The Samanid Empire ( Persian : سامانیان , romanized : Sāmāniyān ) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, ruled by a dynasty of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Khorasan and Transoxiana , at its greatest extent encompassing northeastern Iran and Central Asia , from 819 to 999.
98-558: Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad al-Bayhaqī al-Sallāmī was a historian of the Sāmānid Empire who lived in the mid-10th century. Ibn Funduq records that al-Sallāmī studied under Ibrahīm ibn Muḥammad al-Bayhaqī . According to al-Thaʿālibī , he served the Muḥtājid emirs Abū Bakr Muḥammad (d. 939) and Abū ʿAlī Čaghānī ( r. 939–955 ). Al-Sallāmī wrote an Arabic history of the governors of Khorasan , Kitāb wulāt Khurāsān , which
196-621: A Samanid army in Tukharistan , which resulted in a Samanid victory. Fortunately for Abu Ali Chaghani, he managed to secure the support of other Samanid vassals, such as the rulers of Khuttal , and the Kumiji mountain people , but in the end made peace with Nuh, who allowed him to keep Chaghaniyan in return for sending his son Abu'l Muzaffar Abdallah as hostage to Bukhara. By 945, the Turkic military slave faction (who were formerly recruited by
294-646: A Samanid counter-attack. Nevertheless, the Samanid general Hamuya ibn Ali managed to lure Ahmad out of Merv, and defeated him in a battle at Marw al-Rudh ; he was captured and imprisoned in Bukhara, where he remained until his death in 920. In the west, Nasr II clashed several times with Daylamite and Gilite rulers; In 921, the Zaydids under the Gilite ruler Lili ibn al-Nu'man invaded Khorasan, but were defeated by
392-523: A banquet designed to organize the plot and had the head of their leader cut off. To appease the other officers, he promised to stop the Isma'ili missionaries from continuing their activities. He then convinced his father to abdicate, who died of tuberculosis after a few months. Right when Nuh I ascended the throne, a revolt erupted in Khwarazm, which he managed to suppress. Later in 945, he had to deal with
490-593: A campaign to restore the Samanid state, but failed. Some time afterwards, he returned to the Zarafshan valley, where he gained the support of the Oghuz and others. A Karakhanid army was defeated in May 1004, but subsequently the Oghuz deserted Isma'il during another battle, and his army fell apart. Fleeing to Khorasan yet again, Isma'il attempted to reenter Transoxiana in the end of 1004. The Karakhanids stopped this and Isma'il
588-609: A fierce hatred for each other. During Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik 's reign, the Umayyad government appointed Mudaris as governors in Khorasan, except for Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri's tenure in 735–738. Nasr's appointment came four months after Asad's death. In the interim, the sources report variously that the province was run either by the Syrian general Ja'far ibn Hanzala al-Bahrani or by Asad's lieutenant Juday' al-Kirmani. At any rate,
686-600: A growing influence of the Ghaznavids , who would later rule the region. Under Nuh II , a Hanafi work, which was being used to contest Ismailism, was translated into Persian. Agriculture and trading were the economic bases of the Samanid State. The Samanids heavily engaged in trade with Europe . Thousands of Samanid coins have been found in the Baltic and Scandinavia . During the 9th and 10th centuries, there
784-768: A man of great perception, was Rudaki, who was born in the village of Panjrudak , which is today part of the Panjakent District in Tajikistan . Rudaki was already becoming popular during his early years, due to his poems, his voice, and his great skill in using the chang (an Iranian instrument similar to the harp ). He was shortly invited to the Samanid court, where he stayed almost the rest of his life. Fewer than 2,000 lines of his poetry have survived, but are enough to prove his great poetic skills—he perfected every basic verse form of medieval Persian poetry: mathnawi , qasida , ghazal and ruba'i . "Look at
882-573: A minor tributary in Sistan. It was during this period that the Samanids were at their height of power, ruling as far as Qazvin in the west and Peshawar in the east. Ismail is known in history as a competent general and a strong ruler; many stories about him are written in Arabic and Persian sources. Furthermore, because of his campaigns in the north, his empire was so safe from enemy incursions that
980-791: A relative of the Samanid ruler or a local Iranian prince (such as the Muhtajids ), but was later given to one of his most trusted slaves. The governor of Khorasan was normally the sipah-salar (commander-in-chief). Like in the Abbasid Caliphate, Turkic slaves could rise to high office in the Samanid state, which would sometimes give them enough power to nearly make the ruler their puppet. The Samanids revived Persian culture by patronizing Rudaki , Bal'ami and Daqiqi . The Samanids determinedly propagated Sunni Islam, and repressed Ismaili Shiism but were more tolerant of Twelver Shiism. Islamic architecture and Islamo-Persian culture
1078-519: A small part of it, which was about the conflict between Gushtasp and Arjasp . However, the most prominent poet of that age was Ferdowsi, born in Tus in 940 to a dehqan family. It was during his youth that there was a period of growth under the Samanids. The rapid growth of interest in ancient Iranian history made him continue the work of Daqiqi, completing the Shahnameh in 994, only a few years before
