Abu Taghlib

In 978, the Jazira was occupied by the Buyids of Shiraz under Bakhtiyar's cousin Adud al-Dawla, and Abu Taghlib fled to the Fatimid-controlled parts of Syria.

Nasir al-Dawla engaged in repeated attempts to gain control over the Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad, but in the end was forced to concede defeat to the more powerful Buyid dynasty, recognize their suzerainty and pay them tribute.

However, the last decade of Sayf al-Dawla's rule, until his death in February 967, was marked by heavy military defeats at the hands of the Byzantines, who occupied much of his domains, and internal turmoil.

[4][8] Abu Taghlib, with the tacit consent of almost all his brothers, deposed his elderly father in May 967 and imprisoned him in the fortress of Ardamusht, where he died in February 969.

[11] With Buyid aid, Abu Taghlib forced his half-brother to hand over Raqqa and Rahba, but Hamdan managed to persuade Bakhtiyar to switch sides.

Sa'd al-Dawla, deprived of his own capital and lacking any power to offer any resistance, tacitly accepted these losses as well as his cousin's suzerainty.

Thus he once again marched on Baghdad during the rebellion of the Turkish military commander, Sabuktakin, although it was the intervention of the Buyid emir of Shiraz, Adud al-Dawla, that decided the conflict for Bakhtiyar.

Abu Taghlib forestalled an attack by promising to support him against Adud al-Dawla, in exchange for the handing over of Hamdan, who was promptly executed.

[14][19] Unlike earlier Buyid expeditions against the Hamdanids, that had failed chiefly because they were unable to sustain themselves in the Jazira, this was far better organized, as Adud al-Dawla brought along experienced administrators familiar with the area.

[20] Pursued by the Buyids, and with Adud al-Dawla refusing any negotiation, Abu Taghlib fled to Nisibis, Mayyafariqin, and thence to the mountains, possibly intending to seek refuge in Ardumusht.

[21] While the Buyids laid siege to Mayyafariqin, Abu Taghlib crossed into Byzantine territory held by Skleros, hoping to gain the latter's support.

Under attack by the Damascenes, and with members of his family starting to desert him, Abu Taghlib moved further south to the region of Lake Tiberias.

In this fight, the two brothers relied upon the Uqaylis; after the defeat of Badh, the Banu Uqayl turned on the Hamdanids and deposed and killed Abu Tahir Ibrahim, establishing the Uqaylid Dynasty as the rulers of the Jazira.