Buyid Empire آل بویِه Āl-e Buye
← 934–1055 →
Location of Buyid Dynasty The Buyid dynasty in 970
Capital	Shirāz
Language(s)	Persian Arabic
Religion	Shī‘ah Islam
Government	Hereditary monarchy
Emir/Shāhanshāh
- 934-949	'Imad al-Daula
- 1048-1055	Al-Malik al-Rahim
Historical era	Middle Ages
- Established	934
- 'Imad al-Daula proclaimed himself "Emir"
- 'Adud al-Daula proclaimed himself "Shāhanshāh"
- Disestablished	1055

History of Iran

See also: Kings of Persia · Timeline of Iran

Antiquity Prehistory Proto-Elamite period 3200–2800 Elamite dynasty 2800–550 Kassites 16th–12th cent. Mannaeans 10th–7th cent. Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Seleucid Empire 330–150 Parthian Empire 248 BCE–226 CE Sassanid Empire 226–651 Middle Ages Islamic conquest 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Sajid dynasty 889/890–929 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 875–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1062 Sallarid 942–979 Ma'munids 995-1017 Ghaznavid Empire 963–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuq dynasty 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Ilkhanate 1256–1353 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Sarbadars 1337–1376 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid dynasty 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu 1378–1508 Modern history Safavid dynasty 1501–1722/36 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand dynasty 1750–1794 Qajar dynasty 1781–1925 Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Interim Government 1979–1980 Islamic Republic since 1980 view talk edit

The Buyid dynasty, also known as the Buyid Empire^[1] or the Buyids (Persian: آل بویه‎ Āl-e Buye), also known as Buwaihids, Buyahids, or Buyyids, were a Shī‘ah Iranian^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} dynasty that originated from Daylaman in Gilan.^[8] They founded a confederation that controlled most of modern-day Iran and Iraq in the 10th and 11th centuries.

History[link]

The Vakeel Bazaar of Shirāz was originally built during the Būyid era, possibly during the rule of 'Adud al-Daula.

The founders of the Būyid confederation were ‘Alī ibn Būyah and his two younger brothers, al-Hassan and Aḥmad. Originally a soldier in the service of the Ziyārīds of Ṭabaristān, ‘Alī was able to recruit an army to defeat a Turkish general from Baghdad named Yaqut in 934. Over the next nine years the three brothers gained control of the remainder of the 'Abbāsid Caliphate. While they accepted the titular authority of the caliph in Baghdad, the Būyid rulers assumed effective control of the state.

The first several decades of the Būyid confederation were characterized by large territorial gains. In addition to Fars and Jibal, which were conquered in the 930s, and central Iraq, which submitted in 945, the Būyids took Kermān (967), Oman (967), the Jazīra (979), Ṭabaristān (980), and Gorgan (981). After this, however, the Būyids went into a slow decline, with pieces of the confederation gradually breaking off and local dynasties under their rule becoming de facto independent.^[9]

The approximate century of Būyid rule, coupled with the rise of other Iranian dynasties in the region, represents a period in Iranian history sometimes called the 'Iranian Intermezzo' since it was an interlude between the rule of the 'Abbāsid Arabs and the Seljuq Turks.^[10] Indeed, as Dailamite Iranians the Būyids consciously revived symbols and practices of Persia's Sassānid dynasty.^[11] In fact, beginning with 'Adud al-Dawla they used the ancient Sassānid title Shāhanshāh (Persian: شاهنشاه‎), literally "king of kings".^[12][13]

The Buyid confederation was split between and governed by multiple members of the dynasty. They nominally recognized the suzerainty of caliphs of Baghdad, who in reality had no temporal power within the state. The title used by the Buyid rulers was amīr, meaning "governor" or "prince". Generally one of the amīrs would be recognized as having seniority over the others; this individual would use the title of amīr al-umarā',^[13] or senior amīr. Although the senior amīr was the formal head of the Būyids, he did not usually have any significant control outside of his own personal amirate; each amir enjoyed a high degree of autonomy within his own territories. As mentioned above, some of the stronger amīrs used the Sassānid title of Shāhanshāh. Succession of power was hereditary, with fathers dividing their land among their sons.

