Mahmud was not a mere raider and plunderer of wealth. He built a wide empire from the Punjab in the east to the Caspian sea on the west and from Samarkand in the north to Gujarat in the south. The Ghaznavid empire roughly included Persia, Trans-oxyana, Afghanistan and Punjab. His achievements were due to his leadership and restless activity. Mahmud was considered a hero of Islam by medieval historians. He also patronized art and literature. Firdausi was the poet-laureate in the court of Mahmud. He was the author of Shah Namah. Alberuni stayed in Mahmud s court and wrote the famous Kitab-i-Hind, an account on India. His conquest of Punjab and Multan completely changed the political situation in India. He paved the way for the Turks and Afghans for further conquests and make deeper incursions into the Gangetic valley at any time. He drained the resources of India by his repeated raids and deprived India of her manpower. The exhaustion of India s economic resources and man power had its adverse effect on the political future of India. The Hindu Shahi kingdom was guarding the gates of India against foreign invaders. Mahmud destroyed it and thus India s frontiers became defenceless. The inclusion of Punjab and Afghanistan in Ghazni s kingdom made the subsequent Muslim conquests of India comparatively easy.

Muhammad Ghori

The Ghoris started as vassals of Ghazni but became independent after the death of Mahmud. Taking advantage of the decline of the Ghaznavid empire, Muizzuddin Muhammad popularly known as Muhammad Ghori brought Ghazni under their control. Having made his position strong and secure at Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori turned his attention to India. Unlike Mahmud of Ghazni, he wanted to conquer India and extend his empire in this direction.

In 1175, Muhammad Ghori captured Multan and occupied whole of Sind in his subsequent expeditions. In 1186 he attacked Punjab, captured it from Khusru Malik and annexed it to his domin- ions. The annexation of Punjab carried his dominion eastward to the Sutlej and led his invasion of the Chauhan kingdom.

---