Abu Taghlib Fadl Allah Abu Taghlib al - Ghadanfar ʿUddat al - Dawla ( ) , usually known simply by his " kunya " as Abu Taghlib , was the third Hamdanid ruler of the Emirate of Mosul , encompassing most of the Jazira . His reign was troubled , being marked by conflicts with some of his brothers , antagonism with the various branches of the Buyids for influence in Baghdad , and attacks by the Byzantine Empire under John I Tzimiskes . His relations with the Buyid emir of Iraq , ' Izz al - Dawla Bakhtiyar , were initially hostile , but the two later concluded an alliance . In 978 , the Jazira was occupied by the Buyids of Shiraz under ' Adud al - Dawla , and he fled to the Fatimid - controlled parts of Syria , where he tried to secure the governorship of Damascus , and became involved in local rivalries which resulted in his defeat in battle and execution on 29 August 979 . Life . Origin and background . Abu Taghlib was the eldest son of al - Hasan , better known by his " laqab " of Nasir al - Dawla , who had established the Hamdanids as masters of a practically independent emirate encompassing the Jazira and centred on Mosul . Nasir al - Dawla engaged in repeated attempts to gain control over the Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad , but in the end was forced to concede defeat to the more powerful Buyids , recognize their suzerainty and pay them tribute . At the same time , Nasir al - Dawla ' s younger brother Ali , better known as Sayf al - Dawla , managed to establish his control over northern Syria from his two capitals Aleppo and Mayyafariqin , and through his clashes with the Byzantine Empire quickly overshadowed his brother . However , the last decade of Sayf al - Dawla ' s rule , until his death in February 967 , was marked by heavy military defeats at the hands of the Byzantines , who occupied much of his domains , and internal turmoil . It was in this context that Abu Taghlib emerged into the scene in 964 , when his father had once again been embroiled in a conflict with the Buyids . The army of the Buyid Mu ' izz al - Dawla occupied Mosul and Nasir al - Dawla was once again forced to flee to the hill country of the northern Jazira . Abu Taghlib led the resistance against the Buyids , who , unable to maintain themselves there , evacuated Mosul and reached a new agreement with the Hamdanids . Consequently , Nasir al - Dawla was now increasingly eclipsed by his sons , and was deposed outright and exiled in 967 , dying in captivity shortly after . Reign . Abu Taghlib succeeded his father as emir and head of the Jaziran branch of the Hamdanid family , but almost immediately his authority was contested by a younger brother from a different mother , Hamdan . Nasir al - Dawla had entrusted the latter with the governance of Nisibis , Mardin and Rahba shortly before his deposition , and may have intended to name him his heir over Abu Taghlib . Hamdan was the only son of Nasir al - Dawla to protest his father ' s deposition , and refused to recognize his brother . In addition , he used the conditions of near - anarchy prevailing in Syria after Sayf al - Dawla ' s death to seize al - Raqqah and Rafiqa from his cousin Sa ' d al - Dawla of Aleppo . With the aid of the new Buyid emir of Iraq , ' Izz al - Dawla Bakhtiyar , Abu Taghlib prevailed over Hamdan , who fled to Baghdad . Relations with the Buyids were initially good , as Abu Taghlib , unlike his father , had no direct claim on Baghdad , and Bakhtiyar himself was to preoccupied with affairs in Iraq and elsewhere to focus his attention on the Jazira . However , the Buyid prince offered refuge to Hamdan and other disgruntled members of the Hamdanid clan ( including another of Abu Taghlib ' s brothers , Abu Tahir Ibrahim ) and intervened in the Hamdanid family quarrels . Thus in 970 , Hamdan was restored in Rahba thanks to Buyid pressure , only to be chased away again in 971 . The exiled prince now urged Bakhtiyar to make war on Abu Taghlib : in 973 the Buyids once again occupied Mosul , while Abu Taghlib with his army outflanked them and threatened Baghdad . The conflict ended in a negotiated settlement in 974 that included in its provisions