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The Samanids (819–999)^[1] (Persian: سامانیان Sāmāniyān) were a Persian dynasty in Central Asia and Greater Khorasan, named after its founder Saman Khuda who converted to Sunni Islam^[2] despite being from Zoroastrian theocratic nobility. It was among the first native Iranian dynasties in Greater Iran and Central Asia after the Arabs entered the region.

Samanid mausoleum (between 892 and 943) in Bukhara, Uzbekistan (photo 2003).

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The Samanid period is considered the beginning of the Tajik nation.^[3] Their rule lasted for 180 years, and their territory encompassed Khorasan, Ray, Transoxiania, Tabaristan, Kerman, Gorgan, and the area west of these provinces up to Isfahan. To legitimize the dynasty, the Samanids claimed to be descendants of Bahram Chobin,^[4] and thus descended from the House of Mihrān, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran. In governing their territory, the Samanids modeled their state organization after the Abbasids, mirroring the caliph's court and organization.^[5] They were rewarded for supporting the Abbasids in Transoxania and Khorasan, and with their established capitals located in Bukhara, Samarkand, and Herat, they carved their kingdom after defeating the Saffarids.^[6]

With their roots stemming from the city of Balkh,^[7] the Samanids promoted the arts, giving rise to the advancement of science and literature, and thus attracted scholars such as Rudaki and Avicenna. While under Samanid control, Bukhara was a rival to Baghdad in its glory.^[8] Scholars note that the Samanids revived Persian more than the Buyids and the Saffarids, while continuing to patronize Arabic to a significant degree.^[9] Nevertheless, in a famous edict, Samanid authorites stipulted that "here, in this region, the language is Persian, and the kings of this realm are Persian kings."^[10]

Modern idealized portrait of Ismail Samani, an emperor of the Tajik Samanid dynasty, a Persian dynasty based in Central Asia.

The Samanids not only revived Persian culture but they also determinedly propagated Sunni Islam. In doing so, the Samanids repressed Ismaili Shiism^[11] but remained tolerant of Twelver Shiism.^[12] The Samanid state became a staunch patron of Islamic architecture and spread the Islamo-Persian culture deep into the heart of Central Asia. The population within its areas began firmly accepting Islam in significant numbers, notably in Taraz, now in modern day Kazakhstan. According to historians, through the zealous missionary work of Samanid rulers, as many as 200,000 tents of Turks came to profess Islam,^[13] under the Hanafi school of thought.^[14] The mass conversion of the Turks to Islam eventually led to a growing influence of the Ghaznavids, who would later rule the region. Another lasting contribution of the Samanids to the history of Islamic art is the pottery known as Samanid Epigraphic Ware: plates, bowls, and pitchers fired in a white slip and decorated only with calligraphy, often elegantly and rhythmically written. The Arabic phrases used in this calligraphy are generally more or less generic well wishes, or Islamic admonitions to good table manners. In 999 their realm was conquered by the Karakhanids.

Under Ghaznavid rule, the Shahnameh, was completed. In commending the Samanids, the epic Persian poet Ferdowsi says of them:

کجا آن بزرگان ساسانیان
زبهرامیان تا بسامانیان

"Where have all the great Sassanids gone?
From the Bahrāmids to the Samanids what has come upon?"

Statue of Isma'il Samani in Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Samanid era art: Bowl with white slip, incised design, colored, and glazed. Excavated at Sabz Pushan, Neishapur, Iran. 9th-early 10th century. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• Saman Khuda
• Asad ibn Saman
• Yahya ibn Asad (819-855)
• Nasr I (864 - 892) (Effectively independent 875)
• Ismail (892 - 907)
• Ahmad II (907 - 914)
• Nasr II (914 - 943)
• Hamid Nuh I (943 - 954)
• Abdul Malik I (954 - 961)
• Mansur I (961 - 976)
• Nuh II (976 - 997)
• Mansur II (997 - 999)
• 'Abd al-Malik II (999)

• Full list of Iranian Kingdoms
• History of Arabs in Afghanistan

• To the Question of the Origin of the Samanids by Shamsiddin S. Kamoliddin, in Transoxiana 10, July 2005.
• M. Ismail Marcinkowski, Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey, with a foreword by Professor Clifford Edmund Bosworth, member of the British Academy, Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2003, ISBN 9971-77-488-7.They were overthrown by the Ghaznavid Empire. And THE former Foreign Minister, Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali is a descendant of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi.