Simjur al-Dawati was a 10th-century Turkic general who served the

Samanids People Samanid Samanid Samanid The Samanid Empire () was a Persianate society, Persianate Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, ruled by a dynasty of Iranian peoples, Iranian ''dehqan'' origin. The empire was centred in Greater Khorasan, Khorasan an ...

. He was the founder of the Simjurid family which would play an important role in the Samanid Empire.

Biography

Simjur was a ''

ghulam Ghulam (, ) is an Arabic word meaning ''servant'', ''assistant'', ''boy'', or ''youth''. It is used to describe young servants in Jannah. It is also used to refer to slave-soldiers in the Abbasid, Ottoman, Safavid and to a lesser extent, Mughal e ...

'' of Turkic origin and a victim of the Samanid slave trade. During his early career he served as the tax collector of

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

. In 911, the Samanid ruler Ahmad Samani, ordered an invasion of

Saffarid The Saffarid dynasty () was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian origin that ruled over parts of Persia, Greater Khorasan, and eastern Makran from 861 to 1002. One of the first indigenous Persian dynasties to emerge after the Islamic conque ...

Sistan Sistān (), also known as Sakastān (, , current name: Zabol) and Sijistan (), is a historical region in south-eastern Iran and extending across the borders of present-day south-western Afghanistan, and south-western Pakistan. Mostly correspond ...

; Simjur along with other Samanid generals quickly subdued parts of Sistan and then captured its capital, Zarang from the Saffarid ruler Al-Mu'addal. During the conquest of Sistan, a Caliphal rebel of Turkic origin named Sebük-eri, was captured and sent to the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

'' in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, while Abu Salih Mansur, the cousin of Ahmad Samani, was appointed as governor of Sistan. However, this was not the end of the conflicts in Sistan; Mansur's oppressive taxation policies sparked a revolt in Sistan one year later in 912, led by the

Khariji The Kharijites (, singular ) were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the conflict with his challeng ...

Muhammad ibn Hurmuz, who was a supporter of the Saffarid Amr ibn Ya'qub. Mansur was then taken prisoner until the rebellion was crushed by an Samanid army under Husain ibn 'Ali Marvarrudhi in 913.''ABŪ ṢĀLEḤ MANṢŪR'', C. E. Bosworth, Encyclopaedia Iranica
/ref> 'Amr was sent to

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 ...

, while the other rebel leaders were killed. Simjur al-Dawati then replaced Mansur as governor of Sistan. Simjur seems to have later taken part in a ghulam conspiracy against Ahmad Samani which ended in a failure. During the reign of Ahmad's son

Nasr II Nasr ibn Ahmad or Nasr II (), nicknamed "the Fortunate", was the ruler ('' amir'') of Transoxiana and Khurasan as the head of the Samanid dynasty from 914 to 943. His reign marked the high point of the Samanid dynasty's fortunes. He was the son ...

, the Zaydids invaded

Greater Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

, but were repulsed by Simjur. During the later life of Simjur, he served as governor of various provinces, including the newly captured province of Ray. He died at an unknown date during the reign of Nasr II and had a son named

Ibrahim ibn Simjur Ibrahim ibn Simjur (died 948) was a Samanid military officer from the Simjurid family. Biography Ibrahim was the son of Simjur al-Dawati, the founder of the Simjurid family. Ibrahim is first mentioned as a deputy of the Muhtajid ruler Abu 'A ...

References

Sources

* Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. ''The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual.'' Great Britain: Columbia University Press, 1996. * *Treadwell, Luke.
Simjurids
" ''Encyclopaedia Iranica.'' Ed. Ehsan Yarshater. Columbia University. Retrieved 8 May 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Simjur al-Dawati Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown 10th-century Asian people Samanid generals Governors of Sistan Governors of Ray Samanid governors Simjurids Ghilman Slaves in the Samanid Empire Turkic people 10th-century slaves