opened up relations with Mahmud of Ghazna, setting the stage for the eventual Ghaznavid takeover of the Ziyarids, while the Buyids did not undertake any more campaigns against him. Internal troubles, however, soon cost Qabus his position. His heavy-handed approach with officials in the army eventually caused a conspiracy to be formed against him. The army leaders failed to capture him in his castle outside Gurgan, but they took control of the capital and invited Qabus's son Manuchihr, the governor of Tabaristan, to take over. Manuchihr feared that he would lose the succession if he refused and joined the conspirators. He chased Qabus to Bistam, where the latter eventually agreed to abdicate. The conspirators then sent Qabus to a castle in Gorgan. While on the way to the castle, Qabus asked one of the rebels, named Abdallah, who was behind the conspiracy. Abdallah responded by naming five generals, and also said that he was one of the men who played an important role in the conspiracy. He then blamed Qabus' cruelty as the reason for his downfall. Qabus agreed, and told Abdallah that he should have ordered the execution of Abdallah and the other perpetrators before the conspiracy began. Qabus then arrived to the castle where he could spend the rest of his life in devotion. The conspirators, however, still considered him to be a threat and had him frozen to death in 1012. The tower of Gonbad Kavous was built for him as his tomb, and he is the subject of the Qabus nama, a major work of Persian literature from the eleventh century, which was written by his grandson Keikavus. References External links Richard Frye's Notes on the Renaissance of the 10th and 11th Centuries in Eastern Iran, Central Asiatic Journal I (1955) 137-143. Ziyarid dynasty Year of birth missing 1012 deaths 10th-century monarchs in Asia 10th-century Iranian people 11th-century Iranian people