Journal: Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association
Year: 2015

internal strife and military conﬂict. This ethnic perspective does not adequately explain the equally volatile politics of the “sedentary” Iranian Samanid dynasty. A predecessor of the Seljuqs in eastern Iran and Transoxania, the Samanid period was likewise characterized by regional rebellion, factional court politics, regicide, and succession struggle between uncles and brothers. The time has come to rethink the political culture of medieval polities in the Islamic world with more useful explan