of the 10th century.THE SAMANID AMIRSOF TRANSOXANIAAND KHURASANAh.mad Igovernorof Farghana& Soghdia,819-864Nas.r I864-892Isma'il892-907Ah.mad II907-914Nas.r II914-943Nuh. I943-954'Abd al-Malik I954-961Mans.ur I961-976Nuh. II976-997patron of Ibn Sina (d.1037)Mans.ur II997-999'Abd al-Malik II999-1000Isma'il II1000-1005Conquest by Qarakhanids& Ghaznawids, 1005The Samanids, like many other Abbasid successors, were originally duly appointed governors, but the S.affarids started as aggressive rebels, overthrowing the Tahirids and launching an invasion of Iraq that reached the Tigris in 876.THE S.AFFARID AMIRSOF SISTANYa'qub861-879Overthrow T.ahirids, 873'Amr ibn al-Layth879-900T.ahir900-909al-Layth909-910Muh.ammad910al-Mu'addal910-911Samanid Occupation, 911-912'Amr ibn Ya'qub912Samanid Occupation, 912-914[local commanders]914-923Ah.mad923-963Khalaf963-1003,d.1009Tahirregent,963-969Ghaznawid Occupation, 1003Although Orthodox, the S.affarids rejected the need for recognition by the Caliphal authority -- but the second amir was eventually recognized as governor of several Iranian provinces. S.affarid power, however, was soon checked by the Samanids, who themselves claimed descent from the Sassanid Shahs and patronized the revival of Persian as a literary language in the epic of Firdawsi (940-1020), the Shah-nama (Book of Kings -- nama is today used to mean "letter" or "paper," while Arabic kitab is used for "book"). This is now regarded as the Iranian National Epic and is noteworthy for the dignity accorded to Zoroaster as a Prophet of God. The book contains a striking dream image, of four men pulling at the corners of a square cloth, but not tearing it. This is interpreted to mean that the four men are the Prophets Moses, Zoroaster, Jesus, and Muhammad, while the cloth is the Religion of God. That Zoroaster figures along with Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad is an unmistakable clue that we are dealing with a Persian source. Otherwise, Muslims do not go out of their way to include Zoroaster, certainly not on equal footing, with the other three. Also, as a statement about religion it is un-Islamic and subversive in that it implies an equality, despite the conflict, between the four attendant religions. The Islamic view is that only Muhammad delivers an uncorrupted revelation.Both the S.affarids and Samanids eventually fell to the coming wave of Turkish regimes. The Samanids were thus the last Iranian domain in Transoxania.THE IKHSHIDID AMIRS OF EGYPTMuh.ammad ibn T.ughj al-Ikhshid935-946Unujur946-961'Ali961-966Kafur al-Labi, Regent966-968Ah.mad968-969Conquest by the Fatimids, 969After the Abbasid revival, the Ikhshidids began the process of drifting out of Abbasid control again but then found themselves trying to stop the triumphant Fatimids, ultimately unsuccessfully.THE H.AMDANIDSOF ALEPP0'Ali ISayfudDawla944-967patron of al-Farabi (d.950)Sharif ISa'dudDawla967-991Antioch lost to Romania, 969Sa'idSa'idudDawla991-1002'Ali II & Sharif II1002-1004Lu'lu'Regent,1002-10041004-1009Vassal of Fatimids, 1004Mans.urMurtad.adDawla1009-1015Fled to Romania, 1015As the Ikhshidids drifted out of Abbasid control, Northern Syria broke away from them, beginning an era of considerable fragmentation. Sayf-udDawla ("Sword of the State") became a celebrated foe of Romania, but he was largely unsuccessful against the revival of Roman power, and his son experienced devastating defeats, at one point with Aleppo and H.oms themselves falling, though retained with the payment of tribute.THE BUWAYID (BUYID)AMIRS OF IRAQAh.mad ibn Buya945-967Bakhtiyar967-978Fana Khusraw978-983Marzuban983-987Shirzil I987-989Firuz989-1012Abu Shuja'1012-1021H.asan1021-1025Shirzil II1025-1044Marzuban1044-1048Khusraw Firuz1048-1055Overthrown by SeljukGreat Sult.ans, 1055The Buwayids were Shi'ite Princes who dominated the Abbasid Caliphs for a century. Although they fostered a flourishing of Shi'ite scholarship and theology, they never tried to suppress the Orthodox Caliphs altogether, so the Abbasids continued to exercise their minimal religious authority