Founded by Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar, a former coppersmith (saffar) from Sistan who built a short-lived empire across Iran and Afghanistan before being checked by the Samanids at the Battle of Balkh in 900.
Reduced to a rump state in Sistan and vassalage under the Samanids and their successors after 900; the dynasty's rule in Sistan formally ended in 1003 when absorbed by the Ghaznavids.
Standard reference on the succession of Iranian/Central Asian Islamic dynasties including the Saffarids.