Arslan-Shah of Ghazna

Arslan-Shah
Sultan ad-Dawlah
Sultan of the Ghaznavid Sultanate
Reign	February 1116 – 25 February 1117
Predecessor	Shir-Zad
Successor	Bahram Shah
Born	c. 1092 Ghaznavid Empire
Died	c. 1119 (aged 27) Ghaznavid Empire
Names Laqab: Sultan ad-Dawlah Kunya: Abul-Moluk[1] Given name: Arslan-Shah Full name: Sultan ad-Dawlah Abul-Moluk Arslan-Shah ibn Mas'ud
Dynasty	Ghaznavid
Father	Mas'ud III of Ghazni
Mother	Gawhar Khatun[2]
Religion	Sunni Islam

Arslan-Shah of Ghazna (full name: Sultan ad-Dawlah Abul-Moluk Arslan-Shah ibn Mas'ud) (c. 1092 – 1119^[3][4]) was the Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire from 1116 to 1117 C.E.

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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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,^[8] where he was supported by the Bu Halim Shaybani family.^[9] 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 However, as soon as Sanjar had withdrawn his army, Arslan returned, and chased out Bahram ibn Mas'ud who had been left in possession which obliged Sanjar to take the field again.^[10] This struggle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.^[11]

See also

• Ghaznavids
• Ghurid dynasty
• Eldiguzids

Notes

1. "ARSLĀNŠĀH" Encyclopædia Iranica
2. C.E. Bosworth, The Later Ghaznavids, (Columbia University Press, 1977), 90.
3. al-Athīr, I.D.I.; Richards, D.S. (2006). The Chronicle of Ibn Al-Athīr for the Crusading Period from Al-Kāmil Fīʼl-taʼrīkh. Crusade texts in translation. Ashgate. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-7546-4077-6.
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).[1]
10. C.E. Bosworth, The Later Ghaznavids, 97-98.
11. Mountstuart Elphinstone, The History of India, Vol. 1, Publisher J. Murray, 1841

References

• Bosworth, C. Edmund (2002). "GOWHAR ḴĀTUN". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XI, Fasc. 2. London et al.: C. Edmund Bosworth. p. 179.
• Bosworth, C. E (1995). The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay: The Dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India 1040-1186. ISBN 9788121505772. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
• Bosworth, C. Edmund (2001). "GHAZNAVIDS". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. X, Fasc. 6. London et al. pp. 578–583.

Arslan-Shah of Ghazna House of Sabuktegin Born:  ? Died: 1118
Regnal titles
Preceded by Shir-Zad	Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire 1116 – 1117	Succeeded by Bahram-Shah