Bahram ibn Ardashir al-Majusi

Bahram ibn Ardashir al-Majusi was a Buyid officer of Zoroastrian extraction who during his early career served the Buyid ruler Adud al-Dawla, and then later the latter's son Samsam al-Dawla.

Biography

Bahram was the son of a certain Ardashir, and belonged to a Zoroastrian family.[1] He is first mentioned as one of the secretaries of the Buyid king Adud al-Dawla, and in 976/7 acted as a negotiator for the latter; after Adud al-Dawla had defeated his cousin Izz al-Dawla at Ahvaz, Bahram was sent to negotiate with Izz al-Dawla and gave the latter permission to retire and settle in Syria, then under Hamdanid control.

However, on his way to Syria, Izz al-Dawla became convinced by Abu Taghlib, the Hamdanid ruler of Mosul, to go fight again against his cousin. On May 29, 978, Izz al-Dawla along with Abu Taghlib invaded the domains of his Adud al-Dawla and fought against him near Samarra. Bahram also participated in this war;[1] Izz al-Dawla was once again defeated, and was captured and executed at the orders of Adud al-Dawla.[2][3]

Bahram along with the rest of the Buyid army then marched to Mosul and captured the city,[4] which forced Abu Taghlib to flee to Byzantine territory in Anzitene where he asked for aid. Meanwhile, the Buyid army was completing the conquest of Diyar Bakr and Diyar Mudar;[5] The important Hamdanid city of Mayyafariqin was shortly captured by them, which forced Abu Taghlib to flee to Rahba from where he tried to negotiate peace with Adud al-Dawla.[6]

During the same period, Bahram along with other Buyid officers, were sent to arrest Izz al-Dawla's former vizier Ibn Baqiyya.[1] In 983, Bahram was sent under an army to fight the Kurdish Marwanid ruler Abu Shuja Badh, but was defeated. During the reign of Adud al-Dawla's son Samsam al-Dawla, Bahram served as his deputy, but was executed in 986.[7]

References
  1. Kraemer 1992, p. 198.
  2. Kennedy 2004, p. 230.
  3. Turner 2006, p. 16.
  4. Kennedy 2004, pp. 272, 230.
  5. Donohue 2003, pp. 68-69.
  6. Kennedy 2004, p. 272.
  7. Kraemer 1992, p. 195.

Sources
  • Donohue, John J. (2003). The Buwayhid Dynasty in Iraq 334 H./945 to 403 H./1012: Shaping Institutions for the Future. Leiden and Boston: Brill. ISBN 90-04-12860-3.
  • Kennedy, Hugh (2004). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (Second ed.). Harlow: Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7.
  • Kraemer, Joel L. (1992). Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam: The Cultural Revival During the Buyid Age. BRILL. ISBN 9789004097360.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Turner, John P. (2006). "'Adud al-Dawla". Medieval Islamic Civilization: A-K, index. Taylor & Francis. p. 16. ISBN 9780415966917.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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