The Islamization of Central Asia in the Smnid Era and the Reshaping of the Muslim World

Author(s): D. G. Tor
Source: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 72,
No. 2 (2009), pp. 279-299
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies
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BulletinofSOAS, 72, 2 (2009), 279-299. School of Orientaland AfricanStudies.

in theUnitedKingdom.
Printed

The Islamizationof CentralAsia in the Samanid

era and the reshapingof the Muslimworld*
D. G. Tor
Bar-IlanUniversity,
Israel
tor@post.harvard.edu

Abstract
The Samanid-eradriveto Islamize CentralAsia led notonlyto increased
to thetransformIslamicinfluencewithinthesteppes,but,concomitantly,
ationof internalMuslimpoliticallife.Developmentswithinthe Muslim
oecumene thatwere shaped or influencedby this Drang nach Osten
of the
range from the legitimizingof the political fragmentation
cultureand pracPersianateDynasticperiodto changesin Muslimmilitary
tice,thesuccessfulreligiousconversionof theTurkicsteppe;and growing
not only in the
Turkicinfluenceinsidethe Samanidrealms,culminating
downfallof the Samanids,but in the end of the era of Iranianpolitical
and militarydominanceand the beginningof a millenniumof Turkic
politicalhegemony.
intoCentralAsia beganwiththegreatwarsof imperial
The Muslimpenetration
conquestin the late seventhand earlyeighthcenturies,whichresultedin the
of the Muslim-ruledsub-provinceof Transoxiana.1Afterthe
establishment
majorbattlesbetweenthenew Muslimempireand the adjacentCentralAsian
powers had ended in the early 750s, though,Transoxiana indeed,Central
oftheempire.2
corner
as a remoteand neglected
Asia itself-sankintoobscurity
from
events
and
beyondthe
Transoxianawas a mereappanage of Khurasan;
of Muslim
the
horizon
on
Muslim-CentralAsian limes do not even appear
* This articlewas firstpresentedat the conference
"L'Islamisationde l'Asie centrale:
at the College de
dans le mondeturco-sogdien",
Pratiquessociales et acculturation
forhavingeliVaissiere
la
de
Etienne
to
is
author
The
2007.
November
grateful
France,
Paul.
ofit,andto all thosewhocommented
Jiirgen
citedthewriting
uponit,particularly
article
draft.
the
comments
his
for
David
thanks
author
the
upon
Morgan
Additionally,
Down
Turkestan
see W. Barthold,
of Muslimrulein Transoxiana,
1 On theestablishment
ed. C. E. Bosworth(Taipei:
to theMongolInvasion,thirdedition,tr.T. Minorsky,
MaterialsCenter,1968), 180-93.
Southern
didnotseekto establishthemselves
2 In thewordsofPeterGolden:"The Arabs,however,
and
oasis city-states
to theribats(borderforts),
deep in thesteppe.Instead,theyretired
and
Karakhanids
"The
Islam",
Khorasanian
the
of
early
towns",
urban
rich,
trappings
The CambridgeHistoryof EarlyInnerAsia, ed. Denis Sinor(Cambridge:Cambridge
of the clashes of the
Press, 1990), 344. On the courseand significance
University
730s with the disintegrating
Turgeshkingdomsee H. A. R. Gibb, The Arab
Conquestsin CentralAsia (London:TheRoyalAsiaticSociety,1923),59-85,especially
187-96. For a succinct
84^5. On theearlierand laterdecadessee Barthold,Turkestan,
"The Karakhanids
see
of
Battle
the
of
Golden,
the
Talas,
of
discussion
significance
and earlyIslam".

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280

D. G. TOR

occasions
historicalconsciousnessforthenextcentury,
excepton theinfrequent
whenlarge-scaleTurkishincursionsobtrudethemselvesupon thenoticeof the
Muslimchroniclers.3
in CentralAsia
and theMuslimoffensive,
The slackeningof Musliminterest,
of
the
autonomous
in
transition
era
the
however,
pivotal
changeddramatically,
Persianatedynasties.This era began in thelatterhalfof theninthcenturywith
therise of the Saffaridsin thewake of thepoliticalimplosionof the cAbbasid
of untamedCentralAsia
caliphate,and lasted untilthe firstactual irruption
southand west of the Oxus River in 1040, withthe triumphof the Saljuqs
and theirOghuz Turkmen.
theturning
In fact,thePersianatedynasticperiodconstitutes
pointin thebalculturalworlds,the
ance ofpoweror mutualinfluencebetweenthetwodifferent
itis characterized
Perso-Islamicand theTurkicCentralAsian. Essentially,
bythe
and
cultural
demographic- of
political,
ever-growing
importance military,
CentralAsia insidetheIslamicworlditself.Whilethegreatreligiousand militaryheadwaymadeby Islam intotheheartof CentralAsia in theninthand tenth
is the
centurieshas long been noted,whathas been subjectto farless scrutiny
inevitableconcomitantof this phenomenon:namely,the directand indirect
influenceof CentralAsia withintheIslamicrealmsthemselves.
This paperwill focuson theSamanidperiod,themostcrucialpartof thisera
forourtheme,in orderto suggestthatthenew impetusgivento theIslamization
drive in CentralAsia duringthe PersianateDynasticera generally,and the
within
had significant
and lastingramifications
Samanid period in particular,
theIslamicworlditself.The IslamizingdriveoftheSamanideranotonlychanged
and
and shapedsomeofthemostfundamental
Muslimpolitical,religious,
military
- rangingfromtheprocessof acquiringpolculturalphenomenaand institutions
iticallegitimacy
to thefocusandpracticeoijihad, theshiftinpracticeofdivergent
of
and the influence,import,and centrality
methodsof Islamic proselytizing,
TurkicCentralAsia on internalMuslimpoliticallife- but also resultedin an
oflargeswathesoftheTurkicsteppethathadmajorlongactualmassIslamization
termramifications
whichlastedwell beyondtheSamanidera itself.

Jihadin CentralAsia as a legitimizing

strategy
withinfidelity
thebattleground
First,on thepoliticaland legal-theologicalfront,
in CentralAsia gave legitimation
to whatwas a whollynew and unprecedented
politicalphenomenonin the Mashriq: the breakingof Muslim politicalunity
of usurpingdynasties,for which no place yet existed
by the establishment
in proto-Sunnitheology.4Until the breakdownof the post-Ma'munidperiod,
thepoliticalexistenceof theMuslimummawas in harmonywithIslamictheology: to all intentsand purposestherewas one unitarypolityheaded by the
3 E.g. thelaconicremarkin Abu Jacfar
Muhammadb. Jariral-Taban,Ta 'nkhal-umam
wa'l-muliik,ed. Ibrahim(Beirut:RawaT al-Turathal-cArabi,n.d.), 8: 580: "The
TokuzGhuzzcame to Ushrusana".
4 Thetermproto-Sunni
"An excursuson ahl al-sunna
is borrowed
fromG. H. A. Juynboll,
in connection
withVan Ess, TheologieundGesellschaft,
vol. IV", Der Islam75, 1998,
318-30.

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THE

ISLAMIZATION

OF

CENTRAL

ASIA

281

however,itsfailureposed
caliph.5Whenthiscaliphalpolityceased functioning,
botha politicalquestionand a theologicalpredicament.
Eventually,someone,
somewhere,would have to take upon himselfto defendand rule the Ddr
al-Isldm (or at least part of it) - and the most successfulperson to do so
but also a legitimizing
would be theone who providednot onlybrutestrength
a
succession
of
Persianate
Thus
was
born
dynastiesin theeasternpart
purpose.6
fromthe
oftheEmpire,whichderivedtheirpoliticaland theologicallegitimation
and
militant
of
devout
proto-Sunnism.7
espousal
The Saffaridswere the firstof the Persianatedynastiesto arise fromthe
remainsof thepoliticallymoribundcAbbasidcaliphate.The Saffarids,
however,
as thedominantpowerin theEasternIslamicworld:partially,
wereshort-lived
in such an attemptto establisha
no doubt,because theywere thetrail-blazers
state
successor
by carryingthe banner of militant
politically legitimate
in
jihad CentralAsia;8 and partiallybecause
through
primarily
proto-Sunnism,
and unity
with
their
ran
afoul
soon
attemptto restorethe earlierstrength
they
of the Islamic world by meddling directlywith the faineant cAbbasids
themselves.9
The SamanidsadoptedtheSaffaridmodel,and also sharedthesame sortof
theSamanidswereupstarts.
riseto powerbyforcemajeure.10Like theSaffarids,
ofthecaliphateuntilal-Ma'mun'stime,see Patricia
5 On thereligio-political
significance
and Islam (New York: ColumbiaUniversity
Press,
Crone,God's Rule: Government
of thecaliphate,ibid.,1BO2004), 21-3. On theloss of theearlyreligiousauthority
fromthisprocess
of thecaliphateresulting
SS. For theconsequentpoliticalcrumbling
Jihadand publicorderin thepre-Seljuqera: theroleof the
see D. G. Tor,"Privatized
IranianStudies38/4,2005, 555-73.
Mutatawwfa",
6 On thisproblemsee Jiirgen
Paul,TheStateand theMilitary:TheSdmamdCase (Papers
forInnerAsian
ResearchInstitute
IN: IndianaUniversity
on InnerAsia 26. Bloomington,
andLeadershipinan EarlyIslamic
Loyalty
Studies,1994),6-7; andRoyP. Mottahedeh,
Society,reviseded. (London:I. B. Tauris,2001), 180-81.
notedtheSamanidneed
7 Scholarssuchas JulieMeisamiandEltonDanielhavecorrectly
to an
adherence
theirstringent
notattributing
theirrule,whileparadoxically
tolegitimize
to
tothisneed,butrather
anddoctrine"
'correct'versionofIslamichistory
"ideologically
ofvariousheterotheteachings
aim:"tocounter
whattheydescribeas a whollyunrelated
dox and sectarian groups", Julie Meisami, Persian Historiographyto the End of the

author
Press,1999),24. The present
University
Edinburgh
(Edinburgh:
Century
Twelfth
a partofthe
howintegral
concurswiththeiranalysis,butbelievesthatDanieloverlooked
stancewas; thisis why
militant
proto-Sunni
dynastic
projectthePersianate
legitimizing
dynasties
we findit so conspicuously
displayedby all threeof themajorPersianate
Samanidsand Ghaznavids.
Saffarids,
8 In Bosworth'swords,"Campaignsagainstthe Kharijitesand the infidelsof eastern
gave the Saffaridsprestigein the eyes of the orthodox. . .", C. E.
Afghanistan
The CambridgeHistoryof Iran. Volume4:
Bosworth,"The Tahiridsand Saffarids",
The Period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs, ed. R. N. Frye (Cambridge:

