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{{Infobox monarch
| name            =Sa'id al-Dawla
| image           =
| caption         =
| succession   = [[Emirate of Aleppo|Emir of Aleppo]]
| reign           =991–1002
| coronation      =
| full name       =Abu'l-Fada'il Sa'id al-Dawla
| predecessor     =[[Sa'd al-Dawla]]
| successor       =[[Lu'lu' al-Kabir]]
| dynasty         =[[Hamdanid dynasty|Hamdanid]]
| father          =[[Sa'd al-Dawla]]
| birth_date      =
| birth_place     =
| death_date      =January 1002
| death_place     =[[Aleppo]], [[Hamdanid dynasty]]
| place of burial =
| religion        = [[Shia Islam]]
|}}
'''Abu'l-Fada'il Sa'id al-Dawla''' ({{Langx|ar|أبو الفضائل سعيد الدولة}}) was the third [[Hamdanid]] ruler of the [[Emirate of Aleppo]]. He succeeded his father [[Sa'd al-Dawla]] in 991, but throughout his reign real power rested in the hands of Sa'd al-Dawla's former chamberlain, [[Lu'lu' al-Kabir|Lu'lu']], to whose daughter Sa'id was wed. His reign was dominated by the [[Fatimid Caliphate]]'s repeated attempts to conquer Aleppo, which was prevented only by the intervention of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Warfare lasted until 1000, when a peace treaty was concluded guaranteeing Aleppo's continued existence as a buffer state between the two powers. Finally, in January 1002 Sa'id al-Dawla died, possibly poisoned by Lu'lu', and Lu'lu' assumed control of Aleppo in his own name.
== Life and reign ==
[[File:Hamdanid family tree.svg|thumb|300px|right|Family tree of the [[Hamdanid dynasty]]]]
Sa'id al-Dawla's father, Sa'd al-Dawla, had only with difficulty managed to first secure a measure of control over his domains, and then to maintain a precarious autonomy by manoeuvring between the [[Byzantine Empire]], the [[Fatimids]] of [[Egypt]], and the [[Buyids]] in [[Iraq]], alternating between warfare and recognizing the [[suzerainty]] of each power in turn.{{sfn|Canard|1971|pp=129–130}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=280–281}}{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|pp=250–251}} The once-proud emirate, which under Sa'id al-Dawla's grandfather [[Sayf al-Dawla]] included all of northern [[Bilad al-Sham|Syria]] and much of the [[al-Jazira (caliphal province)|Jazira]], had now shrunk to the region around Aleppo.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=281}} Sa'd al-Dawla's domestic position was precarious, and his state was impoverished and militarily impotent. After the Byzantine–Fatimid peace of 987/8, he came to depend once more on the Byzantines, and it was Byzantine troops that helped him defeat a Fatimid-sponsored attempt to seize [[Aleppo]] by the former Hamdanid governor [[Bakjur]] in April 991.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=281}}{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|p=251}}
Following Sa'd al-Dawla's death in December 991, his young son Abu'l-Fada'il, known by the {{transl|ar|[[laqab]]}} of Sa'id al-Dawla, succeeded him as emir. Sa'id al-Dawla was under the influence of his chief minister and later father-in-law, [[Lu'lu' al-Kabir|Lu'lu']], who continued to support the alliance with the Byzantines. Many of his rivals, resenting his power, defected upon Sa'd al-Dawla's death to the Fatimids, who now resumed their attacks on Aleppo.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=281}}{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|p=251}} As [[Marius Canard]] writes, "the history of [Sa'id al-Dawla's] reign is almost exclusively that of the attempts of Fatimid Egypt to gain the emirate of Aleppo, which were opposed by the Byzantine emperor".{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=130}}
