The Samanid state

The Samanids were descendants of the landowner Samankhudat and in the 9th century governed various provinces of Transoxiana. After Ahmad’s death (865) his son Nasr made Samarkand his centre and began to unite the provinces. In the struggle between the brothers Nasr and Ismail, Ismail won and, according to the book, united all of Transoxiana in 888 (his reign is usually dated 892–907). In 893 he struck the steppe nomads in a campaign to Taraz, and in 900 he defeated the Saffarid Amr ibn Layth and gained Khorasan too; the caliph had to send him a patent of rule. The capital was Bukhara. The state was run by divans headed by the amir and the vizier (ten divans according to Narshakhi); under Nasr II (914–943) a special building for the divans was put up on the Registan. Ismail formed a regular army, and long-serving soldiers could become hajibs. Bukhara became a major centre of Islamic learning in the East, with madrasas, mosques and khanqahs; the Samanid state lasted from 865 to 999 according to the book.