Fighting between Mahmud of Ghazni and Abu 'Ali Simjuri

The Simjurids were a Turkic family that served the

Samanid The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Kho ...

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

s of

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

in the 10th century. They played an influential role in the history of eastern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and southern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

during that time, and by the second half of the 10th century they had built a semi-independent principality in

Khurasan Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...

History

The Simjurids originated as Turkic slaves (''

mameluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

'' or ''

ghilman Ghilman (singular ar, غُلاَم ',Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . plural ')Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . were slave-soldiers and/or mercenaries in the armies throughout the Islamic world, such as the Safavi ...

'') for the Samanid amirs.Bosworth, p. 175 They quickly rose to prominence thanks to their skills as military commanders and governors, along with their extensive estates in the

Quhistan Quhistan ( fa, قهستان) or Kohistan (, "mountainous land") was a region of medieval Persia, essentially the southern part of Khurasan. Its boundaries appear to have been south of Khorasan to north, Yazd to West, Sistan to South, Afghanistan to ...

region which acted as a permanent power base.Treadwell Their founder and eponym,

Simjur al-Dawati Simjur al-Dawati was a 10th-century Turkic peoples, Turkic general who served the Samanids. He was the founder of the Simjurids, Simjurid family which would play an important role in the Samanid Empire. Biography Simjur was a ''ghulam'' of Turkic ...

, was appointed to various governorships in eastern and central Iran, and helped the Samanids to expand their authority in that region. His son

Ibrahim ibn Simjur Ibrahim ibn Simjur (died 948) was a Samanid military officer from the Simjurid family. Biography Ibrahim was the son of Simjur al-Dawati, the founder of the Simjurid family. Ibrahim is first mentioned as a deputy of the Muhtajid ruler Abu 'Ali C ...

was appointed as governor of Khurasan in 944/945, but only held it for a short time. After Ibrahim's death, his son

Abu'l-Hasan Simjuri Abu Al-Hasan ( ar, أبو الحسن, Abū Al-Ḥasan, Father of Hasan), also transliterated Abu'l Hasan, is an Arabic ''kunya'' ('teknonym'). It may refer to: Notable people Politics and military * Ali ibn Abi Talib (600–661), the fourth ...

was invested with the governorship of Khurasan and served in that position for almost three decades. With the ascension of the child Nuh ibn Mansur to the Samanid amirate, Muhammad was able to gain greater autonomy from Bukhara for himself. He was a key figure in the struggles that wracked the Samanid state in the 970s and 980s. When he died, his son

Abu Ali Simjuri Abu or ABU may refer to: Places * Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan * Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan * Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria * Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...

took his father's place. Abu 'Ali completely renounced the sovereignty of the Samanids and was able to resist his enemies for some time, but was ultimately captured and executed by the

Ghaznavids The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

, another Turkic slave family, who then took over Khurasan.

List of Simjurids

, (913-914) *

, governorship (945-946) *

, 1st governorship (956-960), 2nd governorship (961-982) *

, I 1st governorship (984-987), 2nd governorship (995-997)

Notes

References

* Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. ''The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual.'' Great Britain: Columbia University Press, 1996. *Treadwell, Luke.
Simjurids
" ''Encyclopaedia Iranica.'' Ed. Ehsan Yarshater. Columbia University. Retrieved 8 May 2012. {{Turkic topics Turkic dynasties Medieval Khorasan Ghilman 10th century in Iran

History

List of Simjurids

See also

Notes

References