Adud al-Dawla Buyid and the Shiraz-Firouzabad-Siraf Route (949 - 982)

‘Adud al-Dawla Buyid became the King of the states of Fars and Kerman and the only policy-maker of the Buyid realm after the demise of his uncle, Ali Emad al-Dawla, in 949. In order to exercise his influence all over this vast realm and, particularly, control sea-trade in the Persian Gulf region, he put a comprehensive religious, social, and commercial security plan into effect, the result of which was the welfare of his subjects, the increase of royal power, the development of the coasts of the Persian Gulf, and the flourishing of sea-trade there. The role of trade routes of the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf was of prime importance in this security plan, and the reconstruction of these caravan-routes seemed necessary for facilitating commerce. Among all the routes used by caravans, the Shiraz-Firouzabad-Siraf route attracted the greatest attention of ‘Adud al-Dawla. The present paper is intended to provide some answers to the questions of why this route assumed a significant place in ‘Adud al-Dawlah’s security plan, and which security actions were put into effect in this regard following the historical method of research and through analyzing the existing historical data.