Iranian Būyid Daylaman soldier.

The Būyid army consisted of their fellow Dailamite Iranians, who served as foot soldiers, and of the Turkish cavalry that had played a prominent role in the 'Abbāsid military. The Dailamites and Turks often quarreled with each other in an attempt to be the dominant force within the army.^[14] To compensate their soldiers the Būyid amīrs often distributed iqtā's, or the rights to a percentage of tax revenues from a province, although the practice of payment in kind was also frequently used.^[15]

Like most Daylamites at the time, the Būyids were originally Zaydī or Fiver Shī'as. After taking power in Iran and Iraq, however, they began to lean closer to Twelver Shī'ism, possibly due to political considerations.^[16] In fact, the Būyids rarely attempted to enforce a particular religious view upon their subjects except when in matters where it would be politically expedient. The Sunnī 'Abbāsids retained the caliphate, although they were deprived of all secular power. In addition, in order to prevent tensions between the Shī'a and Sunni from spreading to government agencies, the Būyid amirs occasionally appointed Christians to high offices instead of Muslims from either sect.^[17]

The Fall[link]

During the mid-11th century, the Buyid amirates gradually fell to the Ghaznavid and Seljuq Turks. In 1055, Tughrul conquered Baghdad, the seat of the caliphate, and ousted the last of the Buyid rulers. Like the Buyids, the Seljuqs kept the Abbasid caliphate as the titular ruler.^[18]

Religion[link]

Buyids were Shia and have been called Twelver Shia. However, it is more likely that began as Zaydi Shia'.^[19] As the reason of this turning from Zaydis to Twelver Moojen Momen suggests that since the Buyids were not descendants of Ali, the first Shia Imam, Zaydis Shi'ism doctrine would have urged them to install an Imam from Ali's family. For that reason Buyids tended toward Twelver Shia' which its occulted Imam was more politically attractive to them.^[19]

Buyid rulers[link]

Major rulers[link]

Generally, the three most powerful Buyid amirs at any given time were those in control of Fars, Jibal and Iraq. Sometimes a ruler would come to rule more than one region, but no Buyid rulers ever exercised direct control of all three regions.

Daylamids of Fars

• Ali b. Buya ('Imad ad-Dawla) 934-949
• Fana Khusraw ('Adud ad-Dawla) 949-983
• Shirzil b. Fana Khusraw (Sharaf ad-Dawla) 983-989
• Marzuban b. Fana Khusraw (Samsam ad-Dawla) 989-998
• Firuz b. Fana Khusraw (Baha' ad-Dawla) 998-1012
• Abu Shuja' b. Firuz (Sultan ad-Dawla) 1012-1024
• Abu Kalijar Marzuban b. Abu Shuja' (Imad al-Din) 1024-1048
• Abu Mansur Fulad Sutun 1048-1062

Power in Fars seized by the Shabankara Kurdish Chief Fadluya

Buyid era art: Painted, incised, and glazed earthenware. Dated 10th century, Iran. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Daylamids of Rey

• Rukn ad-Dawla 935-976
• Fakhr ad-Dawla 976-980
• Mu'ayyed ad-Dawla 980-983
• Fakhr ad-Dawla (restored) 984-997
• Majd ad-Dawla 997-1029

To the Ghaznavids.

Daylamids of Iraq

• Mu'izz ad-Dawla 945-967
• 'Izz ad-Dawla 966-978
• 'Adud ad-Dawla 978-983
• Samsam ad-Dawla 983-987
• Sharaf ad-Dawla 987-989
• Baha' ad-Dawla 989-1012
• Sultan ad-Dawla 1012-1021
• Musharrif ad-Dawla 1021-1025
• Jalal ad-Dawla 1025-1044
• Abu Kalijar 1044-1048
• al-Malik ar-Rahim 1048-1055

To the Seljuqs.

