Ghurids
Also called: Ghorid dynasty · Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides: The 11th and 12th Centuries"
Meaning
The Ghurids were rulers from Ghur, a mountainous region of Afghanistan west of Ghazni. They had once served the Ghaznavids as vassals (rulers who obey a stronger king). When the Ghaznavid empire broke up after Mahmud's death, the Ghurid chiefs seized Ghazni in the 12th century. Their sultan Muhammad Ghuri invaded India. Unlike Mahmud, who raided and went home, Ghuri wanted to conquer and keep land. This laid the base for the Delhi Sultanate.
Example
Muhammad Ghuri took parts of Punjab and Sindh, but he was defeated in Gujarat in 1178. He lost the First Battle of Tarain in 1191 and won the second in 1192. He then left generals such as Qutb-ud-din Aibak to hold north India. One of his coins even shows Goddess Lakshmi.
Don't confuse with
- Ghaznavids: the dynasty of Mahmud of Ghazni. They raided India 17 times for plunder but held no land beyond Punjab.
Related concepts
- Muhammad Ghori
- First Battle of Tarain
- Prithviraj Chauhan
- Second Battle of Tarain
- Qutbuddin Aibak
- Bakhtiyar Khilji
- Tabaqat-i-Nasiri