14th century manuscript depicts Ilig Khan, leader of the Turkish Qarakhanids submitting to Mahmud. Mahmud's forces included elephants that terrified the Qarakhanids. Elephants were a powerful psychological factor in warfare. They were indestructible from a distance though vulnerable if attackers could get close enough to strike their soft underbellies. Mahmud of Ghazni (971-1030) was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire that was centered in modern-day Afghanistan with its capital at Ghazni. In the name of Islam, he conquered the eastern Iranian lands, the Afghan tribal areas and the northwestern Indian subcontinent from 997 until his death in 1030. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni in Afghanistan into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Afghanistan, eastern Iran, as well as Pakistan and northwestern India. He was the first ruler to carry the title Sultan (authority), signifying the extent of his power.
