Ghaurids

   The ruling family of Ghaur (the mountainous region east of Herat) that belonged to the Shansbani clan. The Ghaurids had their capital at Firuz Koh, and they emerged as a power to be reckoned with in the early decades of the 12th century. In 1150, the Ghaurid chief, 'Ala al-Din, sacked Ghazni, winning the sobriquet Jahansoz (Incendiary). 'Ala al-Din's nephew, Ghiyas al-Din Muhammad bin Sam (1163-1203), installed his younger brother Muizz al-Din Muhammad Ghauri at Ghazni in 1173-1174, who subsequently captured Multan (1175-1176) and Lahore (1186) and defeated and killed Prithviraja Chahamana III (1192). The Ghaurid army con-sisted of the hill people of Ghaur and tribal cavalry from among the Khaljis, a nomadic people from the Bust and Zamindawar tract. Ghiyas al-Din also recruited a large number of Turkish slaves, who were promoted to high administrative and military positions outside Ghaur. Following Muizz al-Din's assassination (1206), the Ghaurid Empire ceased to exist; the conquered territories in India came to be ruled by Qutb al-Din Aibek, while another slave noble, Yildiz, de-clared himself a sultan at Ghazni.