Origin Alp-Tegin was originally part of the nomadic Turks that roamed the
Central Asian
steppes, but was later captured and brought via the
Samanid slave trade as a slave to the Samanid capital of
Bukhara, where he was raised in the Samanid court. Despite being of
Turkic origin Alp-Tegin was highly
Persianized.
Service under Nuh I and Abd al-Malik I During the reign of
Nuh I (r. 943–954), Alp-Tegin was appointed as the head of the royal guard (
hajib al-hujjab). During the reign of Nuh's son and successor
Abd al-Malik I (r. 954–961), Alp-Tegin was appointed as the governor of
Balkh, and by 961 he was the commander-in-chief (
sipahsalar) of the Samanid army in
Khorasan, thus succeeding
Abu Mansur Muhammad. On 10 February 961, Alp-Tegin arrived to
Nishapur with his vizier Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn al-Shibli. Alp-Tegin also played a major role in the appointment of
Muhammad Bal'ami as
vizier, whom he became close allies with. Abd al-Malik I died a few months later (November). Alp-Tegin and Bal'ami sought to use his death as an opportunity to make the deceased ruler's young son Nasr the new ruler, in order to rule on his behalf. However, several powerful figures of the Samanid state, such as
Fa'iq Khassa, favored Abd al-Malik's brother
Mansur I, and managed to make him the new ruler. Bal'ami then quickly went over to Fa'iq's side, leaving Alp-Tegin isolated. Mansur I upon his accession had Alp-Tegin dismissed from the governorship of Khorasan.
Flight and recognition as governor of Ghazna Alp-Tegin then took his personal guard of Turkic slave-soldiers and group of Iranian
ghazis to Balkh, where he in April 962 defeated an army sent by Mansur I. He then left for Ghazna, a small town in
Zabulistan ruled by the local
Lawik dynasty, defeating the forces of the local rulers of
Bamiyan and
Kabul along the way. He seized Ghazna from
Abu Bakr Lawik, a kinsman of the
Kabulshah, and secured his position by receiving an investiture from the Samanids as the governor of Ghazna. Alp-Tegin died a few months later (September 963) and was succeeded by his son
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim.
Sabuktigin, a slave who was bought by Alp-Tegin and had accompanied him to Ghazna, was appointed as the ruler of Ghazna by the Turks of the town in 977, marking the start of the
Ghaznavid dynasty, which would go on to conquer all of
Transoxiana and
Khurasan. ==References==