Description

Al-Kitāb al-Yamīnī is a history of the early Ghaznavid dynasty, composed in Arabic sometime after 1020 by Muhammad ibn ʻAbd al-Jabbar ʻUtbi (died 1035 or 1036), a secretary and courtier who served the first two Ghaznavid rulers and personally witnessed many of the events recounted in the book. The Ghaznavids were a dynasty of Turkic origin founded by Sabuktakin (or Sebuktigin, ruled 977–97), a former slave who in 977 was recognized by the Samanids as governor of Ghazna (present-day Ghazni, Afghanistan). Sabuktakin and his son Mahmud (ruled 998–1030 ...