Saffarid dynasty: Difference between revisions

Saffarid Empire
صفاریان
Saffarid Empire صفاریان
867–1002
	Saffarid Emirate at its Greatest Extent
Capital	Zaranj, Afghanistan
Common languages	Persian (mother tongue)
Religion	Sunni Islam
Government	Monarchy
Emir
• 861–879	Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar
• 963–1002	Khalaf I
Historical era	Medieval
• Established	867
• Disestablished	1002
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Tahirid dynasty
Samanid dynasty

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 13:26, 8 September 2012

The Saffarids (Persian: سلسله صفاریان) were a Muslim Persianate dynasty^[2] who established an empire in 861^[3]^[4] in eastern Persia, which included Khorasan, Afghanistan and Balochistan.^[5] The dynasty was founded by Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar, a native of Sistan, who worked as a coppersmith (ṣaffār) to becoming a warlord. He seized control of the Sistan region and began conquering most of what is now Afghanistan in the name of Islam.

The Saffarids used their capital Zaranj, which is a city in modern-day Afghanistan, as a base for an expansion eastwards and westwards. They first invaded the pagan and Buddhist dominated areas south of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, then overthrew the Persian Tahirid dynasty, annexing Khorasan in 873. By the time of Ya'qub's death, he had conquered the Kabul Valley, Sindh, Tocharistan, Makran (Balochistan), Kerman, Fars, Khorasan, and nearly reached Baghdad but then suffered a defeat by the Abbasids.^[5]

The Saffarid empire did not last long after Ya'qub's death. His brother and successor, Amr bin Laith, was defeated in a battle in Balkh against Ismail Samani in 900. Amr bin Laith was forced to surrender most of his territories to the new rulers. The Saffarids were subsequently confined to their heartland of Sistan, with their role reduced to that of vassals of the Samanids and their successors.

Founding

The dynasty began with Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar (Ya'qub, son of Layth), son of a coppersmith who moved to the city of Zaranj. His family are believed to be of Iranian-pleb origin. He left coppersmithing to become an Ayyar and eventually got the power to act as an independent ruler. From his capital Zaranj he moved east into al-Rukhkhadj and Zamindawar followed by Zunbil and Kabul by 865. He then invaded Bamyan, Balkh, Badghis, and Ghor. In the name of Islam, he conquered these territories which were ruled mostly by Buddhist tribal chiefs. He took vast amounts of plunder and slaves from this campaign.^[6]^[7]

"Arab armies carrying the banner of Islam came out of the west to defeat the Sasanians in 642 and then they marched with confidence to the east. On the western periphery of the Afghan area the princes of Herat and Seistan gave way to rule by Arab governors but in the east, in the mountains, cities submitted only to rise in revolt and the hastily converted returned to their old beliefs once the armies passed. The harshness and avariciousness of Arab rule produced such unrest, however, that once the waning power of the Caliphate became apparent, native rulers once again established themselves independent. Among these the Saffarids of Seistan shone briefly in the Afghan area. The fanatic founder of this dynasty, the coppersmith’s apprentice Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari, came forth from his capital at Zaranj in 870 and marched through Bost, Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul, Bamyan, Balkh and Herat, conquering in the name of Islam.".^[8]
— Nancy Dupree, 1971

The Tahirid city of Herat was captured in 870 and his campaign in the Badghis region led to the capture of Kharidjites which later formed the Djash al-Shurat contingent in his army. Ya'qub then turned his focus to the west and began attacks on Khorasan, Khuzistan, Kirman and Fars. These attacks forced the Abbasid caliphate to recognize him as governor of Kirman.^[9]

In 901, Amr Saffari was defeated at the battle of Balkh by the Persian Samanids, which reduced the Saffarid dynasty to a minor tributary in Sistan.^[10]

In 1002, Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Sistan, dethroned Khalaf I and finally ended the Saffarid dynasty.^[11]

Culture

The Saffarids gave great care to the Persian culture. Under their rule, the eastern Islamic world witnessed the emergence of prominent Persian poets such as Fayrouz Mashriqi, Abu Salik al-Jirjani, and Muhammad bin Wasif al-Sistani, who was a court poet.^[12]

In the later 9th century, the Saffarids gave impetus to a renaissance of New Persian literature and culture. Following Ya'qub's conquest of Herat, some poets chose to celebrate his victory in Arabic, whereupon Ya'qub requested his secretary, Muhammad bin Wasif al-Sistani, to compose those verses in Persian.^[13]

From silver mines in the Panjshir Valley, the Saffarids were able to mint silver coins.^[14]