Minor rulers[link]

It was not uncommon for younger sons to found collateral lines, or for individual Buyid members to take control of a province and begin ruling there. The following list is incomplete.

Buyids of Basra

• Diya' al-Daula 980s

To the Buyids of Fars.

Buyids of Hamadan

• Mu'ayyad al-Daula 976-983
• Shams al-Daula 997-1021
• Sama' al-Daula 1021-1024

To the Kakuyids.

Buyids of Kerman

• Qawam al-Daula 1012-1028

To the Buyids of Fars.

Buyids of Khuzistan

• Taj al-Daula 980s

To the Buyids of Fars.

Family tree[link]

See also[link]

• Full list of Iranian Kingdoms
• Persian Empire
• List of Shi'a Muslims dynasties

[6] The Buyid Domination as the Historical Background for the Flourishing of Muslim Scholarship During the 4th/10th Century by Dr. M. Ismail Marcinkowski*

References[link]

1. ^ A)Busse, Heribert (1975), "Iran Under the Buyids", in Frye, R. N., The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs., Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 270: "Aleppo remained a buffer between the Buyid empire and Byzantium". B) Joseph Reese Strayer (1985), "Dictionary of the Middle Ages", Published by Scribner, 1985.
2. ^ Lokman I. Meho,Kelly L. Maglaughli (1968). Kurdish culture and society: an annotated bibliography. http://books.google.de/books?ei=YpNwT8fIOYHtsgbx-4CIAg&hl=de&id=sl4PIeyWriUC&dq=Among+those+dynasties+were+the+Mamlanids+or+the+Rawwadids&q=Buwayhid#v=snippet&q=Buwayhid&f=false. 
3. ^ http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/buyids
4. ^ Encyclopedia Iranica: DEYLAMITES
5. ^ Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual, Columbia University, 1996. pg 154-155.
6. ^ "Buyid Dynasty." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 25 Jan. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9018373>
7. ^ JAN RYPKA. History of Iranian Literature. Dordrecht: D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY, 1968. pg 146
8. ^ Iranica,Encyclopedia Iranica: BUYIDS:Their father, a certain Būya b. Fannā (Panāh) Ḵosrow was a humble fisher­man from Daylam in Gīlān.
9. ^ Examples of the former include the loss of Mosul in 990, and the loss of Ṭabaristān and Gurgān in 997. An example of the latter is the Kakūyid dynasty of Isfahān, whose fortunes rose with the decline of the Būyids of northern Iran.
10. ^ Blair, Sheila (1992), The Monumental Inscriptions From Early Islamic Iran and Transoxiana, Leiden: E.J. Brill, ISBN 90-04-09367-2 
11. ^ Arthur Goldschmidt, "A Concise History of the Middle East: Seventh Edition ", Westview Press, 2001. pg 87.
12. ^ Clawson, Patrick; Rubin, Michael (2005), Eternal Iran: continuity and chaos, Middle East in Focus (1st ed.), New York: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 19, ISBN 1-4039-6276-6 
13. ^ ^{a b} Mafizullah, Kabir (1964), The Buwayhid dynasty of Baghdad, 334/946-447/1055, Calcutta: Iran Society 
14. ^ Busse, Heribert (1975), "Iran Under the Buyids", in Frye, R. N., The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 265, 298, ISBN 0-521-20093-8 
15. ^ Sourdel-Thomine, J. "Buwayhids." The Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume I. New Ed. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960. p. 1353.
16. ^ Berkey, Jonathan Porter. The Formation of Islam London: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-521-58813-8. p. 135
17. ^ Heribert, pp. 287-8
18. ^ Bernard Lewis, The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years, (New York: Scribner, 1995) p. 89.
19. ^ ^{a b} Momen, Moojan (1985), An Introduction to Shi'i Islam, Yale University Press, pp. 75–76, ISBN 978-0-300-03531-5 

Another excellent discussion of the Buyids is Harvard professor Roy Mottahedeh's Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society

External links[link]

