| Sabuktigin | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Amir of Ghazna | |||||
| Reign | 977 – 997 | ||||
| Predecessor | Böritigin | ||||
| Successor | Ismail | ||||
| Born | c. 940s Barskhan (present-day Kyrgyzstan) | ||||
| Died | August-September 997 | ||||
| Issue | Mahmud Abu al-Muzzafar Nasr Ismail Yusuf Hurra-yi Khuttali | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Ghaznavids | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam (Karramiyya) | ||||
Abu Mansur Nasir ad-Din wa'd-Dawla Sabuktigin[a] (Persian: ابومنصور ناصرالدین والدوله سبکتگین; c. 940s – August-September 997) was the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, and amir of Ghazna from 977 to 997. Sabuktigin was a Turkic slave who was bought by Alp-Tegin, the commander of the royal guard of the Samanid dynasty. Alp-Tegin established himself as the governor of Ghazna in 962, and died a year later in 963. Afterwards, Sabuktigin built his prestige among other slave soldiers in Ghazna until he was elected by them as their ruler in 977.
Sabuktigin expanded his rule down to south of present-day Afghanistan and north of Balochistan. Through conflicts with the Hindu Shahi dynasty of Kabul, he invaded Indian lands, opening the gates of India for the future monarchs of his dynasty. As a vassal of the Samanid Empire, he answered Nuh II's call to help regarding Abu Ali Simjuri's rebellion, defeating the latter in several battles during 994 to 996. Towards the end of his life, Sabuktigin arranged an agreement with the Kara-Khanid Khanate, Samanids' rivals, to partition Nuh's realm between themselves. However, before he could realize this agreement, he died on his way to Ghazna on August-September 997.
As the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, Sabuktigin was later idealized by Ghaznavid historians as a just and forgiving ruler, though these traits may have no basis in reality. He was the image of the "founding monarch" archetype, developed by historians such as Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi, who drew a contrast between the humble and just Sabuktigin with his successors. This conclusion was shared by later historians such as Nizam al-Mulk and lived all the way to Babur, the founding monarch of the Mughal Empire, who was influenced by Sabuktigin half a millennium after his death.
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