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#17327824354571176-535: Is now lost . It is known only from citations in the works of others, primarily Gardīzī and Ibn al-Athīr , both of whom cite him for the death of Abū ʿAlī Čaghānī and nothing later than that. In some cases, Gardīzī quotes him outright. He appears to have shaped a narrative favourable to the Muḥtājids. The Kitāb wulāt Khurāsān is also cited in Yāqūt 's Irshād , Ibn Mākūlā 's Kitāb al-Ikmāl and Ibn Khallikān . Juwaynī in
1274-754: The Battle of the Oxus River . The next year, Ibn Amir concluded a peace treaty with Kanadbak , an Iranian nobleman and the kanarang of Tus . The Sasanian rebel Burzin Shah , of the Karen family , revolted against Ibn Amir, though the latter crushed the rebels in the Battle of Nishapur . After the invasion of Persia under Rashidun was completed in five years and almost all of the Persian territories came under Arab control, it also inevitable created new problems for
1372-588: The Buyids and the Saffarids while continuing to use Arabic for sciences as well as religious studies. They considered themselves to be descendants of the Sasanian Empire . In a famous edict, Samanid authorities declared that "here, in this region, the language is Persian, and the kings of this realm are Persian kings." The Samanid dynasty was founded by Saman Khuda , his descendants became rulers of
1470-538: The Caliphs , Khorasan was the name of one of the three political zones under their dominion (the other two being Eraq-e Arab "Arabic Iraq" and Eraq-e Ajam "Non-Arabic Iraq or Persian Iraq"). Under the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, Khorasan was divided into four major sections or quarters ( rub′ ), each section based on a single major city: Nishapur, Merv, Herat and Balkh. By the 10th century, Ibn Khordadbeh and
1568-818: The Ferghana valley by the Ferghanans; southern Khorasan by Khorasanians; and the Pamir mountains and environs by the Saka and other early Iranian peoples. All these groups were of Iranian ethnicity and spoke dialects of Middle Iranian and New Persian . In the words of Negmatov, "they were the basis for the emergence and gradual consolidation of what became an Eastern Persian-Tajik ethnic identity." Ferghana, Samarkand, and Bukhara were starting to be linguistically Persianized in originally Khwarazmian and Sogdian areas during Samanid rule. The Persian language spread and led to
1666-589: The Ghilji Pashtuns from Kandahar and became part of the Hotaki dynasty from 1722 to 1729. Nader Shah recaptured Khorasan in 1729 and chose Mashhad as the capital of Persia. Following his assassination in 1747, the eastern parts of Khorasan, including Herat were annexed with the Durrani Empire . Mashhad area was under control of Nader Shah's grandson Shahrukh Afshar until it was captured by
1764-600: The Hudud al-'Alam mentions what roughly encompasses the previous regions of Abarshahr , Tokharistan and Sogdia as Khwarasan proper. They further report the southern part of the Hindu Kush, i.e. the regions of Sistan , Rukhkhudh , Zabulistan and Kabul etc. to make up the Khorasan marches , a frontier region between Khorasan and Hindustan . By the late Middle Ages, the term lost its administrative significance, in
1862-525: The Mongol subjugation of Khorasan, carrying out the task "with a thoroughness from which that region has never recovered." Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, the majority of Islamic archaeological efforts were focused on the medieval era, predominantly in areas near what is today Central Asia . Under Caliph Umar ( r. 634–644 ), the Rashidun Caliphate seized nearly
1960-550: The Muhtajid ruler Abu 'Ali Chaghani , who refused to relinquish his post as governor of Khorasan to Ibrahim ibn Simjur . Abu 'Ali Chaghani then rebelled, and was joined by several prominent figures such as Abu Mansur Muhammad , whom he appointed as his commander-in-chief. In 947, he installed Nuh's uncle Ibrahim ibn Ahmad as amir in Bukhara. Abu 'Ali Chaghani then returned to his domains in Chaghaniyan . Ibrahim, however,
2058-588: The Nestorian church there into a mosque. The same year, he conducted a campaign to gather slaves, taking ten to fifteen thousand captives. The Samanid slave trade was the main trade income of the Samanid Empire, forming the base of economy of the state. In 900, Ismail sent an army under Muhammad ibn Harun al-Sarakhsi against Muhammad ibn Zayd , the Zaydi ruler of Tabaristan and Gorgan . The invasion
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#17327824354572156-784: The Oghuz Turks , although the veracity is unlikely. Originally a Zoroastrian, Saman Khuda converted to Islam during the governorship of Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri in Khorasan , and named his oldest son as Asad ibn Saman in the governor's honour. In 819, the governor of Greater Khorasan, Ghassan ibn Abbad, rewarded the four sons of Asad ibn Saman for their aid against the rebel Rafi ibn al-Layth . Nuh ibn Asad received Samarkand ; Ahmad ibn Asad received Farghana ; Yahya ibn Asad received Tashkent , and Ilyas ibn Asad received Herat . Ilyas died in 856, and his son Ibrahim ibn Ilyas became his successor. The Tahirid governor of Khorasan, Muhammad ibn Tahir , subsequently appointed him as
2254-863: The Qajar dynasty in 1796. In 1856, the Iranians, under the Qajar dynasty, briefly recaptured Herat; by the Treaty of Paris of 1857 , signed between Iran and the British Empire to end the Anglo-Persian War , the Iranian troops withdrew from Herat . Later, in 1881, Iran relinquished its claims to a part of the northern areas of Khorasan to the Russian Empire , principally comprising Merv , by
