Compare the Mahmood of Ghazna and Muhammad of Ghor as Muslim conquerors and statesmen of the sub-continent.

Answer:
1-INTRODUCTION:

Muhammad Ghori and Sultan Mahmood are the two important personalities of Midieval age in sub-continent. Both were enterprising soldiers and invaded India time and again. A carefull and close scrutiny of their respective achievements and character show that they resembled each other in more than one respect and differed in many respects. An overview of both the leaders is given below.


2-AN OVERVIEW OF MUHAMMAD GHORI:

Following are the salient features of the life and qualities of Muhammad Ghori.

i-Great Politician:
He was a great politician and a far sighted statesman. He fully realized the rotten political condition of India and therefore decided to establish permanent kingdom here.

ii-Shrewd Diplomat:

He was a shrewd diplomat as he could deal with every type of friend or foe. He exploited the enemies' weaknesses to his benefit.

iii-perseverence:

He was a determined to reach his goal. Despite many failures he never stopped to realize his plans.

iv-Choice of Men:

In choice of men, he displayed singular talent for the slaves like Aibak, Yalduz and Tughril, he owed most of the success.

v-contribution to Establish Turkish Rule:

His contribution to establishment of Turkish Rule in India can not be over-emphasized.

vi-Wider Conquests:

His campaigns stretched from Afghanistan to Bengal. This is evident of his great vision and tact to organize vast military campaigns.

vii-Steady Builder:

He was a steady builder of his empire. Despite frequent setbacks he advanced steadily towards his empire-building goal.

3-AN OVERVIEW OF MAHMOOD OF GHAZNA:

Following ar the salient features of the life oand qualities of Sultan Mahmood of Ghazna.

i-Administration of Justice:

He was particularly famous for his administration of justice. He meted out justice to all irrespective of caste and creed.

ii-Generelship:

He is considered to be one of the greatest generals of Muslim World. He never suffered a defeat.

iii-Unity of His Army:

He had heterogeneous army consisting of Turks, Arabs, and Hindus, but with the tactful handling of Sultan this army became invincible.

iv-Greatest King:

A great leader of men, a just ruler, a gifted soldier, a dispenser of justice, and a patron of letters, he deserves to be ranked as the greatest king of his age.



4-COMPARISON BETWEEN MUHAMMAD GHORI & MAHMOOD OF GHAZNA:

These two conquerors and kings have been compared in following respects.

i-As General & Soldier:

Mahmood was far more a great general than Muhammad Ghori and the military career of the former was far more brilliant that that of later. Sultan Mahmood never suffered a defeat in his seventeen campaigns of India. Whereas Ghori suffered many crushing defeats and his successes were mainly due to his able lieutenants Qutbuddin Aibak and Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji.

ii-As Founders of Muslim Empire in India:

Muhammad Ghori has been called the founder of the Muslim empire in INdia. He took great care i consolidating his conquests. He rendered a great service to the cause of Islam in the sub-continent. Whereas Sultan Mahmood invaded India either to collect the wealth of HIndu Temples or to chastise the disaffected Hindu Rajas. With the exception of Punjab his invasions did not last longer.

iii-As Statesmen:
They both were great statesmen. Ghori found India suitable for making his empire in India due to his failures against Khwarism Shah in Afghanistan. Whereas Sultan Mahmood of Ghazna built the Ghaznavid empire in Afghanistan and enriched it with the wealth of India. Both of conquerors acted like a real statesman.

iv-As Patrons of Art & Learning:

The chief work that has immortalized Mahmood of Ghazna's name was his patronage of learning and literature. He gathered a large number of poets and scholars in his court like al-Beruni, Utbi, and Firdausi. He built museum and many magnificent buildings. On the other hand Ghori had interest in the patronage of art and laearning but lesser than Sultan Mahmood of Ghazna. The celebrated philosopher and savant Fakhruddin Razi and the famous classical poet Nizami Uruzi adorned the Ghorid court. Sultan Mahmood built "Celestial Bride" and Jam-i-Masjid of Ghazni. He had a library a museum and many other buildings.

5-CONCLUSION:
Both Sultan Muhammad Ghori and Mahmood Ghaznavi had great and rare qualities of head and heart. As Ghori was a steady builder and master of art of selecting the best man for the job, Ghaznavi as a general is rated as one of the greatest generals of Muslim History. But the contribution of Sultan Muhammad Ghori towards establishing Muslim rule in Indo Pakistan region is something that has had far reaching results and all the muslims of Indo Pak region owe him very much in this respect.