High Middle Ages · South Asia · War

1157

Ghurid raids intensify in northern India

1157

Ala al-Din Husayn, the Ghurid sultan known to his victims as Jahansuz - the World-Burner - descended from his Afghan mountain fastness and sacked the great city of Ghazni, torching the tombs of the Ghaznavid kings in revenge for his brother's murder. The devastation announced the Ghurids as a force that would soon sweep across the Gangetic plain and remake the entire subcontinent.