2352-571: The Sasanians , during the reign of Kavad I ( r. 488–496, 498/9–531 ) or Khosrow I ( r. 531–579 ), and comprised the eastern and northeastern parts of the empire. The use of Bactrian Miirosan 'the east' as an administrative designation under Alkhan rulers in the same region is possibly the forerunner of the Sasanian administrative division of Khurasan, occurring after their takeover of Hephthalite territories south of
2450-527: The Simjurid general Simjur al-Dawati . Later in 930, a Dailamite military leader, Makan ibn Kaki , seized Tabaristan and Gurgan, and even took possession of Nishapur in western Khorasan. He was, however, forced to withdraw back to Tabaristan one year later, due to the threat that Samanids posed. Makan then returned to Tabaristan, where he was defeated by the Ziyarid ruler Mardavij , who managed to conquer
2548-617: The Treaty of Akhal (also known as the Treaty of Akhal-Khorasan ). Khorasan has had a great cultural importance among other regions in Greater Iran . The literary New Persian language developed in Khorasan and Transoxiana and gradually supplanted the Parthian language . The New Persian literature arose and flourished in Khorasan and Transoxiana where the early Iranian dynasties such as Tahirids , Samanids , Saffirids and Ghaznavids (a Turco-Persian dynasty) were based. Until
2646-522: The feudal system used by the Samanids. It was also under him that the Samanids became independent of Abbasid authority. However, by 945, the government was under the de facto control of the Turkic military slave faction, and the Samanid family's authority had become purely symbolic. The Samanid Empire is part of the Iranian Intermezzo , which saw the creation of a Persianate culture and identity that brought Iranian speech and traditions into
2744-466: The 13th century is the latest author to cite it. According to Yāqūt, al-Sallāmī also wrote a Kitāb al-wuzarā ('Book of the Viziers'). Samanid Empire Four brothers— Nuh , Ahmad , Yahya , and Ilyas —founded the Samanid state. Each of them ruled territories under Abbasid suzerainty. In 892, Ismail Samani (892–907) united the Samanid state under one ruler, thus effectively putting an end to
2842-540: The 1580s) that: The people of Hindustān call every country beyond their own Khorasān, in the same manner as the Arabs term all except Arabia, Ajem . On the road between Hindustān and Khorasān, there are two great marts: the one Kābul, the other Kandahār . Caravans, from Ferghāna, Tūrkestān, Samarkand, Balkh, Bokhāra, Hissār, and Badakhshān , all resort to Kābul; while those from Khorasān repair to Kandahār . This country lies between Hindustān and Khorasān. In modern times,
2940-773: The Afrighid dynasty was forced into submission. Before Ismail Samani's major victory against the Saffarids, he had made various expeditions in Transoxiana; in 892, he put an end to the Principality of Ushrusana by seizing all of its lands. During the same period, he put an end to the Bukhar Khudas in Bukhara. In 893, Ismail Samani invaded the territories of the Karluk Turks , taking Talas and converting
3038-625: The Oxus. The transformation of the term and its identification with a larger region is thus a development of the late Sasanian and early Islamic periods. Early Islamic usage often regarded everywhere east of Jibal or what was subsequently termed Iraq Ajami (Persian Iraq) , as being included in a vast and loosely defined region of Khorasan, which might even extend to the Indus Valley and the Pamir Mountains. The boundary between these two
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3136-561: The Samanid Empire, its distance from Baghdad allowed the Samanids to be a crucial element in the renaissance of New Persian language and culture. This Persianate culture variant was the first to use a language besides Arabic in Islamic culture. Although the Zoroastrian population had previously been suppressed by the Abbasid Caliphate, according to Al-Masudi, the Samanid empire still had fire-temples that were still being venerated by
3234-632: The Samanid Empire. He was a dehqan of Iranian origin from the village of Saman in Balkh province , in present-day northern Afghanistan. The earliest appearance of the Samanid family appears to be in Greater Khorasan rather than Transoxiana . In some sources, the Samanids claimed to be descended from the House of Mihran of Bahram Chobin . It has been claimed that the House of Saman belonged to
3332-565: The Samanid rulers in positions of governance) were fully in charge of the government. By this time, the Samanid family only held nominal power; similar to how the Buyids held de facto power over the Abbasid Caliphate around the same time. Alp Tigin , nominal vassal of the Samanids, conquered Ghazna in 962 from the Lawik dynasty. The fifth of these commanders was Sebüktigin, who governed Ḡazna for twenty years till 387 AH/997 CE with
3430-461: The Samanid state was modelled after the Abbasid system, which in turn was modelled after the Sasanian system. The ruler of the state was the amir , and the provinces were governed by appointed governors or local vassal rulers. The administrative, political and economic affairs were administered by the divan , and the Samanid bureaucracy used Arabic in its diplomatic discourses. The economy
3528-539: The Samanids returned to Bukhara. In 999, Nasr b. Ali, a nephew of Harun, returned and took possession of Bukhara, meeting little resistance. The Samanid domains were split up between the Ghaznavids , who gained Khorasan and Afghanistan , and the Karakhanids , who received Transoxiana ; the Oxus River thus became the boundary between the two rival empires. Isma'il Muntasir was the youngest son of Nuh II—he
