His father surrendered the caliphate to him after being stricken with paralysis, in Dhu al-Qaʿda 363 AH.

Yet the authority to install or depose rulers lay with the amir ʿIzz al-Dawla and his cousin ʿAḍud al-Dawla. Al-Ṭāʾiʿ was fair-haired, of medium stature, and large-nosed (1).

Ibn al-Jawzī relates: “When he was proclaimed caliph he rode out wearing the Mantle, with the chamberlain Subuktikīn before him. The next day he conferred upon Subuktikīn the robes of sovereignty, fastened a banner for him, and granted him the title Naṣr al-Dawla.”

When the Feast of Sacrifice arrived, al-Ṭāʾiʿ rode to the prayer-ground clad in a tunic and turban. After leading the people in prayer he delivered a brief sermon. ʿIzz al-Dawla then tried to confiscate Subuktikīn’s fiefs, so Subuktikīn mustered the Turkish troops; battle was joined, Subuktikīn triumphed, and the common folk rallied to his side.

ʿIzz al-Dawla wrote to ʿAḍud al-Dawla for help, but the latter delayed. The populace split into two camps: the Sunnis and the Daylamites cried Subuktikīn’s war-cry, while the Shiʿites cried that of ʿIzz al-Dawla. Fighting ensued, blood was shed, and al-Karkh was set ablaze (2).

Al-Ṭāʾiʿ himself was physically strong yet coarse-tempered. In the year he acceded, the Friday sermon that mentioned his name was suspended for fifty days in Baghdad; no preacher invoked any imam until it was restored in Rajab (3).

When ʿAḍud al-Dawla arrived, the dominion of Iraq pleased him. He courted the troops, who then mutinied against his cousin ʿIzz al-Dawla, forcing the latter to bar his doors. ʿAḍud al-Dawla meanwhile issued letters in al-Ṭāʾiʿ’s name to the provinces confirming his own appointment. Before long his affairs unraveled, and nothing remained under his control but Baghdad. He therefore dispatched a message to his father, Rukn al-Dawla (4), informing him that he had imperiled both his own life and that of his army.