Lawik dynasty | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c.750 CE–977 CE | |||||||||||||
 Ghazni was the power-center of the Lawik dynasty.Citadel of Ghazni pictured above | |||||||||||||
 LAWIK DYNASTY Approximate location of the Lawik dynasty | |||||||||||||
 LAWIKS The Lawik Dynasty was located in Ghazni and Gardez | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Ghazni | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Disputed (either Buddhism or Hinduism)[1] (before 782) Islam[2] (after 782) | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Early Middle Ages | ||||||||||||
• Established | c.750 CE | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 977 CE | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Today part of | Afghanistan | ||||||||||||
TheLawīk dynasty (also known asAnūk) was a dynasty which ruledGhazni prior to theGhaznavid conquest in the present-dayAfghanistan. Lawiks were originally either Buddhists or Hindus[disputed –discuss], but later became Muslims.[2] They were closely related to theHindu Shahis,[3] and after 877, ruled under the Hindu Shahi suzerainty.[4]
A branch of Lawiks ruled the nearby city ofGardez.[3] TheSiyasatnama ofNizam al-Mulk, theTabaqat-i Nasiri ofJuzjani, and theMajma' al-ansāb fī't-tawārīkh ofShabankara'i (14th century) mentioned Lawiks.[5]
C. E. Bosworth states that the Lawiks were Hindus ofZabulistan and descendants ofZunbil family, who had strong Indian influences due to their links with Kabul.[6][7]
According to Afghan historianAbdul Hai Habibi, Wujwir Lawik built a great idol-temple at Bamyan Gate, Ghazni in honor of theRatbil and theKabul Shah.[8]
Wujwir's son, Khanan (referred to asKhaqan inZayn al-Akhbar), converted to Islam around 782 but then became an apostate. Around 784, Khanan disinclined to demolish the idol-temple. Therefore he placed it in a silver casket and buried his father's idol underneath it, converting the site into a mosque.
Khanan was sent a poem by the Kabul Shahis, saying: "Alas! The idol of Lawik has been interred beneath the earth of Ghazna, and the Lawiyan family have given away [the embodiment of] their kingly power. I am going to send my own army; do not yourself follow the way of the Arabs [s.c. the religion of Islam]."[2]
According toZayn al-Akhbar, written by historianAbu Sa'id Gardezi, Abu Mansur Aflah Lawik was reduced to a tributary status in Gardez by EmirYa'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar in 877.[9]
Around this time nevertheless, it is thought that the Lawik dynasty remained as a ruling family under the suzerainty of theHindu Shahis.[4]
In 962, theTurkic slave commander of theSamanid Empire,Alp-Tegin, attacked Ghazni and besieged theCitadel of Ghazni for four months. He wrested the town from its rulerAbu Bakr Lawik. Alp-Tegin was accompanied bySabuktigin during this conquest.[10]
Around 965, Abu Bakr Lawik recaptured Ghazni from Alp-Tegin's son,Abu Ishaq Ibrahim, forcing him to flee toBukhara. However, this was not to last long because Abu Ishaq Ibrahim shortly returned to the town with Samanid aid, and took control of the town once again. Abu Bakr Lawik was thereafter no longer mentioned; he died before 977, the year that Ghaznavid control was established in Ghazni.
Although Juzjani gave Abu Bakr Lawik the Islamickunya ofAbu Bakr, Shabankara'i claimed he was a non-Muslim.[11]
Abu Ali Lawik was the son of Abu Bakr Lawik,[12] and also a brother-in-law of the Turk Shahi ruler of the region, Kabul Shah.[13]
About one decade after Abu Ishaq Ibrahim's capture of Ghazni, the people of Ghazni invited Abu Ali Lawik to come back, take the throne, and overthrow the tyrant Samanid-appointed governor,Böritigin. The Kabul Shahis allied with Lawiks and the king, most likelyJayapala, sent his son to assist Lawiks in the invasion. When the allied forces reached nearCharkh onLogar River, they were attacked by Sabuktigin who killed and captured many of them while also capturing ten elephants. Böritigin was expelled and Sabuktigin became governor in 977 A.D. The accession was endorsed by the Samanid rulerNuh II.[14] Lawik himself was killed in the battle along with his ally.[15]
On the other hand, the neighboring town of Gardez remained in Lawik hands until c. 977, when the dynasty was finally uprooted. Samanid-appointed governorBilgetegin was killed by Lawiks during his siege of Gardez in 975.[16]
...but their close links with Kabul point, at the least, to strong Indian influences.
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