Ghurid Sultanate

Shansabānī

before 879–1215

Map of the Ghurid dynasty at its greatest extent under Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad

Capital

Firozkoh
Herat
Ghazni (1170s–1215)
Lahore (1186–1215; winter)

Languages

Persian (court)

Religion

Before 1011:
Buddhism
From 1011:
Sunni Islam

Government

Hereditary monarchy

Malik/Sultan

•

9th-century–10th-century

Amir Suri (first)

•

1214–1215

Ala al-Din Ali (last)

History

•

Established

before 879

•

Disestablished

1215

Preceded by

Succeeded by

	Ghaznavids
	Great Seljuq Empire

Delhi Sultanate
Khwarazmian dynasty

Today part of

The Ghurids or Ghorids (Persian: سلسله غوریان‎‎; self-designation: شنسباني, Shansabānī) were a dynasty of Eastern Iranian descent (presumably Tajik, but the exact ethnic origin is uncertain), from the Ghor region of present-day central Afghanistan. The dynasty converted to Sunni Islam from Buddhism, after the conquest of Ghor by the Ghaznavid emperor Mahmud of Ghazni in 1011. Abu Ali ibn Muhammad (reigned 1011–1035) was the first Muslim king of the Ghurid dynasty to construct mosques and Islamic schools in Ghor.

The dynasty overthrew the Ghaznavid Empire in 1186, when Sultan Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad of Ghor conquered the last Ghaznavid capital of Lahore. At their zenith, the Ghurid empire encompassed Khorasan in the west and reached northern India as far as Bengal in the east. Their first capital was Firozkoh in Mandesh, Ghor, which was later replaced by Herat, while Ghazni and Lahore were used as additional capitals, especially during winters. The Ghurids were patrons of Persian culture and heritage.

The Ghurids were succeeded in Khorasan and Persia by the Khwarezmian dynasty, and in northern India by the Mamluk dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.

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Wikipedia