3626-471: The Samanids. In the 9th and 10th centuries, intellectual life in Transoxiana and Khorasan reached a high level. In the words of N.N. Negmatov, "It was inevitable that the local Samanid dynasty, seeking support among its literate classes, should cultivate and promote local cultural traditions, literacy and literature." The main Samanid towns – Bukhara , Samarkand , Balkh , Merv , Nishapur , Khujand , Bunjikath , Hulbuk , Termez and others, became
3724-559: The Tahirids' authority had significantly weakened after suffering several defeats to Saffarid ruler Ya'qub al-Saffar. Hence, causing the Tahirids to lose their grip over the Samanids, who became more or less independent. Nasr I, used this opportunity to strengthen his authority by sending his brother Ismail to Bukhara , which was in an unstable condition after suffering from raids by the Afrighid dynasty of Khwarazm . When Ismail reached
3822-574: The caliphate. Pockets of tribal resistance continued for centuries in the Afghan territories. During the 7th century, Arab armies made their way into the region of Afghanistan from Khorasan. A second problem was as a corollary to the Muslim conquest of Persia, the Muslims became neighbors of the city states of Transoxiana . Although Transoxiana was included in the loosely defined "Turkestan" region, only
3920-454: The city to protect it from their attacks. He died in 841/2—his two brothers Yahya and Ahmad, were then appointed as the joint rulers of the city by the Tahirid governor of Khorasan. After Yahya died in 855, Ahmad took control over Châch, thus becoming the ruler of most of Transoxiana. He died in 864/5; his son Nasr I received Farghana and Samarkand, while his other son Ya'qub received Châch (areas around modern Tashkent/Chachkent). Meanwhile,
4018-430: The city, he was warmly received by its inhabitants, who saw him as one who could restore order. After not so long, disagreement over where to distribute tax money caused a conflict between the brothers. Ismail was eventually victorious in the dynastic struggle and took control of the Samanid state. However, Nasr had been the one who had been invested with Transoxiana, and the Abbasid caliphs continued to recognize him as
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4116-499: The cloud, how it cries like a grieving man Another prominent poet was Shahid Balkhi , born in the village of Jakhudanak near Balkh. Not much is known about his life, but he is mentioned as being one of the best poets in the court of Nasr II, and one of the best scholars of the age. He was also a student of Rudaki, and had close relations with him. He died in 936, a few years before Rudaki's death. His death saddened Rudaki, who afterwards wrote an emotional elegy about him. Daqiqi, who
4214-412: The commander of his army, and sent him on an expedition against the Saffarid ruler Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar in Sistan . After facing defeat in battle near Pushang in 857, he fled to Nishapur , only to be captured by Ya'qub al-Saffar and sent to Sistan as a hostage. In 839/40, Nuh seized Isfijab from the nomadic pagan Turks living in the steppe. Consequently, he had a wall constructed around
4312-432: The defences of Bukhara and Samarkand went unused. However, this later had consequences; at the end of the dynasty, the walls—earlier strong, but now falling apart—were greatly missed by the Samanids, who were constantly under attack by the Karakhanids and other enemies. Ismail died in November 907, and was succeeded by his son Ahmad Samani (r. 907–914). Not long after his accession, Ahmad invaded Sistan; by 911, Sistan
4410-662: The devastating Mongol invasion of the 13th century, Khorasan remained the cultural capital of Persia. It has produced scientists such as Avicenna , Al-Farabi , Al-Biruni , Omar Khayyam , Al-Khwarizmi , Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi (known as Albumasar or Albuxar in the west), Alfraganus , Abu Wafa , Nasir al-Din al-Tusi , Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī , and many others who are widely well known for their significant contributions in various domains such as mathematics, astronomy , medicine, physics , geography , and geology. There have been many archaeological sites throughout Khorasan, however many of these expeditions were illegal or committed in
4508-424: The early days of the Muslim conquests , Arab armies were divided into regiments drawn from individual tribes or tribal confederations ( butun or ‘asha‘ir ). Despite the fact that many of these groupings were recent creations, created for reasons of military efficiency rather than any common ancestry, they soon developed a strong and distinct identity. By the beginning of the Umayyad period, this system progressed to
4606-412: The eastern halves of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan , western Tajikistan , and portions of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan . The extent of the region referred to as Khorasan varied over time. In its stricter historical sense, it comprised the present territories of northeastern Iran , parts of Afghanistan and southern parts of Central Asia , extending as far as the Amu Darya (Oxus) river. However,
4704-457: The empire, at its height including cities such as Nishapur , Herat , Merv , Faryab , Taloqan , Balkh , Bukhara , Badghis , Abiward , Gharjistan , Tus and Sarakhs . With the rise of the Umayyad Caliphate , the designation was inherited and likewise stretched as far as their military gains in the east, starting off with the military installations at Nishapur and Merv , slowly expanding eastwards into Tokharistan and Sogdia . Under
