MU'IZZ-UD-DIN MUHAMMAD IBN SAM

died March 15, 1206, Damyak, India Arabic Mu'izz Ad-din Muhammad Ibn Sam, also called Muhammad Ghuri, or Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Ghuri the Ghurid conqueror of the north Indian plain; he was one of the founders of Muslim rule in India. Mu'izz-ud-Din's elder brother, Ghiyas-ud-Din, acquired power east of Herat in the region of Ghur (Ghowr, in present Afghanistan) c. 1162. Mu'izz-ud-Din always remained his brother's loyal subordinate. Thus Mu'izz-ud-Din expelled the Oguz Turkmen nomads from Ghazna (Ghazni) in 1173 and came as required to his brother's assistance in his contest with Khwarezm for the lordship of Khorasan. After Ghiyas-ud-Din's death in 1202, the rivalry between the two powers came to a head with Mu'izz-ud-Din's attack in 1204 on the Khwarezmian capital, Gurganj (in present Uzbekistan). In Hindustan, Mu'izz-ud-Din captured Multan and Uch in 1175 and annexed the Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186. After being defeated by a coalition of Rajput kings at Taraori (see Taraori, Battles of) in 1191, he returned the next year with an army of mounted archers and won a great victory over them on the same field, opening the way for his lieutenants to occupy most of northern India in the years that followed. Mu'izz-ud-Din was assassinated, according to some, by Hindu Khokars, according to others by Isma'ilis. See also Delhi Sultanate.