ISMA'IL I IBN AHMAD

also spelled Esma'il Ebn Ahmad (reigned 892907), one of the Persian Samanid dynasty's most famous sovereigns, who was generous, brave, just, and cultivated. Originally governor of Transoxiana at the age of 21, he extended his domains throughout Tabaristan and Khorasan and, though nominally under the caliph of Baghdad, established independent rule throughout eastern Persia with his capital at Bukhara.