Ala al-Din Jahansuz burns Ghazni

01The burning

Minhaj-i-Siraj, writing a century later under the Delhi sultans, says that Bahram Shah of Ghazni had put to death a Ghurid prince, and another brother died after a defeat. Ala al-Din Husain marched on Ghazni, defeated Bahram’s army, and gave the city over to fire and slaughter for seven days. The tombs of the Ghaznavid sultans, except those of Mahmud and a few others, were dug up. The palaces built from the spoils of India were destroyed.

02Why it matters for India

The burning of Ghazni moved the Ghaznavid dynasty’s centre to Lahore, and it announced a new power in the mountains of Ghur. Twenty-two years later Ala al-Din’s nephews took Ghazni for good, and from there the younger, Muizz al-Din Muhammad of Ghor, began the campaigns in India that led to Tarain. The city Mahmud had enriched with the wealth of Somnath was itself sacked by fellow Muslim conquerors within a century.