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Abu Mansur Nasir ad-Din wa'd-Dawla Sabuktigin (; 940s – August-September 997) was the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, and Emir of Ghazni from 977 to 997. Sabuktigin was a Turkic peoples slave who was bought by Alp-Tegin, the commander of the royal guard of the Samanid Empire. 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 Shahis dynasty of Kabul, he invaded Medieval India 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 Simjurids'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.
He flourished under Alp-Tegin's patronage and by the age of eighteen, commanded 200 Ghilman]] (military slaves). At the time, Alp-Tegin served as the head of the royal guard of the Samanid dynasty, but in 962, after he fell from grace, he left his position and sought to establish an independent rule in Ghazni, in present-day eastern Afghanistan. Sabuktigin accompanied him and helped defeating the Samanid army in Tokharistan. Eventually, Alp-Tegin conquered Ghazna from its local ruler, Abu Bakr Lawik, and was recognised as governor by the Samanid administration. He died shortly after in 963, and was succeeded by his son, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim, who also became Sabuktigin's new master.
After Abu Ishaq's brief reign and death in 966, the Turkic ghulams in Ghazna reconciled with the Samanid government but remained autonomous and chose their leaders from their commanders. During the successive reigns of Bilgetegin (966–975) and Böritigin (975–977), Sabuktigin increased his prestige among his troops. In 977, the citizens of Ghazna, tired of the unpopular Böritigin, invited Abu Ali Lawik, Abu Bakr's son, to rule their city. The Hindu Shahis dynasty of Kabul supported Lawik and sent a large force under his leadership towards Ghazna. Sabuktigin united the Turkic garrisons of Gardez, Ghazna and Bamyan and defeated the invading forces at Charkh District, killing Lawik in the process. Afterwards, with the support of the army, Sabuktigin replaced Böritigin as the governor.
With the backing of jihad as a casus belli, Sabuktigin raided the neighbouring Indian lands and destroyed Hinduism temples, replacing them with Mosque. The Shahi maharaja, Jayapala, placed Afghans garrisons in Multan and Laghman Province, but they joined Sabuktigin. His threat prompted Jayapala to form an alliance with the Punjabi Muslim Emirate of Multan and march towards Ghazna with a large army in 986. A battle took place in Laghman which after days had no definitive winner. However, a sudden snowstorm devastated Jayapala's army. The cause of this storm's eruption, according to al-Utbi's history book Tarikh Yamini, was Sabuktigin himself.
Jayapala conceded to a humiliating treaty with conditions such as paying 1 million , and granting his relatives as hostages to Sabuktigin. Yet, he did not uphold the treaty once he returned to his realm, causing Sabuktigin to march towards his realm with an army composed of Afghans and Khalaj people in 988. Jayapala, who held some prestige among Indian rulers, mustered an army with the assistance of Delhi, Ajmer, Kalinjar Fort and Kannauj. They again battled in Laghman, and this time Sabuktigin defeated Jayapala completely and captured the lands between Lamghan and Peshawar, housing 2000 horsemen in the latter as garrison.
Sabuktigin with his son Mahmud in tow, met Simjuri's army at Herat. During initial negotiations, Sabuktigin agreed to peace if only Abu Ali pledged obedience to Nuh II and paid a sum of 15 million dirhams as compensation. Abu Ali's warriors found these terms too humiliating and thus attacked Sabuktigin's army on their own. Fa'iq's men quickly disarrayed Sabuktigin's War elephant, which made him furious. The battle was a victory for Abu Ali until one of his allies, the Ziyarid dynasty prince Dara who ruled Gorgan, deserted his army and joined Sabuktigin. Abu Ali and Fa'iq fled towards Gorgan to seek help from their ally, Fakhr al-Dawla (Dara's overlord). For their victory, Sabuktigin and Mahmud were rewarded with laqabs and Mahmud became the commander of the army of Khorasan. In 995, Fa'iq and Abu Ali invaded Nishapur, and when Sabuktigin arrived, instead of fighting him, asked for forgiveness. Sabuktigin refused and launched an attack. His war elephants crushed many of Abu Ali's soldiers and chief commanders. Abu Ali was imprisoned in 996 and was killed in 997 on Sabuktigin's order.
Sparse details remain about Sabuktigin's bureaucratic retinue; there are no recorded names of his (ministers), and it is speculated that he utilized the local Persian secretaries and officials in Ghazna. After his conquest of Bust, Sabuktigin brought with himself the local secretary and poet Abu al-Fath al-Busti, who became his chancellor. Moreover, al-Utbi, who previously served the Samanids, Abu Ali Simjuri and the Ziyarid ruler Qabus, became his secretary. According to al-Utbi, Sabuktigin was initially mistrustful of him and of al-Busti, because both had served his rivals, but then both successfully gained his favour and served in high positions.
Sabiktigin was the first ruler to bring Islam into northwest India. He believed in the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam and converted into a Hanafite sect called the Karramiyya. According to Bosworth, the reason for his conversion was his entrancement with the Karramiyya leader, the ascetic Abu Ya'qub Ishaq ibn Mahmudshadh (d. 993).
According to Juzjani, Sabuktigin had a total of six sons, of which three were in their adolescence when he died: Mahmud, Abu al-Muzzafar Nasr, and Ismail. One other son, Yusuf, was still a child at the time of his death. He also had a daughter called Hurra-yi Khuttali who later married two rulers of Khwarazm from the Ma'munid dynasty: Abu al-Hasan Ali and Ma'mun II. Though there are no given birth dates, Ismail seems to have been his youngest adult son, born from a daughter of Alp-Tegin. His maternal lineage may have influenced Sabuktigin to pass Ghazna onto Ismail upon his death, since it was befitting that a descendant of Alp-Tegin would rule Ghazna. For Nasr, he left Bust, and since Mahmud was commanding the army of Khorasan, Sabuktigin could not bestow him any titles and left nothing for him.
According to Mirat-i-Masudi ("Mirror of Masud"), a Persian-language hagiography written by Abdur Rahman Chishti in the 1620s, he also had another daughter named Sitr-e-Mu'alla, who was purportedly married to Dawood bin Ataullah Alavi, also known as Gazi Saiyyed Salar Sahu, whose son was Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud.
In 998, during a succession struggle, Mahmud deposed Ismail and took his place. In 999, his invasion of Khorasan, along with Kara-Khanid intrusion from north, finally put an end to the Samanid Empire, after which, Mahmud and Nasr ibn Ali partitioned the Samanid lands between themselves.
Sabuktigin was the first Ghaznavid ruler to invade India. According to al-Biruni, he opened the gates of India for his successor, Mahmud. Sabuktigin's conquests facilitated the beginning of the Turko-Afghan period into India, which would be further conducted by Mahmud, and later the Ghurid dynasty until the Khalji dynasty successfully established themselves in the Delhi Sultanate.
| Preceded by: Böritigin | Emir of Ghazna 977–997 | Followed by: Ismail |
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