Ahmad ibn Buwayh

Origin

Ahmad ibn Buwayh came from a warlike mountain tribe of the Delemites , who professed Shiite Islam . His father, Abu Shuja Buvayh (or Buye) ibn Fanna Khosrov, was a poor Caspian fisherman and lumberjack from Dalem . Together with his three sons, Abu Shuja first went to military service with the Samanids , but then transferred to the Delemite amir Merdavij ibn Ziyar (killed 935), who in 927–935 led a large army and captured most of northern and western Iran and founded the Ziyarid state . Ahmad was the youngest of the three sons of Abu Shaji Buwayh. Subsequently, having come to power in the Abbasid caliphate , the sons of Abu Shaji ordered a genealogy of his father, according to which he was allegedly a direct descendant of the Sassanid dynasty . The truth of this genealogy has already been questioned by al-Biruni (d. 1048) ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} .

Elevation

Ahmad and his older brothers Ali and Hassan made a military career in the army of Merdavija ibn Ziyar. They particularly distinguished themselves and advanced during the conquest of Western Iran between 932 and 935, reaching the posts of military leaders and governor of Merdavidzh. Then, however, Merdavij ibn Ziyar changed his attitude towards the Buvayhid brothers and sent an army to Keredzh against Ali. In the battles with him, Ali won several victories and captured Shiraz . After in 935, Merdavij ibn Ziyar was killed by his ghouls, the Buvaykhid brothers moved the troops under their command to Isfahan from Shiraz. Ahmad took Kerman , after which he headed for a connection with Ali and together they entered Ahvaz . After this, Ali sent his younger brother to establish the power of the Buvaikhids in Khuzistan , where Ahmad had to come into conflict with Muhammad ibn Raik , whom Caliph ar-Radi (d. 940) was forced to appoint to the post of Amir al-Umar ^{[1] [2] [5 ] ] [6]} .

Soon, the Buvaikhids subjugated all of Western and Southern Iran to their rule. The brothers acted jointly in the interests of their clan and were friendly, voluntarily recognizing the authority of their older brother - Ali ibn Buvaykh. The lands conquered by each of them constituted his inheritance. Ahmad on this right originally belonged to Kerman, Khuzistan and the whole of southern Iran. In Baghdad, meanwhile, a conflict erupted between Caliph al-Muttaki and Amir al-Umar Tuzun . The Caliph turned for help to Ahmad ibn Buwayhu. Ahmad at the head of his troops approached Baghdad, but was defeated by Tuzun and retreated. In 945, Tuzun died and his post was taken by Abu Jafar ibn Shirzad. After some time, the new Caliph al-Mustakfi also called for the help of the Buvayhids and on December 19, 945, Ahmad ibn Buvaykh entered Baghdad, expelling Ibn Shirzad and establishing his authority over Iraq. The Caliph received him well, handed him the post of Amir al-Umar and granted Lakab Muizz al-Daul (“Prop State”). In addition, the caliph recognized the Bouvaikhids the right to be considered the governors of the caliph in all the territories that they already owned, and granted honorable lakaba also to the brothers of Ahmad. Having concentrated all the secular power in his hands, Ahmad adopted the title of Sultan , leaving behind the caliph only the functions of the spiritual head of Sunni Muslims ^{[2] [7] [8] [6] [9]} .

Board

During the first two years of his reign, Sultan Muizz al-Daul Ahmad was forced to fight with numerous military leaders who did not want to recognize his supreme power over Iraq. In the fall of 947, Muizz ad-Daula finally occupied Basra, spreading its influence throughout Iraq. However, the authority of Ahmad, both in that period and in subsequent years, was based mainly on support from the older brothers, whose authority was undeniable for him. According to Ibn al-Asir , Ahmad was in fact just a representative of his brothers in Baghdad. When in the spring of 948, Ahmad met with his brother Ali ibn Bouywih near Arrajan, he kissed the ground in front of Ali and refused to sit in his presence throughout their meeting ^[2] .

After coming to power, Ahmad first established control over the caliph's treasury, limiting its contents to five thousand dirhams per day ^[10] . As a Shiite , Ahmad did not recognize the legitimacy of the Abbasid authority, as well as the spiritual authority of the Sunni caliph. The status of the latter was reduced by Ahmad to the position of an ordinary religious functionary of the Buvayhid state, even the appointment of the supreme kadi in Baghdad was often now carried out without the consent of the caliph. The name of the caliph, however, continued to be minted on coins and commemorated during the hutba in front of the name of the Sultan ^{[11] [6] [12]} .

Soon, Muizz al-Daul suspected the caliph al-Mustakfi in a conspiracy to overthrow the power of the Buyvids. In January 946, the Sultan, at the head of his Deilem Guard, arrived at the Caliph's palace. Muizz al-Daulah greeted al-Mustakfi, kissing the earth in front of him, after which, on the orders of the caliph, a second throne was placed next to him, on which Muizz al-Daula Ahmad sat. Then the two guardsmen of the Sultan approached the caliph and extended their hands to him. Believing that the soldiers wanted to kiss his hand, the Caliph held it out to them. Grabbing al-Mustakfi by the hand, the dealers took him off the throne, threw a turban on his neck and dragged him out of the palace. Following this, the caliph al-Mustakfi was deposed, blinded and thrown into prison, where he spent the rest of his life. The Caliph's palace was completely looted by the guards of the Sultan. The new caliph was proclaimed al-Muti , the son of the caliph al-Muqtadiir ^{[10] [6] [9]} .

