Page "Ghaznavids" Paragraph 22

Sultan Mahmud, modeling the Samanid Bukhara as a cultural center, made Ghazni into a center of learning, even inviting Ferdowsi and al-Biruni.

He even attempted to persuade Avicenna but was refused.

Mahmud preferred that his fame and glory be publicized in Persian and hundreds of poets assembled at his court.

He brought whole libraries from Rayy and Isfahan to Ghazni and even demanded that the Khwarizmshah court send its men of learning to Ghazni.

Due to his invasion of Rayy and Isfahan, Persian literary production was inaugurated in Azerbaijan and Iraq.