Sīmjūrid Dynasty

▪ Iranian dynasty

      (c. 940–1000), minor Iranian dynasty that ruled in Khorāsān. The Sīmjūrids, a family of Iranian notables, rose to prominence early in the 10th century under the Sāmānid rulers of Iran. The detailed history of the family is somewhat obscure, but its historical significance lies in the fact that in the last two decades of Sāmānid rule it held the balance of power in Khorāsān and western Afghanistan.

      The founder of the family was a certain Aḥmad, originally a slave of the Sāmānid king Esmāʿīl. Aḥmad was appointed governor of Seistan by the Sāmānids in c. 912. His descendant Ebrāhīm Sīmjūrī became governor of Khorāsān during the reign of the Sāmānid Nūḥ I. Ebrāhīm's son Abū ol-Ḥasan Sīmjūrī created a virtually independent principality centred in Qohestān in southern Khorāsān. Abū ol-Ḥasan's son Abū ʿAlī added Herāt to the domains.

      With the growing weakness of the Sāmānid dynasty and increasing power of the Ghaznavids, Abū ʿAlī entered into an alliance with the Qarakhanid Turks, hoping to strengthen his position. In ensuing tripartite hostilities between the Ghaznavids, the Qarakhanids, and the last of the Sāmānids, the Sīmjūrid territories were overrun and their power was extinguished.

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