Ismail Samani

(849 –907) His reign saw the emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force. He was the son of Ahmad ibn Asad and a descendant of Saman Khuda, the eponymous ancestor of the Samanid dynasty who renounced Zoroastrianism and embraced Islam.
With the end of Soviet dominion in Central Asia, Ismail’s legacy was rediscovered and rehabilitated. The Samani currency of Tajikistan and the highest mountain in Tajikistan (and in the former Soviet Union) are named after him. The mountain was formerly known as “Stalin Peak” and “Communism Peak” but was subsequently changed to the Ismail Samani Peak.