Press,1975), 112.
University
Cambridge
rnenomenon
and me^Ayyar
Order:ReligiousWarfare,
9 See D. G. Tor,Violent
Chivalry,
in the Medieval Islamic World (IstanbulerTexte und Studien 11. Wiirzburg:
and theCaliph",159-83.
Orient-Institut
Istanbul,2007), ch. 5, "The cAyydr
tne
thantheSattandswho managedto appropriate
10 Obviously,it is theSamanidsrather
Whileit is outside
SunniPersianate
statusof militant
paradigmto themselves.
dynastic
thatthereasonthe
we can notebriefly
thescopeofthispaperto delveintothisquestion,
one on which
thantheSaffarid
rather
statebecametheparadigm
Samanidjihddidynastic
Samaniddynastic
longevity,
1) greater
theyweremodelledwas duetothreemainfactors:

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282

D. G. TOR

outas local dihqans,theybegantheirpoliticalclimbunderal-Ma'mun's

Starting
in theearlyninthcentury:
itis presumedthatal-Ma'mun'sgovernor
government
Ghassanb. cAbbadappointedthefourSamanidbrothers
to local governorships
in Khurasanand Transoxiana:Nuh b. Asad in Samarqand;Ahmadb. Asad to
Farghana; Shash and Ushrusana to Yahya b. Asad; and Herat to Ilyas
b. Asad.11 Duringthe subsequentdecades of Samanid creepingexpansionin
Transoxiana,Samanidofficialsstillrecognizedtherulersof Khurasan,be they
theTahirids,the Saffarids,or others,as theiroverlords.12
The founderof theSamanidrealmas themajorrulingpowerof theMashriq
was Ismacllb. Ahmad,who replacedhis brother
Nasr in 275/888as therulerof
therealm.The campaignfortheIslamizationof CentralAsia formedthecornerstoneuponwhichhis politicalpolicyand ambitionwerebuilt.Ismacllpredicated
In
his poweron pietyand,above all, holywarfareon theinfidelTurkicfrontier.
thewordsof one source:"Ismacllwas good; he lovedAhl al- 'Urnwa 'l-din,and
honouredthem,and throughtheirblessinghis kingshipand thatof his descendantsenduredand theirdays were long".13
the prelude to
Consequently,as part of this jihadl legitimizingstrategy,
raidto date
Ismacll'sshowdownwithhis Saffaridoverlordwas thelargest-scale
in infidelCentralAsia.14Ismacllcarriedoutthismajorraidin theyear280/893:

11

12

13

14

and couldtherefore
coupledwiththefactthattheywerethevictorsovertheSaffarids,
a thorough
damnatiomemoriae;2) Theirfarlowerlevel of tensionwiththe
perform
whichin turnwas theoutcomeof thetwinhappyfactsthat:a) theyshared
cAbbasids,
neutralized
no commonborderwiththecaliphs;andb) thelatter
weremostsatisfactorily
by theirown precipitous
politicaldecline;
duringthecourseof theearlytenthcentury
in serviceoftheirownlegitofhistorical
3) aboveall, theSamanidmobilization
writing
in Persian?
imatingproject.On thislastpoint,see JulieMeisami,"Whywritehistory
Edmund
Historicalwritingin the Samanidperiod",Studiesin Honour of Clifford
Bosworth.VolumeII: The Sultan's Turret:Studiesin Persian and TurkishCulture,
ed. CaroleHillenbrand
(Leiden:Brill,2000), 348-74.
Abu Sacld cAbdal-Hayyb. Dahak b. MahmudGardlzT,TarTkh-i
GardizT,ed. cAbd
al-HayyHabtbi(Tihran:Dunya-yiKitab, i 363/1984), 322; cIzz al-Dln Abu'l-Hasan
CAUb. MuhammadIbn al-Athlr,
al-KamilJT'l-ta'rikh,
ed. Tornberg
(Beirut:Dar Sadir
of the Leiden 1863 edition],1399/1979),7: 279; Abu'l-HasancAlIb. Zayd
[reprint
(Tihran:n.p., 1361/
BayhaqI(Ibn Funduq),TdrTkh-i
Bayhaq,ed. AhmadBahmanyar
Guzida, ed. cAbd
1942), 68; Hamdallahb. Abl Bakr MustawfT
Qavlnl, TarTkh-i
Muhammad
al-HusaynNava'I (Tihran:Amlr-iKablr, 1362/1943),377; MIrkhwand
b. Sayyid Burhanal-Dln Khavandshah,TdrikhRawdat al-saja (Tihran:MarkazT
4: 30, although
itgrosslyaggrandizes
theSamanidposition
KhayyamPIruz,1339/1959),
afterthedeathof Tahirb. al-Husayn.
TarTkh-i
Bukhara,ed. MudarrisRadavT(Tihran:Sana'i,
Accordingto al-Narshakhi,
1351/1973),93 (repeatedagain on 94), Yacqubb. al-Layth'snamewas recognizedin
thekhutbauntilthe latter'sbreakwiththecaliphin 874-875; thatis, the Samanids,
even in the earlyperiodof Ismail's rule,recognizedthe governorof Khurasanas
theiroverlord.
Ibn al-Athlr,
al-KdmilJT'l-td'rTkh
7: 282. On thesame page Ibn al-Athlr
also bolsters
Ismail's religiouscredentialsby describinghow he was honouredby seeing the
Prophetin a dream,and by depictingthe greatrespectIsmacllshowedtowardsa
calim.
Shaficite
Barthold
notesthischangeinpolicywithout,
author'sconthepresent
however,
drawing
clusionsregarding
its purposeand function:
"As we have alreadyseen,the Samanids
renouncedthe defensivepolicy of the previous governorsof Khurasan and

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THE

ISLAMIZATION

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283

In thisyearthenews arrivedthatIsmacllb. Ahmadal-Samaniraidedthe

Land of the Turks and, so it was reported,capturedthe city of their
king,and his fatherand the Lady his wife. Upwards of 10,000 others
were takenprisoner,a greatmanyof [the infidels]were killed,and an
innumerable
quantityof animalswas plundered.. .'\15
Ismacll,againliketheSaffaridsbeforehim,tookcareto publicizeboththisjihad
and his allegianceto thecaliphby sendingextravagant
giftsto thecaliph
activity
to marktheoccasion.16
Ismail's pursuitof the jihadl path paid off: when the final showdown
betweenIsmaclland his Saffaridoverlordcame about in the year 287/900,it
in thesources,Ismacll'sgreaterreputation
was, accordingto explicitstatements
as a holy warriorwhich tippedthe scale betweenthe two men. It is stated
specificallyin various sources that Ismacll caused the defectionof cAmr
to a fargreaterextentthancAmr,the
b. al-Layth'sgeneralsby representing,
principle.17Consequently,when the moment
proto-Sunnighdzi legitimating
and Samanidforcesmetin battle:
the
and
Saffarid
truth
of
arrived,
Ismacllconverted[to his cause] the heads of the troops,fromamong
cAmr'scommanders,by makingthemafraidof God, saying:"We are
ghdzis and do not possess wealth; while this man [cAmr]continually
seeks thisworld,we [seek] theNext. Whatdoes he wantfromus?"18

15

16
17

18

lands
thewallsthatservedtodefendthecultivated
Transoxiana.
Theyceasedmaintaining
fromthe nomads,and commenced. . . military
expeditionsintothe stepperegions".
Barthold,Histoiredes Turcs d'Asie Centrale,Frenchtr. by M. Donskis (Paris:
1945, 48). Serguey
Librairie d'Amerique et d'Orient, Adrien-Maisonneuve,
Kliachtorniy("Les Samanides et les Karakhanides:une etape initiale de la
CahiersD'Asie Centrale9, 2001, EtudesKarakhanides,
39),
geopolitiqueimperiale",
thiscampaign:
however,comesto thesame conclusionas thepresentauthorregarding
Ismacildevintle grandcombattant
pourla foi;celui
"Aux yeuxdu mondemusulman,
et
cette
En
Test.
a
loin
l'islam
politiquement
fait,
prepare
campagne
qui propagea
la guerredu Khorassanqui commencacinq ans plus tard".
materiellement
n.d.),10:
Al-Tabari,Ta'rikhal- TabarT,ed. MuhammadIbrahim(Beirut:Dar al-Turath,
al-Kdmil,7: 464-5, and Mlrkhwand,
34, repeatedalmostverbatimin Ibn al-Athlr,
TarTkh-i
in al-Narshakhl,
Bukhara,
Rawdatal-saja' 4: 32; describedindependently
of Taraz as itsobjective.This raidwas describedby
theIslamization
102,mentioning
Bosworth(s.v. "Samanids",El2 8: 1026) as follows:"One rolewhichIsmacllinherited
frontiers
was thedefenceof itsnorthern
againstpressurefrom
as rulerof Transoxiana
intothesteppesagainst
thenomadsof InnerAsia, and in 280/893he led an expedition
backa greatbootyof slavesandbeasts".
Talas andbringing
theOarluqTurks,capturing
Anon. (attr.al-Qadl al-Rashldb. al-Zubayr),Kitab al-dhaKhair wa i-tunaj,ea.
MuhammadHamidallah(Kuwait: al-Turathal-cArabI,1959), 42. On comparable
see D. G. Tor, ViolentOrder,chapters3, 4 and 6.
SafSridbehaviour,
IsmaclltookcaretowritetocAmrandhiscourtbeforehand,
publicizing
Thus,forinstance,
"God is betweenyouandme. I am a borderman,drawnup
in piouswarfare:
his efforts
pay,
in battlearrayagainsttheTurk;myclothingis coarse,mymenare rabblewithout
thusyou wrongme [by not leavingme to my pious occupations]".Shams al-DIn
Muhammadb. Ahmadb. cUthmanal-Dhahabl,Siyara 'lam al-nubala, ed. Shucayb
al-Arna'ut(Beirut:Mu'assasatal-Risala,1419/1998),12: 517.
256.
Zuwwar,1314/1935),
ed. M. Bahar(Tihran:Kitabkhanah-i
STstan,
Anon.,Tdrikh-i

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284

D. G. TOR

cAmr'sgeneralsclearlyfoundthisargumentconvincing,since theyabandoned
their(less ghdzT)rulerin thefield.
Thus,we see thatthejihadl aspectof theIslamizationof CentralAsia played
a crucialinternalrole in theIslamicworldby supplyinga legitimizing
rationale
to aspiringrulers,and even facilitating
of
ruler.
to
the
changes
expliAccording
citstatements
in oursources,itwas actuallytheprimefactorbehindthesuccessful Samanid usurpationof the Saffarids.With this transferof power, the
Samanid dynastybecame the major political force of the easternIslamic
world.19Theirrealmalso, and notcoincidentally,
becamethemajornew centre
forMuslimholywarfareforthe faith.

