malik, who was anxious aboutfurther extension of Alptegin’s power, tried to remove him from Bukhara byappointing him to the post of the governor of Balkh. Faced with Alptegin’s refusal,however, he abandoned this plan, and Alptegin was instead made of

6

at the time, was forced to move to Tus.7 In November of the same year,

of the late , succeeded in winning the support of the members of royal family

8 WhenAlptegin received the news at Nishapur, he immediately departed for Bukharawith his army, intending to gain control of the situation. When he arrived at Amul,a ford of the Amu Darya, there was already an army on the opposite side, whichhad been dispatched from Bukhara to bar his way.9 At the same time, the new

he was likely to be caught in a pincer movement, Alptegin decided to escape from10

for a while and gathered volunteers by proclaiming a

11

110

s and 800 s;

that there were from 1,500 to 2,000 people as a whole, since there must have beennon-combatants with them.12

the ruler, surrendered and yielded the city to Alptegin.13

14

struggle among various Turkish generals and notables that was triggered by thesuccession dispute that resulted from ‘Abd al-Malik’s death. As has already beenpointed out by Barthold, the position of

to allow one to respond easily to the dynamic politics of the Samanid court,unless one had a trustworthy and capable deputy in the capital. It was fatal, in that

15

foothold there tended to quit the Samanid realm in search of new opportuni-

people the position of

16 and as will be discussed below, the same is true of the

pattern observed in Samanid history. However, the question remains: why did he

to his own proclamation, the reason was simply that the region to the south of theHindukush was ruled by the . Let usnow examine this point more closely.

îò Ю»óÙ¸¿¦²¿ª·¼ »¿­¬»®² ߺ¹¸¿²·­¬¿²

øï÷ ̸» �Ù¿¬» ±º ײ¼·¿�

, a Persian geographical work of the tenth century by ananonymous author, describes two cities in eastern Afghanistan as the ‘Gate of

Fig

ure

5.1

inth

ete

nth

cen

tury

.

112

India (

fringe of the Hindukush, and both river valleys served as routes connecting the

routes, and it was actually a ‘Gate of India’ for the traveller from the north headingto India. However, the role of ‘Gate of India’ on the south of the Hindukush has

-ical conditions.17 isBust, whose remains can still be seen in the vicinity of Lashkarigah in southernAfghanistan.18 It was located on the route connecting southern Afghanistan with

19 However, in this case too, we should

fact, the route towards the lower Indus valley itself starts from the circular road

-ined to understand the background of Alptegin’s crossing over the Hindukush.

øî÷ Õ¿¾«´

-

20 From the Umayyad period to the

-

21

time on the front line of the non-Muslim domains.22

øí÷ Þ«­¬ñ¿´óΫµ¸µ¸¿¶

113

behalf, fought with the Samanid army for rule over Bust. In the following years,23 rebelled

of Sistan and ruled

of the Samanids,

but his army may conceivably have remained in Bust for several more decades(see below).24

øì÷ Ù¸¿¦²¿

What was the condition of Ghazna, located between the two ‘Gates of India’?

25 What is more interesting about this city is

been reconstructed and renovated as a new centre for Muslim rule in easternAfghanistan, and probably as a new bridgehead for s on the Indian fron-

26

-

the entire bridge, together with the shops, from its foundations and waterfound its way everywhere. It also destroyed many caravanserais that were

the lower foundations of the citadel, which already existed before the time

114

of Ya‘qub b. Layth; for it was ‘Amr, Ya‘qub’s brother, who restored the inner27

-

-cles mentioning the events which occurred in eastern Afghanistan. As the tableshows, there is a clear distinction between the work of Ibn Rusta, which was

city has a ).’28 Very similar passages are. What

-

the events of the end of the ninth century. In spite of their considerably detaileddescriptions on the earliest Muslim invasions into this region in the second half of

to evaluate the historical precision of the accounts of such geographical works.Also, the works listed in the table are far from being exhaustive. Nevertheless,

related to the presumable renewal of it as a Muslim city by them.

which is listed as a region in Paropamisadai in Ptolemy’s ,30 is the oldestmention of the city Ghazna.31

the word *derived from Old Persian * (treasure) as a result of the metathesis of -

- to - -. However, Walter B. Henning has shown that the way of the metathesisis likely to have been vice versa, namely, from - - to - -, that the metathesis

115

itself occurred in the Median language, and that it eventually was borrowed byOld Persian. According to him, the form with - - was widely distributed andobserved in eastern Iranian languages, such as Parthian and Sogdian (Bactrianshould be included now),32 and the form with - - ‘belongs only to the westernedge of the Iranian world’.33

as the oldest mention of Ghazna can be doubted. Josef Marquart supposed that

34 As a matter of fact,

a clerical error for ‘al-Jazna’ or something similar, here also we see no good reasonwhy the form with - -, which appeared as a result of the metathesis in the

