Ibrahim
Ghaznavid Sultan Zahir ad-Dawlah ظھیر الدولہ Help of the State
Sultan ofGhaznavid Empire
Reign	4 April 1059 – 25 August 1099
Predecessor	Farrukh-Zad
Successor	Mas'ūd III
Born	c. 1033 Ghaznavid Empire
Died	25 August 1099 (aged 66) Ghaznavid Empire
Burial	25–26 August 1099 Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III
Issue	Mas'ūd III
Names Ibrahim bin Mas'ud
House	House of Sabuktigin
Father	Ma'sud I
Religion	Sunni Islam

Ibrahim of Ghazna (b. 1033 – d. 1099) was sultan of theGhaznavid empire from April 1059 until his death in 1099.^[2] Having been imprisoned at the fortress of Barghund, he was one of the Ghaznavid princes that escaped the usurperToghrul's massacre in 1052.^[3] After his brotherFarrukh-Zad took power, Ibrahim was sent to the fortress of Nay,^[4] the same fortress where the poetMasud Sa'd Salman would later be imprisoned for ten years.^[5]

Following Farrukh's death, Ibrahim was recognized as the last surviving male Ghaznavid. A military escort was sent to fetch him from Nay and he entered Ghazna on 6 April 1059.^[4] Ibrahim's reign was considered agolden age for the Ghaznavid empire, due to the treaties and cultural exchanges with theGreat Seljuq empire.^[6]

Ibrahim was born during his father's campaign intoGurgan andTabaristan (c. 1033).^[7] He reportedly had 40 sons and 36 daughters. One of these daughters married the great-great-grandfather of the historianJuzjani.^[8]

Ibrahim's son, Mas'ud, marriedGawhar Khatun, daughter of Seljuq sultanMalik Shah, as a condition of peace between the Great Seljuq empire and the Ghaznavid empire.^[2]

Every year Ibrahim would copy theQuran by hand and send it to the caliph inMecca.^[9]

Ibrahim rebuilt towns and settlements and instituted a vigorous policy for the restoration of social peace and economic prosperity in the Ghaznavid empire, which had been initiated by his brother Farrukh-Zad.^[8] At an unknown time, Ibrahim also arrested hisvizierAbu Sahl Khujandi for unknown reasons. In 1060, at the request of the nobles ofGhur, Ibrahim invaded the region and deposed its rulerAbbas ibn Shith. He then had the latter's sonMuhammad ibn Abbas placed on the Ghurid throne.^[10]

Ibrahim sent his son, Mahmud, with an army ofghazis consisting of 40,000 cavalry to raidDoaba in the easternPunjab, between 1063 and 1070.^[11] Following Mahmud's successful campaigns into India, Ibrahim initially appointed him governor of India. He occupied temporarily the cities ofAgra andKannauj. He also attacked and capturedMalwa.^[12] However, for reasons unknown, Mahmud fell out of favor, was imprisoned in the fortress of Nay and his brother, Mas'ud, took his place as governor of India.^[13] Shorn of its western land, it was increasingly sustained by riches accrued from raids across Northern India, where it faced stiff resistance from Indian rulers such as theParamara ofMalwa and theGahadvala ofKannauj.^[14]

After 14 years of peace with theSeljuks, Ibrahim, in January 1073, sent an army into Sakalkand. His army met with initial success, capturing Seljuk sultanMalik Shah's uncle, Usman Chaghri Beg, who was sent to Ghazna. However, an army led by the SeljukAmir Gumushtegin Bilge Beg andAnushtegin Gharchai, drove out the Ghaznavid army that had devastated Sakalkand.^[15][16] In 1077/8, Ibrahim appointedAbd al-Hamid Shirazi as his vizier.^[17]

In 1079, Ibrahim led a campaign intoIndia, besieging a fortress inPakpattan 120Parasang (480 miles) fromLahore, taking it on 13 August 1079. The military commander atLahore, Abdul Najam Zarir Shaybani, carried out successful raids against the Hindu cities ofBenares,Thanesar, andKannauj. Another main achievement of Ibrahim's reign was the rise of Lahore as a great cultural center under the viceroyalty of his grandsonShirzad.

Ibrahim died on 25 August 1099 ending a reign of 40 years. His tomb lies in the northeastern part of medieval Ghazna near Shaikh Radi d-Din 'Ali Lala's tomb in thePalace of Sultan Mas'ud III .^[18][19]

Wikiquote has quotations related toIbrahim of Ghazna.

• Bakshi, S.R.; Gajrani, S.; Singh, Hari (1997).Early Aryans to Swaraj. Vol. II. Brill.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1968). "The Iranian World". In Boyle, John Andrew (ed.).The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 5. Cambridge University Press.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1977).The Later Ghaznavids. Columbia University Press.
• Bosworth, C.E. (2007)."Ghaznavids".Encyclopedia Iranica.
• Bosworth, C.E. (2011)."ʿAbd-Al-Ḥamid b. Ahmad b. ʿAbd-Al-Ṣamad Širazi".Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Dames, M. Longworth (1993). "Ghaznavids". In Houtsma, M. Th. (ed.).E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. Brill.
• Ibn al-Athir (2002).The Annal of the Saljuq Turks. Translated by Richards, D.S. Routledge.
• Wink, André (1997).Al-Hind the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquests 11th–13th centuries. Vol. II. Brill.
• Ziad, Homayra (2006). "Ghaznavids". In Meri, Josef W. (ed.).Medieval Islamic Civilization. Vol. I. Taylor & Francis.

• Ghaznavid sultans
• 11th-century monarchs in Asia
• 1099 deaths
• 1030s births

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• Short description is different from Wikidata