[2] He was the son of Ahmad ibn-i Asad and a descendant of Saman Khuda, the eponymous ancestor of the Samanid dynasty who renounced Zoroastrianism and embraced Islam.

[6] Regardless, the Samanid royal family both spoke and advocated Persian, and also used many pre-Islamic bureaucratic titles, probably part of their aim to spread the belief that their rule was a continuum of the Sasanian Empire.

[6] Ismail was born in Farghana in 849—he was the son of Ahmad ibn Asad, and had a brother named Nasr I, who ascended the Samanid throne in 864/5.

Ismail therefore continued to formally recognize Nasr as ruler until the latter's death in August 892, at which point he officially took power.

Ismail was active to the north and east, steadily spreading Samanid influence as well as solidifying his control over other areas including Kirman, Sistan and Kabul.

[10] It was said that he made his capital Bukhara into one of Islam's most glorious cities,[11] as Ismail attracted scholars, artists, and doctors of law into the region.

[13] In 893, Ismail took the city of Talas, the capital of the Karluk Turks, taking large numbers of slaves and livestock.

During his reign he subjugated numerous regional states to the east, directly incorporating some within his boundaries and retaining the local rulers of others as vassals.

These campaigns kept the heart of his state safe from Turkish raids, and allowed Muslim missionaries to expand their activities in the region.

Ismail decided to take advantage of the caliph's grant by sending an army to Tabaristan, which was then controlled by the Zaydids under Muhammad ibn Zayd.

The Samanid army also managed to conquer several other cities including Ray and Qazvin, though subsequent rulers lost the territory to the Daylamites and Kurds.

However, this later had consequences; at the end of the dynasty, the earlier strong, but now crumbling walls, were greatly missed by the Samanids, who were constantly under attack by the Karakhanids and other enemies.

[24] The celebrated scholar Nizam al-Mulk, in his famous work, Siyasatnama, stated that Ismail: Was extremely just, and his good qualities were many.