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77-513: 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 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

154-619: 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

231-591: 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

308-522: 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

385-593: 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

462-470: A disagreement over where tax money should be distributed caused a falling out between Nasr and Ismail. A struggle ensued, in which Ismail proved victorious. Although he took effective control of the state, he did not formally overthrow his brother, instead remaining in Bukhara. He did so because Nasr had been the one to whom the Caliph had given the formal investiture of Transoxiana ; in the caliph's eyes, Nasr

539-766: 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

616-515: 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

693-785: 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

770-518: 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

847-482: A wall around it to protect the city from the nomadic pagan Turks living near the borders of the Samanid state. Nuh continued to rule over the city until his death in 841 or 842. Abdallah, the governor of Khurasan, then appointed two of Nuh's brothers, Yahya and Ahmad , to jointly rule over Samarkand. This biography of an Iranian ruler or member of a royal family is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to Central Asian history

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924-470: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ismail Samani Abū Ibrāhīm Ismā'īl ibn-i Aḥmad-i Sāmāni ( Persian : ابو ابراهیم اسماعیل بن احمد سامانی ; May 849 – 24 November 907), better known simply as Ismail-i Samani ( اسماعیل سامانی ), and also known as Isma'il ibn-i Ahmad ( اسماعیل بن احمد ), was the Samanid amir of Transoxiana (892–907) and Khorasan (900–907). His reign saw

1001-816: 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

1078-574: 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

1155-550: 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,

1232-584: 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

1309-540: 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 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

1386-702: The Seven Great Houses of Iran during the pre-Islamic Sasanian era. However, this was possibly a mere attempt to enhance their lineage. They may originally have been of Hephthalite descent, as suggested by the fact that one of the coins issued by them is executed in the same style as those of the Hephthalites, rather than that of the Sasanians. Regardless, the Samanid royal family both spoke and advocated Persian, and also used many pre-Islamic bureaucratic titles, probably part of their aim to spread

1463-525: 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

1540-772: 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

1617-751: 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 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

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1694-615: 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

1771-512: 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

1848-538: 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

1925-546: 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 the present Zoroastrian population. Despite

2002-537: The Samanids took over the province. The Samanid conquest brought along a restoration of Sunni Islam in the province. However, Ismail's general Muhammad ibn Harun shortly revolted, forcing Ismail to send an army under his son Ahmad Samani and cousin Abu'l-Abbas Abdullah into northern Persia in 901, including Tabaristan, forcing Muhammad to flee to Daylam . The Samanid army also managed to conquer several other cities including Ray and Qazvin , though subsequent rulers lost

2079-469: 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

2156-559: 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

2233-511: 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 the Buyids and the Saffarids while continuing to use Arabic for sciences as well as religious studies. They considered themselves to be descendants of

2310-591: The belief that their rule was a continuum of the Sasanian Empire. Ismail was born in Farghana in 849—he was the son of Ahmad ibn Asad , and had a brother named Nasr I , who ascended the Samanid throne in 864/5. During Nasr's reign, Ismail was sent to take control of Bukhara , which had been devastated by looting on the part of forces from Khwarezm . The citizens of the city welcomed Ismail, seeing him as someone who could bring stability. Soon afterwards,

2387-536: The caliph stated that he prayed for Ismail, who the caliph considered the rightful ruler of Khorasan . The letter had a profound effect on Ismail, as he was determined to oppose the Saffarids. The two sides fought in Balkh , northern Afghanistan during the spring of 900. During battle, Ismail was significantly outnumbered as he came out with 20,000 horsemen against Amr's 70,000-strong cavalry. Ismail's horsemen were ill-equipped with most having wooden stirrups while some had no shields or lances. Amr-i Laith's cavalry on

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2464-518: The caliph's grant by sending an army to Tabaristan, which was then controlled by the Zaydids under Muhammad ibn Zayd . Muhammad and his army met the Samanid army under Muhammad ibn Harun al-Sarakhsi at Gurgan , and in the ensuing battle, the Samanids prevailed, and the severely wounded Muhammad was captured. He died on the next day, 3 October 900 (or in August, according to Abu'l-Faraj ). His corpse

2541-535: The city of Talas , the capital of the Karluk Turks , taking large numbers of slaves and livestock. In addition, a Nestorian church was converted into a mosque . He also brought an end to the Principality of Ushrusana , extending Samanid control over the Syr Darya river . Ismail and other Samanid rulers propagated Islam amongst the inhabitants and as many as 30,000 tents of Turks came to profess Islam . During his reign he subjugated numerous regional states to

2618-507: 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,

2695-429: 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

2772-498: 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

2849-518: 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

2926-487: 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

3003-477: The east, directly incorporating some within his boundaries and retaining the local rulers of others as vassals. Khwarezm to the north was partitioned; the southern part remained autonomous under its Afrighid rulers, while the northern part was governed by a Samanid official. Another campaign in 903 further secured the Samanid boundaries. These campaigns kept the heart of his state safe from Turkish raids, and allowed Muslim missionaries to expand their activities in

