Alptigin

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Alptigin or Alp Tigin (Persian: الپتگین‎; Alp Tegīn, Turkic for brave prince) was governor of Ghazni Province in what is now Afghanistan between 961 to 963 AD after replacing the Lawiks, a native ruling dynasty. A Turk by origin or ethnicity, he is believed to have ruled this new territory as an extension of the Persian Samanid Empire in the north. He ruled for around 15 years and died in 365 AH.

Before becoming governor of Ghazni, Alp Tigin was a general from Balkh (modern-day Afghanistan) who had risen from a mercenary to a general of the Governor of Khorasan. In a political fallout over succession of the Samanids, he crossed the Hindu Kush mountains southward and captured Ghazni, located strategically between Kabul and Kandahar in modern Afghanistan, and thereby establishing his own kingdom. He was succeeded by his son, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim in 975. During his son's rule, important government affairs were handled to Sabuktigin. Upon the death of Abu Ishaq in 977 CE, Sabuktigin became the new governor of Ghazni, and also laid foundation to the Ghaznavids.[1] Later Sabuktigin was married to Alp Tigin's daughter.[2]

External Links

References

  1. Encyclopædia Iranica, "Ghaznavids", by C. Edmund Bosworth
  2. Tareekh-e-Firishta, by Mohammad Qasim Firishta, written in 1611 CE