4802-407: The entire Persia from the Sasanian Empire . However, the areas of Khorasan weren't conquered until c. 651 during the caliphate of Uthman ( r. 644–656 ). The Rashidun commanders Ahnaf ibn Qays and Abd Allah ibn Amir were assigned to lead the invasion of Khorasan. In late 651, the Rashidun army defeated the combined forces of the Sasanian and the First Turkic Khaganate in
4900-446: The eventual conquest. In July 738, at the age of 74, Nasr was appointed as governor of Khorasan. Despite his age, he was widely respected both for his military record, his knowledge of the affairs of Khorasan and his abilities as a statesman. Julius Wellhausen wrote of him that "His age did not affect the freshness of his mind, as is testified not only by his deeds, but also by the verses in which he gave expression to his feelings till
4998-428: The extinction of Eastern Iranian languages like Bactrian and Khwarezmian with only a tiny amount of Sogdian -descended Yaghnobi speakers remaining among the now Persian-speaking Tajik population of Central Asia. This was due to the fact that the Arab-Islamic army which invaded Central Asia at the time also included some Persians who later governed the region like the Samanids. Persian was rooted into Central Asia by
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#17327824354575096-413: The fall of the Samanid Empire. He later completed a second version of the Shahnameh in 1010, which he presented to the Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud. However, his work was not as appreciated by the Ghaznavids as it had been by the Samanids. Under the Samanid Empire, the Zarafshan valley, Kashka Darya and Usrushana were populated by Sogdians ; Tukharistan by the Bactrians; Khwarezm by the Khwarazmians;
5194-429: The fold of the Islamic world . This later contributed to the formation of the Turko-Persian culture. The Samanids promoted the arts, giving rise to the advancement of science and literature, and thus attracted scholars such as Rudaki , Ferdowsi , and Avicenna . While under Samanid control, Bukhara was a rival to Baghdad in its glory. Scholars note that the Samanids revived Persian language and culture more than
5292-449: The formation of ever-larger super-groupings, culminating in the two super-groups : the northern Arab Mudaris or Qaysis , and the south Arabs or "Yemenis" ( Yaman ), dominated by the Azd and Rabi'ah tribes. By the 8th century, this division had become firmly established across the Caliphate and was a source of constant internal instability, as the two groups formed in essence two rival political parties, jockeying for power and separated by
5390-399: The former Khorasan Province of Iran (1906–2004), which roughly encompassed the western portion of the historical Greater Khorasan. The name Khorāsān is Persian (from Middle Persian Xwarāsān , sp. xwlʾsʾn' , meaning "where the sun arrives from" or "the Eastern Province"). The name was first given to the eastern province of Persia (Ancient Iran) during the Sasanian Empire and
5488-422: The great Sasanians gone? From the Bahrāmids to the Samanids what has come upon?" Greater Khorasan Greater Khorasan ( Middle Persian : 𐬒𐬊𐬭𐬀𐬯𐬀𐬥 , romanized: Xwarāsān ; Persian : خراسان , [xoɾɒːˈsɒːn] ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and northern Afghanistan , northeastern Iran ,
5586-416: The heir of the Saffarids. In the spring of 900, Amr clashed with Ismail near Balkh , but was defeated and taken into captivity. Ismail thereafter sent him to Baghdad, where he was executed. Ismail was thereafter recognized as the ruler of all of Khorasan and Transoxiana by the caliph. Furthermore, he also received the investiture over Tabaristan , Ray and Isfahan . It was also during this period that
5684-515: The major cultural centres under the state. Scholars, poets, artists and other men of education from many Muslim countries assembled in the Samanid capital of Bukhara, where a rich soil was created for the prosper of creative thought, thus making it one of the most distinguished cultural centres of the Eastern world. An outstanding library known as Siwān al-Hikma ("Storehouse of Wisdom") was put together in Bukhara, known for its various types of books. Due to extensive excavations at Nishapur , Iran, in
5782-419: The major portion of Khorasān, as two of the four main capitals of Khorasān (Herat and Balkh) are now located in Afghanistan. Ghobar uses the terms "Proper Khorasan" and " Improper Khorasan" in his book to distinguish between the usage of Khorasān in its strict sense and its usage in a loose sense. According to him, Proper Khorasan contained regions lying between Balkh in the east, Merv in the north, Sistan in
5880-508: The mid-twentieth century, Samanid pottery is well-represented in Islamic art collections around the world. These ceramics are largely made from earthenware and feature either calligraphic inscriptions of Arabic proverbs, or colorful figural decorations. The Arabic proverbs often speak to the values of "Adab" culture—hospitality, generosity, and modesty. In commending the Samanids, the epic Persian poet Ferdowsi says of them: کجا آن بزرگان ساسانیان ز بهرامیان تا به سامانیان "Where have all
5978-400: The most prominent men of the Marwanid period". Asad's arrival in Khorasan found the province in peril: his predecessor, Muslim ibn Sa'id al-Kilabi , had just attempted a campaign against Ferghana and suffered a major defeat, the so-called " Day of Thirst ", at the hands of the Turgesh Turks and the Soghdian principalities of Transoxiana that had risen up against Muslim rule. From
