Būyids and Zīyārids: A newly found account from Kitāb al-Tājī

An important part of the available information on the Iranian dynasties of Būyid and Zīyārid is derived from the dynastic history of the Būyids, entitled Kitāb al-Tājī fī Akhbār al-Dawla al-Daylamīyya, the lost well-known work of Abu Ishāq al-Şābī (d. ca. 381 A.H.), of which fragments are found in the later works. The condensation of Kitā al-Tājī has also been produced by Majd al-Dīn Abu al-Fath Fadl Allah al-Kirmanī (d. ca. 620 A.H.) in his commentary on al-Yamīnī, entitled Jawāmi‘ al-Fikar wa Lawāmi‘ al-Fikar. This abridgement has not been studied as yet. Enlightening internal reason of the Būyids’ collapse, the present article provides both the edited text of al- Kirmani’s abridgement as well as explanatory notes on its contents. The study of the abridgement of Kitāb al-Tājī indicates that legitimacy of the Būyids’ rule and justification of policies of Adud al-Dawla, the most powerful Būyid ruler (d. 372/983), towards his own household were the main concerns in the dynastic history which al-Şābī was forced to write.