After the Arab invasions which took place in the eighth century, India remained protected from Mughal invasion for around two centuries. In the end of the tenth century, the sequence of Mughal invasions restarted for one more time, but this time invasions were made by the Turks instead of the Arabs. The first Turkish invader to invade India was Ghazni ruler Subkutddin.
After becoming the ruler in 977 CE, he started expanding the frontiers of his empire. At that time, Jayapala the capable ruler from Shahi dynasty, ruled over the northwestern part of India. After a long struggle, owing to treason and conspiracies, Subktuddin stood victorious and he occupied control over the Indian regions from Lamghan up till Peshawar.
Subktuddin died in 997 CE and after this, his sons Ismael and Mahmud (Ghaznavi) beame the rulers respectively. Mahmud was a capable and ambitious ruler. He invaded India 17 times, among which his sixteenth invasion made on Somnath Temple (Gujarat) in 1025 CE is the most famous one.