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#17327824354576076-407: The name has often been used in a loose sense to include a wider region that included most of Transoxiana (encompassing Bukhara and Samarqand in present-day Uzbekistan ), extended westward to the Caspian coast and to the Dasht-e Kavir southward to Sistan , and eastward to the Pamir Mountains . Greater Khorasan is today sometimes used to distinguish the larger historical region from
6174-432: The present Zoroastrian population. Despite the fact that the Samanids professed Sunni Islam, however, they were much more tolerant towards its Zoroastrian population than the previous empires. Through zealous missionary work as many as 30,000 tents of Turks came to profess Islam and later under the Ghaznavids more than 55,000 under the Hanafi school of thought. The mass conversion of the Turks to Islam eventually led to
6272-448: The region, and Isma'il decided it necessary to flee again. In 1003 Isma'il came back to Transoxiana, where he requested and received assistance from the Oghuz Turks of the Zarafshan valley. They defeated the Karakhanids in several battles, even when Nasr Khan was involved. For various reasons, however, Isma'il came to feel that he could not rely on the Oghuz to restore him, so he went back to Khorasan. He tried to gain Mahmud's support for
6370-410: The region. In 935, Nasr II re-established Samanid control in Gurgan and made Mardavij's successor Vushmgir his vassal. However, in 939 he declared independence, but was defeated the following year at Iskhabad . In 943 several Samanid army officers, angry at Nasr's support of Isma'ili missionaries, formed a conspiracy to murder him. Nasr's son Nuh I , however, learned of the conspiracy. He went to
6468-421: The relevant solar deity ). The province was often subdivided into four quarters, such that Nishapur (present-day Iran), Marv (present-day Turkmenistan ), Herat and Balkh (present-day Afghanistan) were the centers, respectively, of the westernmost, northernmost, central, and easternmost quarters. Khorasan was first established as an administrative division in the 6th century (approximately after 520) by
6566-427: The rightful ruler. Because of this, Ismail continued to recognize his brother as well, but Nasr was completely powerless, a situation that would continue until his death in August 892. Following Nasr's death, Ismail moved the capital of the Samanid dynasty from Samarkand to Bukhara. A few months later the Saffarid emir, Ya'qub al-Saffar, also died and was succeeded by his brother Amr ibn al-Layth , who saw himself as
6664-602: The ruling elite of Transoxiana was partially of Turkic origins whereas the local population was mostly a diverse mix of local Iranian populations. As the Arabs reached Transoxiana following the conquest of the Sassanid Persian Empire, local Iranian-Turkic and Arab armies clashed over the control of Transoxiana's Silk Road cities. In particular, the Turgesh under the leadership of Suluk, and Khazars under Barjik clashed with their Arab neighbours in order to control this economically important region. Two notable Umayyad generals, Qutayba ibn Muslim and Nasr ibn Sayyar , were instrumental in
6762-412: The sources agree that al-Kirmani stood at the time as the most prominent man in Khorasan and should have been the clear choice for governor. His Yemeni roots (he was the leader of the Azd in Khorasan), however, made him unpalatable to the Caliph. Khorasan became the headquarters of the Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyads . It was led by Abu Muslim , who himself belonged to Khorasan. This province
6860-420: The south of the Hindu Kush as the Khorasan Marches, forming a frontier region between Khorasan and Hindustan . First established in the 6th century as one of four administrative (military) divisions by the Sasanian Empire , the scope of the region has varied considerably during its nearly 1,500-year history. Initially, the Khorasan division of the Sasanian Empire covered the northeastern military gains of
6958-438: The south, Nishapur in the west and Herat, known as the Pearl of Khorasan , in the center. Improper Khorasan's boundaries extended to as far as Hazarajat and Kabul in the east, Baluchistan in the south, Transoxiana and Khwarezm in the north, and Damghan and Gorgan in the west. During the Sasanian era, likely in the reign of Khusrow I , Persia was divided into four regions (known as kust Middle Persian), Khwārvarān in
7056-421: The state affairs. Jaihani was not only an experienced administrator, but also a prominent geographer and greatly educated man. Almost right after Nasr II had ascended the throne, several revolts erupted, the most dangerous one being under his paternal grand-uncle, Ishaq ibn Ahmad, who seized Samarkand and began minting coins there, while his son Abu Salih Mansur seized Nishapur and several cities in Khorasan. Ishaq
7154-558: The term has been source of great nostalgia and nationalism, especially amongst the Tajiks of Central Asia. Many Tajiks regard Khorasan as an integral part of their national identity, which has preserved an interest in the term, including its meaning and cultural significance, both in common discussion and academia, despite its falling out of political use in the region. According to Afghan historian Ghulam Mohammad Ghobar (1897–1978), Afghanistan's current Persian-speaking territories formed
