The later Ghaznavids ; splendour and decay: The dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India 1040-1186

by Clifford Edmund Bosworth

Professor Bosworth's latest book continues the story he began in The Ghaznavids : their empire in Afghanistan and eastern Iran (Edinburgh, 1963) The first volume ended with the Ghaznavid defeat at the hands of the Saljuq invaders at Dandanqin in 431/1040. But the dynasty survived that disaster by nearly 150 years, and Bosworth's second volume concludes with its final extinction by the Ghürids in 582/1186. It is a much shorter book than The Ghaznavids since, as Bosworth says, ' the sources for the middle and later Ghaznavids are infinitely sparser than those for the earlier period '. Certainly it is useful to have available a concise, clear, and carefully researched account of the decline of this once-great dynasty.

Perhaps to characterize the period from 1040 to 1186 simply as one of decline ' is unjust : Bosworth stresses the cultural achievements attained under Ghaznavid patronage, and on the political side he suggests that it may well be that the reduction of the sprawling early Ghaznavid empire to a more manageable size was a source of strength rather than of weakness'—a view that the long survival of the empire might be held to confirm.

196 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1977

About the author

Clifford Edmund Bosworth FBA is an English historian and orientalist, specializing in Arabic and Iranian studies. He received his B.A. degree from Oxford University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Edinburgh University. He held permanent posts at St. Andrews University, Manchester University, and the Center for the Humanities at Princeton University. He is the author of 100s articles in academic journals and composite volumes. His other contributions include nearly 200 articles in the Encyclopaedia of Islam and some 100 articles in the Encyclopædia Iranica, as well as articles for Encyclopædia Britannica and Encyclopedia Americana. He's currently a visiting professor at the University of Exeter, where he has held the post since 2004.

His book The Islamic dynasties has been translated to Arabic and Persian. He is the chief editor of the Encyclopaedia of Islam and a consulting editor of Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Reviews

[Zachary Moore]

This work is clearly designed for the specialist as shown by the intense attention to detail. However, it's not like there are a whole lot of popular histories being written about medieval Afghanistan, so the book is definitely worth reading through if you have an interest in the topic.