Vushmgir - Alliance With The Samanids

Alliance With The Samanids

Voshmgir soon decided to acknowledge Samanid supremacy, and in 936 he also turned over Gorgan to Makan. Turning against Hasan, he retook Isfahan in 938. In 939 or 940 the Samanid governor Abu 'Ali ibn Muhtaj attacked Gorgan; Voshmgir sent Makan aid, but the city fell after a long siege. Ibn Muhtaj then engaged Voshmgir in battle in Ray and defeated him, killing Makan in the process. Voshmgir fled to Tabaristan, but was faced there with a revolt by his governor of Sari, al-Hasan ibn al-Fairuzan, who was a cousin of Makan and blamed the Ziyarid for his death. Voshmgir defeated him, but al-Hasan convinced Ibn Muhtaj to invade Tabaristan. Voshmgir was forced to recognize Samanid authority again. Hasan furthered the Ziyarid's troubles by retaking Isfahan in 940.

When Ibn Muthaj left for Samanid Khurasan, Voshmgir retook control of Ray. He then lost it for good in 943, to the Buyid Hasan. Returning to Tabaristan, he was defeated there by al-Hasan, who had previously occupied Gorgan. Voshmgir fled to the Bavandids of the mountains in eastern Tabaristan, then to the court of the Samanid Nuh I. Al-Hasan meanwhile allied with Hasan, but when Ibn Muthaj took Ray from the Buyids in 945, he recognized Samanid authority. Still, in 945 Voshmgir captured Gorgan with Samanid support, but did not manage to retain his rule there. It was only in 947 when he was able to take Gorgan and Tabaristan from al-Hasan with the help of a large Samanid army.

In 948 Hasan (who since the Buyids' entrance into Baghdad in 945 had used the title Rukn al-Daula) invaded Tabaristan and Gorgan and took them from Voshmgir. While al-Hasan supported the Buyids, Voshmgir relied on his Samanid allies. Tabaristan and Gorgan changed hands several times until 955, when in a treaty with the Samanids, Rukn al-Daula promised to leave Voshmgir alone in Tabaristan. Peace between the two sides did not last long, however; in 958 Voshmgir briefly occupied Ray, which was Rukn al-Daula's capital. The Buyid struck back, temporarily taking Gorgan in 960, then taking both Tabaristan and Gorgan for a short time in 962. He may have also taken Tabaristan and Gorgan in 966, but did not hold on to them for long.