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Case file s743 · India and South Asia · 1030
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1030
Mahmud of Ghazni: Mahmud of Ghazni, Ghaznavid ruler, conquering Qasdar (modern Khuzdar) in India, miniature from the Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh of
Mahmud of Ghazni. 1314-15. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
1030 (421 AH)
Place
Ghazni, Afghanistan
Field
Royalty (Ghaznavid empire) · Royalty and nobility on the timeline
Legal tradition
Ghaznavid royal succession by the ruler's will; no fixed rule between brothers · Royal and church law
Historical event
Seljuk invasion of Khurasan and the Ghaznavid defeat of 1040
Religion
Mahmud of Ghazni: Muslim (recorded as Sunni Islam on Wikidata)
India and South AsiaMurder and sudden deathCrowns and successionSeized by the stateMedievalSouth AsiaAfghanistan

Mahmud of Ghazni left his throne to one son; the other blinded him, and the blind brother's son later killed the victor

Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni ruled from Afghanistan to the Punjab. Baizawi's chronicle says his will gave his son Mas'ud Khurasan, Iraq and Persia, and his second son Muhammad Ghazni and India. When Mahmud died in 421 AH (1030), the court at Ghazni raised Muhammad, his chosen successor, to the throne. Mas'ud asked that his own name be read first in the Friday sermon. Muhammad refused. Mas'ud marched east from Iran. At Tiginabad, Muhammad's own officers seized him, blinded him and put him in prison, then went to meet Mas'ud, who had their commander arrested. Muhammad had reigned seven months. Mas'ud ruled for about ten years. In 432 AH (1040) the Seljuks defeated him. Retreating toward India, his troops mutinied, brought the blind Muhammad out of prison and seated him on a throne on an elephant. Mas'ud was seized, and Muhammad's son Ahmad killed him in a fort. Mas'ud's son Maudud then marched against his uncle, defeated him at Nangrahar, and killed Muhammad and his sons. Muhammad was 45. Maudud's descendants ruled from Ghazni until 1186.

What the law took from it

A will that splits one estate between two brothers, each with an army, invites the stronger to take both.

Record vs. record

Raverty's Tabakat-i-Nasiri puts Muhammad's death in 432 AH; Baizawi puts Mahmud's death in 420 AH (1029) and Mas'ud's in 433 AH (1041); Raverty's note says Mas'ud may have ordered the blinding himself:

Internet ArchiveInternet Archive
Sources
  1. Internet ArchiveGovernment record
  2. Internet ArchiveGovernment record
  3. Wikipedia (English)Encyclopedia

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Mahmud of Ghazni left his throne to one son; the other blinded him, and the blind brother's son later killed the victor,” story s743, https://www.celebrity.estate/mahmud-1030, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

India and South AsiaMurder and sudden deathCrowns and successionSeized by the stateMedievalSouth AsiaRoyal and church lawAfghanistan