The Titulature of the Early Ghaznavids Author(s): C. E. Bosworth Reviewed work(s): Source: Oriens, Vol. 15 (Dec. 31, 1962), pp. 210-233 Published by: BRILL Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1579847 . Accessed: 21/12/2012 04:31 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. BRILL is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Oriens. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Fri, 21 Dec 2012 04:31:05 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE TITULATURE OF THE EARLY GHAZNAVIDS by C. E. Bosworth St. Andrews,Scotland I During the course of the 4th/lothcentury, honorific titles became widespreadin the Islamic world,not merelyfor independentrulers, but also forprovincial governors and militarycommanders, and finally, forthe civilian officials of the diwdns. Previously, the principal honorifics knownin Islam had beenthose adopted on theiraccessions by theAbba- sid Caliphs,titles which usually expressed either dependence on God or else the desirefor divine aid in the businessesof rulingor of war; see the interestingstudy of A. Abel, Le Khalife,prdsence sacre'e, Studia Islamica,VII (1957), 29-45,in whichhe tracesthe changingpattern of Abbasid titulatureas it was facedwith the threatsof the Isma'ilis and Fatimids.J. H. Kramersmade an importantstudy of thosetitles which werecompounded with the elementdin "religion".He notedthat they wereespecially popular in easternIslam; that the worddin is connected withMiddle Persiandin and ultimately,with Old Persiandaind "reli- gion"; and thatthe twinconcept of daula "secularpower" is also linked withthe exaltedideas of kingshipprevalent in ancientPersia. (Kramers, Les nomsmusulmans compose's avec din 53-4,56-61). 1 Kramers' list here of 94 titles,drawn mainlyfrom the period up to the 7th/I12th century,has now been added to by A. Dietrich, Zu den mit ad-din zusammenge- setzenislamischen Personennamen, ZDMG, CX (1960), 43-54, who brings92 further titles, mainly fromthe period after the 7th century.See also the recent general work of al-Bdshd, al-Alqdbal-isldmiyya ft t-ta'rix wa'l-wathd'iq wa'l-dthdr, who givesI.asan an historical survey of Islamic titulature (with particular referenceto the dynasties which reigned in Egypt) and then (Part II, 118-544) an analytical list of honorifictitles and formsof address. It is thereforetempting to see thefrequent adoption in theIoth century of thesehonorific titles as a recrudescenceof older Iranian ceremonial and titularypractices. In theselast, a theocraticview of the God-Empe- 1 Those works most frequentlycited are usually referredto by author and/or title alone, or by abbreviations. Full bibliographicaldetails will be found at the end of the article. 210 This content downloaded on Fri, 21 Dec 2012 04:31:05 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The titulatureof the early Ghaznavids 211 ror's powerwas expressed,and manyof the Islamic titleslikewise give theirholders cosmic r6les in upholdingthe commonfabric of religion and empire.The Sasanidshad a widevariety of titles which they bestowed on particularclasses of society,e.g. on those of the militarycommanders and the Zoroastrianpriesthood. Christensen quotes Sir AurelStein that the titledar-andarzbadh "counsellor, organiser of the court" designated in the 5th centurythe Emperor'schief minister, and he pointsout that this titleis analogousto the Islamic ones givento Viziers(L'Iran sous les Sassanides2 [Copenhagen 1944] 400 ff.,409-II; see also G. Widengren, The sacralkingship of Iran, in La regalitesacra [Supplementto Numen, Leiden 1959] 249-50). Moreover, it was the Dailami dynasty of the Buyids who played a prominentpart in the processof the adoptionof honorifictitles, assuming ones whichwere highly reminiscent of Sasanid usage like Shdhanshdh"Emperor of emperors"and Malik al-mulak "King of kings".The formertitle became so intimatelyconnected with the Buyidsthat Baihaqi oftenrefers to the dynastyas Shdhanshdhiydn (Baih. 41, 400, 438). The Buyid familywere in originmilitary advent- urers from the geographicallyinaccessible and culturallybackward Caspianhighlands, where Islam had onlyrecently penetrated and where Zoroastrianismand otherpre-Islamic beliefs lingered on; and the Buyid periodhas been seen in the generalcontext of easternIslamic history as one in which older Iranian ways enjoyed a certainresurgence. In particular,V. Minorskyhas stressedthe "Dailami interlude"in Iranian historyas a distinctand importantentity and as a period meriting sympatheticstudy. For easternIslam, the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdadwas