Alamgir
Elite Member
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The Ghurid Empire was a Muslim empire centred around what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan, but also included large portions of India, Bangladesh, Central Asia and Iran. It is unclear whether the dynasty itself was ethnically Pashtun or Persian, but what is known is that the Sur Pashtuns of today are descended from them.
The Ghurid Empire used Farsi as its official language, and its major cities were Firozkoh, Herat, Ghazni (all three of which are in Afghanistan) and Lahore (which is in Pakistan). Ghazni and Lahore were of particular significance, acting as the two capitals on rotation throughout the year during the zenith of the Ghurid Empire (during the cooler winter period Lahore would act as the capital, and during the summer when Lahore became too hot, Ghazni would act as the capital). The Ghurid administration and army would have mainly consisted of Persians, Turks, Pashtuns and various Indo-Aryan ethnic groups (e.g Punjabis), but also had Balochis, Arabs and even Kurds working for it.
The dynasty is a critical part of Muslim history in South Asia, mainly because it was the first one to make major inroads into what is now India and Bangladesh. Prior to the Ghurid Empire, most Muslim rulers in South Asia would only attack India to loot it of its wealth and cripple nearby dynasties that acted as a threat, but the Ghurids actually decided to rule over India, which allowed not only for Islam to further spread across India and Bangladesh, but also for Persian culture to influence the region too (some of this influence remains to this very day, especially among Muslims in northern India), and for Muslims to rule over India as the dominant power for hundreds of years. Like other Muslim dynasties that ruled over the region, this one also brought many migrants of diverse origins to South Asia, who are the ancestors of Muslims living throughout it today.
When the last Ghurid Sultan (Muhammad Ghauri) died, one of his soldiers Qutub Uddin Aibak succeeded him, founding the first dynasty (the Mamluk dynasty) of the Delhi Sultanate.
The Pakistani military named a nuclear missile after Muhammad Ghauri, the last Sultan of the Ghurid Empire.
(NOTE: The first video has background music, so mute it when you open it. The second one also has it during the transitions, so mute it whenever they come up)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wz1KMeCzaQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6sS6gKGSEQ

The Ghurid Empire used Farsi as its official language, and its major cities were Firozkoh, Herat, Ghazni (all three of which are in Afghanistan) and Lahore (which is in Pakistan). Ghazni and Lahore were of particular significance, acting as the two capitals on rotation throughout the year during the zenith of the Ghurid Empire (during the cooler winter period Lahore would act as the capital, and during the summer when Lahore became too hot, Ghazni would act as the capital). The Ghurid administration and army would have mainly consisted of Persians, Turks, Pashtuns and various Indo-Aryan ethnic groups (e.g Punjabis), but also had Balochis, Arabs and even Kurds working for it.
The dynasty is a critical part of Muslim history in South Asia, mainly because it was the first one to make major inroads into what is now India and Bangladesh. Prior to the Ghurid Empire, most Muslim rulers in South Asia would only attack India to loot it of its wealth and cripple nearby dynasties that acted as a threat, but the Ghurids actually decided to rule over India, which allowed not only for Islam to further spread across India and Bangladesh, but also for Persian culture to influence the region too (some of this influence remains to this very day, especially among Muslims in northern India), and for Muslims to rule over India as the dominant power for hundreds of years. Like other Muslim dynasties that ruled over the region, this one also brought many migrants of diverse origins to South Asia, who are the ancestors of Muslims living throughout it today.
When the last Ghurid Sultan (Muhammad Ghauri) died, one of his soldiers Qutub Uddin Aibak succeeded him, founding the first dynasty (the Mamluk dynasty) of the Delhi Sultanate.

The Pakistani military named a nuclear missile after Muhammad Ghauri, the last Sultan of the Ghurid Empire.

(NOTE: The first video has background music, so mute it when you open it. The second one also has it during the transitions, so mute it whenever they come up)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wz1KMeCzaQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6sS6gKGSEQ
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