Claim: Afghanistan is the source of the Samanid dynasty.
Evidence: The land also served as the source from which the Kushans , Hephthalites , Samanids , Saffarids , Ghaznavids , Ghorids , Khiljis , Mughals , Hotaks , Durranis , and others have risen to form major empires.
The Samanid Empire -LRB- سامانیان , Sāmāniyān -RRB- , also known as the Samanid dynasty , Samanid Emirate , or simply Samanids , was a Sunni Iranian empire , ruling from 819 to 999.