The Ghaznavids

In the middle of the 10th century a former Turkish slave named Alptegin seized Ghazna (Ghazni). He was succeeded by another former slave, Subuktigin, who extended the conquests to Kabul and the Indus. His son was the great Mahmud of Ghazna, who came to the throne in 998. Mahmud conquered the Punjab and Multan and carried his raids into the heart of India. The hitherto obscure town of Ghazna became a splendid city, as did the second capital at Bust (Lashkar Gah).

The Ghurids

Mahmud's descendants continued to rule over a gradually diminishing empire until 1150, when 'Ala'-ud-Din Husayn of Ghur, a mountain-locked region in central Afghanistan, sacked Ghazna and drove the last Ghaznavid out to India. 'Ala'-ud-Din's nephew, Mu'izz-ud-Din Muhammad, known as Muhammad of Ghur, first invaded India in 1175. After his death in 1206, his general, Qutb-ud-Din Aybak, became the sultan of Delhi.

The Khwarezm-Shahs

Shortly after Muhammad of Ghur's death, the Ghurid Empire fell apart, and Afghanistan was occupied by Sultan 'Ala' ad-Din Muhammad, the Khwarezm-Shah. The territories of the Khwarezm-Shah dynasty extended from Chinese Turkistan in the east to the borders of Iraq in the west.

(F.R.Al.)