Samanids

This article focuses on the iconicity of contemporary Dushanbe’s capitol complex, with its state-sponsored architecture and memorial culture, part of the government of Tajikistan’s national identity construction. Dushanbe’s architecture post-independence is actant, a mnemonic and iconographical bridge between the present and favoured historical periods in a quest for national origins. A bricolage of historical symbols, including those of Achaemenid Iran and the early Islamic Samanids, is displayed here in a city with Soviet foundations. Together with pan-Iranian iconography is a desire by the government of Tajikistan for monumentality for its own sake. The capitol complex evokes the natural world, connected to a Central Asian conception of sacred space, suggesting an interlacing of power and religious authority. These monumental building projects are taking place against the backdrop of the destruction of Dushanbe’s ‘authentic’ Soviet architecture and built heritage in the capitol complex, itself a container for collective memory.

This 1994 study - a paper rather than a true monograph -  describes the evolution of the Samanid military system from an army based largely on volunteers and on drafted men from the countryside to a more professional army with a core of slave soldiers.

This article takes a new look at the Seljuq migration into Transoxiana, and in doing so, discusses the theses recently put forward by Richard Bulliet in his Cotton, Climate, and Camels. In particular, it raises the question of where the Seljuq Ghuzz – pastoral nomads after all – had their pasture grounds and which animals they herded. The result is that they had only limited access to pasture (in particular summer pasture) and were looking for new places. Their herd was a mixed herd of the well-known Central Asian type, with sheep, horses, and camels; cows were largely absent. This is contrasted with one element in Bulliet's argument about the reasons for the Ghuzz-Seljuq migration: Bulliet sees the Seljuq Ghuzz as camel breeders. In a second step, the question of the relation between this migration and climatic conditions in northern Transoxiana are discussed, in contrast to another element in Richard Bulliet's argument. Paleoclimatic evidence is adduced, showing that there was climate change in the 10th-11th centuries , notably a cooling of the summer temperature and a marked desiccation. But winter temperatures remained more or less constant – no marked chilling of the winters took place. In all, the article rejects Bulliet's causation chain and proposes that the Ghuzz-Seljuq migration into Transoxiana was due to political reasons rather than induced by climate change. Braudel started his magnum opus with an observation about the relationship between geography and history. He wrote that he was not satisfied with " ces traditionnelles introductions géographiques à l'histoire, inutilement placées au seuil de tant de livres, avec leurs paysages minéraux, leurs labours et leurs fleurs qu'on montre rapidement et dont ensuite il n'est plus jamais question, comme si les fleurs ne revenaient pas avec chaque printemps, comme si les troupeaux s'arrêtaient dans leurs déplacements, comme si les navires n'avaient pas à voguer

This essay focuses on two 10th century bronzes, unearthed at opposite ends of the Islamic lands, and inscribed with an epigraphic band that can be read as the repetition of the Arabic word for sovereignty, "al-mulk." These objects hint at a transhemispheric cultural-political history that has implications for reigning narratives of modernity, including for those that relate to medieval studies.

In my previous thesis I wrote about what features that characterize the Hiberno-Norse identity in Ireland during the Viking Age/Early Medieval period and the origin of these features. I also discussed whether they are to be viewed as a creolized Scandinavian society or as a hybrid culture with focus on said features. In this thesis I will attempt to shift the focus towards 9th and 10th century Gotland. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if there were some connections between the Hiberno-Norse world and Gotland. I will focus on one particular hypothesis regarding the early import of Islamic dirhams, particularly Samanid silver to Ireland. The idea is to examine if a trading network might have existed and, in essence, to establish that there were connections between the Hiberno-Norse world and Gotland.

Rudaki lived during a very turbulent time in the histor of Iran. It was a time when Persian political power was on the wane but Iranian intellectual power was on the rise. Rudaki played a crucial role during this time of transition He created a literary atmosphere in which, in spite of the political uncertainty under the Turks, Persian literature went on to produce great poets like Firdowsi, Umar Khayyam, Rumi, and Hafiz. This article deals with Rudaki's life and works and assesses the contributions of Rudaki to Iranian and world literatures. According to Sam'ani in Lubab Al-Ansab, Rudaki's full name is Abu 'Abd Allah Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Hakim ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Adam. 1 He has the distinct privilege of being not only the founder of Perso-Tajik literature but also one of its most prominent poets. 2 He is also the first among his peers to have a diwan and the first to use poetic meters in the composition of longer pieces like Kalila wa Dimnah and Sandbad Name. 3 Some have attributed Rudaki's fame to the grandeur of the court of his patron Nasr ibn Ahmad II (914-943). Fortunately, enough of his poetry (in various genres: masnavi, qit'ah, ghazal, ruba'i, and marsiyyah) is extant to establish his unequivocal mastery of the art and to prove that, on his own, he merits the unsurpassed greatness that is attributed to him. 4 In fact, the poetic standards that he established in the 9 th century endured for centuries and guided Persian poets until the advent of Muhammad Taqi Bahar (1880-1951). The contributions of Rudaki in setting standards are remarkable. Although the revitalized Persian language used during his time had developed sufficiently to express the sentiments, needs, and aspirations of the people, it lacked the means necessary to convey those aspects of the

