Sultan al-Dawla

Abu Shuja (993 – December 1024) was the Buyid amir of Fars (1012-1024) and Iraq (1012-1021). He was the son of Baha' al-Daula.

Abu Shuja lived in Baghdad during his youth. Shortly before Baha' al-Daula's death, he named Abu Shuja as his successor. Upon succeeding his father, he took the title "Sultan al-Daula wa 'Izz al-Milla". Travelling to his father's capital in Shiraz, he did seek for the traditional investiture by the caliph, but instead had the required materials sent to him. He entrusted his oldest brothers Jalal al-Daula and Qawam al-Daula with the governorships of Iraq and Kerman, respectively. He stayed in Persia for a long time; when he returned to Iraq three years later, he only went to Ahvaz to meet with his governor.

In 1018 Sultan al-Daula again came to Iraq, in an attempt to maintain friendly terms with the neighboring Amirate of Mosul. Qawam al-Daula, taking advantage of his brother's presence in the west, invaded Fars with the support of the Ghaznavids. The attack failed, Qawam al-Daula's marked the division of the Buyid state. After repulsing Qawam al-Daula's attack, Sultan al-Daula returned to Iraq in order to solidify his rule there. The marchlands of the region, which had long resisted Buyid authority, were finally subjugated.

The Turkish mercenaries, however, became discontented over the presence Sultan al-Daula's Dailamite troops. They therefore raised a brother of the amir, Musharrif al-Daula, as their ruler in 1021. After a long series of negotiations, Sultan al-Daula recognized his brother as "King of Iraq", in exchange for the latter's submittance as a vassal. Sultan al-Daula, however, wanted to retain direct rule over the region, and he invaded with his army. His defeat by Musharrif al-Daula's forces put an end to this plan, and Iraq became fully independent. The concept of the senior amir temporarily died; each region of the Buyid state was now ruled independently of one another. Having overseen the fragmentation of the Buyids, Sultan al-Daula died in Shiraz in December 1024. He was succeeded in Fars by his son Abu Kalijar.

References

• R. N. Frye (1975). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume Four: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. ISBN 0-521-20093-8
• Nagel, Tilman. "Buyids," Encyclopaedia Iranica. http://www.iranica.com/articles/search/searchpdf.isc?ReqStrPDFPath=/home1/iranica/articles/v4_articles/buyids&OptStrLogFile=/home/iranica/public_html/logs/pdfdownload.html