20 - The Princes of Persia

As the Caliphate splinters into a patchwork of emirates, a new emirate arises in the far north east of the lands of Islam, in the old Silk Road cities of Transoxiana.  Descended from an obscure Persian noble family with roots stretching back to the Sassanid Empire, the Samanid Emirate quickly becomes the most powerful Emirate in the Caliphate.  A golden age of science and Persian culture unfolds in Central Asia, as does a brutal jihad against the pagan Turks.   And the Samanids come to assemble a great Turkish slave army - with totally predictable consequences...