The article examines the spread of Muslim Kufic coins in Eastern, Western and Northern Europe, on the territory of Volga Bulgaria, Ancient Rus, the neighbours of Bulgars – ancestors of the Mari, Udmurt, Mordva and other Finno-Ugric ethnicities during the early Middle Ages in the 8th – beginning of the 11th centuries. The research of these coins shows the list of countries and Muslim dynasties the above-mentioned countries had trade relations with and their chronological framework. Coins of Umayyads, Abbasids, Samanids, Buwayhids, Ziyarids, Qarakhanids and other Muslim dynasties were discovered. Ways of Kufic dirhems expansion and their chronological framework are shown. The main role of Khazar Khanate is marked for the time span of 8th – 9th centuries whereas since X century the principal part was played by Volga Bulgaria. American numismatist T. Noonan designated them as Khazar and Bulgar phases of trade of Kufic coins. Bulgar coins, minted in 902–990-s, participated actively in this process. Together they acted as a commodity and medium of exchange, which reflected the scale of trade operations of the early Middle Ages. The study of Muslim Kufic dirhems allowed the author to clear up the role of Khazar Khanate and Volga Bulgaria in the functioning of Great Silk and Volga routes in the 8th – beginning of the 11th centuries.

O presente artigo investiga o longo processo de formação das astrociências greco-babilônicas e sua difusão (A), com o objetivo de ver como o Zoroastrismo tardio integra tal sistema dentro de sua cosmologia (B) para tratar dos embates de seu tempo, envolvidos em uma esfera de diálogo com outras culturas (C). Para tal as principais fontes utilizadas foram o Bundahishn (para B) e o Denkard (para C), esperando com elas e a devida contextualização perceber a complexidade de seu meio de produção, a corte Samânida durante os séculos IX e X.
Palavras-chave Zoroastrismo, astrologia, Samânidas, astrociências, Sassânidas.

Abstract The present article investigates the long duration of the formation of Greek-Babylonian astrological sciences and its diffusion (A), with the objective to see how late Zoroastrism integrates these astrological sciences in its cosmology (B) to deal with the clashes of it's own time and involved by its dialogue with others cultures (C). Therefore, the main sources used are the Bundahišn (B) and the Dēnkard (C), hoping that they, with the appropriate contextualization, can show the complexity of their milieu of production: The Samanid court in the 9th and 10th centuries.

The main concern of the present work was to explore " the myth of motifs " or, to put it simply, the function of the motifs on a piece of ceramic vessel from Nishapur in terms of Barthes's mythological system. The results suggested that, granted that the Nishapur Animate Buff Ware postdated the inscribed variety or that its production witnessed an upsurge in the fourth-century AH/tenth-century AD, the vessel under discussion, and the painted type in general, may be viewed as a medium intended to promote Iranian culture. Thus, according to the two semiological layers proposed by Barthes, two conceptual layers were identified in this ware. This observation, which also applies to related examples of this ware, gives credence to the general scholarly conception of the motifs of Nishapur ware. Their original function and stimulus, however, are to be found in the second layer. The results from the analysis of the vessel in question suggested that in the dove and goat motifs one can hunt down footprints of apocalyptic beliefs and astronomical prognostications.

Alptegin (d. 352/963), a military slave commander under the later Sāmānids, is also reported to be the founder of the Ghaznavid state. In this article, narratives about him are analyzed in two parts: first, the reports about him in the earlier sources are examined, and in the second part, the focus is on the Alptegin stories in Niz ̣ām al-Mulk's Siyāsat-nāma. The article shows that the figure in the Siyāsat-nāma is not meant to represent the " historical " Alptegin, but that the author, by telling stories about Alptegin, discusses serious problems which occurred within the relationship between a ruler and his most powerful retainers. In particular, Alptegin is represented as the typically loyal servant who stays loyal even if his lord treats him without due respect, and the stories also show that revolt in such cases was the normal reaction. Factual accuracy therefore is not on the agenda of the author, and it would be wrong to expect it.

In this paper we will present an overview the cultural, technical, and stylistic developments leading up to the appearance of Samanid epigraphic slipware in the 9th century, and attempt to briefly touch upon the various questions surrounding these ceramics, such as how such a minimalist style developed in a medieval milieu where “horror vacui” was the norm, the use of inscriptions in the Arabic language in the midst of a Persian cultural revival, the puzzling content of these inscriptions, the difficulty in dating and specifying their site of production, and the possible identity of the clientele for whom they were produced.