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declaring himself King in Nishapur, extended his kingdom from Afghanistan to Mosul and made himself leader of the Holy War against the Christians in Gurjistan and Caucasus. Another important Saljukid king was Jalaludden Malik Shah, who extended his kingdom into Asia Minor and established centres of learning at Herat, Isfahan, Basra and Baghdad. The last king of the dynasty was Sanjar who limited his country to Khorassan and Trans-Oxiana, and who was eventually overthrown by wild hordes of Ghaz Turks. The Saljukis were followed by Khwarazmshahis in northern, and the Ghorids of Ghor between Herat and Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan. Ghor enjoyed locally independent governments under the Suri and later under the Ghaznavid dynasties. Sultan Ala-uddin "Jahan suz", a king of Ghor, revolted against the powerful Ghazni empire, overthrew it in 1152 A.D., burned the beautiful city of Ghazni, earned himself the title of Jahan Suz, "World-burner", and created the Ghori dynasty. The Ghorids followed the pattern of Ghaznavids in conquering India and in propagating Islam there. Sultan Ghiasuddin and Sultan Shahabuddin were the most important kings of the period. The dynasty's rule over India lasted four centuries and was so much focused there that their own country was almost forgotten by them. As a result, with the death of Sultan Shahabuddin, the Khwarazmshahis of northern Afghanistan caused the disintegration of the Ghorid rule in Afghanistan. Alauddin Mohammad, a king of the Khwarazm dynasty, occupied eastern Turkistan, Ghor, Persia, Azarbaijan and then headed against the Abbasids of Baghdad with the hope of making himself the sole Emperor of the Muslim world. But, midway to his goal, he heard the news of the Mongolian invasion of his country. He ordered a hasty return home, only to see the entire territories of trans-Oxiana, Afghanistan and Persia overrun and totally destroyed by the Mongolian hordes of Chengiz (1220-1224 A.D.). After Chengiz, northern Afghanistan remained in the hands of his descendants and the south-eastern part was locally governed. The Chaghatai rule lasted over 160 years. During the period of Mongol rule the Kurts of Herat secured a position of importance to themselves. They were originally from Ghor and in later years also ruled over Maimana, Sabzwar and Seistan. Their rule ended with the advent of Temur Koragan (Tamarlane) who conquered Afghanistan over a period of eight years in the closing years of the 14th century. Temur destroyed what was left of the country after the Chengiz invasion. The reign of his fourth son Shahrukh Mirza, however, made up for a good deal of loss in cultural heritage when he established an almost completely Afghan government in Herat and did his best for the restoration of the country in every aspect. The 100 years of Temurid dynasty in Afghanistan were, for the most part, years of prosperity and progress for the country. This ended in the coming into the picture of Shaibanids and Astrakhanis of trans-Oxiana and of Safavids in Fars. Both sides started a series of incursions against the Temurids who lost their territories to them. MOGULS In 1504, Babar, fifth in descent from Tamerlane, lost Farghana to the Uzbeks and came down the Hindukush to make Kabul the capital of a strong government. From Kabul he invaded India in 1526, overthrowing the Afghan Ludi government of Delhi. His son Hamayun lost the Indian throne to Sher Shah Suri, another Afghan ruler, but this period of Afghan rule was short-lived. The Mogul rule spread not only in India, but also in Kabul, Gandahara and Kashmir. The Afghanistan of those times has many a 64