Lesson 10: Eastern Dynasties

Question 1

Amu Darya (Oxus)

Answer 1

is a major river in Central Asia. It is formed on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and flows from there north-westwards into the southern remnants of the Aral Sea. In ancient history, the river was regarded as the boundary between Greater Iran and Turan.

Question 2

Syr Dayra (Jaxartes)

Answer 2

s a river in Central Asia. The name literally means Syr River and sometimes it is referred to in this way. It originates in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan and flows to the Aral Sea. It is the northern and eastern of the two main rivers in the endorheic basin of the Aral Sea, the other being the Amu Darya.

Question 3

Transoxania

Answer 3

known in Arabic sources as Mā Warāʾ an-Nahr’ beyond the river’, is the ancient name used for the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. The area had been known to the ancient Iranians as Turan, a term used in the Persian national epic Shahnameh, and to the Romans as Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus). Transoxiana’s major cities and cultural centers are Samarkand and Bukhara. Both are in the southern portion of Transoxiana, and the majority of the region was dry but fertile plains. Both cities remained centres of Persian culture and civilisation after the Islamic conquest of Iran, and played a crucial role in the revival of Persian culture with establishment of the Samanid dynasty.

Question 4

Bukhara

Answer 4

major city in Transoxania

Question 5

Samarkand

Answer 5

major city in Transoxania. Under Samanid rule the city became one of the capitals of the Samanid dynasty and an even more important link amongst numerous trade routes. The Samanids were overthrown by the Karakhanids around 1000. During the next two hundred years, Samarkand would be ruled by a succession of Turkic tribes, including the Seljuqs and the Khwarazm-Shahs.

Question 6

Khawarazam

Answer 6

is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia. In 712 Khwarezm was conquered by the Arab Umayyads. It thus came vaguely under Muslim suzerainty, but it was not until the end of the 8th century or the beginning of the 9th century that an Afrighid Shah was first converted to Islam appearing with the popular convert’s name of ʿAbdallah (slave of God). In the course of the 10th century, when some geographers such as Istakhri in his Al-Masalik wa-l-mamalik mention Khwarezm as part of Khorasan and Transoxiania, the local family of the Ma’munids who were based in Gurganj, on the left bank of the Amu Darya grew in economic and political importance due to trade caravans. In 995, they violently overthrew the Afrighids of Kath and themselves assumed the traditional title of Khwarazm-Shah.

Question 7

Sistan

Answer 7

known in ancient times as Sakastān, is a historical and geographical region in present-day south eastern Iran. Sistan became a province of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. In the 860s, the Saffarid dynasty emerged in Sistan and proceeded to conquer most of the Islamic East, until it was checked by the Samanids in 900. After the Samanids took the province from the Saffarids, it briefly returned to Abbasid control, but in 917 the governor Abu Yazid Khalid made himself independent. He was followed by a series of emirs with brief reigns until 923, when Ahmad ibn Muhammad restored Saffarid rule in Sistan. After his death in 963, Sistan was ruled by his son Khalaf ibn Ahmad until 1002, when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Sistan, ending the Saffarid dynasty.
A year later, Sistan revolted. In response, Mahmud brought an army to suppress the revolt. Mahmud’s Hindu troops sacked the mosque of Zarang massacring the Muslims inside.

Question 8

Kerman

Answer 8

is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. Later stronghold of the Buyids

Question 9

Fars

Answer 9

is the historical homeland of the Persian people. It was the homeland of the Achaemenid and Sasanian Persian dynasties of Iran, who reigned on the throne by the time of the ancient Persian Empires. The ruins of the Achaemenid capitals Pasargadae and Persepolis, among others, demonstrate the ancient history of the region.

Question 10

Sindh

Answer 10

area in modern day pakistan up to the Indus river. Until the Siege of Baghdad (1258) the Soomro dynasty was the Abbasid Caliphate’s functionary in Sindh, but after that it became independent.

Question 11

Azerbaijan

Answer 11

west of the Caspian sea

Question 12

Tabaristan

Answer 12

south of the Caspian sea

Question 13

Kurdistan

Answer 13

southwest of Azerbaijan

Question 14

Daylam

Answer 14

was the name of a mountainous region in south Tabaristan It was so named for its inhabitants, known as the Daylamites

Question 15

Tahird Dynasty

Answer 15

was a dynasty, of Persian, dehqan origin, that effectively ruled the Khorasan from 821 to 873 while other members of the dynasty served as military and security commanders for the city of Baghdad from 820 until 891.The dynasty was founded by Tahir ibn Husayn, a leading general in the service of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun. Their capital in Khorasan was initially located at Merv but was later moved to Nishapur. The arrangement was effectively a partnership between the Abbasids and the Tahirids.” And instead, the Tahirids were loyal to the Abbasid caliphs and enjoyed considerable autonomy rather than being independent from the central authority.The tax revenue from Khorasan that was sent to the caliphal treasury was perhaps larger than those collected previously. Created neo-Persian writing. Their rule continued to grow increasingly weak, and in 873 he was finally overthrown by the Saffarid dynasty, who annexed Khorasan to their own empire in eastern Persia.