Rulers of the Saffarid dynasty

Titular Name	Personal Name	Reign
Independence from Abbasid Caliphate.
Amir أمیر al-Saffar coppersmith الصفار	Ya'qub bin Layth یعقوب بن اللیث	867-879 CE
Amir أمیر	Amru bin Layth عمرو بن اللیث	879-901 CE
Amir أمیر Abul-Hasan أبو الحسن	Tahir bin Muhammad bin Amru طاھر بن محمد بن عمرو co-ruler Abu Yusuf Ya'qub bin Muhammad bin Amru	901-908 CE
Amir أمیر	Layth bin 'Ali اللیث بن علی	908-910 CE
Amir أمیر	Muhammad bin 'Ali محمد بن علی	910-911 CE
Amir أمیر	Al-Mu'addal bin 'Ali ؟	911 CE
Amir أمیر Abu Hafs ابو حفص	Amru bin Ya'qub bin Muhammad bin Amru عمرو بن یعقوب بن محمد بن عمرو	912-913 CE
Samanid occupation 913-922 CE.
Amir أمیر Abu Ja'far ابو جعفر	Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Khalaf bin Layth bin 'Ali	922-963 CE
Amir أمیر Wali-ud-Daulah ولی الدولہ	Khalaf bin Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Khalaf bin Layth bin 'Ali	963-1002 CE
Conquered by Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin of the Ghaznavid Empire in 1002 CE.

Gallery

The Saffarid dynasty and its neighbors at its peak in 900 CE
Saffarid Soldier

References

^ "Persian Prose Literature." World Eras. 2002. HighBeam Research. (September 3, 2012);"Princes, although they were often tutored in Arabic and religious subjects, frequently did not feel as comfortable with the Arabic language and preferred literature in Persian, which was either their mother tongue—as in the case of dynasties such as the Saffarids (861–1003), Samanids (873–1005), and Buyids (945–1055)...". [1]
^ The Islamization of Central Asia in the Samanid era and the reshaping of the Muslim world, D.G. Tor, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London , Vol. 72, No. 2 (2009), 281;"The Saffārids were the first of the Persianate dynasties to arise from the remains of the politically moribund ʿAbbāsid caliphate".
^ The Cambridge History of Iran, by Richard Nelson Frye, William Bayne Fisher, John Andrew Boyle (Cambridge University Press, 1975: ISBN 0-521-20093-8), pg. 121.
^ The Encyclopedia of World History, ed. Peter N. Stearns and William Leonard Langer (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), 115.
^ ^a ^b Clifford Edmund Bosworth, Encyclopædia Iranica SAFFARIDS
^ The Development of Persian Culture under the Early Ghaznavids, C.E. Bosworth, Iran, Vol. 6, (1968), 34.
^ Saffarids, C.E. Bosworth, Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. VIII, Ed. C.E.Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P.Heinrichs and G. Lecomte, (Brill, 1995), 795.
^ Dupree, Nancy (1971) "Sites in Perspective (Chapter 3)" An Historical Guide To Afghanistan Afghan Tourist Organization, Kabul, OCLC 241390
^ Saffarids, Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. VIII, 795.
^ The Development of Persian Culture under the Early Ghaznavids, C.E. Bosworth, 34.
^ C.E. Bosworth, The Ghaznavids 994-1040, (Edinburgh University Press, 1963), 89.
^ The Ṭāhirids and Persian Literature, C. E. Bosworth, Iran, Vol. 7, (1969), 104.
^ The Tahirids and the Saffarids, C.E.Bosworth, The Cambridge History of Iran: The period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs, Vol. IV, Ed. R.N.Frye, (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 129.
^ Pandjhir, Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. VIII, 258.

External links

Encyclopædia Iranica Saffarids

[1] "Persian Prose Literature." World Eras. 2002. HighBeam Research. (September 3, 2012);"Princes, although they were often tutored in Arabic and religious subjects, frequently did not feel as comfortable with the Arabic language and preferred literature in Persian, which was either their mother tongue—as in the case of dynasties such as the Saffarids (861–1003), Samanids (873–1005), and Buyids (945–1055)...". [1]

[2] The Islamization of Central Asia in the Samanid era and the reshaping of the Muslim world, D.G. Tor, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London , Vol. 72, No. 2 (2009), 281;"The Saffārids were the first of the Persianate dynasties to arise from the remains of the politically moribund ʿAbbāsid caliphate".

[3] The Cambridge History of Iran, by Richard Nelson Frye, William Bayne Fisher, John Andrew Boyle (Cambridge University Press, 1975: ISBN 0-521-20093-8), pg. 121.

[4] The Encyclopedia of World History, ed. Peter N. Stearns and William Leonard Langer (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), 115.

