| Ruler | Reign (CE) | Yrs | Father | Mother | Persian Name | فارسی |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Empire1 | ||||||
| Sebuktegin | 977–997 | 20 | Turkic ghulamof unrecorded family | unknown | Sobüktegin | سبکتگین |
| Ismail ibn Sebuktegin | 997–998 | 1 | Sebuktegin | unknown | Esmā’il-e Sobüktegin | اسماعیل بن سبکتگین |
| Mahmud of Ghazna | 998–1030 | 32 | Sebukteginbrother of Ismail2 | unknown | Mahmūd-e Ghaznā | محمود غزنوی |
| Muhammad ibn Mahmud | 1030 | <1 | Mahmud of Ghazna | unknown | Mohammad-e Mahmūd | محمد بن محمود |
| Mas’ud I | 1030–1040 | 10 | Mahmud of Ghaznabrother of Muhammad3 | unknown | Mas’ud-e Mahmūd | مسعود غزنوی |
| Mawdud ibn Mas’ud | 1041–1048 | 7 | Mas’ud I | unknown | Mawdūd-e Mas’ud | مودود بن مسعود |
| Mas’ud II ibn Mawdud | 1048 | <1 | Mawdud ibn Mas’ud | unknown | Mas’ud-e Mawdūd | مسعود بن مودود |
| Ali ibn Mas’ud | 1048–1049 | 1 | Mas’ud Iuncle of Mas’ud II | unknown | Ali-ye Mas’ud | علی بن مسعود |
| Abd al-Rashid | 1049–1052 | 3 | Mahmud of Ghazna | unknown | Abdolrashīd-e Mahmūd | عبدالرشید غزنوی |
| Farrukhzad ibn Mas’ud | 1052–1059 | 7 | Mas’ud I | unknown | Farrokhzād-e Mas’ud | فرخزاد بن مسعود |
| Ibrahim ibn Mas’ud | 1059–1099 | 40 | Mas’ud Ibrother of Farrukhzad | unknown | Ebrāhīm-e Mas’ud | ابراهیم بن مسعود |
| Mas’ud III ibn Ibrahim | 1099–1115 | 16 | Ibrahim ibn Mas’ud | unknown | Mas’ud-e Ebrāhīm | مسعود بن ابراهیم |
| Shirzad ibn Mas’ud III | 1115–1116 | 1 | Mas’ud III | unknown | Shirzād-e Mas’ud | شیرزاد بن مسعود |
| Arslan Shah ibn Mas’ud III | 1116–1117 | 1 | Mas’ud IIIbrother of Shirzad | unknown | Arslān Shāh-e Mas’ud | ارسلانشاه بن مسعود |
| Bahram Shah ibn Mas’ud III | 1117–1152 | 35 | Mas’ud IIIbrother of Arslan Shah4 | unknown | Bahrām Shāh-e Mas’ud | بهرامشاه غزنوی |
| Khusrau Shah ibn Bahram Shah | 1152–1160 | 8 | Bahram Shah | unknown | Khosrow Shāh-e Bahrām | خسروشاه غزنوی |
| Khusrau Malik ibn Khusrau Shah | 1160–1186 | 26 | Khusrau Shah | unknownlast Ghaznavid ruler5 | Khosrow Malek-e Khosrow Shāh | خسرو ملک غزنوی |
1 Sebuktegin rose as a Turkic slave-soldier (ghulam) in Samanid service before establishing effective independence at Ghazna, in what is now Afghanistan — a classic route to power for Turkic military commanders across this era, echoed later by the Ghaznavids’ own Seljuk successors.
2 Mahmud of Ghazna was among the first Islamic rulers to adopt the title “Sultan.” He led some seventeen campaigns into northern India and commissioned the poet Ferdowsi to compose the Persian national epic, the Shahnameh — though later legend holds he shortchanged the aged poet’s promised reward, provoking a bitter satirical verse in response.
3 The Battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, where Mas’ud I was decisively defeated by the Seljuk Turks, cost the Ghaznavids Khorasan and the Iranian heartland permanently, shifting the empire’s center of gravity to Afghanistan and the Punjab for the rest of its existence.
4 Ghazna itself was sacked and burned by the Ghurid ruler Ala al-Din Husayn in 1151, an act so destructive that he earned the epithet “Jahan-suz” (“World-Burner”); Bahram Shah continued to rule from elsewhere, but the dynasty’s final decades were spent based at Lahore in the Punjab alone.
5 Khusrau Malik was captured and executed by the Ghurids in 1186, ending the dynasty entirely.