The Weaving Industry and Textile Trade In the Samanid Realm Based on Written Historical and Geographical Sources

Document Type : .

Authors

1 Department of History. Faculty of Law and Social Sciences. University of Tabriz. Tabriz. Iran

2 History Teacher at the Education Department, Tehran District 6

Abstract
Textile production in the Samanid realm was closely intertwined with pastoralism, agriculture, and horticulture, and was shaped by the natural environment of Khorasan, Transoxiana, and Khwarezm. The production of wool, cotton, flax, and silk sustained the textile industry, whose occupational structure encompassed spinning, weaving, and dyeing. Nishapur, Marv, Bukhara, Samarkand, and Kath served as major centers of production. The diversity of textiles included silk, cotton, and woolen fabrics such as palaas and felt. The weaving industry benefited from the commercial prosperity of Nishapur, Marv, Bukhara, and Kath, while textiles were exported to other regions via the Khorasan Highway and the Silk Road.

The central question of this study concerns the relationship between textile production and the economic, social, and geographical structures of the Samanid domain. The research aims to examine the role of natural factors, occupational networks, production centers, and trade routes in the development of weaving. The study employs a descriptive–analytical approach based on historical and geographical sources.

Findings show that abundant water, thriving agriculture and herding, and a favorable geography created ideal conditions for raw material production. Nishapur, Marv, Bukhara, Samarkand, and Kath were key textile centers, distributing their products through trade routes to other lands.

