Arslan-Shah of Ghazna

Biography

In 1116, Arslan Shah overthrew his older brother Shir-Zad, took the Ghaznavid throne, and blinded or imprisoned his remaining brothers, except Bahram who was in Zamindawar. Arslan-Shah also appointed Abu'l-Fath Yusuf as his vizier. After being initially defeated by Arslan at Tiginabad, Bahram, appealed to Seljuk Sultan Ahmad Sanjar, whose sister, Gawhar Khatun, was greatly offended at the conduct of her eldest son Arslan ibn Mas'ud, towards the rest. Incited by her and perhaps by his own ambitious views Sanjar called on Arslan to release his brothers and on his refusal marched against him with an army of 30,000 cavalry and 50,000 infantry.

Arslan was defeated after an obstinate engagement and fled to Ghazna. There, on the plain outside Ghazna, Arslan was decisively defeated and fled to India, where he was supported by the Bu Halim Shaybani family. Ghazna was then subjected to forty days of pillage, which culminated in Bahram's installment as ruler and vassal of Sanjar. However, as soon as Sanjar had withdrawn his army, Arslan returned, and chased out Bahram ibn Mas'ud who had been left in possession which obliged Sanjar to take the field again. This struggle was Arslan's last, he was constrained to seek refuge among the Afghans, but was overtaken and put to death, leaving Bahram ibn Mas'ud in undisturbed possession of the throne which Arslan ibn Mas'ud himself had occupied for only two years.

Notes

References

References

1. [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cagri-beg-dawud-b "ARSLĀNŠĀH"] ''Encyclopædia Iranica''
2. C.E. Bosworth, ''The Later Ghaznavids'', (Columbia University Press, 1977), 90.
3. al-Athīr, I.D.I.. (2006). "The Chronicle of Ibn Al-Athīr for the Crusading Period from Al-Kāmil Fīʼl-taʼrīkh". Ashgate.
4. Clifford Edmund Bosworth, ''The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay, The Dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India 1040–1186'', (Columbia University Press, 1977), 95-98. {{ISBN. 0-231-04428-3
5. Clifford Edmund Bosworth, ''The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay, The Dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India 1040–1186'', 91.
6. The history of India, Volume 1 The History of India, Mountstuart Elphinstone Author Mountstuart Elphinstone Publisher J. Murray, 1841
7. Tarikh-i-Ferishta or history of the rise of the Mahomedan power in India till the 1612 by Mahomed Kasim Ferishta; Translated by John Briggs; Published 1831
8. C.E. Bosworth, ''The Later Ghaznavids'', 96.
9. ''Bu Ḥalim Šaybani family'', C.E. Bosworth, '''Encyclopaedia Iranica''', (December 15, 1989).[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bu-halim-family-of-military-commanders-and-governors]
10. C.E. Bosworth, ''The Later Ghaznavids'', 97-98.
11. Mountstuart Elphinstone, ''The History of India'', Vol. 1, Publisher J. Murray, 1841