he returned to the Zarafshan valley, where he gained the support of the Oghuz and others. A Karakhanid army was defeated in May 1004, but subsequently the Oghuz deserted Isma'il during another battle, and his army fell apart. Fleeing to Khorasan yet again, Isma'il attempted to reenter Transoxiana in the end of 1004. The Karakhanids stopped this and Isma'il was nearly killed. Following this, he sought the hospitality of an Arab tribe near Merv. Their chief, however, killed Isma'il in 1005. His death marked the defeat of the last attempt to restore the Samanid state. Descendants of the Samanid family continued to live in Transoxiana where they were well regarded, but their power was relatively broken. Iranian intermezzo Along with several other states, the Samanid Empire was part of the Iranian Intermezzo, or "Persian renaissance". This period has been described as having a key importance in the formation of the Islamic civilization, both politically and culturally. In political terms, it saw an effective break up of the Abbasid power and the rise of several successor states such as the Samanids and Buyids while in cultural terms, it witnessed the rise of new Persian as an administrative and literary language. Culture Government The system of the Samanid state was modelled after the Abbasid system, which in turn was modelled after the Sasanian system. The ruler of the state was the amir, and the provinces were governed by appointed governors or local vassal rulers. The administrative, political and economic affairs were administered by the divan, and the Samanid bureaucracy used Arabic in its diplomatic discourses. The economy was managed by the mustawfi, diplomatic correspondence and important state papers by the diwanal-rasa'il, and the royal guard and military affairs by the sahib al-shurta. The main responsibility of both governors and local rulers was to collect taxes and support the Samanid ruler with troops if needed. The most important province in the Samanid Empire was Khorasan, which was initially given to a relative of the Samanid ruler or a local Iranian prince (such as the Muhtajids), but was later given to one of his most trusted slaves. The governor of Khorasan was normally the sipah-salar (commander-in-chief). Like in the Abbasid Caliphate, Turkic slaves could rise to high office in the Samanid state, which would sometimes give them enough power to nearly make the ruler their puppet. Cultural and religious efforts The Samanids revived Persian