The new caliph was completely removed from the sultan's participation in public affairs and was deprived of all honors. Al-Muti did not even have a vizier (formally, his vizier was held by the sultan Muizz al-Daul), the only official with the caliph was the secretary who kept records of his expenses. At first, al-Muti was not even allowed into the palace of the caliph. Muizz ad-Daula took all the land from him, leaving the caliph with only a small estate on the rights of ikt , like an ordinary small feudal lord, and appointing a daily maintenance amount of 100 dirhams, which amounted to about 2% of the size of the previous caliph. There is evidence that Muizz al-Daul intended to overthrow the caliph Abbasid, replacing him with a representative of the Shiite clan Alid or the Shiite Fatimid dynasty. Advisers to the Sultan, however, warned him against this step, reasonably reasoning that the enthronement of the descendant of Ali ibn Abu Talib could deprive the Buvaikhids of their power ^{[13] [12] [6]} .

Soon after the proclamation of al-Muti as a caliph, Sultan Muizz al-Daula Ahmad went on a campaign against the Hamdanids , but was defeated by Amir Nasir al-Daula al-Hasan , who then captured Baghdad. Soon, however, Ahmad cunningly defeated Nasir al-Daul, who retreated to Mosul . After this, peace was concluded between the Bouvaikhids and the Hamdanids. In addition to internal opponents, there was always an external threat from the Byzantine Empire, whose troops regularly invaded Syria, Armenia, Kurdistan and al-Jazeera . Sultan Muizz al-Daula did not take any action in response to the Byzantine invasions for a very long time, he even spent on his needs funds specially collected to organize defense against Byzantine raids. Discontent was growing among the people. In the end, Ahmad had to go on a campaign against the Byzantines, which ended in victory ^[14] .

In the spring of 955, Ahmad Ibn Buvaykh became seriously ill and decided to officially appoint a receiver for himself, which was his son Bakhtiyar . However, Ahmad’s disease has receded. Five years later, from Caliph al-Muti, Bakhtiyar was officially recognized as the successor of Muiz al-Daula Ahmad in all his posts and the heir to all his possessions, in addition, the caliph granted Bakhtiyar lakab Izz al-Daul . Sultan Muizz al-Daul Ahmad died on April 8, 967 ^[2] . During his reign, he did not accumulate impressive treasures, leaving his son only 400 thousand dinars ^[15] .

Religious Policy

Muizz al-Daula Ahmad, like his whole family, professed moderate Shiism and helped strengthen Shiism in Iraq, but there was no information about persecution of Sunnis during his reign. Despite this, the caliphate began constant and serious clashes between Shiites and Sunnis. In the year 351 of the Hijrah (962/963), inscriptions appeared on the doors of one of the Baghdad mosques cursing Muawiya , Abu Bakr and other associates of the Prophet Muhammad , who were hostile to the Alids . In order to avoid exacerbation of inter-religious discord, the inscriptions were erased, however, the Sultan Muizz al-Daul, who learned about this, ordered them to be restored. In an attempt to alleviate the situation, his vizier al-Muhallabi proposed replacing these inscriptions with the phrase "God curse those who tortured the descendants of the Prophet!" Under Muizz al-Daul, Ahmad in the Caliphate began to publicly celebrate Shiite holidays and days of sorrow everywhere. In 963, the sultan ordered on the day of Ashura to close all markets and forbade the sale of even cooked food as a sign of sorrow for Hussein ibn Ali . Markets were lined with mourning tents, and women with loose hair and sobbing Shiites wandering around themselves roamed the streets of Baghdad. Since this year, such Shiite events have continued for many years. In the same year, Shiites first publicly celebrated the holiday of Gadir Hum , exulting and knocking on drums. In response to Shiite holidays, new Sunni ones began to appear, clashes between Shiites and Sunnis occurred more and more often. Often this or that holiday ended in a bloody battle ^{[6] [16]} .

Family

After the death of Muizz al-Daula Ahmad in 967, power over Baghdad and all his possessions passed to his son Izz al-Daula Bakhtiyar ^[9] .

An interesting description of Ahmad ibn Bouywaih is given by Ibn Miskaveih in his essay "The Experience of the Nations." According to him, Muizz al-Daul was absolutely alien to Arab culture and spoke Arabic so poorly that he used a translator to communicate with Arabs. The exceptional greed and stinginess of the Sultan, according to Ibn Miskaveih, gave rise to a legend according to which Muizz al-Dawla had a specially trained snake, able to find hidden money and jewelry. The sultan's rudeness and arrogance towards subordinate officials reached the point that he repeatedly beat his vizier al-Muhallabi . Muizz ad-Daula completely unceremoniously treated the caliph al-Muti , who turned him into a completely decorative figure that had nothing to do with controlling the caliphate ^{[17] [11]} .

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