îç

ͱ«®½» Ù¸¿¦²¿ñ ø¿÷ ¼¿¬» ±º ½±³°±­·¬·±²

ø¾÷ ¼¿¬» ±º ¿«¬¸±®�­ ¼»¿¬¸

Ù»±¹®¿°¸·½¿´ ɱ®µ­

× ×

×

×

×

Ibn Rusta × ×

×

×

ݸ®±²·½´»­

×

×

× ×

(in

(a) mid eleventh century

116

remote past on the ‘western edge’, should appear as the name of Ghazna in theeastern fringe of the Iranian world in the seventh century.35

In fact, the name recorded by the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang should be

(*EMC: dzau-k u- 36 However,

issued there, and several types of coins are recognised as having been issued in the

) or Arachosia ( )are inscribed on those coins as mint names.37 Taking these pieces of information

the city, which was being renewed as a Muslim centre, should be provided with a

the city because of its auspicious meaning.38

39

øë÷ Û²¬®»°,¬­ ·² »¿­¬»®² ߺ¹¸¿²·­¬¿²

and

•place is a for India.40

•for India. Trunk roads reach

the annual sales amount to more than two million dinars, according to thetestimony of traders, for the product only in the city and the surroundingcountryside, excluding the deposits of merchants...41

•remarkable impregnableso prized by the people of India.42

• -itants are Muslims and Indians…43

117

Ghazna:

• In the region of Balkh, there is no city which has more wealth and commercethan Ghazna. It is a for India.44

•

Alptegin and presence of his army there, it has been a for India.45

•

) of) of al-Sind.46

•lies in Hindustan and formerly belonged to it, but now is among the Muslim

of merchants ( ), and possesses great wealth.47

conquest of Ghazna by Alptegin.48 must imply-

We should also note the word (pl.

-49 In any case, these are at places where

the cultural and political milieu changes, which may result in a temporary accu-

Unfortunately, we do not know how large the scale of the trans-Hindukush

50 As for Ghazna,which was also located on the frontier between South Asia and West Asia, it canbe assumed that this city, too, was important because it was on the cultural as wellas politico-military frontier between the Muslim world and Indian world from theseventh century.51 Such circumstances could have contributed to the commercialprosperity of the city as described by the geographers, and this wealth must haveattracted the troops of Alptegin.

øê÷ Þ¿­»­ º±® ¿ �ª»²¬«®»�

to establish theirlegitimacy as Islamic rulers, warfare with non-Muslims would probably havebeen familiar to people in these eastern frontier regions, especially to those who

118

were, or at least who endeavoured to be, good Muslims as well as good warriors.Unfortunately, we have no information about Alptegin’s personal devotion exceptfor some conventional praise of his piousness.52 However, for Alptegin, the

purposes. Both cities, being located on the border between the Islamic world and-

able wealth. Moreover, the mountains of the Hindukush could have been consid-

for the ‘venture’ of Alptegin and not only from the point of view of conducting

literary sources nor through the archaeological excavations so far.

íò Ú®±³ º®±²¬·»® ¬®±±°­ ¬± ¬¸» Ù¸¿¦²¿ª·¼­

øï÷ ߺ¬»® ß´°¬»¹·²

Let us now look at the other story of Ghazna, from the time of the death of

purpose of this paper.

53

Ghazna with a mandate for Ghazna bestowed by the Samanid .54

provided by the Samanid , with which he successfully repelled the army of the55

56 while Ibn,

57 Integratingthese accounts, it is possible to summarise events as follows: In the reign of

the course of events cast doubt upon his capability as a leader of the troops inGhazna.58

small in number and weak, surrounded by their enemies (discontent.

became the leader of Ghazna on account of his support from other Turkishgenerals.59

119

arrow.60

from India, the Turks of Ghazna agreed to make Sebüktegin as their commander,

Ghazna.61

Ghazna, marking the foundation of the Ghaznavid dynasty, which survived under62

øî÷ Ú®±²¬·»® ¬®±±°­

a search for a political refuge in a marginal area, by marginalised people, of whichthere are plenty of similar instances in the history of the Islamic world and else-where. I have discussed in previous work the anti-Abbasid refugees who sheltered

some of them even reached as far as China in search of opportunity.63 Qarategin

-

had been personal military slaves of Alptegin. When they lost Alptegin, the focus

Alptegin’s son incurred the displeasure of the Turks.As a social group, Alptegin’s troops had had no connection with the local inter-

