Indian History Part 54 The Slave Dynasty Section IV: A Queen Reigns

  Canberra, 14 November 2016 Qutb ud-Din Aibak and Balban (not yet part of this narrative) were actual ‘ghulams’ or slaves who had been manumitted earlier to their becoming ruling monarchs. The rest of the sultans who ruled Delhi and are counted as belonging to the so-called ‘Slave Dynasty’ were never slaves, but born as […]

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Indian History Part 49 The Ghaznavids Section V The Whimpering End of the Dynasty

  Canberra, 2 May 2016 The Ghurid expedition into Ghazni was led by Alauddin Husain, the brother of the slain Saif ad-Din Suri. The dates of the invasion cannot be determined accurately and vary in different sources from 1152 to 1155 and can probably be placed at 1153. The Ghurid army was primarily infantry, whereas […]

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Indian History Part 49 The Ghaznavids Section IV: The Beginning of the End

  Canberra, 8 April 2016 In 1118, Bahram Shah settled down to rule the Ghaznavid kingdom, having conclusively dealt with the challenges that were mounted against his coming to the throne. He assumed a number of honorifics—some of which compared him, in a flatteringly favourable manner, to the status and titles that were assumed by […]

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Part 49 The Ghaznavids Section III: Incipient Decline

  Canberra, 22 March 2016 For the next fifty years after Ibrahim’s stable rule, the Ghaznavids were on a slope of gradual decline, ultimately culminating in a fatal struggle with the Ghurids for supremacy and then mere survival. This insipient decline could also be noticed in the domestic affairs of the State. Ibrahim was succeeded […]

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