Muʿizz al-Dīn Muḥammad

Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad
Sultan of the Ghurid Sultanate
Tomb of Muhammad of Ghor in Sohawa Tehsil, Pakistan.
Reign	1173–1202 (with his brother Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad); (1202–1206 as sole ruler)
Predecessor	Ghiyath ad-Din Muhammad
Successor	Ghor: Ghiyath ad-Din Mahmud Ghazni: Taj ad-Din Yildiz Delhi: Qutbu l-Din Aibak Bengal: Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji Multan: Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha
Born	1149 Ghor, present-day Afghanistan
Died	March 15, 1206 Dhamiak, Jhelum District, present-day Pakistan
Burial	Dhamiak, Jhelum District, present-day Pakistan
House	Ghurid dynasty
Father	Baha al-Din Sam I
Religion	Sunni Islam

Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori (Persian: معز الدین محمد غوری‎‎), born Shihab ad-Din (1149 – March 15, 1206), also known as Muhammad of Ghor, was Sultan of the Ghurid Empire along with his brother Ghiyath ad-Din Muhammad from 1173 to 1202, and as the supreme ruler of the Ghurid Empire from 1202 to 1206.

Mu'izz ad-Din was one of the greatest rulers of the Ghurid dynasty, and is credited with laying the foundation of Muslim rule in South Asia, which lasted for several centuries. He reigned over a territory spanning over parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

Mu'izz ad-Din took the city of Ghazni in 1173 to avenge the death of his ancestor Muhammad ibn Suri at the hands of Mahmud of Ghazni and used it as a launching-pad for expansion into northern India. In the meantime, he assisted his brother Ghiyath in his contest with the Khwarazmian Empire for the lordship of Khorasan in Western Asia. In 1175, Mu'izz captured Multan from the Hamid Ludi dynasty, which was a Pashtun but were alleged to be un-Islamic on the account of their association with Ismailite Shi'iate sect and also took Uch in 1175. He also annexed the Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186, the last haven of his Persianized rivals. After the death of Ghiyath in 1202, he became the successor of the Ghurid Empire and ruled until his assassination in 1206.

A confused struggle then ensued among the remaining Ghuri leaders, and the Khwarizmi were able to take over the Ghurid Sultanate in about 1215. Though the Ghurids' empire was short-lived and petty Ghurid states remained in power until the arrival of Timurids, Mu'izz's conquests laid the foundations of Muslim rule in India. Qutbu l-Din Aibak, a former slave (Mamluk) of Mu'izz, was the first Sultan of Delhi.