be seen by his companions. The caliph pointedly refused these demands, and even had a barrier built in front of the audience chamber, so that the Buyid ruler had no choice but dismount and enter on foot. Al-Ta'i' did, however, agree to the addition of some details to the ceremony that hearkened back to ancient Persian protocol, and that made it appear to the Buyid's companions as if Adud al-Dawla had been crowned king by the caliph. It is unclear whether al-Ta'i' was aware of the significance of these changes. Al-Ta'i' also agreed to accompany Adud al-Dawla in his campaign that defeated the remnants of Izz al-Dawla's forces at Samarra in May 978, whereupon he returned to Baghdad. As the coronation episode reveals, Adud al-Dawla, and the Buyids generally, relied increasingly on pre-Islamic Persian traditions, ceremonies, and titles to bolster their position and claim an independent source of legitimacy. According to C. E. Bosworth, the Buyid ruler aimed at "a division of power between the caliphate and the monarchy, equivalent to the mediaeval European theories of church and empire", a conception entirely alien to al-Ta'i's worldview. Perhaps obliged to acquiesce to caliphal slights in order to secure recognition of his rule over Iraq, Adud al-Dawla initially treated al-Ta'i' with deference, restoring him all his privileges and paying for the renovation of the caliphal palace. As soon as Izz al-Dawla and his Hamdanid allies in Upper Mesopotamia were defeated though, Adud al-Dawla launched a purge against the caliph's immediate environment, imprisoning the vizier Ibrahim al-Sabi, the chief Ibn Ma'ruf, and other senior members of the Baghdad court. The dismissal of Ibn Ma'ruf in particular was a violation of the main remaining prerogative of the caliph under Buyid rule, namely the appointment of the chief of Baghdad and Iraq. The posts of both the vizier and the chief of Iraq were left vacant, and substituted by those for the Buyid capital province of Fars. Iraq was thus effectively reduced to a regular province of the Buyid empire, governed from a new imperial centre. Adud al-Dawla even usurped the last remaining, symbolic aspects of the caliph's office, namely the nomination of officials and governors in his name. When Adud al-Dawla returned to Baghdad in 980, following his eastern campaigns, al-Ta'i' in person led the Buyid emir into the city; an unprecedented event, but, as Bosworth comments, "once again the caliph seems to have