al-Mustakfi

The weakened Baghdad-based Abbasid caliphate now holds no more than nominal suzerainty over its subjects; real power having devolved to the largely independent secular regional dynasties who govern in the caliph's name.

Although the 'Abbasids' foreign mercenary troops have continued to be regularly converted to Islam, the base of imperial unity through religion is gone, and some of the new army officers have quickly learned to control the caliphate through assassination of any caliph who will not accede to their demands.

The power of the army officers had already weakened through internal rivalries when the Buyid dynasty begins threatening the Abbasid capital.

Tuzun, the Turkish general who had deposed and blinded the previous caliph al-Muttaqi, marches with al-Mutktafi, the new caliph he has installed, to Wasit and defeats them.

The tribute due from Mosul being withheld, Tuzun also marches against the Hamdanid ruler Nasir al-Dawla; but, after friendly relations are reestablished, he returns.

Soon after, Tuzun dies, and is succeeded by Abu Ja'far, one of his generals.

Baghdad now falls into a fearful state of distress.

Supplies, stayed by the enemies all round, no longer reach the markets, and people are reduced to eat dogs, cats and garbage.

The mob is driven by starvation to plunder the shops of their remaining stores.

Multitudes flee the city for Basra or elsewhere, dying in great numbers from weakness.

Abu Ja'far, finding himself unable to control affairs, at last requests the aid of Nasir al-Dawla from Mosul; even offering, if he would come, to vacate in his favor the supreme command, but the Hamdanids are at the moment engaged on one hand with the Rus' in Azerbaijan, and on the other with the Ikhshidids in Syria.

Just at this time, the governor of Wasit surrenders to the chief of the Buyids, and joining him marches on Baghdad.

Abu Ja'far and the Caliph flee into hiding.

The founders of the Būyid confederation are ‘Alī ibn Būyah and his two younger brothers, al-Hassan and Aḥmad, who are the sons of Buya, a fisherman from Lahijan in Tabaristan.

Originally a soldier in the service of the Ziyārīds of Ṭabaristān, ‘Alī had been able to recruit an army to defeat a Turkish general from Baghdad named Yaqut in 934.

Over the past nine years, the three brothers have gained control of the remainder of the 'Abbāsid Caliphate.

The Caliph receive the secretary of Buyid chief to make terms of peace, which the Caliph accepts.

Thus invited, Ahmad enters Baghdad, and under the title of Amir al-Umara (Amir of Amirs) assumes the supreme command, demanding of al-Mustakfi that the Buyids be recognized as the sole rulers of the territory they control.

The Caliph makes abject submission to the Amir, whose name, in addition to al-Mustakfi's, is now by his command stamped upon the coinage, and recited in the public prayers; but it is all in vain.

Al-Mustakfi also gives Ahmad the honorific title of "Mu'izz al-Dawla" ("Glorifier of the State").

Ahmad’s brother 'Ali is given the title of "'Imad al-Dawla" ("Support of the State"); another of Ahmad's brothers, Hasan, who has assumed control of northern Persia, gains the title of "Rukn al-Dawla" ("Pillar of the State").

Despite Al-Mustakfi's apparent acceptance of Buyid authority, Mu'izz al-Dawla fears the Caliph as a creature of the Turks.

In January 946, he breaks into the palace, drags al-Mustakfi from his throne, and drives him through the streets to the jeers of his troops.

The Caliph, having reigned for little more than a year, is blinded with red-hot irons and thrown in jail (where he will die five years later).

Mu'izz al-Dawla installs Al-Muti as caliph.

The city rises in chaos, and the Caliph's palace is looted.

Having thus reduced the Sunni caliphs to puppet status, Ahmad establishes Buyid rule.

Hereafter the brothers are known by their honorific titles of 'Imad ad-Dawlah ('Ali), Rukn ad-Dawlah (Hasan), and Mu'izz ad-Dawlah (Ahmad).

News of this event is received negatively by the Hamdanid amir Nasir al-Dawla, who rules over Mosul and the districts of the eastern Jazira.

Nasir al-Dawla had previously controlled Baghdad in 942 and he still entertains hopes of regaining the city; Mu'izz al-Dawla's takeover of the capital is therefore an unwelcome development for him.

Nasir al-Dawla has reason to be confident that he can defeat Mu'izz al-Dawla if he makes an attempt to capture Baghdad.

His army has been bolstered by the arrival of numerous Turkish soldiers who had fled from Baghdad just before Mu'izz al-Dawla's entrance into the capital, and he is much more familiar with the territory between Mosul and Baghdad than is his rival.

Mu'izz al-Dawla, on the other hand, is on less secure ground; Baghdad is in a sorry state thanks to years of mismanagement and he is hamstrung by its numerous financial and military problems.

Nasir al-Dawla furthermore gains a pretext for war when in Mu'izz al-Dawla deposes and blinds al-Mustakfi and replaces him with the more obedient al-Muti'.

As a result of these factors, Nasir al-Dawla takes a belligerent tone with the Buyids; he withholds the payment of tribute to Baghdad, refuses to recognize al-Muti' as caliph and continues to mint coins in al-Mustakfi's name.

It quickly becomes clear that the two amirs will be unable to work out an agreement with each other.

