Control of Baghdad has for the past…

June 946 CE

Control of Baghdad has for the past three months been divided between the Hamdanids and Buyids, with the Tigris acting as a dividing line between them.

On the Hamdanid side, Nasir al-Dawla has promoted Ibn Shirzad to serve as one of his chief commanders, while on the western side, Abu Ja'far Saymari, the chief secretary of Mu'izz al-Dawla, manages the Buyid war effort.

Both sides are clearly determined to take permanent control of the city, and the battle had quickly turned into a stalemate.

Combat has taken place in multiple locations throughout Baghdad, with both the Hamdanid and Buyid forces launching offensive sorties against each other.

Neither side, however, has been able to generate a victory large enough to win control of both halves of the city.

Getting troops across the Tigris successfully is a challenge, and even if an army manages to make it to the opposite shore, they are usually forced to retreat in short order.

The attempts of the opposing sides to gain control of the Tigris is a major aspect of the fighting.

The Hamdanid and Buyid armies both build zabzabs or small riverboats and use these to launch attacks on each other.

Each day, Ibn Shirzad leads a number of zabzabs filled with Turks up and down the Tigris, and they shoot arrows at the Dailamites stationed on the western side of the city.

Mu'izz al-Dawla has also constructed a fleet of zabzabs, and his troops use these to battle the Hamdanid forces patrolling the river.

On the eastern side, Nasir al-Dawla attempts to legitimize his seizure of the city by reissuing the coinage of 942-3, from when he had last been in control of Baghdad.

At least part of the population accepts his claims and supports him throughout the fighting.

Ibn Shirzad is also able to augment the ranks of the Hamdanid forces by enlisting local citizens and criminals, and they participate in attacks on Mu'izz al-Dawla's Dailamite troops.

The economy of Baghdad has suffered greatly throughout the fighting.

Both sides have seized the produce of local cultivators to feed their troops.

Eastern Baghdad has been able to avoid any serious shortages thanks to shipments flowing down from Mosul, but the western side is subjected to a blockade for the duration of the conflict.

Nasir al-Dawla's forces prevent civilians on the western side from crossing to the eastern, while a number of allied Arab tribes surround western Baghdad and cut off the flow of supplies.

The blockade is effective and soon shortages are rampant on the Buyid side; the price of bread soas to more than six times what it is selling for on the eastern side of the river, and is sometimes not available at all.

Starving people are reduced to eating grass and carrion, and several women have been executed for acts of cannibalism.