The Samanid Empire, also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Khorasan and Transoxiana; at its greatest extent encompassing Persia and Central Asia, from 819 to 999.
Early 14th century copy of the Samanid-period Tarikhnama of Bal'ami (d. 992–997 CE) depicting al-Saffah (r. 750–754) as he receives pledges of allegiance in Kufa. This is the earliest known extant prose book in the Persian language.