The Samanid Empire, also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid Emirate, or simply Samanids, was a Sunni Iranian empire, ruling from 819 to 999. The empire was centered in Khorasan and Transoxiana during its existence; at its greatest extent, the empire encompassed all of today's Afghanistan, large parts of Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and parts of Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
The Ziyarid dynasty was an Iranian dynasty of Gilaki origin that ruled Tabaristan from 930 to 1090. At its greatest extent, it ruled much of present-day western and northern Iran.
'Abd al-Malik I was emir of the Sāmānids (954–961). He was the son of Nuh I.
Abū Ibrāhīm Ismā'īl ibn Aḥmad, better simply known as Isma'il ibn Ahmad, and also known as Ismail Samani, was the Samanid emir of Transoxiana (892–907) and Khorasan (900–907). His reign saw the emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force. He was the son of Ahmad ibn Asad and a descendant of Saman Khuda, the eponymous ancestor of the Samanid dynasty who renounced Zoroastrianism and embraced Islam.
Nasr ibn Ahmad or Nasr II, nicknamed "the Fortunate", was the ruler (amir) of Transoxiana and Khurasan as the head of the Samanid dynasty from 914 to 943. His reign marked the high point of the Samanid dynasty's fortunes. He was the son of Ahmad ibn Isma’il.
Alid dynasties of northern Iran or Alâvids. In the 9th–14th centuries, the northern Iranian regions of Tabaristan, Daylam and Gilan, sandwiched between the Caspian Sea and the Alborz range, came under the rule of a number of Alid dynasties, espousing the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam.
Alp-Tegin, was a Turkic slave commander of the Samanid Empire, who would later become the semi-independent governor of Ghazna from 962 until his death in 963.
Abu Ali Muhammad Bal'ami, also called Amirak Bal'ami and Bal'ami-i Kuchak, was a Persian historian, writer, and vizier to the Samanids. He was from the influential Bal'ami family.
Abu Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī ibn ‘Umar al-Ashraf ibn ‘Alī Zayn al-‘Ābidīn, better known as al-Ḥasan al-Uṭrūsh, was an Alid Shia missionary of the Zaydi sect who re-established Zaydid rule over the province Tabaristan in northern Iran in 914, after fourteen years of Samanid rule. He ruled Tabaristan until his death under the regnal name of al-Nāṣir li'l-Ḥaqq, and became known as al-Nāṣir al-Kabīr to distinguish him from his descendants who bore the same surname. He is still known and recognized as Imam among the Zaydis of Yemen.
The Milakid family, also known as the Mikalis, was a prominent Iranian aristocratic family of Khorasan from the 9th century to the 11th century. They were descended from the pre-Islamic nobility of Samarkand.
Abu Salih Mansur was a Samanid prince, who served as governor during the reign of his uncle Isma'il ibn Ahmad, his cousin Ahmad Samani, and Nasr II.
Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami, also known as Bal'ami the Elder, was a Samanid statesman from the al-Bal'ami family, who served as the vizier of Nasr II from 922 to 938.
Ahmad ibn Farighun was the first Farighunid ruler of Guzgan (9th-century–10th-century). He was the son of a certain Farighun.
Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Razzaq ibn 'Abdallah ibn Farrukh, also simply known as Abu Mansur Muhammad and Ibn 'Abd al-Razzaq, was an Iranian aristocrat who served the Samanids during the most of career, and briefly served as governor of Azerbaijan under the Buyids.
Abu'l Haret Muhammad was the second Farighunid ruler of Guzgan from an unknown date during the 10th century to 982. He was the son and successor of Ahmad ibn Farighun.
Harusindan was the third king of the Gilites, ruling briefly in 921. He was the son of Tirdadh, who was the first king of the Gilites during the 10th century, but later died and was succeeded by another Gilite named Lili ibn al-Nu'man, who was from another clan. Harusindan also had a sister who married a Dailamite nobleman named Ziyar, and together they had a son named Mardavij, who would later create the Ziyarid dynasty.
Ibrahim ibn Simjur was a Samanid military officer from the Simjurid family.
The Bal'ami family was a Persian family native to Khorasan and Transoxiana. The most famous members were Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami and his son
Muhammad Bal'ami.
Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Jayhānī, better simply known as Abu Abdallah Jayhani, was the Persian vizier of the Samanid Empire from 914 to 922. His lost geographical work is an important source of 9th-century history of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. His son and grandson also served as viziers.