The influenceof Islamizationin CentralAsia on internal

Muslimmilitarycultureand practice
Here on the militaryfrontwe see the second major area in which the
Islamizationdrive in Turkic CentralAsia of the Samanid period possessed
internalIslamic significance:the growingimportanceof CentralAsia profoundlyinfluencedmilitarycultureand practice inside the Islamic world,
changingthe Jihaditself.While Jihad,obviously,has always occupied a vital
lifeof Islam,thecharacterplace in thereligious,political,culturaland military
isticmanifestations
of Jihadhave differed
overtheyears,especiallyqualitatively
and geographically.
one can see thatcertainareasservedsuccessivelyin different
Geographically,
eras as loci of Jihad.Generallyspeaking,thePersianatedynasticera markeda
shiftof the focusof Jihadeastward.Whereasfromthe timeof the
significant
themostsignificant
ProphetuntilthecAbbasidcollapsein themid-ninth
century
and important
arenaforJihadwas on theByzantinefrontier,
fromthelateninth
and Samanidsraisedthelanguishing
onward,fromthetimetheSaffarids
century
bannerof Jihadanew under theirown auspices, the CentralAsian frontier
became paramount.20
This shiftin thelocus of Jihadis nicelyillustrated
hisby two verydifferent
toricalanecdotes.In thefirst,
thefamousvolunteerwarriorAbu Ishaq al-Fazari
asks his fellowholywarriorcAbdallahb. al-Mubarakwhyhe had to come all the
way to theByzantineborderto battleInfidelswhentherewereplentyof Turkish
ones close athandin EasternIran.Ibn al-MubarakansweredthatwhiletheTurks
were only fightingabout worldlypower, the Byzantineswere battlingthe
Muslimsover theirfaith,"So whichis themoreworthyof defense:our world
or our faith?"21
19 In thewordsof Mustawfi
Oavini,Tankh-iGuzida*347, "pddshdhdn-i
iihdn".
20 Soucekhas also notedthisphenomenon:
"The Arabssubsequently
transmitted
thiszeal
to theconverts
of thenewlyconqueredCentralAsianterritories,
so thatwhenthecaliphatebeganto lose itsyouthful
vigor,thejihad was no longerled by thembutby a
new Iraniandynasty
of Transoxania,
theSamanids".Svat Soucek,A Historyof Inner
Asia (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity
Press,2000), 70.
21 Foundin Ibn al-cAdIm'sBughyatal-talab,citedand translated
in D. Cook, "Muslim
andJihad",Jerusalem
StudiesinArabicand Islam20, 1996,98. Forsimilar
apocalyptic
traditions
on thesuperiority
offighting
theByzantines
rather
thanpaganssee Abu Da'ud
Kitdbal-Sunan:SunanAbiDd'ud, ed. Muhammad
Sulaymanb. al-Ashcath
al-Sijistanl,

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THE

ISLAMIZATION

OF CENTRAL

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285

the second anecdotepurportsto date fromthe latterpartof the

In contrast,
It
ninthcentury. is supposedlytheeyewitnessaccountof a man who had been
present when Ahmad b. Hanbal was being consulted by an aspiring
Khurasaniholywarriorregardingthelatter'sdesireto fightforIslam:
I was withAbu cAbdallahAhmadb. Hanbal whena Khurasanimanasked
me to go on a ghazw,and I wantto go out
him:"My motherhas permitted
think?"
What
do
to Tarsus.
[Ibn Hanbal] replied:"Raid the Turks."
you
to thewordsof God, may He be honwent
cAbdallah
I reckonthatAbu
theinfidelswho are nearyou".22
of
those
ouredand exalted:"Fight
This anecdote proclaimsthe new ideological and historicalrealityof the
thatpreviouslyflowednorthSamanidera:thestreamofholywarriorvolunteers
northto
was
border
westwardsto theByzantine
diverted, an evergreaterextent,
Asia.23
eastwardsintoCentral
More proofof this shiftcan be foundin the factthatthe major cities of
Transoxianain the Samanidperiodbegin to boast an officialpositionof head
of the Jihadi volunteer warriors: in Bukhara, one reads of a ra'is
in bothBayhaq and also in Bukhara,of a sdldr-ighdziydn;25
al-muttawwica;24
One also sees thison theindividand in Samarqand,of a sdldr-imuttawwfa26
as
in the biographicalliterature
described
ual level, in the numberof men
and
in
the
Samanid
period
jihadistsof one kind or anotherwho, beginning

22

23

24

25
26

\
cAwwama(Beirut:Mu'assasatal-Rayyan,
1998),3, 205, in thesection"Kitabal-Jihad'
traditions
other
all
above
the
nations",
of
"In
Byzantines
praise fighting
chapter8,
#2482-83.
iun /\ui iaw
Quran 9: 123. The source ol the anecdote is adu i-nusayn lviunammau

al-Baghdadlal-Hanball,Tabaqdtal-fuqaha al-Hanabila,ed. CAUMuhammadcUmar

(Cairo:Maktabatal-Thaqafaal-DIniyya,1419/1998),1: 87.
to theHistoryoj the TurkicPeoples:
An Introduction
Pace PeterGolden's assertion,
and Early ModernEurasia and the
Medieval
in
State-Formation
and
Ethnogenesis
1992), 211-12: "Muslimsourcesoftendepict
MiddleEast (Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz,
an exagthiswas undoubtedly
as thesceneofJihad.Strictly
theentirefrontier
speaking,
was
. . . Jihad,in CentralAsia as in SoutheastAsia and Africa,whenpracticed
geration
moreoftenthe domainof the newlyIslamicizedlocal populationspursuingpolitical
to back this
goals thanof foreignMuslims".Goldenadducesno evidence,however,
assertion.Cf. the contrasting
analyses of JiirgenPaul, Herrscher,Gemeinwesen,
Zeit (BeiruterTexte und
in Vormongolischer
Ostiranund Transoxanien
Vermittler:
1996), 103-05, 108-13, and C. E. Bosworth,
Studien59. Beirut:Orient-Institut,
and EasternIran, 994-1040 (Beirut:
The Ghaznavids:TheirEmpirein Afghanistan
Librairiedu Liban,1973),31-2.
b. Ahmadb. QUthman
al-Dhahabi,l a rimai-isiam,ea. umar
Shamsal-DInMuhammad
1412/1992),18: 33; al-Amlr
cAbdal-RahmanTadmuri(Beirut:Dar al-Kitabal-cArabI,
ed. cAbd
al-HafizAba Nasr cAlIb. HibatAllah Ibn MakQla,al-Ikmalfi rafil-irtiydb,
1967),
al-cUthmaniyya,
al-Rahmanb. Yahya Mucalliml(Hyderabad:Da'iratal-Macarif
to thelatethird/ninth
1: 21, referring
century.
in tmicnara,
to theyear3 /S/V88;
In Bayhaq,Ibn Funduq,Tdrikh-i
Bayhaq,51, referring
Tdnkh-iGardizi,361.
GardlzT,
ani/cr-imama-i
Najm al-DIn cUmarb. Muhammadb. Ahmadal-Nasan,ai-yana ji
1999),329.
Samarqand,ed. Yusufal-Hadl(Tihran:Mir'atal-Turath,

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286

D. G. TOR

thePersiandynasticera,now concentrate
on theCentral
continuing
throughout
Asian frontier
insteadof universallyflockingto Tarsus.27
Yet a thirdindicationofthechangein theprimary
worldlocus of Jihadto the
CentralAsian borderis theunusuallylargepresenceofjihadic warriorsattested
in theSamanidarmies,particularly
in theearlyperiod,whentheSamanidswere
stillvigorouslyattempting
to establishtheirlegitimacythroughCentralAsian
Jihad.28Thus, the sourcesrepeatedlymention,as a significant
militarycomof
the
"the
Samanid
"the
such
as
armies,groups
ponent
ghazls";29
ghazls of
and
to
"the
muttawwfa".31
the
sources
attest
the
Bukhara";30
Likewise,
proliferationin Transoxianaat thistimeoftheribdtsystemwhichhad beenpractisedon
theByzantineborder.32
The Samanidera also witnessedwhatone mightcall a qualitativechangein
the practiceof Jihad.Jihadfromthe beginningof Islam untilthe end of the
This is not trueforthe late Umayyad
Umayyadera was a stateenterprise.33
era and the cAbbasidheyday:thenit was conductedlargelyby volunteerwarlimitedto sporadicshow campaignsby them
riors,withcaliphal involvement
27 E.g. al-Nasafi,ibid.,65, 281, 329, 386, 400 (referring
to an organizedgroupofmuttawal-Ansdb.Ed.
b. Mansural-SamcanI,
wfd),569; Abu SacdcAbdal-Karimb. Muhammad
M. CA.cAta(Beirut:Dar al-Kutubal-cIlmiyya,
1998), 5: 213. On theflowof eastern
Iranianwarriors
to Tarsusin orderto engagein volunteer
Jihadactivitiesagainstthe
Byzantines,see C. E. Bosworth,"The City of Tarsus and the Arab-Byzantine
in The Arabs, Byzantiumand Iran: Studiesin Early Islamic
Frontiers",
reprinted
Historyand Culture(VariorumCollectedStudiesSeries.Aldershot:Ashgate,1996),
articleXIV, and D. G. Tor, ViolentOrder,chapter2. The presentauthoris nottrying
to assertthatthe streamof easternIranianvolunteers
thatthe eastern
ceased; rather,
limesbeganto competein importance
withthewestern
one,andprobablyto surpassit.
28 Jurgen
betweenthe
Paul,TheStateand theMilitary,
20-22, has notedthecloserelations
earlierSamanidrulersand thereligiously
motivated
warriors
and religiousleaders,and
eventhattheloss ofthissupport
"was instrumental
in [theSamanid]downfall",
without,
thepresent
thecentrallegitimizing
role
author'sconclusions
however,
drawing
regarding
ofthesegroupsin theactualestablishment
of Samanidrule.Fora closerexamination
of
thecomposition
of theSamanidamiessee D. G. Tor,"The Mamluksin themilitary
of
theautonomous
Persianate
IRAN:JournaloftheBritishInstitute
dynasties",
ofPersian
Studies.46. 2008. 213-25.
29 Al-Narshakhi,
Tarikh-i
work,
Bukhara,98. The anonymousSamanid-era
geographical
Hudiidal-cdlam,
tr.V. Minorsky
(Cambridge:E. J.W. GibbMemorialSeries,1982reSamaniddominions.
print),112,also notestheubiquityofghazlsin theTransoxianan
30 Al-Narshakhl,
Tdrikh-i
Bukhara,100.
31 Attr.Ibn al-Zubayr,
Kitdbal-dhakhdir, 141, 142. Bosworthcorrectly
notesin his evaluationofthehistoricity
of thisreported
incident,
"Here,then,lies themainvalueof ...
We see theimportance
oftheghdzTandvolunteer
oftheSamanid
[this]story.
contingents
invariousstrategically-placed
townsandregionsoftheempire'snorthern
army,stationed
wheretheycouldalwaysbe sureof opportunities
forjihad againstthepagans".
fringes,
C. E. Bosworth,"An allegedembassyfromthe Emperorof Chinato theAmirNasr
b. Ahmad: a contribution
to Samanid militaryhistory",Ydd-ndme-ye
Irdni-ye
Minorsky,ed. M. MInuvI and I. Afshar(Tihran:TihranUniversity,1969), 26.
Samanid muttawwfaare also found e.g. in Rashld al-DIn Fadl Allah, Jdmic
ed. AhmadAtesh(Tihran:Dunya-yiKitab),1362, 1: 17.
al-tawdnkh,
32 Jurgen
Paul, TheStateand theMilitary,16-17.
33 KhahdYahyaBlankinship,
TheEnd oftheJihadState:TheReignofHishdmIbn cAbd
al-Malikand theCollapse of the Umayyads(Albany:SUNY Press,1994), chapter1,
"Jihadand thecaliphatebeforeHisham",11-36.

