Taberistan, where the Taherids appeared, as independent princes soon after the death of Harun-al-Rashid; some decads later the Soffarids rebelled in Sejestan, and towards the end of the ninth century the power of the Samanids sprang up in Sogdiana, Balkh, and Merv, and founded seats in Samarcand and Bokhara. Not long after the Ziads obtained an independent position in Dilem and Jorjan (the ancient Hyrcania). Towards the end of the tenth century the Ghasnavids, who had hitherto been the servants and captains of the Samanids, threw off their allegiance; and united under their dominion all the lands which had been subject to the Soffarids, the Samanids, and Ziads. Soon after the year 1000 B.C. they ruled from their abode in Ghasna over Cabul, Balkh, Merv, and Chovaresm to the north, and over Sejestan and Afghanistan to the south, and to the west over the lands of Elburz, while their armies crossed the Indus to the east, and advanced beyond the Panjab to the valley of the Ganges. The ancient religion of Iran was not wholly lost even in the time of Harun-al-Rashid; Magians were tolerated at the court of the Chalifs for the sake of their skill in medicine. The Barmecides, who came from Balkh, displayed, even under the Chalifate, a partiality for the legends and the religion of Iran. The Samanids boasted to be sprung from the Sassanids, the Ziads were reproached with being idolaters in heart and Moslem in tongue. They called themselves once more by the names celebrated in the legends of Eastern Iran: Minocher after Manuschithra, Kai Kobad after Kava Kavata, Kai Kaus after Kava Uça, Isfendyar after Çpentodata; and in the list of the Ghasnavids, the Afghan princes in India, we meet at a later time with the name of Kava Huçrava (Chosru).