Malik Ayaz
Malik Ahmed Ayāz bin Aymāq Abu’n-Najm (Persian: ملک احمد ایاز بن ایماق ابن نجم; d. 1041), was a slave from Georgia who rose to the rank of officer and general in the army of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. He was later awarded the governorship of Lahore thus becoming the first Muslim viceroy of the city. Malik Ayaz’s generalship to Mahmud inspired poems and stories, and caused Muslim historians and Sufis to commemorate Malik Ayaz due to his unwavering feudalistic loyalty to Mahmud Ghaznavi. He was found dead in his bed in 1041, with suspicions of foul play being involved.