Keywords

Subjects

Abū Dulaf al-Khazrajī, Mas‘ar ibn Muhalhil. (1975). Travelogue of Abū Dulaf (S. Abolfazl Ṭabāṭabā’ī, Trans.; with annotations and studies by Minorsky). Zavvār Bookstore. [In Persian]
Abū Dulaf al-Khazrajī, Mas‘ar ibn Muhalhil. (1995). Al-Risālah al-Ūlā (Maryzen Sa‘īd ‘Asīrī, Ed.). Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-Islāmī.
Al-Balādhurī, Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā. (1967). Futūḥ al-Buldān (Iran section) (Āzartāsh Āzarnoush, Trans.). Iranian Cultural Foundation. [In Persian]
Al-Bīrūnī, Abū Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad. (1989). Āthār al-Bāqiyah ‘an al-Qurūn al-Khāliyyah (Chronology of ancient nations) (‘Alī-Akbar Dānasarasht, Trans.). Amirkabir. [In Persian]
Al-Ḥākim al-Nīshābūrī, Abū ‘Abd Allāh. (1996). Tārīkh-e Neyshābūr. Āgeh. [In Persian]
Al-Sam‘ānī, Abū Sa‘īd ‘Abd al-Karīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr. (1962). Al-Ansāb (‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Yaḥyā al-Mu‘allimī al-Yamānī, Ed.; Vols. 2, 5, 8, 10). Dā’irat al-Ma‘ārif al-‘Uthmānīyah.
Allgrove McDowell, J. (1989). Textiles. In R. W. Ferrier (Ed.), The arts of Persia (pp. 151–170). Yale University Press.
Bartold, Vasiliy Vladimirovich. (1973). Turkestan-nāmeh: Turkestan during the Mongol invasions (K. Keshavarz, Trans.; Vol. 1). Iranian Cultural Foundation. [In Persian]
Bayhaqī, ‘Alī ibn Zayd. (1982). Tārīkh-e Beyhaq (History of Beyhaq) (Aḥmad Bahmanyār, Ed.). Foroughi Bookstore. [In Persian]
Bregel, Yuri. (1984). Historical atlas of Central Asia (Goodarz Rashtiani, Trans.). SAMT. [In Persian]
Chitsāz, Mohammad-Reza. (2000). History of Iranian costume from the advent of Islam to the Mongol invasion. Center for Studies and Broadcasting Programs of IRIB & SAMT Organization. [In Persian]
Dehqān-Nejād, Morteżā. (2006). The strategic role of the Silk Road in the development of peripheral cities in Iran. Nāmeh-ye Anjoman, 9(24). [In Persian]
Fārsī, ‘Abd al-Ghāfir ibn Esmā‘īl. (1983). Tārīkh-e Neyshābūr: al-Mukhtār min al-Siyāq (Moḥammad Kāẓem Maḥmūdī, Ed.; prepared by Ibrāhīm ibn Moḥammad Ṣarīfīnī). Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, Islamic Publications Office.
Forūzānī, Abū al-Qāsim. (2022). Political, social, economic, and cultural developments of Iran during the Samanid period. SAMT. [In Persian]
Frye, Richard Nelson. (1969). Bukhara: The medieval achievement (Mohammad Maḥmūd, Trans.). Bongāh-e Tarjomeh va Nashr-e Ketāb. [In Persian]
Gardīzī, Abū Sa‘īd ‘Abd al-Ḥayy ibn Żaḥḥāk. (1984). Zayn al-Akhbār (‘Abd al-Ḥayy Ḥabībī, Ed.). Donyā-ye Ketāb. [In Persian]
Hātamī, Amirhossein. (2017). An analysis of the naming of the Silk Road with emphasis on economic geography. Islamic World Historical Studies, 5(10). [In Persian]
Ḥusainī Balkhī, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Ḥossein. (1971). Fażā’il-e Balkh (‘Abd al-Ḥayy Ḥabībī, Ed.). Iranian Cultural Foundation. [In Persian]
Ḥodūd al-‘Ālam min al-Mashreq ilā al-Maghrib. (1983). Ḥodūd al-‘Ālam min al-Mashreq ilā al-Maghrib (Manūchehr Sotūdeh, Ed.). Ṭahūrī Library. [In Persian]
Ḥokmābādī, ‘Ārefeh Sādāt, et al. (2015). Study of Samanid textile patterns. Khorasan-e Bozorg Research Journal, 6(20). [In Persian]
Ibn al-Athir, ‘Izz al-Din. (1992). Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh: The complete history of Islam and Iran (Vol. 20; A. Halat & A. Khalili, Trans.). Elmi Press. [In Persian]
Ibn al-Faqīh al-Hamadānī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq. (1970). Mukhtaṣar al-Buldān (Section on Iran) (Ḥ. Mas‘ūd, Trans.). Iranian Cultural Foundation. [In Persian]
Ibn Faḍlān, Aḥmad. (1976). Travelogue of Ibn Faḍlān (Abolfazl Ṭabāṭabā’ī, Trans.). Sharq. [In Persian]
Ibn Ḥawqal, Muḥammad. (1987). Travelogue of Ibn Ḥawqal in Iran (Ṣūrat al-Arḍ) (Ja‘far Sha‘ar, Trans. & Ed.). Amirkabir. [In Persian]
Ibn Khurdādhbeh, Abū al-Qāsim ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn ‘Abd Allāh. (1991). Al-Masālik wa al-Mamālik (Ḥossein Qare-Chanlu, Trans.). Translator’s Publisher. [In Persian]
Ibn Rusta, A. ibn ʿUmar. (1986). Al-Aʿlāq al-nafīsa (H. Qarachānlu, Trans.). Amīr Kabīr. [In Persian]
