Samanid dynasty
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Who were the Samanids?
The Samanid dynasty (819–999 CE) was an Iranian dynasty that fostered Iranian national sentiment and learning in what is now eastern Iran and Uzbekistan.
The dynasty's founder, Sāmān-Khodā, had four grandsons who were rewarded with provinces for their faithful service to the Abbasid caliph al-Maʾmūn.
Under the Samanids' loosely centralized feudal government, Transoxania and Khorāsān prospered, industry and commerce expanded, and Samarkand and Bukhara became cultural centers. Persian literature flourished, philosophy and history were encouraged, and the foundations of Iranian Islamic culture were laid.
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Where and when did the Samanid dynasty rule?
The Samanid dynasty, an Iranian dynasty, ruled from 819 to 999 CE in an area that now encompasses eastern Iran and Uzbekistan. The dynasty's origins trace back to Sāmān-Khodā, whose grandsons were rewarded with provinces for their service to the Abbasid caliph al-Maʾmūn, including Samarkand, Fergana, Shāsh (Tashkent), and Herāt. The Samanids established a semi-autonomous rule over Transoxania and Khorāsān, with Bukhara as their capital. The dynasty fostered Persian literature, encouraged philosophy and history, and laid the foundations for Iranian Islamic culture.
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What language and culture did the Samanids support?
The Samanid dynasty (819–999 ce) fostered a revival of Iranian national sentiment and learning, giving rise to the second major language of Islamicate high culture, New Persian.
The Samanid court in Bukhara attracted scholars and poets, such as Ferdowsī, who wrote the Shāh-nāmeh ("Book of Kings") in New Persian, bringing ancient Iranian heroic lore into Islamicate literature. The Samanids encouraged philosophy and history, laying the foundations of Iranian Islamic culture. Samanid pottery developed a slip painting technique, using Sasanian motifs and Arabic calligraphy.
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Why was the Samanid dynasty important in Iranian history?
The Samanid dynasty, an Iranian dynasty from 819 to 999 CE, holds importance in Iranian history because of the national sentiment and learning that it spurred. The dynasty fostered the growth of New Persian, which combined spoken Persian's grammar and vocabulary with Arabic.
The Samanids rose from a family appointed by the Abbasids to govern in Bukhara and Samarkand. Their court attracted scholars and poets, such as Ferdowsī, who wrote the Shāh-nāmeh ("Book of Kings") in New Persian, bringing Iranian heroic lore into Islamic literature. The dynasty stimulated industry and commerce, using Samanid silver coins throughout northern Asia. Samarkand and Bukhara became cultural centers, where Persian literature flourished and the foundations of Iranian Islamic culture were laid.
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What achievements are the Samanid dynasty known for?
The Samanid dynasty, an Iranian dynasty that ruled from 819 to 999 CE, is known for promoting Iranian national sentiment and learning.
The Samanids fostered Persian literature with such poets as Rudaki and Ferdowsi and encouraged philosophy and history, laying the foundations for Iranian Islamic culture. They developed slip painting, a pottery technique, and used Sasanian motifs and Arabic calligraphy in their pottery. The Samanids also stimulated industry and commerce, using Samanid silver coins as currency throughout northern Asia.
The Samanid mausoleum in Bukhara, constructed entirely of brick, demonstrates the originality of the era's architecture.
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How did the Samanid dynasty come to an end?
The Samanid dynasty, an Iranian dynasty that ruled from 819 to 999 CE, fell due to a combination of economic and political factors. From the mid-10th century, their power gradually declined because of the interruption of trade and conflicts among disaffected nobles. This internal weakness made them susceptible to rising Turkic powers from Central Asia and Afghanistan.
To maintain control, Nūḥ II appointed Sebüktigin, a Turkic former slave, as ruler of Ghazna and his son Maḥmūd as governor of Khorāsān. However, the Turkic Qarakhanids allied with Maḥmūd, deposing the Samanid ruler Manṣūr II and seizing Khorāsān. Bukhara fell in 999, and after a five-year struggle, the last Samanid, Ismāʿīl II, was assassinated in 1005.
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Samanid dynasty, (819–999 ce), Iranian dynasty that arose in what is now eastern Iran and Uzbekistan. It was renowned for the impulse that it gave to Iranian national sentiment and learning.
The four grandsons of the dynasty’s founder, Sāmān-Khodā, had been rewarded with provinces for their faithful service to the Abbasid caliph al-Maʾmūn: Nūḥ obtained Samarkand; Aḥmad, Fergana; Yaḥyā, Shāsh (Tashkent); and Elyās, Herāt. Aḥmad’s son Naṣr became governor of Transoxania in 875, but it was his brother and successor, Ismāʿīl I (892–907), who overthrew the Ṣaffārids in Khorāsān (900) and the Zaydis of Ṭabaristān, thus establishing a semiautonomous rule over Transoxania and Khorāsān, with Bukhara as his capital.
Under the loosely centralized feudal government of the Samanids, Transoxania and Khorāsān prospered, with a notable expansion of industry and commerce, attested by the use of Samanid silver coins as currency throughout northern Asia. The main cities of Samarkand and Bukhara became cultural centres. Persian literature flourished in the works of the poets Rūdakī and Ferdowsī, philosophy and history were encouraged, and the foundations of Iranian Islamic culture were laid.
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The most important contribution of the Samanid age to Islamic art is the pottery produced at Nīshāpūr and Samarkand. The Samanids developed a technique known as slip painting: mixing semifluid clay (slip) with their colours to prevent the designs from running when fired with the thin fluid glazes used at that time. Bowls and simple plates were the most common forms made by Samanid potters. The potters employed stylized Sasanian motifs such as horsemen, birds, lions, and bulls’ heads as well as Arabic calligraphic design. Polychrome pieces usually had a buff or red body with designs of several colours, bright yellows, greens, black, purples, and reds being the most common. Many pottery pieces were produced at Nīshāpūr, however, with only a single line on a white background. The art of bronze casting and other forms of metalwork also flourished at Nishāpūr throughout the Samanid period.
Although few Samanid buildings have survived, a Samanid mausoleum identified with Ismāʿīl (which in fact houses several bodies), still standing in Bukhara, shows the originality of the architecture of the era. The perfectly symmetrical mausoleum is constructed entirely of brick; brick is also used to form decorative patterns in relief, based on the position and direction of each architectural unit.
From the mid-10th century, Samanid power was gradually undermined, economically by the interruption of the northern trade and politically by a struggle with a confederation of disaffected nobles. Weakened, the Samanids became vulnerable to pressure from the rising Turkic powers in Central Asia and Afghanistan. Nūḥ II (976–997), to retain at least nominal control, confirmed Sebüktigin, a former Turkic slave, as semi-independent ruler of Ghazna (modern Ghaznī, Afghanistan) and appointed his son Maḥmūd governor of Khorāsān. But the Turkic Qarakhanids, who then occupied the greater part of Transoxania, allied with Maḥmūd and deposed the Samanid Manṣūr II, taking possession of Khorāsān. Bukhara fell in 999, and the last Samanid, Ismāʿīl II, after a five-year struggle against the Ghaznavid Maḥmūd and the Qarakhanids, was assassinated in 1005.