-

‘ s of Sistan, or the Samanids, who arose from the localal-Nahr. Alptegin and his men came to a land unknown to them, conquered thecity by force, and tried to acquire new resources by force. In this respect, they canbe viewed as purely professional warriors without any other means of providingfor themselves than military domination. When such a body of men does nothave the opportunity to engage with an enemy and obtain booty, it tends to useup the local resources of the place where it is staying. As far as we know from the

of situation may also have lain behind the estrangement of the people of Ghazna

øí÷ ̸» »³»®¹»²½» ±º ¬¸» Ù¸¿¦²¿ª·¼­

120

that in Ghazna there appeared a highly capable leader in the person of Sebüktegin.

of Sebüktegin, which eventually led to the formation of the formidable Ghaznavid

from being a loose band of warriors into a mighty conquering army. As Bosworth

64

65

In contrast, there is no doubt that the Ghaznavids’ success was facilitated by the

Sebüktegin, responding to requests for aid by the Samanids, the Ghaznavids were

became enfeebled by the successive attacks of the Qarakhanids from the east, which

-ment in north-western India, which constituted land previously unexploited bythe Muslims. Toward this direction, they could mobilise various kinds of warriors,including volunteers and nomadic tribes.66

Indian frontier, the Ghaznavids could unite some of the unruly tribal people in

67 Later, someof them were incorporated into the Ghaznavid army. As is seen in the case of

68 Moreover,the remarkable success of the Ghaznavids in India also could have attracted otherpeople from outside Afghanistan who sought new opportunities, which may havebeen one of the backdrops of the vigorous tribal migrations across the Amu Darya

What was also important for these processes was that the Ghaznavids could

relates:

[Sebüktegin] preferred the holy war (ghazwa) and was surnamed with it.For his successors, he constructed several roads in order to debilitate the

more than thirty years.69

121

70

southern ‘Gate of India’.71

of people, merchandise, and information between South Asia and Central Asia aswell as South Asia and West Asia. All of these points, of course, were intertwinedwith the frontier character of the early Ghaznavid state.

* * *

In essence, Alptegin, who had been defeated in the political strife within theSamanid court, had to seek a new opportunity, and therefore undertook the

by conducting , which was within the scope of the ethos of that period.72 Inthe regions to the south of the Hindukush, the base of his ‘venture’, a Muslim pres-

the regions remained under the rule of non-Muslims in the mid-tenth century. Inother words, the regions were located on the edge of non-Muslim lands opposedto the Muslim realm, and were potentially productive from an economic as wellas politico-military viewpoint. First the defence of the city and then the acquisi-tion of the ‘Gates of India,’ which were likely to have represented paths for success,may have given a common cause to the somewhat wayward troops of Ghazna,

together, the path to creating a great empire was opened.

Ò±¬»­1 Jürgen Paul, . Papers on Inner Asia

26 (Bloomington, 1994); idem,

,

(Würzburg, 2007); eadem,

Muslim world,’

2 For the general history of the Ghaznavids, see Wilhelm Barthold,

(Edinburgh,

, Vol. IV:idem, (Edinburgh, 1977).

English translation by C. E. Bosworth,

122

Barthold,

5 Cf. Barthold,

10 , ed. H.

,. ed. M. H.

possible that some people other than s and volunteers were involved in his army.

as ‘Loyak’, who was of a noble family of Ghazna from the second century and who, (Tehran.

Afghanistan’,14 Barthold,

, Vol. IV. (Cambridge,

15 Barthold,

of money had been gathered by him’.

new

early Islamic times’,

instance Alfred Foucher,

i, Geography of the Province’, .18 As to the site of Bust, see Jean-Claude Gardin,

xxvii (1989),

123

19 Cf. ,

the 7th to the 9th centuries A.D.’,21 Cf. Abdur Rahman,

22 I will discuss this issue in detail elsewhere.

relaxed. Al-Muqtadir, the Abbasid caliph at that time, turned this into an opportunity

(Costa Mesa and

, 13 Vols, ed. C. J. Tornberg, (Beirut, 1979), vii,

(Rome, 1976),

English translation by C. E. Bosworth and M. Ashtiany,

, ed. H., ed. M.

Ibn Rusta,, 9 Vols, ed. & trans. C. Barbier de Meynard

, 8 Vols in 4, (Beirut, 1986).30 Ptolemy, , ed. F. G. Wilberg, (Essen, 1838)

31 Cf. Émile Benveniste, ‘Le nom de la ville de Ghazna’, ccxxxvi (1935),(1945),

Safedak’Vol. II: (London,

124

33 Walter B. Henning, ‘Coriander’,Ilya Gershevitch, , ed. N. Sims-Williams, (Wiesbaden, 1985),

34 Josef Marquart,35 Alessio Bombaci, following Marquart, states that even in the Arabic sources

(AlessioBombaci, ‘Summary Report on the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan. I)Introduction to the Excavations at Ghazni’,

, 5 Vols, (Beirut, 1979)

36 Samuel Beal, , 2 Vols, (London, 1884),

by Rika Gyselen in detail. See R. Gyselen, ‘Two notes on post-Sasanian coins’, in R.Gyselen (ed.),

coinage and the Sasanian monetary heritage’, in M. Alram . (eds),(Vienna,

.

and - were added to

reason why Arabic sources continued to use the form Ghazna is not known.

, pp. 303-04 (trans., p. 247).43 Minorsky,

47 Minorsky,-

appearing here is no one but Alptegin, as is obvious in

2

125

50 For the economic background of the construction of the Bamiyan colossi, see Shoshin

51 Cf. C. E. Bosworth,

(Cairo, 1869), i,

note 7.

, 2 Vols, (New Delhi,

, in Bosworth,

of the

of the people of Gog, the geographer says that no one is better informed about these

scholarly type, it could have hindered him from appearing as a brave, heroic militaryleader.

because of the security problem has not been duly excavated so far. Cf. Giovanni

Rahman,

in Alptegin’s descendants to succeed the throne and Sebüktegin was a preeminent inagainst India.

63 M. Inaba, ‘Arab soldiers in China at the time of the An-Shi Rebellion’,

64 Cf. Bosworth,

(ed.), (Edinburgh, 1971),

66 Cf. Bosworth,

126

A. Nizami (eds), , Vol. 5, second edition, (New Delhi,

Sachau,

Þ·¾´·±¹®¿°¸§Allen, Terry, ‘Notes on Bust’,Allen, Terry, ‘Notes on Bust (continued)’,Allen, Terry, ‘Notes on Bust (continued)’,Bailey, Harold W., ‘Asica’,

Barthold, Wilhelm, , second edition, (Cambridge1968).

Beal, Samuel, , 2 Vols, (London, 1884).Benveniste, Émile, ‘Le nom de la ville de Ghazna’, ccxxxvi (1935),

(Beirut, 1983).Bombaci, Alessio, ‘Summary report on the Italian archaeological mission in Afghanistan. I)

Introduction to the excavations at Ghazni’,Bosworth, C. E., ‘Notes on the pre-Ghaznavid history of Eastern Afghanistan’,

Bosworth, C. E.,(Rome, 1968).

Bosworth, C. E., :(Edinburgh, 1963).

, Vol. IV: (Cambridge, 1975), 162–97.Bosworth, C. E., (Edinburgh, 1977).

Bosworth, C. E.,(Costa Mesa & New York, 1994).

Bosworth, C. E.,(London & New York, 2011).

Bosworth, C. E., and M. Ashtiany,, 3 Vols, (Boston & Washington D.C., 2011).

, Vol. 5, second edition, (New Delhi, 1993).Foucher, Alfred,

127

Frye, R. N., (Cambridge MA, 1954)., Vol. IV:

(Cambridge, 1975).Gardin, Jean-Claude,

Gershevitch, Ilya, , ed. N. Sims-Williams, (Wiesbaden, 1985).Gold, Milton, (Rome, 1976).Gyselen, Rika, ‘Two notes on post-Sasanian coins’, in Rika Gyselen (ed.),

monetary heritage’, in M. Alram et al. (eds),

(Tehran. 1985).Henning, Walter B., ‘Coriander’,

, trans.V. Minorsky, second edition, (Cambridge, 1970).

, ed. C. J. Tornberg, 13 vols, (Beirut, 1965–7).

Ibn Rusta,

to the 9th Centuries A.D.’,Inaba, Minoru, ‘Arab soldiers in China at the time of the An-Shi rebellion’,

Jackson, Peter, (Cambridge, 1999).

Henry G. Raverty, , 2 Vols, (New Delhi, 1970 [reprint])., ed. H. von Mzik, (Vienna, 1926).

, 8 Vols in 4, (Beirut, 1986).

Safedak’,Marquart, Josef, (Berlin, 1901).

, ed. & trans. C. Barbier de Meynard

2

trans. B. Collins and M. Alta’i, (Reading,2001).

128

(New Delhi, 1971[reprint]).

, ed. H. Darke, (Tehran, 1976); trans. H.Darke, , second edition (London, 1978).

Nobbe, C. F. A. (ed.), (Leipzig, 1845).Paul, Jürgen, , Papers on Inner Asia 26,

(Bloomington, 1994).Paul, Jürgen,

(Beirut, 1996).

(1963), 30–45.Ptolemy, , ed. F. G. Wilberg, (Essen, 1838).Rahman, Abdur, (Islamabad, 1979).Sachau, Eduard C. (trans.), , 2 Vols, (New Delhi, 1983 [reprint]).

Sims-Williams, N.,(London, 2007).

,Tor, D. G.,

(Istanbul, 2007).

Muslim world’,279–99.

(Cairo, 1869).

(Gorizia, 2007), 221–52.

, 5 vols, (Beirut, 1979).