political fragmentation and cultural diversity 227military power on the one hand, and the religious legitimacy of the
caliphate on the other. To cement the coalition in 980 the Bùwayhìd,
Adud-al-Dawlah (949–83), married the daughter of the caliph al-
Tai"(974–91).
The Bùwayhìds had a tight control over the caliphate. Those
caliphs who dared to oppose were deposed, humiliated, and in some
cases blinded and forced to beg for alms. In 946 al-Mustakfiwas
blinded, deposed by ibn-Buwayh and a new caliph was appointed.
The fate of the two predecessor caliphs was not any better. They
were blinded and seen begging for alms in the streets of Baghdad.
Throughout their century or so of supremacy (945–1055) the Bùwayhìds
made and unmade caliphs at will (Hittis, 1963). By that time there
were three assumed caliphates: the puppetry Abbasìd in Baghdad,
the Fatimid in Cairo, and the Umayyad in Cordoba.
What is worth noticing about the Bùwayhìds is that they embarked
on a programme of economic and administrative reform. They
repaired canals and repaired and built mosques, hospitals, public
buildings, a library with 10,000 books and an observatory, and they
extended their patronage to poets and men of literature (ibid.). More
important to Islamic economics, it was the period when al-Màwardì
wrote his al-Aœkàm al-Sùltàniyyah, the ordinance of the state. Interestingly
enough the title of al-Màwardì’s book is derived from the political
title given to the Bùwayhìd ruler by the ailing Abbasìd caliph. “Al-
flul≈àn” was a title given for the first time to a ruler and adopted
later for a book. Worth noting is that the title has an Arabic con-
notation, which would provide evidence against a possible suggestion
that it could have been ‘imported’ from other cultures. It is derived
from the noun ‘flul≈àn’, meaning power, ability and authority. But
the word is not an adjective or a proper noun. It could be a case
of a linguistic distortion necessitated by the need to look for an
exceedingly exalted title to be given to an exceedingly exalted army
general. Or, on the other hand, it could be a word implying that the
person with such a name was the person with such power: the per-
son with power, Sultan, or for simplicity, the Sultan. Al-Màwardì’s
al-Aœkàm al-Sùltàniyyahwill be discussed shortly.
The family quarrel and the Sunnis’ resentment of the Shi"ìBùwayhìds
led to the fall of the dynasty. In 1055 the Saljuk Turk Taghril Beg
entered Baghdad and put an end to the Bùwayhìd rule.