Early life In 1038, Mawdud was declared by his father as the heir of the Empire. Furthermore, Mawdud helped his father during his campaigns against the
Seljuks and the
Kara-Khanid Khanate. However, Mas'ud was eventually defeated by the Seljuks at the
Battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, and chose to leave
Greater Khorasan for
India, but was taken captive by his own soldiers, and replaced with his brother Muhammad, who had him killed.
Reign Mawdud, who was at
Balkh during that time with his father's
vizier Ahmad Shirazi, then invaded the domains of Muhammad, and then avenged his father by defeating and killing him at
Jalalabad in 1041. Mawdud, now ruling over all of the Ghaznavid Empire except
Lahore, which was under the control of his rebellious brother Majdud, then appointed Ahmad Shirazi as his vizier, while
Abu Sahl Zawzani was appointed as his chief secretary. In 1042, Mawdud invaded the territories of the Seljuqs and briefly occupied Balkh and
Herat. This greatly increased the fame of Mawdud and made the Karakhanid ruler
Böritigin acknowledge him as his suzerain. In 1043, Ahmad Shirazi fell out of favor and was replaced with
Abd al-Razzaq Maymandi as Mawdud's vizier. During the same time, a rebellion in
Sistan was quelled by Mawdud's military slave
Toghrul. In 1043/4, Mawdud invaded
Tukharistan but was repelled by the Seljuq prince
Alp Arslan. Furthermore, Mawdud also sent soldiers to Sistan in order to exert his authority over the ruler of the region, the
Nasrid Abu'l-Fadl Nasr. However, these actions were fruitless, and Sistan soon became a Seljuq vassal state, and thus the Ghaznavid borders were limited to
Bost.
Campaigns in India Following Majdud's death on 11 August 1043, Mawdud used the opportunity to capture Lahore. Mawdud then invaded
Multan and repelled the
Ismailis who lived in the region. Lahore's governor Faqih Salti marched against
Abul Fateh Daud's son. The Ismaili forced withdrew to Mansura. Multan was surrendered to the Ghaznavids and the khutbah was now read for the
Abbasid Caliphate than the
Fatimids. The deposition of Mas'ud gave opportunity for Indian powers to take offensive against the Ghaznavids. Sandanpal, grandson of
Kabul Shah attacked Lahore with a coalition of Indian rulers but was defeated and killed. In 1043-4, a combined army of three Hindu princes led by Mahipal of
Tomara dyansty, captured Hansi, Nagarkot, Thanesar and other cities from the Ghaznavids, then besieged Lahore, but were defeated. In ca. 1050, Mawdud, with the aid of Böritigin and an army sent by the former
Karkuyid ruler
Garshasp I re-invaded Khorasan; Böritigin and his commander Qashgha invaded
Khwarezm and
Termez, but Mawdud died and thus the invasion failed. The Seljuqs then extended their rule as far as
Vakhsh and appointed a certain Abu 'Ali ibn Shadhan as the governor of their new conquests. After this, Böritigin seems to have stopped recognizing the Ghaznavids as his suzerain. Mawdud was succeeded by his son,
Mas'ud II. ==References==