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THE

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287

and theirrelatives.34
The establishment
of theautonomousPersianatedynasties
in theninthcentury
usheredin a new phase: sinceJihadwas thebestmethodby
whichthenew autonomousPersianatedynastiescould establishtheirlegitimacy
one sees a trueblendingofthetwodifferent
and religiouscredentials,
of
patterns
in
this
the
Jihad
harnessed
of
the
volunteer
period
manpower
religiouswarfare;
warriorstogetherwith a revival of the centralizedgovernmental
practiceof
Jihad.35Due to the locationof thesedynasties,beginningwiththe ephemeral
of
Saffaridrealm,it was naturalthattheyshould make into the cornerstone
in
rather
than
Central
the
the
infidels
theirrulefighting
Asia,
far-away
against
consequences,
Byzantineenemy.This new policywas to have trulysignificant
bothshort-and long-term.

in TurkicCentralAsia
The Islamizationbreakthrough
the Samanidera markeda turning
As a resultof thispolitico-religious
strategy,
The Samanidera witnessed,
Asian
Islamization.
of
Central
in
the
process
point
of one of thegreatestcultural,politicaland
forthefirsttime,theestablishment
centresof theIslamicworldin CentralAsia itself,on theborderof the
military
froma remoteprovineasternnon-Islamiclands.Transoxianawas transformed
cial backwaterinto the most powerfuland importantcentreof the Islamic
Empire,in virtuallyeveryfieldof endeavour.Thus, or so it has been conjecof
tured,it was due to a combinationof Samanid weapons; the efflorescence
the ribatsystemwhichcombinedwarfareand dacwa; the political,economic,
and culturalblossomingand prestigeof the Samanidrealms;and the constant
missionizingand contactof all kinds betweenthe Muslim world of Central
Asia and thenon-Muslimone, thatthe limesshiftedsteadilyto theNorthand
East.
It was probablydue in largepartto theenormousSamanidvitalityand preswiththeincessantmilitary
campaignsand a sustainedcolonization
tige,together
nearthe Samanidborders,thatduring
areas
the
within
lying
pagan
programme
thistimethe tippingpointwas reachedin the Islamizationof the contiguous
in the mass conversionof the Qarakhanidsin the
Turkicpeoples,culminating
mid-tenthcentury.36For the first time in Islamic history,large-scale
Jihadand publicorder".
34 D. G. Tor,"Privatized
35 Thus,as Fryenotes(R. Frye,"The Samanids",CambridgeHistoryoj Iran. VolumeIV:
constituted
ThePeriodfromtheArabInvasionsto theSaljuqs, 150), thejihadicwarriors
theghazlsor
forces:"On [military]
factorin Samanidmilitary
expeditions
a significant
factorin Samanidsuccesses".Thiswas trueof
forthefaithwerean important
warriors
and
thatfacthas beenobscuredby theuncertainty
armiesas well,although
theSaffarid
"The
armies
see
term
the
of
Bosworth,
the
e.g.
cayydr;
meaning
surrounding
controversy
BSOAS XXXI/3,1968,538-9; idem.,TheHistoryof theSaffardsof
of theSaffarids",
Sistanand Maliks of Nimruz(247/861to 949/1542-3)(Costa Mesa: Mazda, 1994),
340-5; and Tor, ViolentOrder.
36 Accordingto Abu cAlTAhmad b. MuhammadMiskawayh,lajanb al-umam,ea.
of the 1915 Egyptianedition]),2:
n.d. [reprint
Amedroz(Baghdad: al-Muthanna,
to Islam".Ibn
converted
181:"In[theyear344/955]around200,000tentsof Turkmen
al-Kdmil,8: 396, places thiseventsix yearslater,in 349/960.The issue of
al-Athlr,
it has been discussedmostrecently
by
datesand catalystsis extremely
problematic;
Paul, "Nouvellespistespour la recherchesur l'histoirede l'Asie centralea
Jiirgen

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288

D. G. TOR

varIslamizationtranspired
notundermilitary
through
conquest,butapparently
- military,
ious formsof engagement
social
and
cultural,commercial,
religious.
and almostcompletedearthof specificinforCuriously,thereis a remarkable
mation regardingany actual missionaryactivitiesor individualsin Turkic
CentralAsia duringSamanidtimes,despitethewidespreadviewthattheconverThe onlyconcretefigureswho
sion of theTurkswas due to Sufiproselytizing.
men
have ever been mentionedin this connectionare the two tenth-century
noted by Barthold, Abu'l-Hasan Muhammad b. Sufyan al-Kalamatl of
Regardingthe
Nishapur,and Abu'l-Hasan Sacld b. Hatim al-Usbanlkathl.37
confirstfigure,al-Kalamatl,Bartholdseemsto place upon himan interpretive
structionthat his biographydoes not justify;whereas Barthold construes
SamcanT'sbiographyas statingthatal-Kalamatl"passed intothe serviceof the
'Khan of Khans'", all thatthe biographyactuallysays is that"He arrivedin
Juzjanan,became attachedto its rulers(Ittasala bi-awldika al-saldtin),and
died there before 350/961".38The use of the plural form suggests that
al-Kalamatl'sconnectionswere withlocal lordsratherthanwiththe supreme
overlord.In fact,it is noteven clearthatal-Kalamatlwas in anyway associated
withpagans or missionaryactivity;and he is nowheredescribedas a Sufi.
the evidenceis a bit
RegardingAbu'l-Hasan Sacld b. Hatimal-Usbanikathl
five
that
all
morepromising.First,it is certainly
biographicalentries
suggestive
forthisnisba,39withoutexception,proveto be menwho livedin thefourth/tenth
at the verytimewhen the nearbyTurkicareas werebeing Islamized;
century,
and fourof those five religiousfiguresdied in the decade between370 and

(Xe-debutXHIe siecle)",CahiersD 'AsieCentrale9, 2001,Etudes

l'epoquekarakhanide
mandated
19-22. Thiskindofnationalconversion,
Karakhanides,
by politicalrulersis,
in the Christiancontextfromboththe Anglo-Saxonand the
of course,well-known
Frankishexamples;on Clovis's conversionand its attendant
politicalconsiderations
see Ian Wood, TheMerovingian
Kingdoms,450-751 (London:Longman,1997),41oftheNorthumbrians
underKingEdwinat a royalcouncil
8; forthefamousconversion
rev.
of627,see Bede,A History
oftheEnglishChurchandPeople,tr.Leo Sherley-Price,
R.E. Latham (London: PenguinBooks, 1968), 126-9, and also F. M. Stenton,
Press,2001), 114-5.
Anglo-SaxonEngland,thirdedition(Oxford:OxfordUniversity
Thequestionalwaysarisesinthecase ofmassconversions
ofthedepthoftheactualreli- paroftheconverts.
Whilethisis to a certainextentunanswerable
giouscommitment
on the
ticularlyin the presentcase, in lightof the extremepaucityof information
Qarakhanids- at least in the Frankishcontexttherehave been severalconvincing
convicandreligious
toargueforgenuine"barbarian"
intellectual
attempts
sophistication
Journalof
tion;see JohnMoorhead,"Clovis'motiveforbecominga CatholicChristian",
ReligiousHistory13/4,1985, 329-39, and Danuta Shanzer,"Datingthe baptismof
Clovis: the bishopof Viennevs the bishopof Tours",Early MedievalEurope ll\,
1998,29-57.
Muslim
37 Barthold,Turkestan,
255-6. Note also the exampleof an alleged itinerant
tr.JamesWard
citedby Etiennede la Vaissiere,SogdianTraders:A History,
preacher
(Leiden:Brill,2005), 315-6.
38 al-Sanrani,al-Ansab,4: 641. Paul, at theaforementioned
conterence,
pointedoutthat
- butthatin anycase noneof themanuscripts
's
Barthold
thistextis corrupt
supports
reading.
39 Usbanlkath
a heavily-fortified
bordertownlying
or Subanlkath
was in thetenthcentury
north-east
of the Jaxartes
river;see G. Le Strange,Lands of theEasternCaliphate
(London:FrankCass, 1966),485.

