خلع معز الدولة المستكفي وسمله
خلع معز الدولة المستكفي وسمله
c. 946 CE · 334 AH
Ahmad ibn Buya entered Baghdad, stood before the caliph and was invested as Mu'izz al-Dawla — his brothers becoming Imad and Rukn al-Dawla, their titles struck on the coinage, while al-Mustakfi styled himself 'Imam al-Haqq'. Mu'izz al-Dawla, the first Daylamite to hold Iraq, sequestered the caliph on five thousand dirhams a day and made wrestling and swimming the city's craze — swimmers cooking meat in pots on their arms. In Jumada II 334 two Daylamites came to the caliph — he offered his hand for the kiss, they dragged him from the throne by his turban to the ground, the soldiery sacked the harem bare, and he was deposed and blinded that day, after sixteen months; they brought al-Fadl ibn al-Muqtadir, and the blinded Mustakfi saluted him as caliph 1.
At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
Overview
Ahmad ibn Buya entered Baghdad, and the caliph al-Mustakfi robed him and gave him the title Mu'izz al-Dawla. Then the influence of Mu'izz al-Dawla grew and he restricted the caliph, and fixed for him five thousand dirhams a day for expenses. 2
The deposition
In Jumada al-Akhira 334 AH Mu'izz al-Dawla went in to the caliph. Two Daylamis came forward, and he stretched out his hand to them thinking that they wanted to kiss it; they pulled him off the couch and dragged him by his turban. The Daylam attacked the caliph's residence and plundered it. Al-Mustakfi was deposed and his eyes were blinded, after a reign of a year and four months. 2
Ibn al-Athir's account
Ibn al-Athir gives a reason for the deposition: the caliph's mother held a banquet attended by Daylami and Turkish commanders, and they accused her to Mu'izz al-Dawla of taking allegiance for al-Mustakfi so that they would depose him. In his account al-Mustakfi was handed over to al-Muti' after his allegiance and he was blinded, and he remained imprisoned until he died in Rabi al-Awwal 338 AH. 3
Connections
People and things also explored
دخول بني بويه بغداد وتلقيبهم سنة 334· الكتابة باللعن على مساجد بغداد· وفاة معز الدولة بن بويه· أول مأتم ببغداد على الحسين· أول مأتم عاشوراء وعيد غدير ببغداد· اعتقال المستكفي ونفيه إلى قوص· خلع المطيع وبيعة الطائع· سمل المتقي على يد توزون
Sources
- Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition), p. 613-614
- Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition), p.613-614
- al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh of Ibn al-Athir, p.337
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “خلع معز الدولة المستكفي وسمله”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/mustakfi-blinding-334/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.