Daylamites

The growing prominence of Turks in military and in political affairs, in addition to the cleavages between Arabs and Iranians and between Sunnis and Shias, give cause for discontent and rivalry at court.

Nomadic, Turkic-speaking warriors have been moving out of Central Asia into Transoxiana (i.e., across the Oxus River) for more than a millennium.

The Abbasid caliphs had begun importing Turks as slave-warriors (Mamluks) early in the ninth century.

The imperial palace guards of the Abbasids were Mamluks who were originally commanded by free Iraqi officers.

By 833, however, Mamluks themselves are officers and gradually, because of their greater military proficiency and dedication, they begin to occupy high positions at court.

The mother of Caliph Mutasim (who comes to power in 833) had been a Turkish slave, and her influence is substantial.

The Turkish commanders, no longer checked by their Iranian and Arab rivals at court by the tenth century, are able to appoint and depose caliphs.

The political power of the caliphate is fully separate from its religious function for the first time.

The Mamluks continue to permit caliphs to come to power because of the importance of the office as a symbol for legitimizing claims to authority.
 
A military family known as the Buwayhids occupies Baghdad in 945 after subjugating western Iran.

Shias from the Iranian province of Daylam south of the Caspian Sea, the Buyids continue to permit Sunni Abbasid caliphs to ascend to the throne.

The humiliation of the caliphate at being manipulated by Shias, and by Iranian ones at that, is immense.

Several Samanid cities had been lost to another Turkish group, the Seljuks, a ruling clan of the Kinik group of the Oghuz (or Ghuzz) Turks, who live north of the Oxus River (now called the Amu Darya).

Their leader, Tughril Beg, turns his warriors against the Ghaznavids in Khorasan.
 
He moves south and then west, conquering but not wasting the cities in his path.

The first historical references to the Turks appear in Chinese records dating around 200 BCE.

These records refer to tribes called the Hsiung-nu (an early form of the Western term Hun), who lived in an area bounded by the Altai Mountains, Lake Baykal, and the northern edge of the Gobi Desert, and who are believed to have been the ancestors of the Turks.

Specific references in Chinese sources in the sixth century CE identify the tribal kingdom called Tu-Kue located on the Orkhon River south of Lake Baykal.

The khans (chiefs) of this tribe had accepted the nominal suzerainty of the Tang Dynasty.

The earliest known example of writing in a Turkic language will be  found in that area and has been dated to around CE 730.

Other Turkish nomads from the Altai region had founded the Gökturk Empire, a confederation of tribes under a dynasty of khans whose influence had extended during the sixth through eighth centuries from the Aral Sea to the Hindu Kush in the land bridge known as Transoxania (i.e., across the Oxus River).

The Gorturks are known to have been enlisted by a Roman emperor in the seventh century as allies against the Sassanians.

Separate Turkish tribes, among them the Oguz, had moved south of the Oxus River in the eighth century, while others had migrated west to the northern shore of the Black Sea. 

The Turkish migrations after the sixth century had been part of a general movement of peoples out of central Asia during the first millennium CE that is influenced by a number of interrelated factors — climatic changes, the strain of growing populations on a fragile pastoral economy, and pressure from stronger neighbors also on the move.

Among those who migrated were the Oguz Turks, who had embraced Islam in the tenth century.

They had established themselves around Bukhara in Transoxania under their khan, Seljuk.

Split by dissension among the tribes, one branch of the Oguz, led by descendants of Seljuk, had moved west and entered service with the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad.

The Turkish horsemen, known as ghazis, are organized into tribal bands to defend the frontiers of the caliphate, often against their own kinsmen.

The Buyids are ousted in 1055 by the Turkic-speaking Seljuks.

The caliph in Baghdad gives Tughril Beg robes, gifts, and the title, "King of the East" in 1055.

Because the Seljuks are Sunnis, their rule is welcomed in Baghdad.

They treat the caliphs with respect, but the latter continue to be only figureheads.

There are several lines of Seljuks.

The main line, ruling from Baghdad, will control the area from the Bosporus to Chinese Turkestan until approximately 1155.

Saffar ibn Quddawiyah, a Daylamite chief, revolts against the authority of Samsam in 985, joining with Shirdil.

Saffar leads a force against Samsam to Baghdad, but Samsam’s superior numbers result in Saffar’s defeat.

Abu Shuja had lived in Baghdad during his youth with his father, Baha' al-Dawla.

Shortly before Baha' al-Dawla's death in 1012, he had named Abu Shuja as his successor.

Upon succeeding his father, he had taken the title Sultan al-Dawla wa 'Izz al-Milla ("Power of the Dynasty and Glory of the Community").

Traveling to his father's capital in Shiraz, he did seek for the traditional investiture by the Abbasid caliph, but instead had the required materials sent to him.

He had entrusted his oldest brothers Jalal al-Dawla and Qawam al-Dawla with the governorships of Iraq and Kerman, respectively.

He stayed in Persia for a long time; when he returned to Iraq three years later, he only went to Ahvaz to meet with his governor.

Sultan al-Dawla had again come to Iraq in 1018, in an attempt to maintain friendly terms with the neighboring Amirate of Mosul.

Qawam al-Dawla, taking advantage of his brother's presence in the west, had invaded Fars with the support of the Ghaznavids.

The attack had failed, but Qawam al-Dawla's marks the division of the Buyid state.

After repulsing Qawam al-Dawla's attack, Sultan al-Dawla had returned to Iraq in order to solidify his rule there.

The marchlands of the region, which had long resisted Buyid authority, were finally subjugated.

The Turkish mercenaries, however, have become discontented over the presence Sultan al-Dawla's Daylamite troops.

They therefore raise a brother of the amir, Musharrif al-Dawla, as their ruler in 1021.

After a long series of negotiations, Sultan al-Dawla recognizes his brother as "King of Iraq", in exchange for the latter's submission as a vassal.

Sultan al-Dawla, however, wantsto retain direct rule over the region, and he invades with his army.

His defeat by Musharrif al-Dawla's forces puts an end to this plan, and Iraq becomes fully independent.

The concept of the senior amir temporarily dies; each region of the Buyid state is now ruled independently of one another.

Musharrif al-Dawla hereafter will consider himself as Sultan al-Dawla's equal and assumes the title of "Shahanshah".

For the rest of his reign, he will be forced to placate the troops that had brought him to power.

Abu Harb, the third son of Muhammad, had rebelled against his older brother and called upon help from the Buyids of Fars.

Faramurz had defeated him, however.

Relations with Faramurz and Tughril are highly important.

It seems that Faramurz was present with the Seljuqs at the battle of Dandanaqan against the Ghaznavids.

When Faramurz ascended to the Kakuyid throne, Tughril had secured his allegiance by sending a tribute of payment to Faramurz.

However, neither Faramurz nor his brother Garshasp I are willing to turn to the side of Seljuqs.

In 1045, the Dailamites and Kurds of Jibal make a stand together to resist the advance of the Turkmens from Khorasan.

Tughril arrives to Isfahan, and Faramurz submits to the Seljuqs.

Around 1045-46, after Tughril's return to Khorasan, Faramurz declares himself independent of Seljuq rule, and submits to the Buyids, forcing Tughril to return to Isfahan, where he defeats the Kakuyids, and makes Faramurz his vassal once again.