The Saffarid dynasty begins with Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar (Ya'qub, son of Layth, the Coppersmith), a coppersmith who had moved to the city of Zaranj.

He had left work to become an Ayyar (literally, ‘vagabond”, eferring to a person associated with a class of warriors in Iraq and Iran) and eventually gathers the power to act as an independent ruler.

From his capital Zaranj, …

…he moves east into al-Rukhkhadj and Zamindawar, followed by …

…Zunbil and …

…Kabul by 865.

Ya'qub next invades Bamian, …

…Balkh, …

…Badghis, and …

…Ghor.

Conquering these territories, which are ruled mostly by Buddhist tribal chiefs, in the name of Islam, Ya'qub takes vast amounts of plunder and slaves from this campaign.

Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar captures the Tahirid city of Herat in 870.

His campaign in the Badghis region had led to the capture of Kharijites who will later form the Djash al-Shurat contingent in his army.

Ya'qub now turns his focus to the west and began attacks on Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kerman and Fars.

These attacks forces the Abbasid caliphate to recognize him as governor of Kerman.

Iran’s native Tahirid dynasty has enjoyed a high degree of autonomy in their governance of the Abbasid province Khorasan from 821.

Abdullah ibn Tahir, one of the greatest of the Tahirid rulers, had died in 845 and had been succeeded by his son Tahir II.

Not much is known of Tahir's rule, but the administrative dependency of Sistan was lost to rebels during his governorship.

Tahirid rule had begun to seriously deteriorate after Tahir's son Muhammad ibn Tahir became governor, due to his carelessness with the affairs of the state and lack of experience with politics.

In Khorasan itself, Muhammad's rule has continued to grow increasingly weak, and in 873 he is finally overthrown by the Saffarid dynasty, who annex Khorasan to their own empire in eastern Persia, ruling practically independently of the Samarra-based Abbasid caliphate.