Saman Khuda

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Saman Khuda (Saman Khoda, Saman-khudat) was a Persian (Tajik) from Central Asia, and the ancestor of the Samanid dynasty.

Saman lived in the first half of the 8th century and was supposedly descended from the Sasanian general Bahram Chobin, a noble of the ancient Iranian Mehran feudal family, who played an important role in the history of the later Sasanians.^[1]

Saman was a Zoroastrian noble, who attended the court of the Caliphal governor of Khurasan, Asad ibn 'Abd-Allah al-Qasri (723-727). At Asad's court, Saman, impressed with Asad's piety, converted to Islam.

Saman named his son Asad in honor of Caliph al-Mamun. The Caliph appointed Asad's sons to be rulers of Samarqand, Ferghana, Shash, Ustrushana and Herat, and thus the dynasty of rulers was started.

Today in Tajikistan, Saman is considered to be the father of the Tajik nation. The name "Saman-khoda" is actually the title that means "owner of (the settlement of) Saman". The location of the settlement and the ancestry of Saman Khuda are disputed.

There is a 40-metre monument of Ismail Samani in Dushanbe, Tajikistan (2000). There is Ismail Samani Peak in the Pamir Mountains (formerly Communism Peak).

The present iteration of the Young Pioneers in Tajikistan is named the King Somoni Inheritance in Saman Khuda's honor.

Modern Tajiks proudly view the Persian Samanid Empire as being the first Tajik state in history. This monument located in Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe honors Saman Khuda.