Sultan of Ghaznavid İbrahim b. Mesûd period (1059-1099)

The Ghaznavid State was founded when Alptegin, the Samanid Sepahsâlâr of Khorasan, captured Ghazna in (13 Dhu al-Hijjah 351/12 January 963). During the reign of Sebüktigin, the founder of the dynasty, the state gradually increased its power (27 Sha'ban 366-Sha'ban 387/20 April 977-August 997). In the period of Sultan Mahmud, the state reached the peak of its power, and its territorial boundaries extended from the lands of Azerbaijan in the west to the upper Ganges valley of India in the east, from Khwarazm in the north to the coasts of the Indian Ocean in the south. However, after this period, following the defeats of his son Sultan Mas'ud against the Seljuqs, the Ghaznavids lost their dominance in Khorasan. Although the state lost its former power after this period, it managed to maintain its continuity. The Ghaznavid rulers who ascended the throne thereafter reigned for short periods, and eventually, the dynasty faced the danger of extinction. A Turkish commander named Tughrul, in the year (445/1053), killed eleven princes including 'Abd al-Rashid and took over the leadership of the Ghaznavid State. However, his rule was also very short-lived, and he was killed. The vacant Ghaznavid throne was then taken by Farrukhzad, the son of Mas'ud. When Sultan Farrukhzad died in (451/1059), probably due to cholera or colic, Mas'ud I's other son, Ibrahim, who had survived the Tughrul affair, ascended the throne on (19 Safar 451/6 April 1059). Sultan Ibrahim found the internal situation of the state extremely difficult and complicated. For the wars that had continued for decades had led to the loss of many territories and caused both economic and social devastation. Moreover, maintaining control over the remaining lands also had particular importance. In this study, the methods employed by Sultan Ibrahim, the longest-reigning ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty, to resolve these problems, his campaigns, primarily those directed toward India, and, in addition to all these, his court entourage are examined.