Sebüktegin

Sebüktegin was born in Barskhan on the shore of Issyk-Kul. Captured as a child, he was sold in a slave market and entered the service of the Samanid commander Alptegin. He rose through ability, married Alptegin's daughter and in 977 took power in Ghazni.

Though nominally subject to the Samanids, he ruled as an independent sovereign, campaigning across what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan and defeating Indian rajas. He died in 997; his son Sultan Mahmud turned the state he founded into a great empire.