Afghan War between Ghur and Ghazna (1148–1152)

Afghan War between Ghur and Ghazna (1148–1152)

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Ghur (Ghor) vs. Ghazna (modern Ghazni)

PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Present-day Afghanistan and Iran

DECLARATION: None

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: Ghur fought for independence from Ghazna, which it also sought to displace.

OUTCOME: Ghur gained ascendency over its former master.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:Unknown

CASUALTIES: Unknown

TREATIES: None

Mahmud of Ghazna (971–1030) controlled Khorosan (in Iran) and Afghanistan by 999 and raided northern India, gaining wealth that financed his further conquests in Afghanistan. His death in 1030, however, brought about the gradual decline of once-powerful Ghazna (in east-central Afghanistan) and, in consequence, a loosening of its grip on the tributary state of Ghur, a mountain-enclosed region of central Afghanistan. Saif ud-din Suir (r. 1146–49) and Ala-ud-din (r. 1150–75) led a Ghurid uprising against Ghazna beginning in 1148 and culminating in the siege and sacking of the capital city of Ghazna (called Ghazna or Ghazni). The siege was protracted into 1152, by which time the last of the Ghaznavids had been driven into India.Although sacked, the city of Ghazna was spared from total destruction. It served later as a secondary capital in the ascendent kingdom of Ghur.


Further reading: Clifford Edmond Bosworth, The Medieval History of Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia (London: Variorum Reprints, 1977).