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 VI: A Brief Appraisal

  Canberra, 19 May 2016 Rising from obscure origins, the Ghaznavids managed to conquer lands and carve out a viable kingdom in the north and east of Afghanistan and North-West India. The kingdom, actually a sultanate, remained intact for almost a century before the Seljuq invasion deprived it of its Persian territorial holdings. The Ghaznavids […]

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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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