Ghent 293century. There was a rich trade in GOLD, elephants, and
slaves, all initially sold and traded through Islamic coun-
tries. Commerce brought Ghana closer relations with the
Muslim world and introduced ISLAM. In the middle of the
11th century, the empire was attacked from the north by
the ALMORAVIDS, who captured the capital city, Koumbi
Saleh in 1076, this ended Ghana’s existence as a state;
and it was incorporated into MALI.
Further reading:Kenny Mann, Ghana, Mali, Song-
hay: The Western Sudan(Parsippany, N.J.: Dillon Press,
1996); Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, The Royal King-
doms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa
(New York: H. Holt, 1994).
Ghassanids(Ghassan) They were ARAB allies or
foederatiof ROMEand then BYZANTIUM, who defended
the frontier of SYRIAin the sixth century. Their greatest
prince was al-Harith or Arethas (d. 569). JUSTINIANI
awarded him the title of Phylarch in the wars
with Persia, and with their Arab allies, the LAKHMIDS.
The Ghassanids followed MONOPHYSITISM. Justinian I
tolerated this and his empress, THEODORA, supported
it. The Ghassanids continued to serve Byzantium. In
577 al-Mundhir, the son of Arethas, destroyed Hira, the
capital of the Lakhmids, their rivals and allies of the
Persians. Reduced to a shadowy existence after that,
the Ghassanids fought valiantly at the Battle of Yarmuk
in 636, after which, defeated, they were resettled in
ANATOLIA.
Further reading:Robert G. Hoyland, Arabia and the
Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam(New
York: Routledge, 2001).
al-Ghazali (Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad
al-Tusi al Ghazali, Algazel)(1058–1111)Persian jurist,
theologian, mystic
Al-Ghazali was born at Tus, near Meshhed in IRAN,in
- He was a turbulent scholar, often ill, who traveled
throughout the Middle East. Called the “proof of ISLAM,”
he was little known in the west except through a misun-
derstanding of one aspect of his work: his questioning of
ARAB PHILOSOPHY, inspired by Hellenic doctrines. Al-
Ghazali’s work was a search for synthesis in that he tried
to fuse with SUNNIorthodoxy many of the intellectual
and spiritual ideas of his contemporary Muslim world.
He excluded only that which seemed to him absolutely
irreconcilable with Islam.
Among the ideas of AL-FARABI and IBN SINA(Avi-
cenna), he pointed out three problems in LOGIC, physics,
and metaphysics. Metaphysics seemed to him especially
heretical; it could lead to a denial of creation, providence,
MIRACLES, the resurrection of the body, PARADISE, and
HELL. In addition he believed it was unable to establish
the incorporeality of GODor the immortality of the SOUL.
He died on December 18, 1111.
Further reading:W. Montgomery Watt, The Faith
and Practice of al-Ghazali(Lahore, Pakistan: Sh. Muham-
mad Ashraf, 1963); W. Montgomery Watt, Muslim Intel-
lectual: A Study of al-Ghazali (Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 1963).Ghaznawids(Ghaznavids) The Ghaznawids were a
dynasty of former slaves of Turkish origin who ruled east-
ern IRANand present-day Afghanistan from 977 to 1187.
They were founded by Sebuktigin (r. 977–997), a former
general and governor for the SAMANIDS. Their capital was
Ghazni, from which they took their name. It was an
important commercial center that enjoyed two centuries of
prosperity and a brilliant intellectual life under their rule.
AL-BIRUNIworked there as well as Firdawsi (932–1020),
who composed the Book of Kings,an epic about ancient
Persia and is one of the masterpieces of Persian literature.
The palaces and mosques the Ghaznawids built there, as
well as at Lashkar-i Bazar, were recognized as impressive.
The Ghaznavids became more prominent with the con-
quest of non-Islamic northern India, carried out by Mah-
mud (r. 999–1030). Eventually they encountered the
growing power of the Seljuk Turks, to whom they lost Iran
after a military defeat in 1040. Another group, the
Ghurids, sacked Ghazni in 1150 and took possession of all
of the Ghaznawid territories by 1187.
Further reading: Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The
Islamic Dynasties (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 1967), 181–183; Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The
Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran,
994–1040 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
1963); Bertold Spuler and J. Sourdel-Thomine, “Ghaz-
nawids,” Encyclopedia of Islam,2.1050–1055.Ghent (Gent, Gand) In the Middle Ages Ghent was a
commercial city in FLANDERSand the seat of its duke.
Ghent had developed from the seventh century at the
confluence of the Scheldt and the Lys Rivers; its name
meant “confluence.” The town initially grew up around
two centers of monastic settlement in the first half of the
seventh century, the abbeys of Saint-Bavon and Saint-
Pierre. After having been destroyed by the VIKINGS, the
town was re-created around the castle built by Count
Baldwin II the Bald (r. 879–918) in the late ninth century.
The security fostered by the castle and the presence of the
ducal government promoted enough security to establish
a local prosperous market. From the early 11th century,
the merchants of Ghent invested in grain, flax, and the
production and selling of cloth. By 1127–28, the town
was important enough to intervene strongly in the suc-
cession of the count of Flanders, gaining even more liber-
ties and concessions.
With the lucrative development of the cloth industry
and trade, Ghent was at the center of extensive commer-
cial networks among the HANSEATICLEAGUE; England,