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THE

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289

380/980-990.40Abu'l-Hasanhimselfis statedto have livedin Samarqand,until

"He wentout to theland of theTurkssometimebefore[theyear]380/990,and
fromthereto Usbanlkathand died therein thosedays".41Once again,
returned
is
no
textualevidencethatany of thesefigureswas a Sufi,nor thatthey
there
engagedin missionaryactivity.In short,one mustregardthe assertionsfound
theactualspecificsof Islamicproselytizing
in thescholarlyliterature
regarding
ninthand tenthcenturiesas conjectural
the
critical
in theTurkicsteppeduring
and speculative.42
facilitator
of theIslamizationof CentralAsia,
Anotherpossiblenon-military
but
not
notedlong since by Barthold,
sufficiently
appreciatedor emphasized
in the non-Muslim
settlement
mercantile
since, was Samanid-eraMuslim
Islamization:
CentralAsian steppeas an agentof
of
. . . Alongsideof thevictoriousSamanidexpeditionsand independently
emithe
was
pursuedby
them,peacefulcolonizationof towns[des villes]
grantsfromTransoxiana... the Muslims continuedthe past colonizing
activityof the Soghdians.Thus threeMuslimtownswere foundedalong
the lower course of the Syr-Darya:Jand,Khuvara,and Yangikent. . .
say,thesetownswereinhabited
Accordingto whattheArabicgeographers
by Muslims,butwereunderthedominationof non-MuslimOghuz Turks.
This factprovesthatthesetownswerenotcreatedin theconqueredregion
by theSamanids,butthattheywerecoloniesfoundedwiththeconsentof
fromTransoxiana.The townof Talas
theindigenousTurksby emigrants
thathad been conqueredby the Samanids,as well as thenew colonyof
Yangikent,continuedtheircommercialexpansionintoCentralAsia.43
Once again,thisis an aspect of the Islamizationprocessthathas been largely
contactsrather
(who have tendedto discussmercantile
neglectedby researchers
little
also
is
there
which
and regarding
tantalizingly
thanactualcolonization),44
evidence.
documentary

40 al-Samcam,
al-Ansdb,1: 131-2.
41 al-Samcam,
al-Ansdb,1: 132.
42 Paul,"Nouvellespistes, 22, does nottallintometrapoi tneassumedaun missionaries,
rather,he notes the various empiricallyverifiablefactorsthat went into aiding
les vecteursculturelsqui aidenta
Islamization:"Car on distinguetres nettement
culturelle
de la regionde Kachgar:le commerced'abord,la superiorite
l'lslamisation
sur le Turkestanorientalet l'intensitedes contactset
(supposee) de Mavarannahr
de la guerresainte.. .".
echangesentreles deuxregions.. ., [et]les guerriers
Histoiredes Turcs,p. 49. La Vaissiere,SogdianTraders,314 has also drawn
43 Barthold,
inIbnal-Nadlm'sFihristofthenumertothedescription
ina different
context,
attention,
ous Muslimcoloniesin paganTurkestan
duringtheSamanidera.
44 See e.g. RomanK. Kovalev,"Dirhammintoutputoi Samanidbamarqandand itsconHistoireet
of tradewithnorthern
Europe(10thcentury)",
nectionto thebeginnings
mint of
"The
and
et
Monnaie
idem.,
197-216;
Mesure 17/3-4,2002,
Espace,
of traderelationsbetween
al-Shash:the vehicle for the originsand continuation
Eurasiae Medii
Europe and SamanidCentralAsia", Archivum
Viking-agenorthern
Aevi 12, 2002-2003,47-79.

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290

D. G. TOR

The growingTurkicinfluenceinsidethe Samanid lands

The growingMuslimengagement
withCentralAsia thatwas attendant
uponthe
and that
had
another
Islamization
effort
Samanid
effect,
far-reaching
aggressive
Asian
Turkic
of
the
Central
interest
was in thecorresponding
peoples
heightened
in, and theirinfluenceupon,theinternalaffairsof the Samanidlands. In other
of theSamanidsbecame a two-waystreet- it
words,thegrowinginvolvement
entailedtheTurkicpolitiesof CentralAsia playinga role in internalSamanid
affairs.
Thiswas truefortheperiodsbothbeforeand aftertheofficialconversion
albeitin different
to Islam of theQarakhanidsin themid-tenth
ways.
century,
The Turkicresponseto the heightenedSamanid Jihadcampaignstook the
formboth of actual large-scalemilitarycampaignsand, more commonlyin
facof internal
of Samanidstrength,
oftheexploitation
thetimeoftheflowering
tionalismand disgruntled
rebelswithintheSamaniddomains.Withregardto the
military
responseof massivecampaigns,thenew Samanidpowerwas firsttested
whiletheywereengagedbothin tryafter
shortly
havingdefeatedtheSaffarids,
landsof Khurasan,and in battling
control
the
former
to
under
Saffarid
ing bring
cAlid rebelsin Tabaristan45
thattheTurkswerewell
(thusshowing,incidentally,
awareof developmentsinsidetheIslamic empire):
In [theyear 291] the Turksset out in a great,innumerable
companyto
in
Turkish
tents
there
were
700
their
Transoxiana;
[qubba turkiyya],
army
and thatwas onlyofthechiefsamongthem.Ismacllb. Ahmadsentto them
a great army,and a numerouscompany of volunteerholy warriors
followedthem.
[muftawwFa]
This armymanagedto defeatthe pagan Turksin a surpriseattack:"[The
Muslims] killed a numberof them,so large as to be uncountable;the rest
were routed,and theircamp was plundered;and the Muslims returnedin
neededbolpeace, pillaging".46Ismacll,apparently
decidingthathis deterrence
than
two
on
a
set
out
less
later
successful
large-scalemilitary
stering,47
years
in non-MuslimTurkestan.48
Afterthissecondstinging
defeat,
counter-campaign
the Samanids' Turkicneighboursapparently
did not,at least accordingto the

45 Ibn al-Athlr,
al-KamiL7: 522.
46 Ibn al-Athlr,
al-Kamil,7: 533.
47 Anotherpossiblemotivemay have been thethreatof a Saffaridrevanchein eastern
Khurasanat thistime,and his consequentneed to strengthen
his religiouscredentials;
Ismacllfinally
hadto conquertheBustareaagainfromtheSaffarids
soonafterthiscamifthelaterdatefor
Sistdn,291-3) - particularly
paigntookplace (see Anon.,TarTkh-i
thisraidgivenby Mirkhwand
in thefollowing
footnote
is correct.
48 Mirkhwand,
Rawdatal-sqfa\ 4: 36 (who,however,
placesthisraidin 295); Ibnal-Athir,
as Barthold,
Histoiredes Turcs,33, has correctly
noted,
al-Kamil,7: 547. Although,
thesecampaigns,forall the fanfarethataccompaniedthem,containedmorepublic
relationsthansubstance:"The Samanidsdecidedto adopt an offensive
policy.But
theirattacksforthe mostpartbore the characterof incursions,
and the conquests
made in the name of Islam underthesesovereignswere insignificant:
nothingwas
added to theMuslimpossessionsexcepttheregionsextending
fromthevalleyof the
riverTchirtchiq
up untiltheriverTalas".

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THE

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Muslimsources,repeatsuch a large-scalefrontalassaultuntiltheveryclose of
the Samanidera,a pointto whichwe shall returnpresently.
are thedirectand indirectways in whichtheoriginally
Even moreintriguing
internal
non-MuslimTurkicpowerscontiguousto theSamaniddomainsaffected
this
we
realms.
Before
in
the
Samanid
examining issue,however, must
politics
of thisperiod:who preciselywerethe
of
the
oddest
one
firstaddress
mysteries
and
Turkicrulers
politicalgroupingsagainstwhom the Samanidswere campaigning?At some point,obviously,it was theQarakhanidsor Ilig-Khans,yet
we know nextto nothingabout when and how duringthe course of the ninth
arose and came
or possiblyeven tenthcenturythe Qarakhanidconfederation
educated
The
most
to dominateTurkestan.49
conjectureis
widely accepted
with the
to
be
identified
are
the
Qarakhanids
Pritsak's,accordingto which
to
down
"extended
which
a
ruled
territory
Qarluq rulers who by 840
Ferghanaand the SyrDarya".50
Even if thisQarluq kingdomwas indeedthatpolitywhichmodernscholars
withthetenth-century
Qarakhanids,exactlywhichareas theyruled,at
identify
whatpointtheyruledthem,and whattypeof rulethiswas, all remainexceedinglyhazy.51This strangesilencein our sourcesregardingTurkicmovements
and the coming of the Qarakhanidshas been noted and remarkedupon; in
Pritsak'swords,"It is curiousthattheseeventsof so muchimportancein the
historyof Eurasia shouldhave foundso littleecho in theIslamic sources".52
The mostprobableexplanationforthissilenceis thattheMuslims- and their
losses on theirborders;losses whichthe
Samanidgovernors- were suffering
Samanid historiographers
preferredto gloss over.53 This conjecturehas
198-9 and 214-16.
49 On thisproblemsee Golden,An Introduction,
50 O. Pritsak,"Von den Karluk zu den Karachaniden",Zeitschrijtder Deutschen
Der Islam,
101, 1951,277; also "Die Karachaniden",
Gesellschaft
Morgenldndischen
31,1953,22-4.
these
of one scholar:"Thus,by themid-9 century,
understatement
51 In thedelightful
overthesteppepeoples.The
of theSamanidsclaimeda hegemony
Easternneighbors
intorealpowerbeyondtheconfinesof theKarluk
extentto whichthiswas translated
and
and its allies is open to question"(PeterGolden,"The Karakhanids
confederation
s.v. "Ilek-Khansor Karakhanids",
EarlyIslam",351). NeitherGoldennorBosworth,
questionof borders.
El2, ed. B. Lewis et al, III: 1113-17,addressestheeventhornier
CahiersD'Asie
du royaumedes Karakhanides",
Boris D. Kotchinev,"Les frontieres
thisproblembut,unfortunately,
41-8, identifies
Centrale9, 2001,EtudesKarakhanides,
proceedsto addresstheissueonlyfromtheveryend of theSamanidperiod.
in theEurasiansteppeinthe9 -11 centuries,
movements
"Two migratory
52 O. Pritsak,
1991),
Reprints,
in Studiesin MedievalEurasianHistory(London:Variorum
reprinted
ArticleVI: 157. In anotherworkhe statesthat"Despite[theQarakhanids'beingnear
in theIslamichistoriography
theinformation
regarding
to Muslimterritory]
neighbors
meager,and confused",O. Pritsak,"Von
theireasternneighborsis veryincomplete,
"Les Samanideset les
278. Similarly,
Kliachtorniy,
den Karlukzu den Karachaniden",
seriede questions
une
toute
a
confronted
sommes
"Nous
writes:
39,
Karakhanides",
on ne sait rien sur les diversesinvasionsdes Turcs
embarrassantes.
Premierement,
des confrontations
au IXe siecle,bienque les sourcestemoignent
dansle Mavarannahr
d'Isfijab,de Chach,et du Ferghana.Du meme,il
armiesavec les Turksaux frontieres
des ghdzisou des pillards
de ces hostilites,
les initiateurs
restea eluciderqui furent
Turcs".
factswas indeed
historical
ofinconvenient
evidencethattheomitting
53 We haveempirical
of
s "translation"
Balaam!'
as
such
works
from
in
Samanid
historiography
practised

