Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-7qhmt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T22:01:52.416Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - The disintegration of the caliphate in the east

from Part II - The coming of the steppe peoples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

B. Spuler
Affiliation:
University of Hamburg
P. M. Holt
Affiliation:
University of London
Ann K. S. Lambton
Affiliation:
University of London
Get access

Summary

The period of the Buyids, Samanids and Ghaznavids

The many disorders in the government, the deposition of caliphs and wazīrs, the arbitrary attitudes of the Turks, the quarrels between the different sects and theological schools, all prepared the way for new political changes in the eastern Fertile Crescent. Once again the foreign conquerors came from the east, as they did at the time of the ‘Abbasid revolution, They were from the Daylam area to the south-west of the Caspian Sea, and were led by a ruling family called, from their eponym, the Buyids (also Buwayhids, from the Arabic form of the name). Within a few years from 320/932 they had risen to greater importance than their Daylamite predecessors with their few petty dominions in what is now Āzarbāyjān and in Māzandarān. In 334/945 they occupied Baghdād, installed a new caliph, al-Mutī‘, and took over the secular government of the country. Thereby the Commander of the Faithful was subordinated to a family that did not in fact recognize the religious basis of his dignity, but refrained from attacking it in order to prevent the caliphs from settling elsewhere outside their sphere of influence, and thus becoming more dangerous. However, the caliphs found themselves in a very awkward situation. It was indeed alleviated to some extent by the fact that the members of the Buyid house were often at enmity with one another, so that the individual provinces of western Persia under their dominion were usually in the hands of various members of the dynasty; a real Buyid central authority existed only under ‘Adud al-Dawla from 366/976 to 372/983.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Lewis, B.The Assassins. London, 1967.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×