Saman Khuda

Saman Khuda (Saman Khoda, Saman-khudat) was an 8th-century Persian noble whose descendants (the House of Saman) later became rulers of Persia (the Samanid Empire). He was a Dehqan from the village of Saman in Balkh province in present-day northern Afghanistan (then part of Persia). In the early 8th century, he came to Merv, seat of the Caliphal governor of Khorasan, Asad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Qasri (ruled 723-727). Saman was originally a Zoroastrian,. But he was so impressed with the piety of Asad ibn 'Abd-Allah al-Qasri, the Caliphal governor of Khorasan, that he converted to Islam. He named his son Asad, allegedly in the governor's honor.

Caliph al-Mamun (786-833) subsequently appointed Asad's four sons – Saman Khuda's grandsons – as governors of Samarkand, Ferghana, Shash and Ustrushana, and Herat in recognition of their role in the suppression of a revolt. This began the House of Saman; Saman Khuda's great-grandson Isma'il ibn Ahmad (849-907) became Amir of Transoxiana and Khorasan.

Saman was a 4th or 5th generation descendant of Bahram Chobin, a noble of the ancient House of Mihran, who played an important role in the history of the later Sassanian Empire.