THE SĀMĀNIDES
On the death of Nasr ibn Ahmed, A.H. 279 (892), Isma`īl became the
acknowledged lord of Transoxiana and Khwārazm, with Bokhārā as his
capital. His succession was furthermore confirmed by a royal patent
from the Caliph Mu`tadhid. The first recorded act of Isma`īl’s reign
was the _ghazā_, or Holy War, which he conducted against the Christian
settlement of Tarāz.[230] The undertaking, according to Narshakhi,[231]
cost him no little trouble; but finally “the Amīr and many of the
_Dihkāns_ embraced Islam,” and opened the gates of Tarāz to Isma`īl,
who immediately converted the principal church into a mosque and had
prayers in the Caliph’s name. His troops returned to Bokhārā laden
with booty.[232] In the meantime `Amr ibn Layth had reorganised his
shattered forces,[233] and set out on a fresh career of conquest.
In 279 Mu`tadhid, on the death of his brother, succeeded to the
Caliphate. `Amr ibn Layth, who had been the late Caliph’s bitterest
enemy, now offered his services to his successor, who appointed him
to the governorship of Khorāsān. The Caliph doubtless thought that
`Amr would act as a useful counterpoise to the Sāmānides, whose power
was daily increasing in Transoxiana, and Rāfi` ibn Harthama, who was
in possession of part of Khorāsān and Persian `Irāk.[234] In A.H. 283
(896) `Amr defeated Rāfi` and took possession of Nīshāpūr. Rāfi` was
cruelly murdered, and his head sent as a trophy of `Amr’s successes
to Baghdād. `Amr’s ambition now knew no bounds. He insisted that the
Sāmānides should be removed from Transoxiana, and that the province
should be added to his governorship. The Caliph, in reply to these
demands, urged him to attack Isma`īl, and practically offered him the
province should his expedition prove successful, while at the same
time he confirmed Isma`īl in his governorship, and encouraged him to
withstand `Amr.[235] He doubtless hoped, by provoking a conflict, to
weaken the power of both men. These hostilities finally culminated in
the siege and capture of Balkh, A.H. 288 (900), when `Amr fell into
Isma`īl’s hands.[236] In this connection, again, wonderful stories are
told of Isma`īl’s generosity towards his fallen enemies. It is said,
indeed, that he would have kept `Amr by him, and treated him with
kindness and distinction, had not the Caliph demanded that his enemy
should be delivered over to him for punishment. `Amr was therefore sent
to Baghdād, where he remained a close prisoner until his death by the
executioner’s hand in A.H. 290 (903).[237] He was nominally succeeded
by a son, Tāhir, who, however, only held his post for one year.
As soon as `Amr arrived a prisoner in Baghdād the Caliph sent a royal
patent confirming the appointment of Isma`īl to the governorship of
“Khorāsān, Turkestān, Māvarā-un-Nahr, Sind, Hind, and Jurjān.”[238]
Isma`īl’s government is spoken of in the highest terms, and we are
expressly told by Narshakhi that throughout his rule he owed implicit
obedience to the Caliph. He chose Bokhārā as his capital,[239] and
appointed separate governors for all the towns in his realms.
The last campaign in which he engaged was against the Turks in the
modern Hazrat-i-Turkestān, whom in A.H. 291 (903) he drove back within
their own frontiers, while Isma`īl returned to Bokhārā laden with
plunder.
The last four years of Isma`īl’s reign were characterised by internal
peace and progress, which enabled him to devote much of his attention
to the welfare of his beloved city of Bokhārā, which now became a
great centre of Mohammedan learning and culture.[240] Many of the
principal buildings in Bokhārā date back to the days of Amīr Isma`īl,
and among her children are to be reckoned some of the greatest
theologians, jurisconsults, historians, and poets of the day. Bokhārā
was, moreover, the capital of an empire which included such famous
and widely separated towns as Merv, Nīshāpūr, Ray, Āmul, Herat, and
Balkh.[241] At this date Bokhārā fully deserved the title of _Sherīf_
or “the Noble,” which she has retained to the present time, when the
memory alone of her ancient greatness survives.
Such was the inheritance which Isma`īl, on his death[242] in A.H. 295
(907), left to his son Ahmed.
While, on the other hand, the Būyide or Daylamite dynasty was becoming
daily more powerful, and was gradually absorbing the whole of Persia
and trespassing on the Western possessions of the Sāmānides, the
representatives of this house had become mere puppets in the hands of
their ministers, many of whom were Turks, who, like their kinsmen the
Mamlūks of Egypt, had risen from the position of slaves to the highest
offices in the state.
Thus in the year A.H. 350 (961), on the death of `Abd el-Melik I.,
Mansūr I., his brother and successor, met with serious opposition from
a certain Turk named Alptagin, governor of Nīshāpūr, who refused to
recognise his claims. Resort was had to arms, and, after a battle at
Balkh, the results of which are variously stated, Alptagin withdrew to
Ghazna, where he established himself so strongly that he was able to
repulse the army sent by Mansūr to attack him. On the death of Alptagin
in A.H. 366 (976) the leadership of those men who had accompanied
him to Ghazna passed to another Turk named Sabuktagin. The choice was
fortunate, for Sabuktagin proved himself to be a general of great
talent; and by means of little frontier engagements he succeeded
in rapidly extending his territories, and ultimately in founding a
powerful dynasty which, under his successor, was to bring Northern
India, Persia, and the East under its sway. Although Sabuktagin was the
nominal vassal of the Sāmānides,[243] he was in reality an independent
ruler. This was, moreover, the case in a lesser or greater degree with
many of the governors in Khorāsān and the neighbouring dependencies.