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The Samanids (875-999) (in Samanian) were a Persian dynasty in Central Asia and eastern Iran, named after its founder Saman Khoda. It was among the first native Iranian dynasties in Iran and Central Asia after the Arabian conquest and collapse of Sassanid Persian empire.
Samanids are considered the beginning of the Tajik nation. Their rule lasted for 102 years and 10 days, and their territory encompassed of Khorasan, Ray, Transoxiania, Tabaristan, Kerman, Gorgan, and west up to Isfahan Province. To further legitimate the dynasty, the Samanids claimed to be descendants of the Sassanid spahbod and once Emperor Bahram Chobin and thus descendants of the royal Mihran Clan, one of the ancient Seven Parthian clans who governed mainland Iran for centuries.
They revived Persian culture and language after the Islamic conquest of Iran. Their capitals were Bukhara, Samarqand and Herat. One lasting contribution of the Samanids to the history of Islamic art is the pottery known as Samanid Epigraphic Ware. Plates, bowls, and pitchers fired in a white slip and decorated only with calligraphy, often elegantly and rhythmically written. The Arabic phrases are generally more or less generic well wishes, or admonitions to good table manners.
In 999 their realm was conquered by the Karakhanids.
In commending the Samanids, the epic Persian poet Ferdowsi says of them:
کجا آن بزرگان ساسانیان
زبهرامیان تا بسامانیان
"To where have the great Sassanids all gone?
To the Bahrāmids and Samanids what has come upon?"
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