Mu'izz al-Dawla in February 946 sends an army under the command of Musa Fayadhah and Yanal Kushsh to Ukbara, in preparation for a campaign to conquer Mosul.

The expedition is terminated, however, when Yanal Kusush suddenly attacks Musa and deserts to the Hamdanids.

Nasir al-Dawla responds to this act of aggression by leading his army, which includes a number of Turks, to Samarra the following month.

Mu'izz al-Dawla similarly gathers his forces and departs from Baghdad with the caliph al-Muti' for Ukbara.

While stationed at Samarra, Nasir al-Dawla sends his brother Jubayr to sneak around the Buyid army and head south to Baghdad.

Jubayr is welcomed by the citizens and by Mu'izz al-Dawla's former secretary Abu Ja'far ibn Shirzad, who declares his allegiance to the Hamdanids and administers the affairs of Baghdad on their behalf.

Nasir al-Dawla now decides to head for Baghdad himself.

Leaving his cousin al-Husayn ibn Sa'id in the field to distract Mu'izz al-Dawla, he heads south and reaches western Baghdad on April 15, and though he is forced to destroy his baggage when a number of Dailamites threaten to seize it, he and his forces are able to gain control of the city.

When Mu'izz al-Dawla learns that he has lost Baghdad, he gathers his Dailamite soldiers, who have been busy plundering Tikrit and Samarra, and heads back to the city.

When he arrives, he fins that Nasir al-Dawla has crossed the Tigris and set up camp outside the Shammasiyyah quarter of eastern Baghdad; he therefore digs in on the western side of the city, and the two sides prepare for battle.

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.

Mu'izz al-Dawla, with no end to the battle in sight by July 946, and with the blockade making supplies increasingly scarce, is thinking seriously of abandoning western Baghdad and retreating to al-Ahwaz.

He eventually decides to make one final attempt to take the eastern side, and if the effort fails he will give the order to withdraw.

He gives orders to his chief secretary Saymari to cross to the eastern bank with a number of handpicked Dailamites, while he himself will attempt to distract the Hamdanid forces with a ruse.

The plan is carried out on the night of August 1.

Mu'izz al-Dawla leads a number of men north, instructing them to light torches and blast trumpets along the way.

The Hamdanid army, seeing his movements, moves north as well to prevent him from crossing the river.

Saymari and his soldiers are therefore free to cross to the eastern side and begin to do so.

When the Hamdanid army realizes what is happening, they send a number of men in zabzabs to stop him, and a fierce fight breaks out.

The Dailamites are eventually victorious and the Hamdanid forces are pushed back to the Shammasiyyah gate at the northeastern corner of the city.

As the Dailamites spread throughout eastern Baghdad, the Hamdanid army begins to fall apart in disorder.

Nasir al-Dawla, realizing that he is in danger of losing the city, orders Ibn Shirzad to take command of the troops and push the Dailamites back across the river.

Ibn Shirzad sets out, but when he attempts to persuade the panicking soldiers to regroup he is unable to do so and therefore decides to flee.

Nasir al-Dawla now realizes that the fight is lost and joins the retreat; the Hamdanid forces withdraw from Baghdad and allow the Buyids to take control of the city.

Eastern Baghdad, meanwhile, remains in a state of turmoil.

The Dailamite army occupies the eastern quarters of the city and begins retaliating against the population for their support of the Hamdanids during the fighting.

Ignoring an order by Mu'izz al-Dawla to refrain from pillaging, they begin looting, set fire to houses and kill a number of civilians.

Many of the residents flee in fear and attempt to head north to Ukbara, but die along the way in the summer heat.

The chaos ceases only when Saymari executes several pillagers and sends out patrols to reestablish order.

Nasir al-Dawla, Ibn Shirzad and the Hamdanid army, following their expulsion from Baghdad, proceed up the Tigris to Ukbara to regroup.

After they arrive, Nasir al-Dawla sends an envoy to Mu'izz al-Dawla to sue for peace.

Mu'izz al-Dawla agrees to the terms, and the war between the two sides comes to an end.

Mu'izz al-Dawla agrees to recognize the Hamdanid as ruler of the territory from Tikrit northwards, and to release him from the obligation of transmitting tax revenues from Mosul and the Diyar Bakr district.

In exchange, Nasir al-Dawla is made responsible for forwarding the tax proceeds of Ikhshidid Egypt and Syria on to Baghdad, and promises to regularly send supplies to the city which are to be exempt from any taxes; in addition, he agrees to recognize al-Muti' as the legitimate caliph.

The Turkish mercenaries in the Hamdanid army, who are vehemently opposed to Mu'izz al-Dawla's continued occupation of Baghdad, are not informed that Nasir al-Dawla is seeking peace with the Buyids.

When they learn that the two amirs have agreed to a treaty, they rebel against Nasir al-Dawla and compel him to flee.

Nasir al-Dawla is forced to call on Mu'izz al-Dawla for assistance, and a Buyid army under the command of Saymari is sent to quell the Turks and enforce the treaty.

Saymari defeats the rebels and confirms Nasir al-Dawla in his position, but also confiscates a number of supplies and takes a son of Nasir al-Dawla as a hostage to ensure that he will abide by the terms of the peace; he then returns to Baghdad.

Ultimately, peace will not last for long between the two sides, and less than three years later the Buyids and Hamdanids will again be at war with each other.