1. Abu Talib Rustam, commonly known by his laqab of Majd al-Dawla, was the last amir of the Buyid amirate of Ray from 997 to 1029.
20 Facts About Majd al-Dawla
1. 2.
Majd al-Dawla was the eldest son of Fakhr al-Dawla.
3.
Majd al-Dawla's reign saw the gradual shrinking of Buyid holdings in central Iran; Gurgan and Tabaristan had been lost to the Ziyarids in 997, while several of the western towns were seized by the Sallarids of Azerbaijan.
4.
Majd al-Dawla was reportedly sent to the Ghaznavid capital of Ghazni, where he died.
5.
Majd al-Dawla was the son of the Buyid amir Fakhr al-Dawla, who ruled Jibal, Tabaristan and Gurgan.
6.
Majd al-Dawla's mother was Sayyida Shirin, a princess from the Bavand dynasty in Tabaristan.
7.
Majd al-Dawla's tutor was Ibn Faris, a prominent Persian scholar and grammarian from Hamadan.
8.
The senior Buyid amir Samsam Majd al-Dawla, who ruled Fars, had faithfully acknowledged Fakhr Majd al-Dawla as senior amir during the latter's reign.
9.
Samsam Majd al-Dawla soon died afterwards, and by 999 Fars was under the control of Baha Majd al-Dawla, who had now become senior amir.
10.
Majd al-Dawla lost several western towns to the Sallarids of Azerbaijan.
11.
The Hasanwayhid chieftain Badr ibn Hasanwayh, who ruled around Qirmisin as a Buyid vassal, went to Ray to help Majd al-Dawla administer the local affairs, but his help was rebuffed.
12.
In 1005, Majd al-Dawla assumed the imperial Persian title of shahanshah in order to signal his ascendancy over that of his brothers and vassals.
13.
Majd al-Dawla did not acknowledge Sultan al-Dawla's claim, as he himself had in reality become the senior amir.
14.
In 1008, with the assistance of his vizier Abu 'Ali ibn 'Ali, Majd al-Dawla attempted to throw off the regency of his mother.
15.
Sayyida Shirin escaped to Badr ibn Hasanwayh, and together with Shams Majd al-Dawla they put Ray under siege.
16.
Majd al-Dawla was imprisoned by his mother in the fort of Tabarak, while Shams al-Dawla took to power in Ray.
17.
The fragility of Majd al-Dawla's kingdom allowed Ala al-Dawla Muhammad to rule autonomously, as well as expand his realm into the northern and western mountains, then controlled by autonomous Kurdish dynasties such as the Annazids.
18.
Majd al-Dawla was faced with a revolt by his Daylamite soldiers, and requested the assistance of the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud in dealing with them.
19.
Majd al-Dawla deposed Majd al-Dawla as ruler, and sacked the city, bringing an end to Buyid rule there.
20.
Majd al-Dawla was survived by another son named Abu Dulaf.