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Mahmud of Ghazni (November 2, 971 - April 30, 1030) was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty and ruled from 997 until his death in 1030. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni (now in Afghanistan) into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which extended from Afghanistan into most of Iran as well as Pakistan and regions of North-West India.
Ghazni is a city in central Afghanistan, with an approximate population of 141,000 people (2010). It is the capital of Ghazni Province, situated on a plateau at 7,280 feet (2,219 m) above sea level.<br/><br/> Ghazni was founded sometime in antiquity as a small market-town and is mentioned by Ptolemy. According to various legends it was founded by Raja Gaj of the Yadu Dynasty around 1500 BCE. In the 6th century BCE, the city was conquered by the Achaemenid king, Cyrus II, and incorporated into the Persian empire.<br/><br/> Ghazni was a thriving Buddhist center up until the 7th century. In 683 CE, Arab armies brought Islam to the region but many refused to accept the new religion. Yaqub Saffari from Zaranj conquered the city in the late 9th century. It later became the dazzling capital of the Ghaznavid Empire, which encompassed much of northern India, Persia and Central Asia. Between 1215–21, Ghazni was managed by the Khwarezmid Empire, during which time it was destroyed by the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan, led by his son Ögedei Khan.
The Ghaznavids (Persian: غزنویان‎) were a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic slave origin which existed from 975 to 1187 and ruled much of Persia, Transoxania, and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.<br/><br/> The Ghaznavid state was centered in Ghazni, a city in modern-day Afghanistan. Due to the political and cultural influence of their predecessors - that of the Persian Samanid Empire - the originally Turkic Ghaznavids had become thoroughly Persianized.<br/><br/> The dynasty was founded by Sebuktigin upon his succession to rule of territories centered around the city of Ghazni from his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, a break-away ex-general of the Samanid sultans. Sebuktigin's son, Shah Mahmud, expanded the empire in the region that stretched from the Oxus river to the Indus Valley and the Indian Ocean; and in the west it reached Rey and Hamadan.