A literary history of Persia

376 DECLINE OF THE CALIPHATEof Isldm, and ended with the sudden rise to almost unlimitedpower of another Turk, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna (succeededMGhTzna.fto the throne, A.D. 998 ;died A.D. 1030), who,beginning with the small kingdom inheritedfrom his father Sabuktagin, overthrew the totteringHouse of Sdmdn ;invaded India in twelve separate campaigns(A.D. 1001-1024), wherein he slew innumerable "idolaters,"destroyed many idol-temples, and permanently annexed thePanjabreduced Ghur ; (A.D. 1012) ;annexed Transoxiana(A.D. 1016), and struck a death-blow at the House of Buwayh,from whom he wrested Isfahan. But between these twoextremes we see Persia, ever more detached from the directcontrol of the Caliph, divided between several noble andenlightened dynasties of Persian extraction,the Houses ofon itsSdmdn, Buwayh, and Ziyar, free once more to developown lines and to produce in its native tongue a splendid andextensive literature.