Muhammad of Ghur

Muhammad von Ghur (fictional portrait)

Muhammad von Ghur or his full name Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori (معز الدین محمد غوری); (* 1149 in Ghor ; † March 15, 1206 at Jhelum ) was together with his older brother Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad ruler of the central Afghan Ghurid Empire , which in the second half of the 12th century, however, temporarily over large parts of Persia and northern India could expand.

biography

Early years

Muhammad von Ghur was born in 1149 to Baha al-Din Sam I in Ghor , Afghanistan; his older brother was Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad. In 1163 the princes of the region supported the takeover of power by Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, who, however, ceded parts of what was then still a comparatively small area of ​​the empire to his younger brother. In the first few years the brothers were confronted with several usurpers, whom they were able to counter successfully together. In 1173 they conquered the city of Ghazni , the new ruler of which was Muhammad. In the following years Ghiyath al-Din took over the conquest of Persia, while Muhammad turned to the north of India.

Conquest of India

In 1175 Muhammad conquered the city of Multan and in 1181 Lahore ; in the meantime, however, he suffered a defeat on a campaign to Gujarat (1178). In 1191 he was defeated by the Chauhan prince Prithviraj III. at Tarain near Delhi , but two years later he was able to crush him in the same place. Thereupon he destroyed the city of Ajmer , the capital of the Chauhan empire, and had large parts of the population executed; the way to northern India was thus free.

In the years around 1200, the two brothers continued their campaigns of conquest to the west and east. Muhammad and his army even succeeded in temporarily conquering Bengal , but his brother died in 1202 near Herat in western Afghanistan. The princes of Ghur then designated Muhammad as sole ruler. In 1206, the childless Muhammad transferred power to his Turkish slave Qutb-ud-Din Aibak , who a few months later - after the murder of Muhammad near Jhelum by insurgents - became the founder of the so-called slave dynasty and the Sultanate of Delhi .

literature

• CE Bosworth : The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (AD 1000-1217). In: RN Frye: The Cambridge History of Iran. Cambridge University Press 1968, ISBN 0-521-06936-X .
• Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund : History of India. From the Indus culture to today. CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60414-0 .

Web links

• Muhammad von Ghur - Info. (English)