theprime fount of honoursand titles.These weregranted in returnfor presents of cash and luxuryarticles, and such paymentscame in time to be regulated accordingto a definitetariff. There is a discussionin Baihaqi 293 on what was the customaryrate (rasm)for the presentsto be sent to the new Caliph al-Qd'im on his accessionin 422/10o31;on this occasion, Mas'cidof Ghazna expectedin returnCaliphal confirmation of the lands whichhe held. Duringthe ioth century,and underthe tutelagefirst of theirTurkish slave generalsand thenof the Buyid Amirs,the Abbasids werereduced to the positionof faine'ants, deriving what regularincome they had in the formof grantsfrom the Amirs,who were nominally theirsubjects but in facttheir masters. The degradationof the Caliphate is a constanttheme of contemporarywriters, and Abli Dulaf Mis'ar b. Muhalhil in his famous qasida as-Sdsdniyya humorouslyenumerates the Caliph al-Muti' (334-63/946-74)as one of the fellowshipof professional beggars (mukaddan): This content downloaded on Fri, 21 Dec 2012 04:31:05 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 212 C. E. Bosworth "Another of our membersis the mainstay of religion,al-Mutic, whose fame is well-known; He begs his bread in periodic instalmentsfrom MuCizz ad-Daula" (Thaclibi, Yatima, III, 357, 371; Mez, Renaissance 135-6). Whywere these titles so keenlydesired? The wishto appearimportant in the eyes of one's fellow-menis a universalone, and Qalqashandi tracesthe use of laqabsback to Abraham,the "Friendof God", and the Patriarchs(Subh, V, 440); but in the mediaevalOrient, in particular, the standingof a man (unlesshe wereknown to be an ascetic or Sifi) was in large part judged by his outwardappearance and dress,by the deferencewhich had to be shownin addressinghim and by the closeness ofhis relationshipto higherauthority. The possessionof robes of honour, sonoroustitles and otherinsignia of officeor militaryrank became, to use a contemporaryexpression, status symbols,outward and visible signs of a man's value to the state and society.These attitudeshave persisteddown to our own times.An Englishtraveller in the Nishapur districttowards the end of the last centuryrelates an amusingincident in whichhe was askedby theheadman of a village publiclyand ostenta- tiouslyto present him with a robeof honour; the headman himself supplied the robe,and the wholepantomime was meantto increasehis esteemin the eyes of the villagers(C. E. Yate, Khurasanand Sistan [Edinburgh 1900] 415). In the mediaeval Islamic east, the emphasis on publicising oneselfand one's rank clearlygoes back to the Byzantineand Sasanid empireswhich had ruledover the region in earliercenturies, and in which ceremonialand thesense of social hierarchy had beenstrongly developed; and in the Islamicperiod, the use of laqabs was consciouslylinked with the Persianisedeast, as the termal-alqdib al-mashriqiyya, used in dis- paraging referenceto them by Maghribiwriters, shows (Goldziher, 'Ali b. Mejmimnal-Ma gribi und sein Sittenspiegeldes oistlichenIslam. Ein Beitrag zur Culturgeschichte,ZDMG, XXVIII [1874], 306-1o). Thus subjects sought afterrespect and deferenceby acquiringtitles, and rulerssought similarly to boosttheir reputations and to shareindirectly in the religiousand moralinfluence of the AbbasidCaliphs. For the religiousprestige and charismaticpower of the Caliphs of Baghdad was still great,despite their reduced material circumstances. The importanceof the cachet of orthodox, Sunni approval even influenced the Buyids in theirkeenness to acquire theirtitles from the Caliphs, despitethe fact that theythemselves were Shi'is. Certainly,they were usuallycareful not to go too farin offendingthe Abbasids'sentiments; they were, for instance, careful to place the Caliphs' names on their coinage, and avoided putting on it the common Shi'i formula "'Ali is This content downloaded on Fri, 21 Dec 2012 04:31:05 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Thetitulature ofthe early Ghaznavids 213 the Friendof God" ('Ali Wali Alldh).Powers newly-established on the fringesof the Islamic world, such as the Turkish Qaraxanids and Selcuqs, werealso desirousof openingrelations with Baghdad as soon as possible(see below, 222, 227). However,the spiritualclaims of the Shi'i who fromthe timeof the Mahdi 'Ubaidalldh (d. 322/934) had arrogatedF.timids,to themselvesthe titleof Caliphand whosecourt in Cairo came to eclipsein splendourthat of Baghdad, cast a shadow over the religiousauthority of the Abbasids. The powerof the Fdtimids challenged that of the Abbasidsin the realmof the grantingof