Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori, originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Bin Sām (and also referred to by Orientalists as Muhammad of Ghor and famously known as just Ghori) (1150 – March 15, 1206), was one of the rulers of the Ghurid dynasty from the famous house of Sur who were rulers of Ghor for five hundred years. He is credited with laying the foundation of Islamic occupation in India that lasted for several centuries. He reigned over a territory spanning present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India.

 

Muiz-ud-din, son of Sam Suri, nicknamed Shahab-ud-din which means "The (Flashing) Fire of Religion (Islam)" took the city of Ghazni in 1173 to avenge the death of his ancestor Muhammad Suri at the hands of Mahmud of Ghazni and used it as a launching-pad for expansion into northern India. In the meantime, he assisted his brother Ghiyasuddin in his contest with the Khwarezmid Empire for the lordship of Khorāsān in Western Asia. In 1175 Ghori captured Multan from the Hamid Ludi dynasty which was also Pashtun but were alleged to be un-Islamic on the account of their association with Ismailite Shi'iate sect and also took Uch in 1175. He also annexed the Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186, the last haven of his Afghan but Non-Pashtun Persianized rivals. After the death of Ghiyasuddin in 1202, he became the successor of the Ghurid Empire and ruled until his assassination in 1206 near Jhelum in modern-day Pakistan.