Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

DECAY OF THE CALIPHATE 93
of brickwork, states that " this lofty grave was built by
the orders of Shams-ul-Maali, the Amir, son of the Amir
Kabus, son of Washmgir, during his lifetime, in A.H. 375
It is
(997)." one of the oldest buildings
with a
known date in North-Eastern Persia. Kabus's grandson,
Kei Kaus, bin Iskandar, bin Kabus, was the author of
the famous Kabus Nama, which gives rules of life in a
delightful manner and is accessible to the European
world through a French translation.
The Buwayhid or Daylamite Dynasty, A.H. 320-447
(932-1055). The founder of the Ziyarid House quite
unconsciously assisted to found another dynasty far more
powerful than his own, by bestowing the governorship
of Karaj,
a district to the south of Hamadan, on Ali bin
Buwayha, who, aided by his two capable brothers, soon
extended his power southwards to the province of Fars,
which he occupied. This family sprang from a Persian
2
tribe in
Daylam which claimed descent from Bahram Gur
and professed Shia doctrines. Ali seems to have been a
favourite of fortune. After his conquest
of Fars he was
one day lying on a couch in the palace at Shiraz when he
observed a snake dart out its head from a hole. Calling
for masons to break down the wall, he found a secret
chamber, in which was collected the entire treasure of
Yakut, the dispossessed Governor, who had represented the
Caliph. Shortly afterwards a tailor came to Ali for orders,
and upon his sending for a stick with which to measure
cloth, the man, mistaking his intention, threw himself
at his feet and said that if his life were spared he would
give up all Yakut's cloth, which he was at once allowed
to do !
Ahmad, the most famous of Ali's brothers, embarked
on a career of conquest ;
details of his exploits
in the Kerman province can be gleaned from the local
histories. 3 It appears that Kerman city was held by a
"A Sixth Journey in Persia," Journal R.G.S. for January 1911.
2 Al-biruni (Sachau's edition), pp. 45-46, does not allow the genuineness of this claim.
* I have made a precis of two histories of Kerman :
(a) The history of Afzal-u-
Din, known as Afzal Kcrmani. This was written in A.H. 584 (1188) for Malik Dinar,
who was then ruler of Kerman. The manuscript was lithographed at Teheran in
A.D. 1876. It deals mainly with the sixth century of the Hijra and contains some
interesting information, The (b] history of Mohamed Ibrahim, who, from a remark