Al-Qadir
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ishaq, better known by his regnal name al-Qadir, was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 991 to 1031.
Born as an Abbasid prince outside the main line of succession, al-Qadir received a good education, including in the tenets of the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence. He rose to the throne after his cousin, at-Ta'i, was deposed by the Buyid ruler of Iraq, Baha al-Dawla. Although still under Buyid tutelage and with limited real power even in Baghdad, al-Qadir was able to gradually increase the authority of his office over time, exploiting the rivalries of the Buyid emirs and the caliphate's role as a fount of legitimacy and religious guidance. Al-Qadir was able to nominate his own heirs without interference by the Buyids, and was instrumental in securing control of Baghdad for the Buyid emir Jalal al-Dawla. At the same time, he sought champions further afield, notably in the person of Mahmud of Ghazni, who sought caliphal recognition for his conquests, providing funds in return. In the religious sphere, al-Qadir placed himself as the champion of Sunni Islam against Shi'a Islam, represented by the Buyids as well as by the Fatimid Caliphate of Cairo. He denounced the Fatimids in the Baghdad Manifesto of 1011, and issued proclamations that for the first time codified Sunni doctrine in the so-called 'Qadiri Creed', taking the side of the traditionalist Hanbali school against the rationalist Mu'tazilites. Al-Qadir's religious policies cemented the Sunni–Shi'a split, as the followers of divergent doctrines were denounced as infidels and made licit to be killed as a result. His reign heralded the re-emergence of the Abbasid caliphate as an independent political actor, and presaged the so-called 'Sunni Revival' later in the century.
Early life
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad, the future al-Qadir, was born on 28 September 947 in Baghdad. His father Ishaq was a son of caliph al-Muqtadir, and his mother Tammani or Dimna was a slave concubine.Shortly before his birth, in December 945, Baghdad and the rest of Iraq had been taken over by the Buyids. Although the Buyids were pro-Shi'a, they had retained the Abbasid caliphate for reasons of legitimacy. The Buyids ruled Iraq ostensibly as caliphal commander-in-chiefs, but in practice they had reduced the Abbasid caliphs to puppet rulers, confined to their palaces. Like many Abbasid princes of the time, Ahmad lived in the Tahirid Palace of Baghdad.
As an Abbasid prince, Ahmad received a good education. When his father Ishaq died in March 988, Ahmad quarreled with his half-sister, Amina, over the inheritance. She reported him to their cousin, Caliph al-Ta'i, as plotting to replace him as caliph. To escape capture, Ahmad went into hiding for a while, before seeking refuge with the governor of the swamps of Bathihah near Basra, Muhadhdhib al-Dawla, for about three years. From there, Ahmad plotted against al-Ta'i, harping on his own loyalty to the Buyids, whereas al-Ta'i had been installed by a Turkic general, Sabuktakin.
Caliphate
In 991, the Buyid ruler of Iraq, Baha al-Dawla, deposed al-Ta'i, because the latter had been showing signs of independence. In his stead, Baha al-Dawla appointed al-Qadir to the caliphate on 22 November 991. The deposed al-Ta'i was kept in captivity until his death twelve years later. Despite their previous differences, al-Qadir treated his predecessor well: al-Ta'i was not blinded, as had been the case for previous deposed caliphs, and he was accorded the treatment due to a reigning caliph.Early years
The accession of the new caliph was not without its troubles: on his way from Bathihah he was held up by Turkic soldiery who extracted promises of a donative payment, and the first solemn Friday sermon in his name was likewise delayed by Turkic and Daylamite troops clamouring for money. At 45 years, al-Qadir was the oldest Abbasid caliph to ascend the throne; and it was expected that he would be a pliant figurehead. At first, al-Qadir indeed seemed to bear out this image, approving Baha al-Dawla's nominations of officials and supporting his policies. New titles were conferred on Baha al-Dawla, and al-Qadir even agreed to marry the Buyid's daughter, although in the event she died just before the wedding was to take place. Seeing him as a Buyid puppet, the dynasts of the eastern Islamic world delayed recognition, and it was not until 1000 that the Samanids and Ghaznavids recognized al-Qadir's caliphate. Even the Buyid emir Fakhr al-Dawla, who ruled large parts of central and northern Iran until his death in 997, refused to recognize al-Qadir, continuing to mint coins in al-Ta'i's name. The only independent actions taken during the first decade of his caliphate were the completion in 993/4 of a Friday mosque in the Harbiyya quarter of Baghdad, begun by his uncle al-Muti', and the public proclamation of his son Muhammad, then just eight or nine years old, as heir apparent, with the title of al-Ghalib Bi'llah, in 1001.Al-Qadir faced two usurpation attempts during this time. About 998, a certain Abdallah ibn Ja'far, a close relative of the deposed al-Ta'i, pretended to be the escaped caliph in Gilan and even gained the backing of the local ruler for a time, before he was discovered. At about the same time, in Transoxiana, another distant cousin, Abdallah ibn Uthman, a descendant of the 9th-century caliph al-Wathiq, pretended to be al-Qadir's designated heir and won the support of the local Karakhanid ruler. Al-Qadir used the event as an excuse to publicly proclaim his son as heir, bypassing the need to seek Buyid approval. The Karakhanids soon recognized the Abbasid caliph's suzerainty for the first time, and dropped their support of the pretender. The pretender then arrived in Baghdad, where he secretly gathered support, before moving again to the east via Basra, Kufa, and Kirman. He was finally arrested by the Ghaznavids on al-Qadir's orders, and died in captivity.
