Скачать или смотреть 5 Most Powerful Muslim Sultans in Islamic by islamic stories time

Mahmud of Ghazni (971 – 1030)
Mahmud was the first leader in history to carry the title ‘Sultan’ which means ‘authority,’ and he is probably the greatest leader of the Ghaznavid Empire. Mahmud was born in 971 in modern-day Afghanistan and his father Sabuktigin is credited with founding the empire. He joined his father in the capture of Khorasan in 994 and inherited the crown in 998 when Sabuktigin died. Mahmud captured Ismail in the same year after victory at the Battle of Ghazni.

It was the beginning of a long and successful military career as he created an empire that spanned Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and part of India. He quickly learned the value of using powerful archers on horseback as it became his primary tactic in battle. His archers could kill enemies from a great distance and make it easy for his troops on the ground to overwhelm the enemy. Unlike a number of great military men, Mahmud valued learning and routinely honored wise men.

He is perhaps best known for his invasions of India. From 1000 to 1027, Mahmud invaded India on no fewer than 17 occasions. His invasions were well-timed because they occurred at a time when Rajput power had declined. Mahmud invaded India so often because he wanted to plunder the enormous resources of the vast nation and also to spread Islam. His last invasion in 1027 (some sources say 1024) involved plundering the Somnath Temple. The treasures he stole were equivalent to 20 million Dinars. To put things in perspective, this was over 80 times more than he plundered on his first invasion.

Mahmud is considered a great Islamic hero due to his conquests but was a renowned iconoclast. He regularly desecrated temples and gained the hatred of Hindus for his constant invasion, plunder, destruction, and murder. Despite his bloody conquests, Mahmud did have an appreciation for education and transformed Ghazni into one of the leading cities in Central Asia. He founded universities and built mosques & palaces and patronized scholars. He died in 1030 from tuberculosis after contracting malaria during an invasion. The Ghaznavid Empire lasted until 1187 when it was conquered by the expanding Seljuk Turks.

Saladin (1137/38 – 1193)
The Egyptian Sultan is one of the most famous Muslim commanders of all time. He is best known for his role in the Third Crusade where he fought the legendary English King Richard the Lionheart. Saladin was born in Tikrit, modern-day Iraq, in 1137 or 1138 in a family with Kurdish ancestry. His military career began under the command of his uncle Shirkuh, and he followed him into various battles. Saladin is credited for helping his army defeat Hugh of Caesarea in a battle near the River Nile.

He became the head of the Muslim military forces in Egypt in 1169, but once the Mesopotamian leader Nur al-Din died in 1174, Saladin spent practically no time in the Nile Valley even though Egypt was his number one source of financial support. For the next 13 years, Saladin spent most of his time fighting fellow Muslims and conquered Mosul, Damascus, and Aleppo among other cities. He established the Ayyubid Dynasty and was prepared to make truces with Crusaders to free up his army to fight Muslims.

However, this state of affairs did not last, and Saladin began the war against the Crusaders that lasted for the rest of his life. Modern historians are not in agreement over his motivation although it seems as if Saladin started a holy war to get rid of Latin military and political control in the Middle East and he was determined to take Jerusalem from the Christians.

By July 1187, he had captured most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He enjoyed a significant win over the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin on July 4, 1187. At Hattin, the Muslim army killed virtually all of the 20,000 man enemy army although he spared the life of Guy of Lusignan. At this stage, Saladin had control of almost every Crusader city, and while he wanted to take Jerusalem without any further bloodshed, his offer of peace terms in exchange for surrender was rejected by the inhabitants. They declared that they would rather die than hand over the city.