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rising to power again. Confusion and chaos became rampant. The sufferings wrought on the faithful by the conquering hordes defy description. Tens of thousands embraced Islam, and threw in their lot with the conquerors to find relief from the persecution that raged around them. Many went over to the new faith because it enabled them to preserve their power and influence. Others became converts, because conversion brought to them exemption from the payment of the poll-tax. Similar causes contributed to the conversion of the Zoroastrians to Islam in the course of successive centuries. Many embraced Islam under the influence of Abu Muslim during the eighth century. The Samanid dynasty (A.D. 874–999) is named after Saman, a Zoroastrian noble of Balkh. He claimed his descent from the famous warrior Bahram Chaubin. He gave up his faith for the religion of Mohammed. The Zoroastrian king of the Qabusiyya dynasty adopted Islam at the beginning of the ninth century. The influence of Daylam brought many Zoroastrians to Islam during the end of the ninth century. The Zoroastrian poet named Mahyar gave up his ancestral religion under the influence of his Mohammedan poet friend who had instructed him in the art of poetry. Those that were more devoted to the national faith resolved to stick to it at any cost. In this they were imitating their prophet who, when tempted by Ahriman to renounce the good Mazdayasnian religion, had said that he would not do so even to save his body or his life.^[1] The inevitable had come, but they could not afford to resign themselves to it. If they fostered the spirit of resignation and despair, they would be wiped away from the surface of the earth in the intense struggle for existence. Zoroastrianism inspired them from within to assert themselves, even in the face of disheartening obstacles of such magnitude and the fear of coming calamities that were ever imminent. If Ahriman had reduced them to such an abject state, it was cowardice to succumb to his doing. It was heroic to revolt against it.

The frequent ravages caused by the inroads of the Tartar and Turk, Mongol and Afghan hordes added to the hardships of the Iranians. Persecutions checkered their progress. Century after century their number decreased by repeated conversions to Islam. When Agha Mohammed Khan, the founder of the Qajar