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The History of the Sa Ff Arids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz

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The History of the Sa Ff Arids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz Columbia Lectures on Iranian Studies Ehsan Yarshater, General Editor Numbers The History of the Saff arids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz (247/ 861 to 949/1542-3) Clifford Edmund Bosworth Manchester University, England Mazda Publishers in association with Bibliotheca Persica Costa Mesa, California and New York 1994 Library of Congress Cat.aloging-in-Publication Data Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. The History of the Saffarids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz: (247/861to949/1542-3) I Clifford Edmund Bosworth. p. cm - (Columbia Lectures on Iranian Studies; No. 8) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Sis tan (Iran and Afghanistan-Histocy. I. Title. II. Series. DS324.S5B59 1993. 955'.8-dc20 · - ~ - . ~ .. •, ·. 93-38220 CIP Copyright© 1994 by Persian Heritage Foundation, Columbia University. All rights reserved. :No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any f9rm or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying without written permission from the publisher. For information, write t.o Mazda Publishers, P.O. Box 2603, Costa Mesa, CA.92626 U.S.A. ISBN: 1-56859-015-6 w _____________ u~~~lln!L@wyU Contents Maps and Genealogical Tables viii About the Author ix Foreword xi .:· Preface and Acknowledgements xiii Note on Presentation xv Abbreviations xvii Part 1 :· The Saf/0;rids of Sistan Chapter I. The significance of the Saffarids in Islamic history and sources for the history of the dynasty 1. The Saffarids in the light _of history 3 2. Sources for Saffarid history 16 Chapter II. Sistan: the land and its early history 1. Pre-Islamic and legendary Sistan 30 2. Islamic Sistan: the terrain and the climate 39 3. Bust and its surrounding region 57 Chapter III. The career and reign of Ya<qub b. al-Layth (247-65/861-79) and the establishment of the "First Line" of Saffarids 1. Ya<qub's rise to power in Sistan 67 2. The raids into eastern Afghanistan 83 3. The expansion into K.hurasan 108 4. The conquests in southern Persia and the onslaught on the caliphate 135 5. Ya<qub's character and attitudes, and his signif!cance in the New Persian revival 168 -- • t • . ~ ~ Vl CONTENTS Chapter IV. The career and reign of cAmr b. al-Layth (265-87 /879-900) 1. The succession of <Amr 181 2. The early years of <Amr's amirate 185 3. The struggle for control of Khurasan 193 4. <Amr' s campaigns in southern Persia and his final triumph in Khurasan 203 5. The nemesis of power: the defeat and capture of<Amr 223 6. <Amr's character and achievement 236 Chapter V. <Amr's successors and the end of the "First Line" of Safiarids, or the Laythids (287-97/900-11) 1. The characteristics of the period and the sources for it 240 2. The reign of Tahir b. Mul)ammad b. <Amr 243 3. Al-Layth, al-Mu<addal and Mul)ainmad, the sons of <Ali b. al-Layth, and the Samanid conquest of Sistan 260 Chapter VI. The "Second Line" of Saffarids, or the Khalafids (297-393/911-1002) 1. The period of confusion and the Saffarid restoration 267 2. The reign of Abu Ja<far Al).mad b. Mul)ammad (311-52/923-63) 282 3. The reign of Abu Alµnad Khalaf b. Al)mad: the earlier years (352-73/963-83) 301 4. Khalaf's later years: the zenith of splendour, then dissensions and the downfall of the Khalafids and the end of the Saffarids (373- 93/983- 1002) 316 5. Khalaf b. Al;unad as scholar and maecenas 328 Chapter VII. The organisation and adminstration of the Saffarid empire 1. Th~ army 341 2. The civil adminstration 358 CONTENTS vii Part 2. The Maliks of Nimruz Chapter VTII. Sistan under outside domination, and the emergence . orthe "Third Line" of rulers in Sistan, or the Na$rids (421-622/1030-1225) 1. Sistan under Ghaznavid and early Saljuq suzerainty, and the appearance of the Na$rids (393-465/1003-73) 365 2. The Na$rid Maliks between the great powers of the East and the Mongol invasions (465-632/1073-1235) 387 Chapter IX. The Mihrabanids or "Fourth Line" of rulers in Sistan (633/1236 to 949/1542-3) 1. Sistan and its neighbours in the seventh/thirteenth and early eighth/fourteenth centuries 412 2. Sources for the history of the Mihrabanids and the chronology of the Maliks 424 3. The history of the Mihrabanids from 633/1236 to the close of the ninth/fifteenth century 429 . 4. The end ofMihrabanidrule in Sistan in the early tenth/sixteenth century 467 Select bibliography 1. Primary sources 481 2. Secondary sources 489 Index 503 .. .
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