2021-01-13 Wed

Ahmad ibn Ismail was amir of the Samanids (907–914). Known as the "Martyred Amir", he was the son of Ismail Samani.

Ahmad is first mentioned in the early 900s when he was appointed as the governor of Gurgan. However, Ahmad was soon removed from the governorship because of his failure to wage war against the Justanids of Dailam.

He became amir upon his father's death in late 907. Some time afterwards, he was granted the rights to Sistan, the heart of the Saffarid realm, by Caliph al-Muqtadir. Ahmad may have become unpopular among his subjects for his order to change the language of the court from Persian to Arabic; this order was soon rescinded. He was succeeded by his young son Nasr II.

Depicted here is a gold coin issued under his reign. The obverse of a coin depicts the Shahada “La Ilaha Illallahu Wah Dahu La sharika Lahu”. The reverse of a coin inscribes the name of Amir.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org