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292

D. G. TOR

the
circumstantial
evidenceto supportit: namely,the uncertainty
surrounding
of
the
the
borders
between
the
Samanid
and
Qarakhanidrealms;54 puzquestion
signsindigainto showforall thereported
zlinglackofmuchMuslimterritorial
two
warfare
between
the
and
border
incessant
sustained
sides;and,finally,
cating
thatwould seem to indicatethatthe Samanidsruledat some point
statements
to be underQarakhanid
areas thatwe suddenlydiscover,in thetenthcentury,
rule.55Apparently,
the Samanids- or at least the courthistoriansbeing paid
Samanidsetbacks.
by them- did notwish to memorializeembarrassing
have
of
what
the
border
situation
been,though,theinfluence
may
Regardless
of TurkicCentralAsia upon internalSamanidaffairscan be feltalmostfromthe
in
beginningof the Samanidrise to power.This is apparentfirstand foremost
theverynatureof thepowerand thekindof rulethatthe Samanidswere able
to achieve.It has long been notedthatmuchof the Samanidterritory,
particuand easterlyreaches,was not underdirectSamanidrule,but
larlyits northern
ratherfunctioned
on a vassalage basis.56Whathas been less commonlynoted
of the opposingQarakhanid
is thatit was surelyat least in partthe proximity
theirhold on peripheral
that
the
Samanids
from
strengthening
power
prevented
to
the
two
sides
rulers
able
to
off
the
local
were
areas;
againstone another,
play
theirown distinctadvantage.
An excellentexampleof thistacticcan be foundin the revoltof Abu CAU
Muhtaj, head of the clan functioningas local rulers of marchland
Chaghaniyanand an importantpolitical figure in the mid-tenthcentury
Samanid realms.57When Abu cAlTwas dismissedfromhis post forabuse of
power,he decided to revolt;what is revealingabout thisrevoltis thatwhen
thingswentbadly forAbu cAlThe was able to take refuge,eitherin what is
or withsomeonedescribedas "the Amir
describedvariouslyas "Turkestan"58

54
55

56

57
58

he discreetly
cutsTaban's entiresectionon thedevoutholy
Tabarl,where,forinstance,
warrior
of theSaffarids;
see D.G. Tor, ViolentOrder
; 90-91.
background
The cartographers
of the Tubinger
Atlasdes Vorderen
Orients(Wiesbaden:Reichert,
dealtwiththeproblemby simplystraddling
1977-C.1993),Map B VII 8, forinstance,
thefence:theymarkedtherelevant
debatableareasas bothSamanidand Qarakhanid.
to theperiodaround
Thus,forinstance,
Bayhaq,68, states,referring
Bayhaqi,Tarikh-i
fromKashgharall the way to Rayy".
891, that"[Samanid] rule stretched/spread
Obviously,by the tenthcentury,Samanid rule did not extendanywherenear to
Kashghar.
WhatBosworthcalls "theassemblageof territories
makingup the Samanidempire",
in EarlyIslamictimes",Iran: Journalof the
Bosworth,"The rulersof Chaghaniyan
BritishInstitute
ofPersianStudies19, 1981,3. This was trueof theborderareaseven
fromthe earliesttimes; thus,for instance,afterthe conquestof IsfTjabin 840,
[the city] remaineda largelyindependent
"Significantly,
possessionof the local
Turkishdynasty,
whichowed onlythreeobligations
to theSamanids:military
service,
thepresentation
ofsymbolicgifts,andtheinscription
ofthenameoftheSamanidsuzerain on theircoinage".E.A. Davidovich,"The Karakhanids",
of
Historyof Civilizations
CentralAsia, VolumeIV: The Age of Achievement,
AD 750 to the End of the
Century.Part I: The Historical,Social, and EconomicSetting,ed. M. S.
Fifteenth
Asimovand C. E. Bosworth(Paris:UNESCO, 1998), 120-21.
in Bosworth,"The rulersof Chaghaniyan",
This episodeis summarized
5-8, without
drawingthepresentauthor'sconclusions.
Ibn al-Athir,
al-Kamil8: 459-60; Mirkhwand,
Rawdatal-safa\4: 47.

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293

That is, because Abu 'All was able to fallback upon eitherthe
of Khuttal".59
lands
or those of an at least semi-independent
marcherlord, he
Qarakhanid
but
to
the
Samanid
able
central
was not onlybeyond
authorities
reach,
worry
to theextentthathe could negotiatea settlement
quitefavourableto himself.60
of CentralAsian forcesfrombeyondthelimesis also apparThe involvement
ofthedynasty's
Samanid
Even attheveryfounding
in
internal
ent
familyaffairs.
when
Ismacll
ceased
in
of
Ismacll
b.
the
time
realpower,
Ahmad,
payingtribute
that
in
the
between
thetwo
an
force
to his brother, important
fighting erupted
was "theTurksof IsfTjab".61
Anotherexampleof CentralAsian abettingof unrestin theSamaniddominions can be seen in theeventsthattookplace duringthereignof theAmirNasr
b. Ahmad. ShortlyafterNasr's accession, his great-uncleIshaq b. Ahmad
b. Asad and one ofthelatter'ssonshad revolted.62
Althoughthisrevoltwas superstwhile
of
the
rebel,Ilyas b. Ishaq,
pressed,a decade lateranotherof thesons
raisedin turnthestandardof rebellion.
amongthe Turks",supposedly
Using Farghanaas his base, Ilyas "recruited
gathered30,000 horsemen,and advanced on Samarqand. Eventually,after
being defeated,Ilyas fled to Kashghar, where he was hosted by one
"Tughan-teglnthe Dihqan of Kashghar".63From Kashghar Ilyas b. Ishaq
attackon Farghana,but afterbeing "beat
attemptedto launch an irredentist
to Kashghar".This particulardramacame to a
[en] ... yetagain, he returned
to the Samaniddominions,and was
close whenIlyas finallygave up, returned
reconciledwithNasr.64
The significanceof the outsideTurkicinvolvementin this episode lies in
outsiders:a) supplied actual military
the factthatthese largelyunidentified
manpowerto aspiringrebels against Samanid authority;b) gave repeated
to such rebelswhen eventsdid not go their
withimpunity,
refuge,apparently
59

Gardlzl, Tankh-i GardizT,344.

60 The strikingly
good termsaccordedto Abu cAhhave been notedby Bosworth, lhe
8.
rulersof Chaghaniyan",
asKto his brother
to Farghana,
Abui-Asrratn,
an army,and senta letter
61 "Nasrgathered
brother,
inghimto comewitha largearmy.He sentanotherletterto Shash,to another
Abu YusufYa'qub b. Ahmad,thathe comewithhis army,and thathe also bringthe
TarTkh-i
. ." al-Narshakhl,
Bukhara,97.
Turksof IsfTjab.
GardizT,330-31; and
Tankh-iBukhara, 111-12; Gardizi, TarTkh-i
62 Al-Narshakhl,
Rawdatal-saja",4: 40.
MIrkhwand,
by whichwe may solve me question
63 As Bartholdnotes,"We have no information
had any connexionwith the
whetherthe 'dihqan' of Kashghar,Tughan-tagln,
otherhand,M. F. Grenard,
the
On
256.
Turkestan,
Barthold,
Qara-Khaniddynasty"
"La legendede SatokBughraKhan",JournalAsiatique15/1,1900,34, has no doubt
and even drawstheconclusionthat"Fromthis
thatthiswas a Qarakhanidgovernor,
the
nameand titlewe see thatthekhandid notresidein Kashghar;and that,in effect,
.
.
.".
was
the
of
Turco-Qarluq Balasaghun
capital
revolthas been noted oniy Dy
64 Ibn al-Athlr,al-Kamil,8: 133-4. This intriguing
"La legendede SatokBughraKhan",34-6, and Barthold,Turkestan,
M. F. Grenard,
241, albeitonlyverybrieflyin passing.Perhapsequallyrevealingis Juzjanl's(surely
whichhe chronroleintheserevolts,
oftheTurkish
omissionofanymention
deliberate)
of therebelsto Nasr's clemencyalone;
thepardoning
iclesin somedetail;he attributes
Minhaj-iSiraj Juzjanl,Tabaqat-iNasirT,ed. cAbdal-HayyHabTbl(Tihran:Dunya-ye
208.'
Kitab,1363/1944),

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294

D. G. TOR

way;65 c) provided a political insurancepolicy to rebels; as we saw in

both Ilyas's case and in the earlierone of Abu CAUMuhtaj,rebelswho had
outsideTurkicbackingwere able to negotiateexcellenttermsforthemselves
when theywished to returnto the fold - apparently,
therewere no negative
because
the
dare
Samanid
Amirs
did
not
repercussions
punish them,since
could
turn
the
Turkic
on
once
to
they
enemy the otherside of
always
again
theborder.
Pressurecould workbothways,however.In 332/944a rebelAmir,cAbdallah
b. Ashkam,"quarrelledwiththeAmirNuh, and withdrew
to Khwarizm".Once
Ibn
Ashkam
"entered
with
the
into
there,
kingof theTurksand
correspondence
from
him".
this
the
to
soughtprotection
story, "kingof theTurks"According
the
had
a
was
son
who
presumably Ilig-Khan
beingheld hostagein Bukhara.
wrote
to
the
Nuh,accordingly,
Ilig-Khan,promisingto freetheIlig-Khan'sson
ifthelatterwould seize therebel.The strategy
worked;"The kingof theTurks
to
and
when
Ibn
Ashkamrealizedwhatthe siturespondedaffirmatively this,
ationwas he returned
to Nuh's obedienceand leftKhwarizm.Nuh was good
to him,honouredhim and forgavehim".66Note thateven in this case, Nuh
still foundit wiser to conciliatethe erstwhilerebel thanto punishhim; the
marcherlordsweretoo vitaland unpredictable
an elementfortheSamanidrulers
to treatthemwithanythingless thantheutmostcircumspection.

Mass conversionin Central Asia and the downfall

of the Samanids
The greatculminationof the entireIslamizationprocess in CentralAsia was
undoubtedlythe conversionof the Qarakhanids,which,as previouslynoted,
took place en masse sometimearound the middle of the tenthcentury.67
success
Ironically,one of themostsignificant
consequencesof theoutstanding
of theIslamizingdriveduringtheSamanidera was theheightenedinterference
the Islamizingof the
by the erstwhilepagans in Samanid affairsit facilitated;
them
into
the
of
the
Muslim
Ilig-Khans,bybringing
politicalworld,thereby
pale
enabledthemto pose a threatto the Samanidsin a mannerwhichwould have
been difficultif not impossiblebeforetheirconversion.68In Frye's words:
65 Note thatthis sanctuarypolicy is apparentas early as the year 301/914, when the slaves
who murderedthe Samanid amir, Ahmad b. Ismacll, fled to Turkestan; Narshakhl,
66
67
68

Tarlkh-i
Bukhara,111.

