Al-Mawardi's embassy to Abu Kalijar at al-Ahwaz over the laqab, 423/1032

سفارة الماوردي إلى أبي كاليجار بالأهواز في شأن اللقب، ٤٢٣هـ

c. 1032 CE · 423 AH

In 423 AH the caliph al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah sent the qadi Abu al-Hasan al-Mawardi with a letter to the king Abu Kalijar at al-Ahwaz. Al-Mawardi narrates in the first person that they went ahead of him, received him and lodged him; when the proposed laqab 'al-Sultan al-Mu'azzam' came up he said it could not be, for the Greatest Sultan is the caliph — and likewise 'Malik al-Umam' — so they turned to 'Malik al-Dawla', which he allowed as possible on condition that the service to the caliph be performed first, and it was done; he returned carrying twenty thousand dinars, twenty-five thousand dirhams, robes and perfumes ¹. The EI2 counts it the first of four political missions the caliph al-Qa'im entrusted to him in 422, 428, 434 and 435 ².

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region: Levant & Iraq
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In time

The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era

Summary

In 423 AH the caliph al-Qa'im bi-amr Allah sent the qadi Abu al-Hasan al-Mawardi, with a courier, to the king Abu Kalijar at al-Ahwaz, after Baghdad's ghilman had called on him and expelled Jalal al-Dawla ¹.

Bargaining over the laqab

Al-Mawardi narrates in the first person: they went ahead, received him and lodged him in a well-kept house. When talk turned to the laqab they asked for, 'al-Sultan al-Mu'azzam' was proposed; he said 'that cannot be — the Greatest Sultan is the caliph, and so is Malik al-Umam' — so they moved to 'Malik al-Dawla', which he allowed as possible on condition that the service to the caliph be performed before the titling, and it was done. He returned with twenty thousand dinars, twenty-five thousand dirhams, robes and perfumes ¹.

First of four missions

The EI2 counts it the first of four political missions the caliph al-Qa'im entrusted to him in 422, 428, 434 and 435 ².

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant: al-Mawardi· al-Malik Abu Kalijar ibn Sultan al-Dawla· al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah Hamza ibn al-Mutawakkil
Occurred at: al-Ahwaz

People and things also explored

Al-Mawardi carries the caliph's rescript to Jalal al-Dawla over the Jawali, 434/1042-3· Abu Kalijar Enters Baghdad and the Kettledrums Are Beaten for Him· The sack of al-Ahwaz, 421· Birth of Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Mawardi at Basra, 364/974· Conquest of al-Ahwaz, Manadhir and Nahr Tiri (16 AH)· Death of al-Mawardi at Baghdad, Rabi' I 450/1058· The restoration of the khutba to Jalal al-Dawla in Baghdad· The ghilman's expulsion of Jalal al-Dawla from Baghdad, 423

Sources

al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.8 p.407-409
Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 6 p. 896

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Al-Mawardi's embassy to Abu Kalijar at al-Ahwaz over the laqab, 423/1032”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/mawardi-envoy-ahwaz-423/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.

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Al-Mawardi carries the caliph's rescript to Jalal al-Dawla over the Jawali, 434/1042-3

In 434 AH the Jawali was opened in early Muharram, and the king Jalal al-Dawla sent men to bar the caliph's servants from it and seize what they had collected. This weighed on the caliph al-Qa'im, and his rescript went out to Jalal al-Dawla with al-Mawardi as the messenger — 'the rescript went out from the caliph and I was the messenger', he says — censuring his breach of oaths and repudiation of what he had covenanted over the Jawali. The EI2 counts it the third of his four missions.