Question 16

Saffarid Dynasty

Answer 16

was a Sunni Iranian dynasty from Sistan that ruled over parts of eastern Iran, with its capital at Zaranj from 861 to 1003. One of the first indigenous Persian dynasties to emerge after the Islamic conquest, the Saffarid dynasty was part of the Iranian Intermezzo. The dynasty’s founder was Ya’qub bin Laith as-Saffar. He seized control of the Sistan region and began conquering most of Iran and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Saffarids used their capital Zaranj as a base for an aggressive expansion eastward and westward. They first invaded the areas south of the Hindu Kush, and then overthrew the Persian Tahirid dynasty, annexing Khorasan in 873. By the time of Ya’qub’s death, he had conquered the Kabul Valley, Sindh, Tocharistan, Makran (Balochistan), Kerman, Fars, Khorasan, and nearly reached Baghdad but then suffered a defeat by the Abbasids.

The Saffarid dynasty did not last long after Ya’qub’s death. His brother and successor, Amr bin Laith, was defeated at the Battle of Balkh against Ismail Samani in 900. Amr bin Laith was forced to surrender most of his territories to the new rulers. The Saffarids were subsequently confined to their heartland of Sistan, with their role reduced to that of vassals of the Samanids and their successors.

Question 17

Ya’qūb ibn al-Layth al-Saffār

Answer 17

a Persian coppersmith, was the founder of the Saffarid dynasty of Sistan, with its capital at Zaranj. Under his military leadership he conquered much of the eastern portions of the Greater Iran consisting of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan as well as portions of western Pakistan and a small part of Iraq. He was succeeded by his brother, Amr ibn al-Layth.

Question 18

Ayyarun

Answer 18

literally means vagabond. Was the class of people that al-Amin armed in his last ditch stand of Baghdad. However, most of the writing about them centers on their activities in Baghdad from the 10th to the 12th centuries. Baghdad was ruled by the Buyids (945–1055) back then, and was a very lawless city, caused by fighting between Sunnis and Shi’ites. They did many terrible things such as extorting taxes on roads and markets, burning wealthy quarters and markets, and looting the homes of the rich by night. For several years (1028–33), Al-Burjumi and Ibn al-Mawsili, leaders of the ‘ayyarun, ruled the city due to governmental instability.

Became a warrior class in 10th Century Iran. The Saffarid dynasty was largely an Ayyaruni dynasty

Question 19

Samanid Dynasty

Answer 19

was a Sunni Iranian empire from 819 to 999. The empire was centered in Khorasan and Transoxiana during its existence.

The Samanid state was founded by four brothers; Nuh, Ahmad, Yahya, and Ilyas—each of them ruled their own territory under Abbasid suzerainty. In 892, Ismail Samani (892–907) united the Samanid state under one ruler, thus effectively putting an end to the feudal system used by the Samanids. It was also under him that the Samanids became independent of Abbasid authority.

The Samanid Empire is part of the Iranian Intermezzo, which saw the creation of a Persianate culture and identity that brought Iranian speech and traditions into the fold of the Islamic world. This would later lead to the formation of the Turko-Persian culture.

The Samanids promoted the arts, giving rise to the advancement of science and literature, and thus attracted scholars such as Rudaki, Ferdowsi (where he wrote the Shanameh), and Avicenna. While under Samanid control, Bukhara was a rival to Baghdad in its glory. Scholars note that the Samanids revived Persian language and culture more than the Buyids and the Saffarids, while continuing to patronize Arabic for sciences as well as the religious studies. They considered themselves to be descendants of the Sasanian Empire. In a famous edict, Samanid authorities declared that “here, in this region, the language is Persian, and the kings of this realm are Persian kings.”

Question 20

Ferdowsi

Answer 20

was a Persian poet and the author of Shahnameh (“Book of Kings”), which is the world’s longest epic poem created by a single poet, and the national epic of Greater Iran. Ferdowsi is celebrated as the most influential figure in Persian literature and one of the greatest in the history of literature. Wrote in the Samanid and Ghaznavid Empires in Tus.

