The Samanid state
Answers are for parents and teachers.
1
Describe Ismail Samani’s work in 5 sentences.
Unification, Taraz 893, Amr ibn Layth 900, Bukhara as capital, a regular army.
2
Draw a diagram of Samanid government (amir, vizier, divans, hajibs).
Amir → vizier → divans; military side: hajib ul-hujjab → hajibs → soldiers.
3
Write the Samanid territory in terms of today’s countries.
Transoxiana (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan etc.), Khorasan (Afghanistan, north-eastern Iran), parts of northern and eastern Iran.
4
Find information about the Ismail Samani mausoleum in Bukhara and write 3 sentences.
Answer: built in the 10th century; in Bukhara; a famous monument of Eastern architecture.
5
Compare the stages of gaining independence from the Caliphate (Tahir, Samanids).
Tahir — removing the name from the khutba (822); the Samanids — uniting provinces and receiving a patent of rule (900).