In 963, Alp-Tegin accompanied by his personal guard of Turkic slave-soldiers and group of Iranian ghazis left for Ghazni, which was a small town in Zabulistan ruled by the local Lawik dynasty.

In 1052, the rebellious slave-soldier (ghulam) Toghrul seized Ghazni, had Abd al-Rashid killed, and had the sultan's men jailed in a stronghold.

However, Toghrul's reign lasted only 15 days; he was defeated and killed by Ghaznavid loyalists, who put Farrukh-zad (r. 1053–1059) on the throne.

[5] The city's good fortune came to an unexpected and ruthless end when it was sacked and set on fire in 1151 by the Ghurid Sultan Ala al-Din Husayn (r. 1149-1161).

All the tombs of the Ghaznavid rulers, with the exception of Mahmud, Mas'ud I and Ibrahim, were broken open and the remains burned.