Question 21

The Shahnameh

Answer 21

is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 “distichs” or couplets] the Shahnameh is one of the world’s longest epic poems. It tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian Empire from the creation of the world until the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century. The work is of central importance in Persian culture and Persian language, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of the ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion and the death of the last Sassanid ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest which brought an end to the Zoroastrian influence in Iran.

Question 22

New Persian

Answer 22

was taken to replace Middle Persian in the course of the 8th to 9th centuries, under Abbasid rule. With the decline of the Abbasids began the re-establishment of Persian national life and Persians laid the foundations for a renaissance in the realm of letters. Persian written in Arabic alphabet

Question 23

Ghaznavid Dynasty

Answer 23

was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin, at their greatest extent ruling large parts of Iran, Afghanistan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest Indian subcontinent from 977 to 1186. The dynasty was founded by Sabuktigin upon his succession to rule of the region of Ghazna after the death of his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, who was a breakaway ex-general of the Samanid Empire from Balkh, north of the Hindu Kush in Greater Khorasan.

Although the dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was thoroughly Persianised in terms of language, culture, literature and habits and hence is regarded by some as a “Persian dynasty”.

Sabuktigin’s son, Mahmud of Ghazni, declared independence from the Samanid Empire and expanded the Ghaznavid Empire to the Amu Darya, the Indus River and the Indian Ocean in the East and to Rey and Hamadan in the west. Under the reign of Mas’ud I, the Ghaznavid dynasty began losing control over its western territories to the Seljuq dynasty after the Battle of Dandanaqan, resulting in a restriction of its holdings to modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan. In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to the Ghurid king Ala al-Din Husayn.

Question 24

Mahmud of Ghazni

Answer 24

was the first independent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 999 to 1030. At the time of his death, his kingdom had been transformed into an extensive military empire, which extended from northwestern Iran proper to the Punjab in the Indian subcontinent, Khwarazm in Transoxiana, and Makran.

Highly Persianized, Mahmud continued the bureaucratic, political, and cultural customs of his predecessors, the Samanids, which proved to establish the groundwork for a Persianate state in northern India. His capital of Ghazni evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center in the Islamic world, almost rivaling the important city of Baghdad. The capital appealed to many prominent figures, such as al-Biruni and Ferdowsi.

He was the first ruler to hold the title Sultan (“authority”), signifying the extent of his power while at the same time preserving an ideological link to the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate. During his rule, he invaded and plundered parts of the Indian subcontinent (east of the Indus River) seventeen times.

Question 25

The Kara-Khanid Khanate

Answer 25

was a Turkic dynasty that ruled in Transoxania in Central Asia, ruled by a dynasty known in literature as the Karakhanids (also spelled Qarakhanids) or Ilek Khanids. Both the dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek Khanids refer to royal titles with Kara Kağan being the most important Turkish title up till the end of the dynasty.

The Khanate conquered Transoxania in Central Asia and ruled it between 999–1211. Their arrival in Transoxania signaled a definitive shift from Iranian to Turkic predominance in Central Asia,[9] yet the Kara-khanids gradually assimilated the Perso-Arab Muslim culture, while retaining some of their native Turkish culture. Their capitals included Kashgar, Balasagun, Uzgen, and Samarkand.

Question 26

Buyid Dynasty

Answer 26

was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin. Coupled with the rise of other Iranian dynasties in the region, the approximate century of Buyid rule represents the period in Iranian history sometimes called the ‘Iranian Intermezzo’ since, after the Muslim conquest of Persia, it was an interlude between the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Seljuk Empire.

The Buyid dynasty was founded by ‘Ali ibn Buya, who in 934 conquered Fars and made Shiraz his capital. His younger brother Hasan ibn Buya conquered parts of Jibal in the late 930s, and by 943 managed to capture Ray, which he made his capital. In 945, the youngest brother, Ahmad ibn Buya, conquered Iraq and made Baghdad his capital. He received the laqab or honorific title of Mu’izz al-Dawla (“Fortifier of the State”). The eldest, ‘Ali, was given the title of ‘Imad al-Dawla (“Support of the State”), and Hasan was given the title of Rukn al-Dawla (“Pillar of the State”) As Daylamite Iranians, the Buyids consciously revived symbols and practices of Iran’s Sasanian Empire. Beginning with ‘Adud al-Dawla, they used the ancient Sasanian title Shahanshah (شاهنشاه), literally “king of kings”.

At its greatest extent, the Buyid dynasty encompassed territory of most of today’s Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Syria, along with parts of Oman, the UAE, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan. During the 10th and 11th centuries, just prior to the invasion of the Seljuq Turks, the Buyids were the most influential dynasty in the Middle East.