Nuh II (, r. 13 June 976–22 July 997)
['' Tabaqat-i Nasiri'' by Minhaj-i-Siraj, pg. 107, Lahore Sangmil Publications 2004] was
amir of the
Samanids (976–997). He was the son and successor of
Mansur I.
Beginning and Middle of Reign

Having ascended the throne as a youth, Nuh was assisted by his mother and his vizier
Abu'l-Husain 'Abd-Allah ibn Ahmad 'Utbi. Sometime around his ascension, the
Karakhanids
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; zh, t=喀喇汗國, p=Kālā Hánguó), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Karluks, Karluk Turkic peoples, Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the ...
invaded and captured the upper Zarafshan Valley, where the Samanid silver mines were located. In 980 they struck again, seizing
Isfijab. 'Utbi, however was focused on removing Abu'l-Hasan Simjuri, the Samanid governor of
Khurasan. The vizier considered Abu'l-Hasan to be too powerful; he managed to remove him from the post in 982. He replaced him with one of his own partisans, a Turkish general called Tash. Abu'l-Hasan fled to his appendage in Kuhistan, to the south of
Herat.
An expedition against the
Buyids was mobilized in Khurisan, also in 982; it was initially successful, but the Samanid forces were subsequently crushed. A Buyid invasion of the Samanid state was prevented only by the death of
'Adud al-Daula. 'Utbi attempted to regroup the army, but was assassinated by supporters of Abu'l-Hasan and
Fa'iq.
'Utbi's death sparked an uprising in the capital
Bukhara
Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...
; Nuh was forced to request Tash's assistance in crushing the revolt. The governor succeeded in this task, and prepared to fight the armies of Abu'l-Hasan and his son Abu 'Ali, along with Fa'iq. Eventually, however, he changed his mind and made peace with the Simjuris and Fa'iq. Tash convinced Nuh to give Fa'iq control of
Balkh and to Abu 'Ali control of
Herat; Abu'l-Hasan was restored in Khurasan, while Tash kept his governorship of Khurasan.
This peace was broken by 'Utbi's successor Muhammad ibn 'Uzair; the vizier had been rivals with 'Utbi and therefore disliked Tash. Nuh, due to Muhammad's advice, stripped Tash of his office and reinstated Abu'l-Hasan to the governorship. Tash fled to the Buyids, who provided him with assistance. The Simjuris and Fa'iq defeated him near the end of 987, however, and he fled to
Gurgan, where he died in 988. During the same year, Nuh appointed
Abu Ali Damghani
Abu or ABU may refer to:
Aviation
* Airman Battle Uniform, a utility uniform of the United States Air Force
* IATA airport code for A. A. Bere Tallo Airport in Atambua, Province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
People
* Abu (Arabic term), a ku ...
as his new vizier, but later replaced him with
Abu Nasr Ahmad as his vizier. Six months later, however, Abu Nasr Ahmad was assassinated by the ''
ghulams'' of Nuh's palace, and Abu Ali Damghani was shortly re-appointed as Nuh's vizier.
Abu'l-Hasan also died around this time; his son Abu 'Ali succeeded him as governor of Khurasan. This greatly increased his power, a move which alarmed Fa'iq. The quarrel between the two turned hostile; Abu 'Ali defeated Fa'iq in battle in around 990. During his retreat, Fa'iq attempted to seize Bukhara, but Nuh's Turkish general
Bektuzun inflicted another defeat on him. Fa'iq then headed back to Balkh. Nuh managed to convince several of his vassals to mobilize their forces against Fa'iq, but the latter retained his position.
The Karakhanids and End of Reign
The Karakhanids, who in addition to their seizures of Samanid territory had inherited several petty Turkish principalities that had been virtually independent from Bukhara, launched a full-scale invasion at the end of 991. Their ruler, Bughra Khan, destroyed an army sent by Nuh to stop him. The amir then pardoned Fa'iq and gave him the governorship of
Samarkand
Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...
, in exchange for a promise from the latter to fight the Karakhanids. After some time, however, Fa'iq surrendered to Bughra Khan, who then marched toward Bukhara. Nuh fled, and the Karakhanids entered the capital in the late spring of 992, where they managed to capture Abu Ali Damghani. The amir then turned to Abu 'Ali, still residing in
Nishapur
Nishapur or Neyshabur (, also ) is a city in the Central District (Nishapur County), Central District of Nishapur County, Razavi Khorasan province, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.
Ni ...
, Khurasan's provincial capital. He requested his assistance, but the latter initially refused. The situation changed when Bughra Khan fell sick in Bukhara; he made Nuh's uncle
Abd al-Aziz the ruler of the Samanid dynasty as an Karakhanid puppet, traveled to Samarkand, and then died on the road northward. During the same period, Abu Ali Damghani, who was a captive of the Karakhanids, died. The garrison left in Bukhara was defeated by Nuh in the summer of that year, who had Abd al-Aziz blinded and imprisoned.
Fa'iq attempted to take Bukhara himself, but was defeated. He then fled to Abu 'Ali; the two settled their past differences and resolved to put an end to Samanid rule. They first began conquering the petty kingdoms who supported the Samanids; Abu 'Ali invaded
Gharchistan, and repelled its ruler
Shah Muhammad along with his father
Abu Nasr Muhammad from the region. Nuh then requested assistance from the
Sebük Tigin of
Ghazna. The Ghaznavid agreed to provide assistance, and Nuh's forces were further strengthened by the help of
Khwarazm
Khwarazm (; ; , ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by th ...
and several other of his vassals. A battle in Khurasan in August 994 resulted in a crushing victory for the amir and his allies. The rebels fled to Gurgan; Nuh rewarded Sebük Tigin and his son
Mahmud with titles, and gave the governorship of Khurasan to Mahmud as well.
In 995 Abu 'Ali and Fa'iq returned with new forces and expelled Mahmud from Nishapur. Sebük Tigin met up with his son and together they defeated the rebels near
Tus. Abu 'Ali and Fa'iq fled northward; the latter sought refuge with the Karakhanids. Nuh, however, pardoned Abu 'Ali, and sent him to Khwarazm. The Khwarazm Shah, who held southern Khwarazm as a Samanid vassal, imprisoned Abu 'Ali. Both of them were captured when the Samanid governor of northern Khwarazm invaded from Gurganj. He annexed southern Khwarazm and sent Abu 'Ali back to Nuh. The amir sent him to Sebük Tigin in 996, and he was subsequently executed by the Ghaznavids.
Fa'iq, meanwhile, had attempted to persuade Bughra Khan's successor Nasr Khan to launch a campaign against the Samanids. The Karakhanid, however, instead made peace with Nuh. Fa'iq was pardoned and handed back the governorship of Samarkand. Although peace had finally been established, the years of conflict preceding it had heavily hurt the Samanids; the Karakhanids had taken control of much of the northeast, while the Ghazvanids had entrenched themselves in Khurasan and the lands south of the
Oxus. The governor of Khwarazm only nominally accepted Nuh's authority. It was in this greatly weakened condition that Nuh left the Samanid state when he died in 997. He was succeeded by his son
Mansur II.
Notes
References
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*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuh 02
997 deaths
Samanids
Medieval child monarchs
10th-century monarchs in the Middle East
Year of birth unknown
10th-century Iranian people