Emadoddoleh Deylami
عمادالدوله دیلمی
Ali first entered the services of the Samanian Dynasty under Nasr 2nd, where he became a member of the ruler's entourage. From there he eventually joined Makan, who ruled Gorgan and Rhagae as a governor of the Samanian, in around 928. He managed to occupy a high position under Makan and gained army commissions for his two younger brothers, Hasan and Ahmad. In 930, however, Makan rebelled against the Samanian rule by seizing Khorasan; he was subsequently attacked by the Ziyari prince Mardaviz and forced to give up Tabarestan.
Ali and his brothers joined Mardaviz just as the Ziyari Movement was preparing to undertake the conquest to the south of the Alborz Mountains as far as Qazvin. Not long afterwards Mardaviz granted Ali administrative rule over Karaj, a strategically important town probably situated near modern Bahramabad. While making a stop in Rhagae on his way to Karaj, however, Ali was warned by Mardaviz' vizier al-Amid that the Ziyari was planning to eliminate him.
With a small number of Deylami troops to support him, Ali sought to expand his position. Moving against the heretical Khorramdin Movement, who controlled the surrounding mountains, he gained control of the region and was heavily enriched by the expeditions. At the same time, he managed to maintain his troops' loyalty, despite Mardaviz' attempts to incite them against their master.
Foundation of the Booyeh state
In order to further secure his position, Ali decided to seize the nearby city of Isfahan, then under control of the Abbasid governor Yaqut. His enemy outnumbered Ali's Army, but a large portion of it defected to him upon his appearance before the city. Yaqut, however, refused to negotiate with him, and Mardaviz' approach forced him to abandon Isfahan in favor of the Ziyari forces. Having fled Karaj as well, Ali now took Arrajan, a city between Fars and Khuzestan.
After spending winter in Arrajan, Ali decided to campaign in Fars in the spring of 933. There he encountered the resistance of Yaqut, who was also the governor of Fars and from whom Ali had stripped Arrajan. He also found an ally, Zey bin Ali al-Nobandegani, a wealthy landowner who disliked the Abbasids. After a series of battles, Ali managed to prove the victor. By May or June 934, he entered Shiraz, the capital of Fars.
In order to prevent Mardaviz from pressing claims on his territory, Ali sought the recognition of the Abbasid Caliph, who confirmed him as his viceroy in September or October of 934. Although the caliph's emissary arrived with the insignia for his office, however, Ali delayed giving the requisite tribute; by the time the emissary died in Shiraz two years later, the tribute was still unpaid.
Mardaviz continued to pose a threat; he decided to invade Khuzestan, which was still under Caliphate control. This attack prompted the caliph to reach an agreement with the Ziyari Forces, which forced Ali to recognize Mardaviz' authority. This recognition proved short-lived, as Mardaviz was assassinated in January of 935. Ali then decided to press claims on Khuzestan, and occupied Askar Mukram. The Buyid and the Caliph then came to terms with one another; the latter confirmed Ali in his possession of Fars and gave Khuzestan to Yaqut.
The Booyeh Empire takes shape
Bolstered by many of Mardaviz' Turkish mercenaries that had joined him, as well as the collapse of Ziyari control over central Iran, Ali decided that Isfahan should be taken. He sent his brother Hasan to accomplish this. Hasan initially managed to take Isfahan but later encountered difficulties. After Hasan took Isfahan, Ali sent his other brother Ahmad to take Kerman. Although the bulk of that province was compelled to recognize Booyeh authority, direct control was not established, and Ali eventually recalled him.
Ali next sent Ahmad to Khuzestan, where the Basrian clan of the Baridis had become the de facto rulers of the province but was trying to throw off Caliph Rule. They asked Ali for their struggle against the Abbasids, providing the pretext for Ahmad to enter Khuzestan. Although the Baridis temporarily recovered the province and even managed to take Baghdad a few times, Ahmad eventually took control of Khuzestan himself. From Khuzestan Ahmad waged a series of campaigns in Iraq, until in 945 he entered Baghdad. The caliph then gave him the title of Moezzoddoleh while Ali and Hasan were given the titles of Emadoddoleh and Roknoddoleh respectively. By 948 Roknoddoleh had also secured his position in central Iran, causing a clear definition of the borders of the Booyeh state.
Emadoddoleh was not the master of the entire Booyeh Empire. Roknoddoleh, partly as a result of Emadoddoleh ' failure to send him military support during his struggles in central Iran, was relatively independent of his brother. Moezzoddoleh, on the other hand, had been given support by his brother in his efforts to take Khuzestan, and was a subordinate of Emadoddoleh.
He was not listed as an independent ruler on contemporary sources, and the name of his brother appeared before his own on coins struck by him. Despite the fact that Moezzoddoleh' capture of Baghdad resulted in him gaining the title of senior Amir (Amir al-umara), which in theory made him the highest ranking individual out of all three Booyeh brothers, he remained little more than a provincial ruler under Emadoddoleh authority. Emadoddoleh himself claimed the title of senior Amir during his lifetime, and although he never officially held it, nor was entitled to do so, he was recognized as the de facto holder of that position.
Emadoddoleh' lack of an heir posed a problem until shortly before his death. A few months beforehand, he settled on Roknoddoleh' eldest son Fana Khosrau (Azoddoleh) as his successor. He died in December of 949, and his brothers helped to install Fana-Khosrau in Shiraz. Roknoddoleh, who was the most powerful of the Booyeh, claimed the title of senior Amir for himself and received recognition.
During his life Emadoddoleh tried to regain Iranian identity as it was during the Sassanid Empire which he succeeded although the Booyeh Dynasty could not extend to the ancient realm but successive movements such as Khorramdin, Ziyari, Divdastan, etc. gave the Iranians the momentum needed to stand against systematic assimilation by Arab Caliphs followed by Turkish invaders.
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