treaty, concluded in June 986, Sharaf al-Dawla was recognized as the chief emir, and his name included in the Friday prayers in Baghdad. Both parties explicitly placed themselves under the caliph's formal authority. In the event, Sharaf al-Dawla quickly reneged on the agreement: using clashes between Daylamites and Turks in Baghdad as a pretext, he marched on the city, captured and imprisoned his brother in January 987, and was invested by the caliph as chief emir in May 987. Sharaf al-Dawla's ascendancy was brief, as he died at Baghdad on 7 September 988. As his two sons were underage, he was succeeded by his younger brother Abu Nasr Firuz, with the regnal name of Baha al-Dawla. Al-Ta'i' recognized the succession, and invested Baha al-Dawla with the title of Diya al-Milla. Baha al-Dawla was quickly attacked by Fakhr al-Dawla, but the two Buyid emirs quickly came to terms—again with the caliph as arbiter—recognizing each other as rulers over their respective realms. Deposition and succession Bereft of money with which to pay his army, the Buyid emir followed the advice of the powerful head of the chancery, Abu'l-Hasan ibn al-Mu'allim, to depose al-Ta'i' in order to seize the caliphal treasury. On 22 November 991 (12 Ramadan 381 AH), under the pretext of an audience, Baha al-Dawla's men seized the caliph. While the caliphal palace was plundered, the caliph was wrapped in a robe and brought to the emir's residence, where he was placed under arrest. He was succeeded by his cousin Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad, who took the throne as al-Qadir. Al-Ta'i' had had strained relations with his cousin: in 988, the latter's half-sister, apparently motivated by an inheritance dispute, reported him as seeking to replace al-Ta'i' as caliph. To escape capture, Ahmad went into hiding for a while, before seeking refuge with the governor of the swamps of Bathihah near Basra, Muhadhdhib al-Dawla, for about three years. From there, Ahmad plotted against al-Ta'i', harping on his own loyalty to the Buyids, and drawing contrast to the fact that al-Ta'i' had been installed by a Turk. Al-Ta'i' remained under arrest until September 992, when he was allowed to move to the caliphal palace. Despite their previous differences, al-Qadir treated him well. Al-Ta'i' was not blinded, as had been the case for previous deposed caliphs, and he was accorded treatment due to a reigning caliph. Al-Ta'i' died at the palace on 3 August 1003, and