Iṣṭakhrī, Abū Ibrāhīm. (1961). Masālik wa Mamālik (Īraj Afshār, Ed.). Bongāh-e Tarjomeh va Nashr-e Ketāb. [In Persian]
Jaihānī, Abū al-Qāsim ibn Aḥmad. (1989). Ashkāl al-‘Ālam (The forms of the world) (‘Alī ibn ‘Abd al-Salām Kāteb, Trans.; with introduction and notes by Fīrūz Mansūrī). Āstān-e Qods-e Rażavī. [In Persian]
Jurfādaqānī, Nāṣeḥ ibn Zafar. (1995). Translation of the Tārīkh-e Yamīnī (Ja‘far Sha‘ar, Ed.). Elmi va Farhangi. [In Persian]
Kampānī, Nasim. (2012). Dictionary of clothing and dress terminology. Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies. [In Persian]
Kātib Baghdādī, Qudāmah ibn Ja‘far. (1991). Al-Kharāj (Ḥossein Qare-Chanlu, Trans.). Alborz. [In Persian]
Maqdasī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad. (1982). Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm fī Ma‘rifat al-Aqālīm (‘Alī-Naqī Monzavī, Trans.; Vols. 1–2). Authors and Translators Company. [In Persian]
Marquart, Josef. (1989). Vehrod and Arang: Essays on the mythical and historical geography of Eastern Iran (Dāvūd Monshī-Zādeh, Trans.). Afshār Endowment. [In Persian]
Mo‘īn al-Fuqarā, Aḥmad ibn Maḥmūd. (1991). History of Mollāzādeh on the shrines of Bukhara (Aḥmad Golchīn Ma‘ānī, Ed.). Iranian Studies Center. [In Persian]
Najī, Mohammad-Reza. (2007). Islamic culture and civilization in the Samanid realm. Amirkabir. [In Persian]
Narshakhī, Muḥammad ibn Ja‘far. (1984). Tārīkh-e Bukhārā (History of Bukhara) (Moḥammad-Taqī Modarres Rażavī, Ed.). Toos. [In Persian]
Peck, Elsie H. (2004). Costume in Iran from the Arab conquest to the Mongol invasion. In Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.), Clothing in the land of Iran (Encyclopaedia Iranica Series; P. Matin, Trans.). Amirkabir. [In Persian]
Sanā’ī, Ḥamīd-Reżā, & Qanavāt, ‘Abd al-Raḥīm. (2017). Major industries of Neyshabur in the 3rd–6th centuries AH (9th–12th CE) based on archaeological and written sources. Pajūheshhā-ye Tārīkhī (Historical Studies), 9(36). [In Persian]
Scherato, Umberto. (2013). Samanid art. In Samanid and Ghaznavid art (Ya‘qūb Āzhānd, Trans.). Mowlā. [In Persian]
Shartuti, Sa‘id. (1995). Aqrab al-mawarid fi fusha al-‘arabiyyah wa al-shawarid. Organization of Endowments and Charitable Affairs.
Soucek, Svat. (2023). A history of Central Asia (From Mongolia to Khwarazm) (Fahimeh Ebrahimi, Trans.). SAMT. [In Persian]
Ṭūsī, Ḥossein ibn ‘Alī (Niẓām al-Mulk). (1969). Siyāsatnāmeh (The book of government) (Ja‘far Sha‘ar, Ed.). Ketābhā-ye Jībī. [In Persian]
Tārīkh-e Sīstān (History of Sistan). (1987). Tārīkh-e Sīstān (History of Sistan) (Mohammad-Taqi Bahār, Ed.). Kalāleh Khāvar. [In Persian]
Tha‘ālibī, ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Muḥammad. (1970). Laṭā’if al-Ma‘ārif (Ibrāhīm al-Abiārī & Ḥasan Kāmel Ṣayrafī, Eds.). Dār Iḥyā’ al-Kutub al-‘Arabiyyah.
Tha‘ālibī, ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Muḥammad. (1997). Thimār al-Maqlūb fī al-Muḍāf wa al-Mansūb (Reżā Anzābī-Nezhād, Trans.). Ferdowsi University. [In Persian]
Thavāqeb, Jahanbakhsh, & Roshani, Mitra. (2016). Study of textile industry in Iran during the 4th and 5th centuries AH. Pajūheshnāmeh-ye Tārīkh-e Ejtemā‘ī va Eqtesādī (Social and Economic History Journal), 5(2). [In Persian]
Wolf, Hans E. (1993). Ancient crafts of Iran (Sirus Ebrāhīmzād, Trans.). Elmi va Farhangi. [In Persian]
Ya‘qūbī, Aḥmad ibn Esḥāq. (1977). Al-Buldān (Moḥammad Ebrāhīm Āyatī, Trans.). Bongāh-e Tarjomeh va Nashr-e Ketāb. [In Persian]
Yang, W., & Han, Z. (2025). Paikand and Bokara as symbols of “capper city.” A Historical Examination of Human Social Science, 8(1).
Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī. (2001). Mu‘jam al-Buldān (Dictionary of countries) (‘Alī-Naqī Monzavī, Trans.; Vols. 1–2). Cultural Heritage Organization (Research Institute). [In Persian]
Yousef Ḥasan, Aḥmad, & Hill, Donald R. (1996). Pictorial history of technology (Nāṣer Movaqqe‘iyān, Trans.). Elmi va Farhangi. [In Persian]
Volume 14, Issue 2 - Serial Number 28
December 2025
Pages 287-322

  • Receive Date 11 August 2025
  • Revise Date 03 November 2025
  • Accept Date 23 November 2025