[Bosworth-5] Clifford Edmund Bosworth, Encyclopædia Iranica SAFFARIDS

[6] The Development of Persian Culture under the Early Ghaznavids, C.E. Bosworth, Iran, Vol. 6, (1968), 34.

[7] Saffarids, C.E. Bosworth, Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. VIII, Ed. C.E.Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P.Heinrichs and G. Lecomte, (Brill, 1995), 795.

[Dupree-8] Dupree, Nancy (1971) "Sites in Perspective (Chapter 3)" An Historical Guide To Afghanistan Afghan Tourist Organization, Kabul, OCLC 241390

[9] Saffarids, Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. VIII, 795.

[10] The Development of Persian Culture under the Early Ghaznavids, C.E. Bosworth, 34.

[11] C.E. Bosworth, The Ghaznavids 994-1040, (Edinburgh University Press, 1963), 89.

[12] The Ṭāhirids and Persian Literature, C. E. Bosworth, Iran, Vol. 7, (1969), 104.

[13] The Tahirids and the Saffarids, C.E.Bosworth, The Cambridge History of Iran: The period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs, Vol. IV, Ed. R.N.Frye, (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 129.

[14] Pandjhir, Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. VIII, 258.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 }}
-The '''Saffarids''' ({{lang-fa|سلسله صفاریان}}) were a [[Muslim]] [[Persianate]]<ref>''The Islamization of Central Asia in the Samanid era and the reshaping of the Muslim world'', D.G. Tor, '''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies''', University of London , Vol. 72, No. 2 (2009), 281;"''The Saffārids were the first of the Persianate dynasties to arise from the remains of the politically moribund ʿAbbāsid caliphate''".</ref> dynasty, of [[Persian people|Persian]] origin, who established a Persian Empire,<ref>''The Cambridge History of Iran'', by Richard Nelson Frye, William Bayne Fisher, John Andrew Boyle (Cambridge University Press, 1975: ISBN 0-521-20093-8), pg. 121.</ref><ref>''The Encyclopedia of World History'', ed. Peter N. Stearns and William Leonard Langer (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), 115.</ref> between 861 and 1002, in much of eastern [[Persia]], including [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], [[Name of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] and [[Balochistan region|Balochistan]].<ref name="Bosworth">[[Clifford Edmund Bosworth]], ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/saffarids SAFFARIDS]</ref> The dynasty was founded by [[Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar]], a native Iranian of [[Sistan]], who worked as a coppersmith (''ṣaffār'') to becoming a [[warlord]]. He seized control of the Sistan region and began conquering most of what is now Afghanistan in the name of [[Islam]].
+The '''Saffarids''' ({{lang-fa|سلسله صفاریان}}) were a [[Muslim]] [[Persianate society|Persianate dynasty]]<ref>''The Islamization of Central Asia in the Samanid era and the reshaping of the Muslim world'', D.G. Tor, '''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies''', University of London , Vol. 72, No. 2 (2009), 281;"''The Saffārids were the first of the Persianate dynasties to arise from the remains of the politically moribund ʿAbbāsid caliphate''".</ref> who established an empire in 861<ref>''The Cambridge History of Iran'', by Richard Nelson Frye, William Bayne Fisher, John Andrew Boyle (Cambridge University Press, 1975: ISBN 0-521-20093-8), pg. 121.</ref><ref>''The Encyclopedia of World History'', ed. Peter N. Stearns and William Leonard Langer (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), 115.</ref> in eastern [[Persia]], which included [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], [[Name of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] and [[Balochistan region|Balochistan]].<ref name="Bosworth">[[Clifford Edmund Bosworth]], ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/saffarids SAFFARIDS]</ref> The dynasty was founded by [[Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar]], a native of [[Sistan]], who worked as a coppersmith (''ṣaffār'') to becoming a [[warlord]]. He seized control of the Sistan region and began conquering most of what is now [[Afghanistan]] in the name of [[Islam]].
-The Saffarids used their capital [[Zaranj]], which is a city in modern-day Afghanistan, as a base for an aggressive expansion eastwards and westwards. They first invaded the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]]-[[Hindu]] dominated areas south of the [[Hindu Kush]] in Afghanistan and then overthrew the Persian [[Tahirid dynasty]], annexing Khorasan in 873. By the time of Ya'qub's death, he had conquered the [[Kabul|Kabul Valley]], [[Sindh]], [[Tocharistan]], [[Makran]] (Balochistan), [[Kerman]], [[Fars Province|Fars]], Khorasan, and nearly reached [[Baghdad]] but then suffered a defeat by the [[Abbasids]].<ref name="Bosworth"/>
