Abūʾl-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn Bayhaqī, better known as Abu'l-Faḍl Bayhaqi, was a secretary, historian and author.

The Ghaznavid dynasty or the Ghaznavid Empire was a Persianate Muslim dynasty and empire of Turkic mamluk origin, ruling at its greatest extent, large parts of Iran, Khorasan, and the northwest Indian subcontinent from 977 to 1186. The dynasty was founded by Sabuktigin upon his succession to the rule of Ghazna after the death of his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, who was an ex-general of the Samanid Empire from Balkh.