Relations with the Buyids
Ambitious to subdue the Buyid emirates to the east under his own rule, Baha al-Dawla forced al-Qadir to finance the military preparations to that effect, which progressively emptied the caliphal coffers. Nevertheless, Baha al-Dawla's successes also had positive corollary: following his conquest of western Iran in 998, the Buyid moved his residence to Shiraz. This effectively downgraded Baghdad and Iraq to a mere province, but also left al-Qadir more room for independent activity, which he used to strengthen his authority. While Baha al-Dawla had previously imposed his own candidates even as members of the caliphal court, al-Qadir was now able to establish his own chancery and nominate his own officials, often from among officials who had served under al-Ta'i. Al-Qadir is also recorded as having a separate postal and information service, which he may have established. The appointment of a vizier on the other hand had to wait the next reign; al-Qadir's chief ministers had to content themselves with the title of 'secretary'. For most of al-Qadir's caliphate, this post was held by al-Hajib al-Nu'man, who served from 992 until his death in 1030, with a brief interruption in 998.Baha al-Dawla died in 1012, and was succeeded by his son, Sultan al-Dawla. The succession did nothing to halt the decline of the Buyid power in Iraq, or the mounting Sunni–Shi'a tensions. The Buyid emirs that followed Baha al-Dawla were also increasingly engaged in an unrestrained competition for supremacy amongst themselves, in which control of Baghdad and of the caliph, who could dispense titles and tokens of legitimacy, was of central importance. This in turn gave al-Qadir greater freedom of action, and placed him on much better and more equal footing with Baha al-Dawla's successors, who were careful to maintain good relations with the caliph. Sultan al-Dawla did not come to Iraq for his investiture ceremony as, which was carried out in absentia. In contrast to previous occasions, the gifts sent to the caliphal court were modest, while the poverty of al-Qadir had reached such extent that the palace had to be decorated for the occasion with rugs and drapes provided by the governor of Baghdad.
In 1021, Sultan al-Dawla ceded rule over Iraq to his younger brother, Musharrif al-Dawla. The latter came to Baghdad in March 1023, and ordered al-Qadir to come to him. Al-Qadir complied, but when Musharrif al-Dawla went on to renew the oath of allegiance of the Turkic military officers without asking for the Caliph's permission, al-Qadir protested, and in return secured a pledge of fidelity from Musharrif al-Dawla. When the latter died in 1025, Musharrif al-Dawla's brother Jalal al-Dawla and his nephew, Abu Kalijar, clashed over his inheritance. The latter was proclaimed as by the soldiery, and initially recognized as such by the Caliph, but he was toppled when the troops eventually defected to Jalal al-Dawla. The caliph played a central role in these events, mediating with the Turkic soldiery in favour of Jalal al-Dawla, so that, according to the historian Heribert Busse, "the installation of Jalal al-Dawla was the achievement of al-Qadir". Jalal al-Dawla entered Baghdad in 1026 and began curtailing the caliph's powers, but his rule was short-lived, as once again the troops turned against him. Al-Qadir sent a delegation to inform him that he must leave the capital, and prohibited him from returning for several years.
File:Mahmud in robe from the caliph.jpg|upright=1.25|thumb|Mahmud of Ghazni receiving a richly decorated robe of honor from the caliph al-Qadir in 1000, miniature from Rashid al-Din's Jami' al-tawarikh.
Al-Qadir's efforts to re-establish his authority against the Buyids were aided by the broad popular support he could count on among the Sunni population of Baghdad, the decline of Buyid power, and the emergence of Mahmud of Ghazni in the east, who was not only a political opponent of the Buyids, but also a champion of Sunni orthodoxy. The recognition of Mahmud by al-Qadir took place independently of the Buyids, while conversely Mahmud's recognition of his suzerainty was a boost to the caliph's position. The Ghaznavid ruler regularly kept al-Qadir informed of his campaigns, requesting caliphal confirmation for his rule over the countries he had conquered. Al-Qadir had reports of Mahmud's victories read publicly in the mosques, a gesture that historian Tayeb El-Hibri describes as a barely veiled gibe against the Buyids, and in turn rewarded Mahmud with lofty titles, and . As the historian Michael Brett explains, this arrangement suited both men: for al-Qadir, nominating a powerful prince as his surrogate was a substitute for real power; while for Mahmud, caliphal recognition legitimized his position and his plans for conquests against diverse 'infidels', primarily India to the south, but also the Buyids to the west. Mahmud's lavish gifts also helped alleviate somewhat the poverty of the caliph as a result of Buyid exactions; nevertheless, at his death, al-Qadir left an empty treasury.