[1] Even in Iraq itself, the authority of the caliphal government was challenged: in the south, around Basra, the Baridi family under Abu Abdallah al-Baridi established its own domain, more often than not withholding the tax revenues from Baghdad to fill their own coffers.

A convoluted struggle for control of the office of amir al-umara, and the figurehead caliphate with it, broke out among the various local rulers and the Turkish military chiefs, which would end in 946 with the victory of the Buyids.

[3] In this turmoil, the Baridis managed to advance their positions from Basra to Wasit, gain the support of the Daylamites in the Abbasid army, and briefly capture Baghdad for the first time in June 941.

The Hamdanid leader, Hasan, had Ibn Ra'iq murdered and was named by the Caliph amir al-umara in his stead, with the laqab (honorific epithet) of Nasir al-Dawla ("Defender of the Dynasty").

[3][9][10] Baridi rule in Baghdad was tyrannical and chaotic, as the new rulers of the capital aimed only at extracting money; the city was rife with famine, disease, and lawlessness.

[18][19][20] This double award to the Hamdanid brothers marked the first time that a laqab incorporating the prestigious element al-Dawla was granted to anyone other than the vizier, the Caliphate's chief minister.

[19] The costly victory at al-Mada'in was soon undone: while Sayf al-Dawla wanted to continue the campaign against the Baridis, his brother—"whether from jealousy or negligence", according to historian Harold Bowen—did not send him the funds requested.

Nasir al-Dawla, dismayed at these developments and exposed far from his real power-base, decided to give up the capital, and in June 943, the two brothers returned to Mosul.

[26][27] Tuzun immediately abandoned Wasit and pursued the caliph north, heavily defeated Sayf al-Dawla in two battles near Tikrit, and captured Mosul itself.

[32] The Baridis also faced mounting challenges at the same time: they had to defend Basra against the ruler of Oman, and, their resources exhausted in the long contests for Baghdad, they now turned on one another.