_Dar Khorāsān zi āl-i-Massābshāh, Tāhir u Talha būd u Abdullāh, Bāz Tāhir, digar Mohammad dān Kū be Ya`kūb dād takht u kulāh._ _Translation._--In Khorāsān, of the house of Massāb (Tāhir’s name was Tāhir ibn Husayn ibn Massāb) there were the following princes--Tāhir, Talha, `Abdullah, another Tāhir and then Mohammad, who gave up throne and crown to Ya`kūb. [218] He ruled from A.H. 232–247 (846–861). [219] In Arabic _Saffār_, whence the dynasty took its name. [220] Cf. Khwāndamīr’s account of the Saffārides in his _Habīb-us-Siyar_. We refer the reader also to Nöldeke’s brilliant sketch of this man’s career, entitled “Ya`qūb the Coppersmith” (_Sketches from Persian History_, pp. 176–206). [221] Malcolm, _History of Persia_, vol. i. p. 148. [222] Cf. Müller, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. 29. [223] Narshakhi (ed. Schefer, p. 78) gives the date as A.H. 260 (872), Mīrkhwānd (ed. Wilken, p. 4) as A.H. 261 (873). [224] Narshakhi, _loc. cit._ Muwaffak is here spoken of as Caliph, but he was merely chief minister of state to his brother the Caliph Mu`tamid. [225] This point is not made clear by Persian historians. The Saffārides had by their victories become masters of all the provinces ruled by the Tāhirides, of which Transoxiana was certainly one. It is hard to conceive either that they should have renounced their claim on Transoxiana, or that the feeble Caliph should have taken upon himself to pronounce the Samānīdes independent of Khorāsān. [226] Narshakhi, ed. Schefer, p. 79. [227] Vambéry is in this place (see _Bokhārā_, p. 58) guilty of a curious error, for he says that this Rāfi` was the _Rāfi` ibn Layth_ who had rebelled against Hārūn er-Rashīd in A.H. 190 and was pardoned in 196 by Ma´mūn. He would by the year 272 have been rather old to receive a governorship of a province. [228] Mīrkhwānd (ed. Wilken, p. 6) says that it was in connection with this friendship that certain mean persons poisoned the mind of Nasr against his brother. This author tells us that Isma`īl had requested and received of Rāfi` the province of Khwārazm, and this, so Nasr’s advisers said, was merely a plot to deprive Nasr of Transoxiana. [229] See below, p. 110. [230] Five farsakhs to the south of Aulié-ātā. For a full account of what is known of Christianity in Central Asia in early times we refer the reader to an excellent monograph on this subject by M. Barthold, of St. Petersburg, which was published in vol. viii. of the _Zapiski_, or Journal of the St. Petersburg University Oriental Faculty. Much valuable information on this subject is also to be found in Col. Yule’s _Cathay and the Way Thither_. [231] Ed. Schefer, p. 84. [232] Bellew (_Forsyth Mission_, p. 119) says that Isma`īl received his patent of succession from the Caliph while engaged in this campaign; but this is not in agreement with Narshakhi, whom he gives as his authority. [233] See above, p. 105. [234] Cf. Weil, _op. cit._ ii. p. 483.