the award of the " laqab " of ʿUddat al - Dawla ( " Instrument of the State / Dynasty " ) to Abu Taghlib by the caliph and the restoration of Hamdan to his domains . During the same period , Abu Taghlib also faced the attacks of the Byzantines , who under Emperor John I Tzimiskes penetrated deep into the Jazira . The devastating raids of 972 were partly avenged through the capture of the Domestic of the Schools Melias in 973 , but in 974 Tzimiskes himself raided the Jazira in retaliation . In 973 – 975 , Abu Taghlib supported Bakhtiyar in his own struggles to safeguard his power . Thus he once again marched on Baghdad during the rebellion of the Turkish military commander , Sabuktakin , although it was the intervention of the Buyid emir of Shiraz , ' Adud al - Dawla , that decided the conflict for Bakhtiyar . As a result of his assistance , in 975 Abu Taghlib secured a revision of the earlier treaty which freed him of the payment of tribute . In 976 , following the death of Tzimiskes , Abu Taghlib agreed to support the bid for the Byzantine throne of the rebel general Bardas Skleros , with whom he concluded a treaty . In 977 , as Bakhtiyar found himself driven from Baghdad by the ambitious ' Adud al - Dawla , he turned again to the Hamdanids for aid . Abu Taghlib agreed to support him , in exchange for the handing over of Hamdan , who was promptly executed . Although this secured Abu Taghlib ' s position in his family , it also brought him to the attention of ' Adud al - Dawla . In May 978 , Bakhtiyar and Abu Taghlib were defeated in a battle near Samarra by ' Adud al - Dawla . Bakhtiyar himself was captured and executed at the orders of ' Adud al - Dawla , who then advanced on Mosul . Unlike earlier Buyid expeditions against the Hamdanids that had failed chiefly because they were unable to sustain themselves in the Jazira , this was well - organized as ' Adud al - Dawla brought along experienced administrators familiar with the area . The Buyids took Mosul and forced Abu Taghlib to flee to Mayyafariqin and then to the mountains of Armenia ; he even visited Skleros in Byzantine territory in Anzitene , trying to secure his assistance , while the Buyids laid siege to Mayyafariqin . After the fall of Mayyafariqin in 978 , Abu Taghlib fled to Rahba from where he tried in vain to negotiate with ' Adud al - Dawla . Exile and death . With the Buyid troops completing their conquest of the Jazira , and unable to seek aid from his cousin Sa ' d al - Dawla , who had already acknowledged ' Adud al - Dawla ' s suzerainty and was under orders to arrest him , Abu Taghlib with his remaining followers crossed the Syrian Desert to the Fatimid - controlled south of Syria . There he became embroiled in the complex power struggles between the Fatimid government and local elites . He endeavoured to gain recognition by the Fatimids as governor of Damascus , but the rebel general al - Qassam , who held the city , repulsed him . Under attack by the Damascenes , and with members of his family starting to desert him , Abu Taghlib moved further south to the region of Lake Tiberias . Abu Taghlib ' s ambitions and his contacts with the Fatimids now came to threaten the position of Muffarij ibn Daghfal ibn al - Jarrah , a Tayy chief and ruler of Ramla . Hoping to sow dissension among the Arab tribes of the area and strengthen Fatimid authority , the Fatimid general Fadl now promised Ramla to Abu Taghlib , who openly allied himself with Muffarij ' s rivals , the Banu Uqayl , and attacked Ramla in August 979 . Fadl ' s troops , however , came to the aid of Muffarij , and in the ensuing battle on 29 August Abu Taghlib was taken captive and executed . The Jazira remained under Buyid control until 989 , when Abu Taghlib ' s brothers Abu Abdallah Husayn and Abu Tahir Ibrahim , who had submitted to the Buyids , were installed as governors to oppose the power of the Kurdish chieftain Badh , who had taken control of Mosul . In this fight , the two brothers relied upon the Uqaylis ; after the defeat of Badh , the Banu Uqayl turned on the Hamdanids and deposed and killed Abu Tahir Ibrahim , establishing the Uqaylid Dynasty as the rulers of the Jazira .