14th century manuscript depicts Mahmud of Ghanza attacking rebels in the fortress of Arg in Sistan (Iran) with a massive catapult. Siege warfare was predominant in the Islamic world. Control of cities was key to victory. Mahmud of Ghazni (971-1030) was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire. In the name of Islam, he conquered the eastern Iranian lands, the Afghan tribal areas and the northwestern Indian subcontinent. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni in Afghanistan into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Afghanistan, eastern Iran, as well as Pakistan and northwestern India. He was the first ruler to carry the title Sultan (authority), signifying the extent of his power. In Afghanistan and Pakistan Mahmud is celebrated as a hero and a great patron of the arts, architecture, literature, and Persian revivalism as well as a vanguard of Islam and a paragon of virtue and piety who established the standard of Islam in India. While in in India he is considered a raiding iconoclastic invader, bent upon the loot and plunder of a peaceful Hindu population.