• Encyclopedia Iranica "Buyids" Tilman Nagel
• Encyclopedia Iranica: DEYLAMITES
• [1] The Buyid Domination as the Historical Background for the Flourishing of Muslim Scholarship During the 4th/10th Century by Dr. M. Ismail Marcinkowski
• The Buwaihids in Iran and Iraq

v t e Iran topics History Pre-Islamic Prehistory Proto-Elamite civilization BCE 3200– BCE 2800 Elamite dynasties BCE 2800– BCE 550 Bactria-Margiana Complex BCE 2200– BCE 1700 Kingdom of Mannai BCE 10th– BCE 7th cent. Median Empire BCE 728– BCE 550 Achaemenid Empire BCE 550– BCE 330 Seleucid Empire BCE 330– BCE 150 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom BCE 250– BCE 125 Parthian Empire BCE 248–CE 224 Kushan Empire CE 30–CE 275 Sassanid Empire CE 224–CE 651 Hephthalite Empire CE 425–CE 557 Kabul Shahi kingdom CE 565–CE 879 Islamic Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 819–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Kartids dynasty 1231–1389 Ottoman Empire 1299–1923 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1375–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722 or 1736 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand Dynasty 1750–1794 Durrani Empire 1794–1826 Qajar Dynasty 1794–1925 Modern Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Interim Government of Iran 1979 Islamic Republic of Iran 1979–present See also Ancient Iran Iranian Cultural Continent Indo-Iranians (languages) Jiroft civilization Aryans Persian peoples Tajik people Iranian peoples Kings of Persia Military history Years in Iran Politics Government Intellectual movements Women's movement Elections Constitution Supreme Leader President Judicial system Assembly of Experts Parliament Guardian Council Expediency Discernment Council Supreme National Security Council City and Village Councils Human rights LGBT Officials Provincial governors Reformists Principlists United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 Ambassadors Foreign relations Ministry of Intelligence Terrorism Military Army Air Force Navy Censorship Nuclear program Allegations of state terrorism Iranian Green Revolution Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Operation Ajax White Revolution Iranian Revolution Embassy siege Iran-Iraq war Iran Air Flight 655 1987 massacre of Iranian pilgrims Chicago's Persian heritage crisis History of the Islamic Republic of Iran Iranian Presidential Election, 2009 Persian Constitutional Revolution Propaganda Demographics Iranian citizens abroad Religion Muslims Bahá'ís Christians Azerbaijanis Armenians Persian Jews Ethnic minorities Religious minorities Zoroastrians persecution Women Languages Persian language Iranian Languages Azerbaijani Language Armenian Language Indo-Iranian languages Geography Cities list Iranian Azerbaijan Iranian Balochistan Iranian Kurdistan Iranian Plateau Islands Mountains Provinces Earthquakes Wildlife Economy Economic history of Iran Agriculture Fruit Industry Water and sanitation Health care Central bank Companies automobile manufacturers Banks Research centers Brain drain Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) Military equipment IDRO National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) Space Milad Tower and complex Military exports Rial Tehran Stock Exchange Electronic banking Intellectual property International Oil Bourse Bonyad Asalouyeh industrial corridor Kish Island Free Trade Zone Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone Labor and tax laws Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Mining Construction Privatization Foreign Direct Investment Supreme Audit Court Communications Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) Transport Railways Metro Airlines Iran Shipping Lines Energy Petroleum industry Nuclear program Tourism Environmental issues Economic Reform Plan Middle East economy List of major economic laws in Iran Iran and WTO Economic history of Iran Society Culture Iranian nationality Iranology Education Higher Science Scientists and scholars Universities Philosophy List of Iranians Literature Media News agencies student newspapers Architecture architects Achaemenid architecture Art modern/contemporary Persian gardens Cinema Cuisine Public holidays National symbols Opium consumption Music Ey Iran Heavy metal Persian traditional music Folk Pop Rap and hip-hop Rock and alternative Blogs Mythology Folklore Islam Islamization Scouting Sport Football Other topics Calendar Persian New Year Crown jewels Anti-Iranianism Persian names Tehrangeles International rankings of Iran Sorood-e Shahanshahi Iran Portal