+The Saffarids used their capital [[Zaranj]], which is a city in modern-day Afghanistan, as a base for an expansion eastwards and westwards. They first invaded the [[Zunbils|pagan]] and [[Kabul Shahi|Buddhist dominated areas]] south of the [[Hindu Kush]] in Afghanistan, then overthrew the Persian [[Tahirid dynasty]], annexing Khorasan in 873. By the time of Ya'qub's death, he had conquered the [[Kabul|Kabul Valley]], [[Sindh]], [[Tocharistan]], [[Makran]] (Balochistan), [[Kerman]], [[Fars Province|Fars]], Khorasan, and nearly reached [[Baghdad]] but then suffered a defeat by the [[Abbasids]].<ref name="Bosworth"/>
 The Saffarid empire did not last long after Ya'qub's death. His brother and successor, [[Amr bin Laith]], was defeated in a battle in [[Balkh]] against [[Ismail Samani]] in 900. Amr bin Laith was forced to surrender most of his territories to the new rulers. The Saffarids were subsequently confined to their heartland of Sistan, with their role reduced to that of [[vassal]]s of the [[Samanids]] and their successors.
 ==Founding==
-The dynasty began with [[Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari|Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar]] (Ya'qub, son of Layth), a coppersmith who moved to the city of Zaranj. He left work to become an [[Ayyarun|Ayyar]] and eventually got the power to act as an independent ruler. From his capital Zaranj he moved east into al-Rukhkhadj and [[Zamindawar]] followed by [[Zunbils|Zunbil]] and [[Kabul Shahi|Kabul]] by 865. He then invaded [[Bamyan]], [[Balkh]], [[Badghis]], and [[Ghor]]. In the name of [[Islam]], he conquered these territories which were ruled mostly by [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[tribal chief]]s. He took vast amounts of plunder and slaves from this campaign.<ref>''The Development of Persian Culture under the Early Ghaznavids'', C.E. Bosworth, '''Iran''', Vol. 6, (1968), 34.</ref><ref>''Saffarids'', C.E. Bosworth, [[Encyclopedia of Islam]], Vol. VIII, Ed. C.E.Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P.Heinrichs and G. Lecomte, (Brill, 1995), 795.</ref>
+The dynasty began with [[Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari|Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar]] (Ya'qub, son of Layth), son of a coppersmith who moved to the city of Zaranj. His family are believed to be of [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]]-[[Plebs|pleb]] origin. He left coppersmithing to become an [[Ayyarun|Ayyar]] and eventually got the power to act as an independent ruler. From his capital Zaranj he moved east into al-Rukhkhadj and [[Zamindawar]] followed by [[Zunbils|Zunbil]] and [[Kabul Shahi|Kabul]] by 865. He then invaded [[Bamyan]], [[Balkh]], [[Badghis]], and [[Ghor]]. In the name of Islam, he conquered these territories which were ruled mostly by [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[tribal chief]]s. He took vast amounts of plunder and slaves from this campaign.<ref>''The Development of Persian Culture under the Early Ghaznavids'', C.E. Bosworth, '''Iran''', Vol. 6, (1968), 34.</ref><ref>''Saffarids'', C.E. Bosworth, [[Encyclopedia of Islam]], Vol. VIII, Ed. C.E.Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P.Heinrichs and G. Lecomte, (Brill, 1995), 795.</ref>
 {{quote|''"Arab armies carrying the banner of Islam came out of the west to defeat the [[Sasanians]] in 642 and then they marched with confidence to the east. On the western periphery of the [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] area the princes of [[Herat]] and [[Seistan]] gave way to rule by Arab [[governors]] but in the east, in the mountains, cities submitted only to rise in revolt and the hastily converted returned to their old beliefs once the armies passed. The harshness and avariciousness of Arab rule produced such unrest, however, that once the waning power of the [[Caliphate]] became apparent, native rulers once again established themselves independent. Among these the [[Saffarids]] of Seistan shone briefly in the Afghan area. The fanatic founder of this dynasty, the coppersmith’s apprentice Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari, came forth from his capital at Zaranj in 870 and marched through [[Bost]], [[Kandahar]], [[Ghazni]], Kabul, Bamyan, [[Balkh]] and [[Herat]], conquering in the name of Islam."''.<ref name="Dupree">[[Nancy Dupree|Dupree, Nancy]] (1971) "Sites in Perspective (Chapter 3)" ''An Historical Guide To Afghanistan'' Afghan Tourist Organization, Kabul, [http://worldcat.org/oclc/241390 OCLC 241390]</ref>|[[Nancy Dupree]]|1971}}