7252-529: The throne to Khorasan following the Arab invasion in the western parts of the empire. After the assassination of the king, Khorasan was conquered by Arab Muslims in 647 AD. Like other provinces of Persia it became a province of the Umayyad Caliphate . The first movement against the Arab conquest was led by Abu Muslim Khorasani between 747 and 750. Originally from Isfahan , scholars believe Abu Muslim
7350-589: The title (as it appears from his tomb inscription ) of al-ḥājeb al-ajall (most noble commander). He would later be the founder of an independent dynasty based in Ghazna, following the decline of the Samanid Empire in the 990s. The power of the Samanids began to crumble in the latter half of the 10th century. In 962, one of the ghulams , Alp Tigin , commander of the army in Khorasan, seized Ghazna and established himself there. His successors, however, including Sebük Tigin , continued to rule as Samanid "governors". With
7448-537: The very end of his life". However, in the climate of the times, his nomination owed more to his appropriate tribal affiliation than his personal qualities. In 724, immediately after the rise of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 724–743) to the throne, Asad's brother Khalid al-Qasri was appointed to the important post of governor of Iraq , with responsibility over the entire Islamic East, which he held until 738. Khalid in turn named Asad as governor of Khorasan. The two brothers thus became, according to Patricia Crone , "among
7546-549: The weakened Samanids facing rising challenges from the Karakhanids for control of Transoxiana , Sebük later took control of all the provinces south of the Oxus and established the Ghaznavid Empire . In 992, a Karakhanid , Harun Bughra Khan, grandson of the paramount tribal chief of the Karluk confederation Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan , captured Bukhara , the Samanid capital. Harun died shortly afterwards, however, and
7644-584: The west only being loosely applied among the Turko-Persian dynasties of modern Iran to all its territories that lay east and north-east of the Dasht-e Kavir desert. It was therefore subjected to constant change, as the size of their empires changed. In the east, Khwarasan likewise became a term associated with the great urban centers of Central Asia. It is mentioned in the Memoirs of Babur (from
7742-441: The west, apāxtar in the north, nīmrūz in the south and Khorasan in the east. Since the Sasanian territories were more or less remained stable up to Islamic conquests, it can be concluded that Sasanian Khorasan was bordered to the south by Sistan and Kerman, to the west by the central deserts of modern Iran, and to the east by China and India. In the Sasanian era, Khorasan was further divided into four smaller regions, and each region
7840-504: Was a large amount of growth in literature, mostly in poetry. It was during the Samanid period that Persian literature appeared in Transoxiana and was formally recognized. The advancement of an Islamic New Persian literature thus started in Transoxiana and Khorasan instead of Fars , the homeland of the Persians. The best known poets of the Samanid period were Rudaki (d. 941), Daqiqi (d. 977) and Ferdowsi (d. 1020). Although Persian
7938-507: Was a native of Tus , began his career at the court of the Muhtajid ruler Abu'l Muzaffar ibn Muhammad in Chaghaniyan , and was later invited to the Samanid court. Under the Samanids, a special interest arose in ancient Iranian legends and heroic traditions, thus inspiring Daqiqi to write the Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings"), a long epic poem based on the history of the Iranians. However, by his death in 977, he had only managed to complete
8036-571: Was eventually defeated and captured, while Abu Salih Mansur died of natural causes in 915. Some time later Nasr II once again had to deal with rebels; in 919, the governor of Khorasan, Husayn ibn Ali Marvarrudhi, rebelled against Samanid authority. Nasr responded by sending an army under Ahmad ibn Sahl to suppress the rebellion, which the latter managed to accomplish. After a few weeks, however, Ahmad shortly rebelled himself at Nishapur, made incursions into Gorgan, and then fortified himself in Merv to avoid
8134-563: Was imprisoned by the Karakhanids after their conquest of Bukhara in 999. Some time later, Isma'il managed to escape to Khwarazm, where he gained support. Driving the Karakhanids out of Bukhara, he then moved on to and captured Samarkand. The approach of the Karakhanid army, however, forced Isma'il to give up all of his possessions, following which he travelled to Khorasan, where he captured Nishapur. Mahmud's army, however, made its way to
8232-405: Was managed by the mustawfi , diplomatic correspondence and important state papers by the diwanal-rasa'il , and the royal guard and military affairs by the sahib al-shurta . The main responsibility of both governors and local rulers was to collect taxes and support the Samanid ruler with troops if needed. The most important province in the Samanid Empire was Khorasan, which was initially given to
8330-629: Was more a matter of political and territorial gain. Tahir had helped the Caliph subdue other nationalistic movements in other parts of Persia such as Maziar 's movement in Tabaristan . Other major independent dynasties who ruled over Khorasan were the Saffarids from Zaranj (861–1003), Samanids from Bukhara (875–999), Ghaznavids from Ghazni (963–1167), Seljuqs (1037–1194), Khwarezmids (1077–1231), Ghurids (1149–1212), and Timurids (1370–1506). In 1221, Genghis Khan 's son Tolui oversaw