Ibn al-Athlr,al-Kamil, 8: 415.

On the discrepancyin dates see Barthold, Turkestan,254-5. For a strangeand poetic
account of the circumstancessurroundingthis conversion, see Grenard,"La legende
de Satok Bughra Khan", 5-79. The storyitselfis found on pp. 6-10.
Although the Mongols succeeded in accomplishing such a feat several centurieslater,
theyhad a greatdeal more strengthat theirdisposal than did the Qarakhanids; the latter
failedthroughouttheirpre-Islamicphase to overcomethe Samanids. Moreover,when the
Samanids tried to rally the militarysupportof the Transoxanian populace when faced
with the eventual Qarakhanid conquest, theirfailureto do so was directlyattributable
to the fact thatthe latterwere Muslims; as Frye remarks,"The Samanid amir triedto
rouse the people of his domains against the invaders but he failed. The people of
Bukhara would not listen . . . especially when theirreligious leaders assured them that

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THE

ISLAMIZATION

OF CENTRAL

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295

"So theMuslimTurksaccomplishedwhatthepagan Turkscould nothave done

- theconquestof the Samanidkingdom".69
The process wherebythe Samanid realmwas overwhelmedby those very
Turkswhomit had labouredso long to bringintothe foldwas a gradualone,
and thereis much confusionin the sources regardingthe exact course of
events.70Whatis clear fromall theversionsis thataftertheconversionof the
Qarakhanids,the Turkishrulersbegan forthe firsttime intervening
directly
ratherthanby proxyin the Samanid dominions.Thus, in the early990s, we
The episode began when,
see the firstQarakhaniddirectmilitaryintervention.
"Abu
Musa Harun b. Ilig
temptedby internalSamanid political turmoil,71
first
and
attacked
Khan came fromTurkestan",
Isfijab;72then,his appetite
he
in
382/992
whetted,steadilyadvanced,until
conqueredBukhara.Falling
died
soon thereafter.73
to Kashghar,wherehe
ill, theKhan retreated
There exists an alternativeversion of these events.74Accordingto Ibn
al-Athlr,therewere in fact two separate,successive attemptsmade by the
Qarakhanidsin theearly990s on Bukhara:one in 382/992,whichendedin milithefollowingyear:
tarydefeat;and the second,moresuccessful,attempt
Bughra-KhanIlig,75King of theTurks,wentwithhis armiesto Bukhara.
The AmirNuh b. Mansursentagainsthima greatarmy,butIlig metthem
and defeatedthem,and theyreturned,
broken,to Bukhara,withhim in
with the remnantof his
himself
theirfootsteps.Then Nuh went out
resultedin therout
which
armyand methim;theyfoughta fiercebattle,
was the seat of his
which
in defeatto Balasaghun,
of Ilig, who returned
rule.76

and therewas no needto fightfor

weregood Muslimslikethemselves
theQarakhanids
Samanidsagainstthem"("The Samanids",159).
thediscredited
69 RichardFrye,Bukhara:TheMedievalAchievement
(CostaMesa: Mazda, l yy/), 14 /. ur,
of theDar al-Islamas Muslims,
thecommunity
in Soucek'swords,"Once theyentered
these Turks reversedthe trend of actual conquest and themselvesconquered
Transoxania"
(InnerAsia, 76).
versionsintoone narratheconflicting
to harmonize
70 DespiteFrye'sadmirableattempt
avoidsenter141-7. Fryesimilarly
tive;R. Frye,Bukhara:TheMedievalAchievement,
he notes
where
"The
in
his
accounts
the
157,
of
Samanids",
the
issue
into
divergent
ing
merelythat"The courseof eventsis unclear.. .".
71 And accordingto some accounts,foolishlysummonedby Samanidpoliticalplayers;
1: 47.
Rashldal-DIn,Jam?al-tawarikh,
72

Gardlzl, Tankh-i GardTzi,368.

73 GardTzi,Tankh-iGardTzi,369. Rashldal-DIn's version,Jam? al-tawankh,1: 4S-M,

in a fewpoints,forthemostpartcorroborates
thoughmuchmoredetailedanddiffering
Gardlzl's.
bothshowthesamegrowwhichversionis correct:
itis immaterial
74 Forpresent
purposes,
TurksupontheSamanidrealms.
of thenewly-Islamized
ingencroachment
the lurk,ruleroi
75 "Shihabal-DawlaHarunb. SulaymanIlig,knownas Bughra-KJian
al-Kdmil9: 98. On
Kashgharand Balasaghunto thebordersof China",Ibn al-Athlr,
see Pritsak,"Die Karachaniden",
23-4, and
thisQarakhanidtitleand othertitulature
215.
Golden,"An Introduction",
aamania
76 Ibn al-Athlr,
al-Kamil,9: 95. Ct., tor instance,the accountoi unmitigated
defeat,in onlyone campaign,in Hamdallahb. Abl Bakrb. Ahmadb. Nasr MustawfT

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296 d. g. tor

of moresucheventsto
This firstforayendedin failure,butitwas theharbinger
come. The verynextyear,383/993,theaforementioned
Bughra-Khanrenewed
assistanceof
his onslaughtupon the Samanids,thistimewiththefifth-column
various Samanid magnates.The outcomeof this attemptwas the Qarakhanid
defeatof the Samanidsand the occupationof Bukharaby BughraKhan.77It
was duringthis second attempt,
accordingto Ibn al-Athlr,thatBughraKhan
fell mortallyill, retreatedfromBukhara to "the land of the Turks", and
aboutIbn al-Athlr'saccountis that,by contradicting
died.78Whatis important
thefamiliarpictureof Samaniddecay (Nuh b. Mansuris actuallyable to defeat
Bughra-Khanin battle),it providesan indicationjust how criticalthe issue of
baronial loyaltywas for the Samanids, and how skilfullythe Qarakhanids
of variousSamanidamirs.
wereable to exploittheself-interest
of theprocessof reverseinfluencethatwe have notedwas
The culmination
theactualoverthrow
oftheSamanidsa fewyearsafterBughraKhan's dryrun,at
the hands of the Qarakhanidsin 389/999.79In effect,the ever-increasing
Islamizationof CentralAsia broughtCentralAsia itself,en masse, insidethe
Islamic world,untilthe last ethnicallyPersian dynastyto hold sway as the
regionalpowerof theeasternIslamicworldwas finallyoverwhelmed.

influenceof the Samanid-eraIslamizationdrive

Longer-term
It shouldbe notedthatthesignificance
of theIslamizationdrivethattookplace
in CentralAsia duringtheSamanidperioddid notend withthedownfallof the
continuedto be feltwell intothe eleventh
Samanids;rather,its ramifications
the
at
the
downfall
of
Samanidsin 999, theirrealmswere split
century.Thus,
CentralAsian rulershipof different
betweentwo Muslimpolitiesrepresenting
kinds inside the Islamic world:80the Turkic Qarakhanids,who apart from
theirreligionwere a productof TurkicCentralAsian ratherthanPerso-Islamic
culture;81and the Ghaznavids,whose founder,Sebuktegin,was a Turkic

77
78

79
80

81

Amir-iKablr,
GuzTda,ed. cAbdal-HusaynNava'T(Tihran:Intisharat-i
Qazvlnl,TdrTkh-i
1339/1960),385.
al-Kdmii9: 98-9.
Ibn al-Athlr,
Ibnal-Athlr,
al-Kamil,9: 100.Yet a thirdversionis offered
(in Jarfadhqanfs
byal-cUtbI
tdnkh-i
Persiantranslation):
Abu'l-Sharaf
Nasirb. ZafarJarfadhqanT,
yarriinT,
Tarjamah-i
ed. Jacfar
Shicar(Tihran:Bungah-iTarjamahva Nashr-iKitab),1345,94-98; itis closer
s.
to GardlzT'sthanto Ibn al-Athlr'
cUtbi/
184-99; Ibn Funduq,TarTkh-i
Bayhaq,
JarfadhqanT,
Tarjamah-itdnkh-iYaminT,
376-8; Ibn al-Athlr,
GardTzT,
216; Gardlzl,TarTkh-i
69-70; JuzjanI,Tabaqat-iNdsirT,
1: 108-19.
al-Kdmil,9: 148-9; Rashldal-DIn,Jam?al-tawdnkh,
The
On theagreement
ofthesetwoTurkicpowerson dividingthespoilssee Bosworth,
249-50; RashTd
Ghaznavids,39-41; cUtb!/JarfadhqanT,
Tarjamah-itankh-iYamTnT,
at
theIlig-Khan'sdaughter
1: 142-4. Mahmudalso married
al-DTn,Jam?al-tawdnkh,
thistime;see MuhammadNazim, TheLifeand Timesof SultanMahmudof Ghazna
(New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal,1971),47-8.
d'Asie
turkmusulmane
the"premiere
havebeentermed
Thus,theQarakhanids
dynastie
tribal".Jiirgen
centralea avoirgardeson caractere
Paul,"Nouvellespistes,"13.

