The battle lasted for several months; it eventually ended in victory for the Buyids, who expelled the Hamdanids from Baghdad with a major offensive and secured control of the city.

Upon his arrival he met with the Abbasid caliph al-Mustakfi, who agreed to give him control of the affairs of the state and conferred on him the honorific of "Mu'izz al-Dawla.

Mu'izz al-Dawla, on the other hand, was on less secure ground; Baghdad was in a sorry state thanks to years of mismanagement and he was hamstrung by its numerous financial and military problems.

[6] As a result of these factors, Nasir al-Dawla took a belligerent tone with the Buyids; he withheld the payment of tribute to Baghdad,[7] refused to recognize al-Muti' as caliph, and continued to mint coins in al-Mustakfi's name.

In February 946, Mu'izz al-Dawla sent an army under the command of Musa Fayadhah and Yanal Kushsh to Ukbara in preparation for a campaign to conquer Mosul.

When Jubayr arrived at the city, he was welcomed by the citizens and by Mu'izz al-Dawla's former secretary Abu Ja'far ibn Shirzad, who declared his allegiance to the Hamdanids and administered the affairs of Baghdad on their behalf.

[10] When Mu'izz al-Dawla learned that he had lost Baghdad, he gathered his Dailamite soldiers, who had been busy plundering Tikrit and Samarra, and headed back to the city.

Each day, Ibn Shirzad led a number of zabzabs filled with Turks up and down the Tigris, and they shot arrows at the Dailamites stationed on the western side of the city.

Ibn Shirzad was also able to augment the ranks of the Hamdanid forces by enlisting local citizens and criminals, and they participated in attacks on Mu'izz al-Dawla's Dailamite troops.

[17] By July 945, with no end to the battle in sight and with the blockade making supplies increasingly scarce, Mu'izz al-Dawla was giving serious thought to abandoning western Baghdad and retreating to Ahvaz.

He gave orders to his chief secretary Saymari to cross to the eastern bank with a number of handpicked Dailamites, while he himself would attempt to distract the Hamdanid forces with a ruse.

Nasir al-Dawla, realizing that he was in danger of losing the city, ordered Ibn Shirzad to take command of the troops and push the Dailamites back across the river.

Nasir al-Dawla then realized that the fight was lost and joined the retreat; the Hamdanid forces withdrew from Baghdad and allowed the Buyids to take control of the city.

Mu'izz al-Dawla agreed to recognize the Hamdanid as ruler of the territory from Tikrit northwards, and to release him from the obligation of transmitting tax revenues from Mosul and the Diyar Bakr district.