8428-407: Was nearly killed. Following this, he sought the hospitality of an Arab tribe near Merv . Their chief, however, killed Isma'il in 1005. His death marked the defeat of the last attempt to restore the Samanid state. Descendants of the Samanid family continued to live in Transoxiana where they were well regarded, but their power was relatively broken. Along with several other states, the Samanid Empire
8526-522: Was part of the Iranian Intermezzo , or "Persian renaissance". This period has been described as having a key importance in the formation of the Islamic civilization, both politically and culturally. In political terms, it saw an effective break up of the Abbasid power and the rise of several successor states such as the Samanids and Buyids while in cultural terms, it witnessed the rise of new Persian as an administrative and literary language. The system of
8624-630: Was part of the Iranian world that had been heavily colonised by Arab tribes following the Muslim conquest with the intent of replacing Umayyad dynasty which is proved to be successful under the sign of the Black Standard . Between the early 16th and early 18th centuries, parts of Khorasan were contested between the Safavids and the Uzbeks . A part of the Khorasan region was conquered in 1722 by
8722-520: Was probably Persian. It's possible he may have been born a slave. According to the ancient Persian historian Al-Shahrastani , he was a Kaysanite . This revolutionary Shi'a movement rejected the three Caliphs that had preceded Ali . Abu Muslim helped the Abbasids come to power but was later killed by Al-Mansur, an Abbasid Caliph. The first kingdom independent from Arab rule was established in Khorasan by Tahir Phoshanji in 821, but it seems that it
8820-524: Was ruled by a marzban . These four regions were Nishapur, Marv, Herat and Balkh. Khorasan in the east saw some conflict with the Hephthalites who became the new rulers in the area but the borders remained stable. Being the eastern parts of the Sassanids and further away from Arabia , Khorasan region was conquered after the remaining Persia. The last Sassanid king of Persia, Yazdgerd III , moved
8918-448: Was spread deep into the heartlands of Central Asia by the Samanids. Following the first complete translation of the Qur'an into Persian in the 9th century, populations under the Samanid empire began accepting Islam in significant numbers. The arabization of the Samanids was clearly minimal compared to the almost entirely arabized Tahirids. Despite Arabic literature and science flourishing in
9016-466: Was successful; Muhammad ibn Zayd was killed and Tabaristan was conquered by the Samanids. However, Muhammad ibn Harun shortly revolted, forcing Ismail himself to invade the region the following year. Muhammad ibn Harun thereafter fled to Daylam , while Ismail reconquered Tabaristan and Gorgan. In 901, Amr Saffari was defeated at the battle of Balkh by the Samanids, which reduced the Saffarid dynasty to
9114-449: Was the following year murdered by some of his slaves in a tent near Bukhara. During his reign, Ahmad is also said to have replaced the language of the court from Persian to Arabic , which made him unpopular among his subjects, and forced him to change it back to Persian. After Ahmad's death, his eight-year-old son Nasr II (r. 914–943) succeeded him. Due to Nasr's youth, his prime minister Abu 'Abd-Allah al-Jaihani took care over most of
9212-469: Was the most-favored language, Arabic continued to enjoy a high status and was still popular among the members of the Samanid family. For example, al-Tha'alibi wrote an Arabic anthology named Yatimat al-Dahr ("The Unique Pearl"). The fourth section of the anthology included a detailed account of the poets that lived under the Samanids. It also states that the poets of Khwarazm mostly wrote in Arabic. The acknowledged founder of Persian classical poetry, and
9310-489: Was the region surrounding the cities of Gurgan and Qumis . In particular, the Ghaznavids , Seljuqs and Timurids divided their empires into Iraqi and Khorasani regions. Khorasan is believed to have been bounded in the southwest by desert and the town of Tabas , known as "the Gate of Khorasan", from which it extended eastward to the mountains of central Afghanistan . Sources from the 10th century onwards refer to areas in
9408-477: Was under complete Samanid control, and Ahmad's cousin Abu Salih Mansur was appointed as its governor. Meanwhile, an Alid named Hasan al-Utrush was slowly re-establishing Zaydi over Tabaristan. In 913, Ahmad sent an army under Muhammad ibn Sa'luk to deal with him. Although the Samanid army was much larger, Hasan managed to emerge victorious. Ahmad, before he could plan another expedition to Tabaristan,
9506-522: Was unpopular with the people of Bukhara, and Nuh soon retaliated by retaking the city and blinding Ibrahim and two brothers. When Abu Ali Chaghani received the news of the re-capture of Bukhara, he once again marched towards it, but was defeated by an army sent by Nuh and withdrew back to Chaghaniyan. After some time, he left the region and tried to obtain support from other Samanid vassals. Meanwhile, Nuh had Chaghaniyan ravaged and its capital sacked. Another battle shortly ensued between Abu 'Ali Chaghani and
9604-473: Was used from the late Middle Ages in distinction to neighbouring Transoxiana. The Sassanian name Xwarāsān has in turn been argued to be a calque of the Bactrian name of the region, Miirosan (Bactrian spelling: μιιροσανο, μιροσανο, earlier μιυροασανο), which had the same meaning 'sunrise, east' (corresponding to a hypothetical Proto-Iranian form *miθrāsāna ; see Mithra , Bactrian μιυρο [mihr], for
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