User:HistoryofIran/Ismail Samani

Ismail Samani was the

Background
Although the Samanids were Persian speakers of Iranian stock. Their original language and origin is uncertain. They were native to Balkh, which implies that they came from a Bactrian background. The family itself claimed to be the descendants of the Parthian Mihran family, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran during the pre-Islamic Sasanian era. However, this was possibly a mere attempt to enchant their lineage. They may have been originally of Hephthalite descent, due to one of their coins resembling that of the same style of the Hephthalites, instead of the Sasanians. Regardless, the Samanid royal family both spoke and advocated Persian, probably part of their aim to spread the belief that their rule was continuum of the Sasanian Empire.