3080-477: The emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force. He was the son of Ahmad ibn-i Asad and a descendant of Saman Khuda , the eponymous ancestor of the Samanid dynasty who renounced Zoroastrianism and embraced Islam . The Samanids were native to Balkh , which suggests that they came from a Bactrian background. The family itself claimed to be the descendants of the Parthian Mihran family, one of

3157-499: The end of the dynasty, the earlier strong, but now crumbling walls, were greatly missed by the Samanids, who were constantly under attack by the Karakhanids and other enemies. According to a Bukharian historian writing in 943, Ismail: Was indeed worthy and right for padishahship . He was an intelligent, just, compassionate person, one possessing reason and prescience...he conducted affairs with justice and good ethics. Whoever tyrannized people he would punish...In affairs of state he

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3234-488: 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

3311-572: 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 a growing influence of

3388-662: 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;

3465-492: 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

3542-524: The great Sasanians gone? From the Bahrāmids to the Samanids what has come upon?" Nuh ibn Asad Nuh ibn Asad (نوح بن اسد; d. 841/842) was a Samanid ruler of Samarkand (819-841/2). He was a son of Asad . In 819, Nuh was granted authority over the city of Samarkand by Caliph Al-Ma'mun's governor of Khurasan , Ghassan ibn 'Abbad, as a reward for his support against the rebel Rafi' ibn Laith . In 839/840, Nuh captured Isfijab and constructed

3619-411: 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

3696-569: 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

3773-506: 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

3850-408: The other hand, were fully equipped with weapons and armor. Despite fierce fighting, Amr was captured as some of his troops switched sides and joined Ismail. Ismail wished to ransom him to the Saffarids, but they refused, so he sent 'Amr to the caliph, who blamed 'Amr's conduct in the matter and then invested Ismail with Khorasan, Tabaristan , Ray , and Isfahan . Ismail decided to take advantage of

3927-621: 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

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4004-465: The region. Even after his brother Nasr's death, Ismail's rule in Bukhara was not formally recognized by the caliph at that point. As a result, the Saffarid ruler 'Amr-i Laith himself asked the caliph for the investiture of Transoxiana. The caliph, Al-Mu'tadid , however, sent Ismail a letter urging him to fight Amr-i Laith and the Saffarids whom the caliph considered usurpers. According to the letter,

4081-461: 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

4158-424: 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

4235-477: 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

4312-480: The territory to the Daylamites and Kurds . Ismail then appointed his cousin Abu'l-Abbas Abdullah as the governor of Tabaristan. Although Ismail continued to send gifts to the caliph, as was customary, he neither paid tribute or taxes. For all intents and purposes he was an independent ruler, although he never took any title higher than that of amir . After a long sickness Ismail died on 24 November 907 and

4389-586: 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

4466-599: 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

4543-502: 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

4620-562: 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

4697-403: Was always impartial. The celebrated scholar Nizam al-Mulk , in his famous work, Siyasatnama , stated that Ismail: Was extremely just, and his good qualities were many. He had pure faith in God (to Him be power and glory) and he was generous to the poor – to name only one of his notable virtues. With the end of Soviet rule in Tajikistan, Ismail's legacy was resurrected and rehabilitated by

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4774-413: Was decapitated, and his head was sent to Ismail at the Samanid court at Bukhara. As Muhammad's son and designated heir Zayd was also captured and sent to Bukhara, the Zaydid leaders agreed to name Zayd's infant son al-Mahdi as their ruler, but dissension broke out among their ranks: one of them proclaimed himself for the Abbasids instead, and his troops attacked and massacred the Zaydid supporters. Instead,

4851-520: 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

4928-444: 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

5005-404: 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

5082-407: 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

5159-467: 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

5236-451: 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 the Samanid Empire, its distance from Baghdad allowed

5313-451: Was succeeded by his son Ahmad Samani . Ismail gave enormous amounts of booty and riches to others, and kept nothing. 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 the defences of Bukhara and Samarkand went unused. However, this later had consequences; at

5390-480: Was successful in establishing economic and commercial development and organized a powerful army. It was said that he made his capital Bukhara into one of Islam's most glorious cities, as Ismail attracted scholars, artists, and doctors of law into the region. The first translation of the Qur'an into Persian was completed during Samanid rule. Sunni theology greatly cultivated during Ismail's reign, as numerous mosques and madrassas were built. In 893, Ismail took

5467-409: 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

5544-448: 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

5621-467: 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

5698-515: Was the only legitimate ruler of the region. Furthermore, the Saffarids of Sistan had claims on Transoxiana; the overthrow of Nasr would have given the Saffarids a pretext for invading. Ismail therefore continued to formally recognize Nasr as ruler until the latter's death in August 892, at which point he officially took power. Ismail was active to the north and east, steadily spreading Samanid influence as well as solidifying his control over other areas including Kirman , Sistan and Kabul . Ismail

5775-477: 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,

5852-610: 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 the fold of the Islamic world . This later contributed to the formation of the Turko-Persian culture. The Samanids promoted

5929-520: 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

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