and he went further in his oppression: he built a residence the like of which had never been heard. To raise it he demolished people’s houses, and by the time he died he had lavished on it six hundred thousand dinars (1).

The Byzantines then pressed hard against the Syrian provinces; they took Aleppo by the sword together with other towns such as Sarūj and Edessa. Their first real foothold came when they routed Sayf al-Dawla in the year 339 AH. He barely escaped with a small band of followers, and the enemy learned of the weakness of the caliphate and of Sayf al-Dawla’s inability to confront them after he had defeated them on more than one occasion (2).

In 353 AH Muʿizz al-Dawla marched on Mosul, whereupon Nāṣir al-Dawla abandoned the city. They later met in battle and Nāṣir al-Dawla prevailed: he captured the Turks, the Daylamites sought quarter with him, and he seized Muʿizz al-Dawla’s baggage train and treasuries, after which the two concluded peace (3). In Baghdad the mourning ceremonies of ʿĀshūrāʾ were held, and major disturbances broke out because of them.

The vizier al-Muhallabī died in 351 AH (4), and not long afterwards Muʿizz al-Dawla himself passed away. His son ʿIzz al-Dawla Bakhtiyār succeeded him in 356 AH (5).

At that time the revolt of Muḥammad, son of the blinded caliph al-Mustakfī, erupted. When his father had been put out of office he fled to Egypt and stayed with Kāfūr. Later his ambitions swelled, and he returned to Baghdad in secret. ʿIzz al-Dawla discovered his presence, and a number of leading figures secretly pledged allegiance to Muḥammad. ʿIzz al-Dawla captured him, cut off his nose and ears, and imprisoned him. Muḥammad and his brother ʿAlī later escaped from confinement on an ʿĪd day, crossed beyond the Oxus, and their cause petered out (6).

In 360 AH al-Muṭīʿ suffered a stroke that paralysed half of his body, and the Banū ʿUbayd (the Fāṭimids) seized control of Egypt.