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mamlukof theold assimilationist

model.82In short,theunforeseen
outcomeof
thesuccessof theSamanid-eradriveto bringIslam to CentralAsia was theend
of theera of Iranianpoliticaland military
dominance,and thebeginningof the
Turkicpoliticaldominancethatwas to hold sway in theIslamic worldforthe
nextmillennium.
ramification
of theSamanid-eraIslamizationdrivein
The secondlonger-term
it
had
on thesuccessorGhaznavidpolity,heir
CentralAsia is thepracticaleffect
to boththeold Islamiclandsinsidethelimes,as well as to newlyIslamizedareas
area. Mahmud of
in a verydifferent
part of CentralAsia: the south-eastern
betweenthe Islamic world
Ghazna was himselfa productof the interaction
and CentralAsia: he had a double CentralAsian heritageas, on theone hand,
the son of a Samanid mamluk militarycommander- the old safely
CentralAsia tamedby Muslims;83
Perso-Islamizedslave model,representing
and on the other,his mother'sheritage,and the area where he was raised,
was Zabulistan,an only veryrecentlyIslamized area on the remotestborder
CentralAsia.84Mahmudhad already
of theIslamicoecumenein south-eastern
a radicalbreakwiththe old model of CentralAsian assimilation
demonstrated
his own masters;forthe firsttimein the area betweenthe
whenhe overthrew
and India,we see theson of a Turkicslave notmerelycontenting
Mediterranean
butwithreplacingit.85By thisact,
therulingdynasty,
himselfwithcontrolling
modelof his fatherto thenew one of
Mahmudpassed fromtheold subservient
theTurkicassumptionof politicalcontrolof theIslamic world.86
the developmentsof the Samanidperiodaffectedthe
Equally significantly,
oftheGhaznavidstate.Like theirSaffaridand Samanidprepolicyand direction
In fact,
decessors,theGhaznavidsneededto establishtheirJihadicredentials.87
82 Note thatthe sourcesview the Ghaznavidsas thetrueheirsof the Samanidmantle;
MustawfTQazvlnl, for instance,TdrTkh-iGuzida, 351, declares that "In [the
Caliph al-Qadir's]timeSamanidrule [dawla] ended,and theirdominionfell to the
Ghaznavids".
see e.g. 'Utbi/Jartadhqani,
83 On Sebuktegin'sbackground
larjamah-itankh-iYamini,
19-20.
see Yahyab. cAbdal-Latlfal-Qazvinl,Lubbal-tawdnkh
(Tihran:
84 On Mahmud'smother
Bundadu Guya,1363/1984),142. Bosworth,Ghaznavids,43, notesthata
Intisharat-i
master,had
had ruledin theKabul valleyuntilAlptegin,Sebuktegin's
Hindudynasty
area.
the
conquered
44: "Judging
85 As Bosworthnotes,Ghaznavids,
by Sebuktegin'slastwishes,he did not
an
set
should
his
that
despitethe evident
dynasty,
independent
up
family
envisage
decay of the Samanids".At least one chroniclerclearly felt queasy about the
IbnFunduq,uniquely,
in thedownfalloftheiroverlords:
portrays
Ghaznavidcomplicity
atleastnominalallegiancetotheSamanidsuntiltheend,and
Mahmudas havingretained
as havingplayedno partin theSamaniddownfall:see Tarikh-i
Bayhaq,70.
betweentne oia individual
marka transition
the Ghaznavidsin particular
86 Therefore
model and the new one of entireTurkicpeoples invading
Mamluk,assimilationist
largeswathesof theIslamicworld.
was occupied
as a holywarrior,
his son has drawnmoreattention
Sebuktegin
87 Although
as well,andbegantheGhaznaviddrivein India;notethataccording
withghdzTactivities
takescareto do uponhisascenttopower,
theveryfirst
toal-cUtbI,
thingthatSebuktegin
tookall [necessary
measures]in
afterdistributing
fiefs,is to fightInfidels:"Sebuktegin
his
he
turned
.
.
.
Then
all
of
and
affairs
the
to
attended
and
his
prosperity
preserving rule,
of theenemiesof thefaith,and the
faceto JihadagainsttheInfidelsand thehumbling

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298

D. G. TOR

given the Samanid success at having established their religio-political

Mahmudfoundhimselfin even greaterneed of theJihadilegitimizcredentials,
ingprinciplewhenhe usurpedtheSamanidlandsand brokehis obedienceto his
erstwhileoverlords.This is probablyat least part of the explanationforhis
almost single-mindedfocus on Jihad,to the point where he became one of
the most famousjihadic warriorsin Islamic history,knownby the sobriquet
MahmudGhazT.88
Againas a resultof Samanid-erasuccess,Mahmudhad to turnhis eyeto new
infidelpastures;the SamanidIslamizationof InnerAsia deflectedMahmudof
Ghazna's attentiontowards the Indian subcontinentand areas of eastern
has been paid by scholarsto
CentralAsia adjoiningit. While much attention
Mahmudof Ghazna's conquestsin India,farless has beenpaid to thecontinuing
of CentralAsia in theGhaznavidrealmsand military
policies.89Yet
importance
one of the primeareas wherethisJihadwas directedwere the last remaining
and Kashmir;that
in the areas thatbecame Afghanistan
pocketsof infidelity
of the Islamizationdrive,merelyfocused
is, therewas a directcontinuation
on a different
partof CentralAsia.90This is surelyone of thereasonswhy it

of Hindustan,
whichwas thedwellingof theenemiesof Islamandtheworshipcountry
forthefaith[Ddr al-Ghazw]".
persof idolshe madeintotheabodeofreligiouswarfare
cUtbI/Jarfadhqani,
Tarjamah-itdnkh-iYamini,20. See also Rashld al-DIn,Jdmf
al-tawdnkh, 1:11; Mustawfi QavTnT,Tdnkh-i Guzida, 389; JuzjanI, Tabaqdt-i Ndsiri,

225-6, termsSebuktegin"al-amiral-ghdzf\In Rashld al-DIn's echoingof cUtbI/

in Jam? al-tawdnkh,1:6: "He set his face towardJihadagainstthe
JarfadhqanI
Infidelsand theenemiesof religion".
as Mahmud
to repeatedly
88 See e.g. Juzjani,Tabaqdt-iNdsin,228, wherehe is referred
al-GhdzTand"SultanghdzF;also Abu CAUHasanTusTNizamal-Mulk,Siyaral-muluk,
'Ilml va FarhangI,1378), 74, 75; and QazvTnT,
ed. HubertDarke (Tihran:Intisharat-i
142: "Mahmudb. Sebuktekln
was a famousruler;he continually
Lubbal-tawdnkh,
performedghazwas againstthe Infidelsin India.. .". Accordingto MustawfT
QavTnT,
Tdnkh-iGuzida, 392, it was on the campaignin India in 392/1002that"YamTn
al-Dawla . . . obtainedthetitleof 'GMzF'".
89 An exception
tothisis Nazim,TheLifeand TimesofSultanMahmudofGhazna,41-85.
sourcesdo notfallprey:the
Notethatthisis an oversight
to whichmostof theprimary
in e.g.
Indianand theCentralAsianconquestsand ghaziraidsaregivenequal mention
Anon., Mujmal al-tawdnkhwa'l-qisas, ed. S. NajmabadI and SiegfriedWeber
forthisrelativeneglectof
Deux Mondes,2000), 313. One explanation
(Neckarhausen:
the CentralAsian conquestshas been noted by Paul, "Nouvellespistes", 17: all
studies"portent
de Tapprochede Barthold.Cela estvraisurpost-Barthold
Tempreinte
to the
toutpourla delimitation
du champde recherche".
AlthoughPaul was referring
thegeographiis equallyvalidregarding
andpoliticalapproach,
hisobservation
dynastic
cal areaunderconsideration;
in Barthold'swake,most"CentralAsianists"tendto limit
theirgeographical
purviewof CentralAsia to theareathataccordswithwhatKotchnev
of theterm- in effect,
to InnerAsia; BorisD.
calls "thetraditional
Sovietdefinition"
du pointde vue de la
et la genealogiedes Karakhanides
Kotchnev,"La chronologie
50.
CahiersD'Asie Centrale9, 2001,EtudesKarakhanides,
numismatique",
90 See e.g. his campaignsin 391 in Peshawar,GardlzT,
Tdnkh-iGardizi,385; 401/1011 in
in GardTzT,
Tdnkh-iGardTzT,
Ghur:Ibn al-Athlr,
al-Kdmil,9: 221-2; mentioned
briefly
391; cUtbi/JarfadhqanI,
Tarjamah-itdnkh-iYaminT,312^; Rashld al-DIn, Jam?
al-tawdnkh,1: 167-9; MustawfT
Qavlnl,Tdnkh-iGuzida,393; and Bosworth,"The
of Ghur",CentralAsiaticJournal6/2,1961, 122-8; in Kashmir
earlyIslamichistory
in 406/1015,together
Ibn al-Athlr,
with20,000volunteer
al-Kdmil,9: 265-8.
warriors,

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THE

ISLAMIZATION

OF

CENTRAL

ASIA

299

was also Mahmud,ratherthanthe Qarakhanids,who inheritedthe Samanids'

mantleas primemagnetforaspiringjihadists.91
The Samanid-eraIslamizationsuccesses had another,paradoxical,effect
on the Jihadin Mahmud's time:tensionsduringthe earlierpartof his reign
with the now-MuslimQarakhanids,who had theireye on the old Samanid
lands in Khurasan,hinderedthe Jihadagainst,and conquest of, India; the
Ilig-Khan's invasionof Khurasanin 396/1006,when Mahmud was busy on
campaignin Multan,forexample,forcedMahmudto rushback home.92
In conclusion,theIslamizationprocessin CentralAsia duringthePersianate
dynasticperiod, culminatingunder the Samanids, had an effectinside the
the Jihadin
Islamic worldthatwas profoundand lasting.Firstand foremost,
rationaleforthenew proto-Sunni
CentralAsia provideda legitimizing
dynasties
rationale
thatbrokethepoliticalunityof thecaliphate.In fact,thislegitimizing
thesuccessfulestablishment
was quitepossiblythedecidingfactorin facilitating
thatsubsequently
tookformduring
of thenew paradigmand normsof rulership
theninththrougheleventhcenturies.
Second,thedriveforIslamizationin CentralAsia duringthisperiodchanged
the natureof Jihaditself,both qualitativelyand geographically,
by restoring
and by changingits geoin the fighting
involvement
intensivegovernmental
graphicfocus.Third,growingengagementwiththeTurkicinfidelsoutsidethe
Turksin
Islamicborderled, in turn,to the increasingrole of theneighbouring
in
and
investment
massive
the
affairs.
Samanid
internal
Fourth,
fosteringof
in
a
caused
Samanids
and
the
Saffarids
Islamizationby
breakthrough
finally
Turkic
the
most
of
which
the Islamizationprocess,during
peoples contiguous
to theMuslimworldadoptedIslam. Finally,thismass Islamizationled in turn
directlyto the takeoverof the Islamic world by the Turks; the immediate
Turkic successors to the Samanids, the Qarakhanidsand the Ghaznavids
inaugurateda periodof Turkicpoliticaldominionin the Mashriqthatwas to
last a thousandyears.

Mahmud'sarmies
warriors
ofjihadicvolunteer
9 1 Mentionoflargenumbers
accompanying
Tankh-iGardizT,
385; andso
canbe foundine.g. Ibnal-Athlr,
al-Kamil,9: 343; GardlzT,
forth.
1: 146-54;
92 E.g. Gardlzl,Tankh-iGardizT,388; Rashid al-Din, Jdmical-tawdrikh,
of
impliedobliquelyin Qazvlnl,Tdnkh-iGuzida,393. For an accountof thehistory
and
The
see
Mahmud's
relations
Nazim,
time,
Life
during
Qarakhanid-Ghaznavid
TimesofSultanMahmudof Ghazna,48-56.

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