Bost, Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul, Bamiyan, Balkh and Herat, conquering in the name of Islam.
�N. Dupree
Pearl of Khorasan
Further information: Tahirid Dynasty, Saffarid Dynasty, Ghaznavids, Ghurid Dynasty, Timurid Dynasty, and Safavid Dynasty
The region of Her?t was under the rule of King Nuh III, the seventh of the Samanid line�at the time of Seb�k Tigin and his older son, Mahmud of Ghazni. The governor of Her?t was a noble by the name of Faik, who was appointed by Nuh III. It is said that Faik was a powerful, but insubordinate governor of Nuh III; and had been punished by Nuh III. Faik made overtures to Bogra Khan and Ughar Khan of Khorasan. Bogra Khan answered Faik's call, came to Her?t and became its ruler. The Samanids fled, betrayed at the hands of Faik to whom the defence of Her?t had been entrusted by Nuh III. In 994, Nuh III invited Alp Tigin to come to his aid. Alp Tigin, along with Mahmud of Ghazni, defeated Faik and annexed Her?t, Nishapur and Tous.
Her?t was a great trading centre strategically located on trade routes from Mediterranean Sea to India or to China. The city was noted for its textiles during the Abbasid Caliphate, according to many references in the geographers. Her?t also had many learned sons such as Ans?r?. The city is described by Estakhri and Ibn Hawqal in the 10th century as a prosperous town surrounded by strong walls with plenty of water sources, extensive suburbs, an inner citadel, a congregational mosque, and four gates, each gate opening to a thriving market place. The government building was outside the city at a distance of about a mile in a place called Khor?s?n?b?d. A church was still visible in the countryside northeast of the town on the road to Balkh, and farther away on a hilltop stood a flourishing fire temple, called Sereshk, or Arshak according to Mustawfi.
Herat was a part of the Taherid dominion in Khor?s?n until the rise of the Saffarids in Sist?n under Ya'qub-i Laith