Encouraged by the Hamdanid defectors, the Fatimid caliph [[al-Aziz]] launched a first attack in 992, under the governor of [[Damascus]], the Turkish general [[Manjutakin]]. The Fatimid general invaded the emirate, defeated a Byzantine force under the {{transl|el|[[dux|doux]]}} of [[Antioch]], [[Michael Bourtzes]], in June 992, and laid siege to Aleppo. He failed to pursue the siege with vigour, however, and the city was easily able to resist. In the spring of 993, after thirteen months of campaigning, Manjutakin was forced to return to Damascus due to lack of supplies.{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|p=251}}{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=130}}{{sfn|Whittow|1996|pp=379–380}} In spring 994, Manjutakin launched another invasion, again defeated Bourtzes at the [[Battle of the Orontes]], took [[Homs]], [[Apamea, Syria|Apamea]] and [[Shayzar]] and besieged Aleppo for eleven months. The blockade was far more effective this time and soon caused a severe lack of food. Sa'id al-Dawla suggested surrendering to Manjutakin, but the determined stance of Lu'lu' allowed the city's defenders to hold out until the sudden arrival of the Byzantine emperor, [[Basil II]], in Syria in April 995. Basil, who had been [[Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria|campaigning in Bulgaria]], had responded to the Hamdanids' plea for aid, and crossed [[Asia Minor]] in only sixteen days at the head of an army 13,000 strong; his sudden arrival caused panic in the Fatimid army: Manjutakin burned his camp and retreated to Damascus without battle.{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|p=251}}{{sfn|Canard|1986|p=820}}{{sfn|Whittow|1996|p=380}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=325}}
Sa'id al-Dawla and Lu'lu' [[proskynesis|prostrated themselves]] before the emperor in person as a sign of gratitude and submission, and he in turn released the emirate from its obligation to pay an annual tribute.{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=130}}{{sfn|Canard|1986|p=820}} Basil's interest in Syria was limited, however, and after a brief campaign that saw an unsuccessful attack on [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]], returned to [[Constantinople]]. Al-Aziz on the other hand now prepared for all-out war with the Byzantines, but his preparations were cut short by his death in October 996.{{sfn|Whittow|1996|p=380}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=325}}{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|p=252}} Nevertheless, the Byzantine–Fatimid contest over Syria continued, with alternating success. In 995, Lu'lu' made terms with al-Aziz and acknowledged him as Caliph, and for a few years Fatimid influence over Aleppo grew.{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|p=252}} In 998 Lu'lu' and Sa'id al-Dawla tried to seize the fortress of Apamea, but were thwarted by the new Byzantine {{transl|el|doux}}, [[Damian Dalassenos]].{{sfn|Canard|1986|p=820}} Dalassenos' [[Battle of Apamea|defeat and death]] in a battle with the Fatimids shortly after caused another intervention by Basil in the next year, which stabilized the situation and strengthened Aleppo's security from Fatimid attack by placing a Byzantine garrison at Shayzar. The conflict ended with another treaty in 1001 and the conclusion of a ten-year truce.{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=130}}{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|p=252}}{{sfn|Whittow|1996|pp=380–381}}
In January 1002, Sa'id al-Dawla died. According to a tradition recorded by [[Ibn al-Adim]], he was poisoned by one of his concubines at the behest of Lu'lu'.{{sfn|Canard|1986|p=820}} Along with his son [[Mansur ibn Lu'lu'|Mansur]], Lu'lu' now assumed direct power, at first as ostensible guardians over Sa'id al-Dawla's sons Abu'l-Hasan Ali and Abu'l-Ma'ali Sharif, until, in 1003/4, he had them exiled to Egypt. At the same time, one of Sa'id al-Dawla's brothers, [[Abu'l-Hayja ibn Sa'd al-Dawla|Abu'l-Hayja]], fled, disguised as a woman, to the Byzantine court.{{sfn|Canard|1971|p=130}}{{sfn|Canard|1986|p=820}}{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|p=254}} Lu'lu' was a capable ruler who maintained the balance between Byzantium and the Fatimids, but after his death in 1008/9 Aleppo gravitated increasingly towards the latter. A Hamdanid restoration attempt, led by Abu'l-Hayja, failed, and in 1015/6 Mansur ibn Lu'lu' was in turn deposed, ending the last vestiges of Hamdanid rule in Aleppo.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=281–282}}{{sfn|Canard|1971|pp=130–131}}{{sfn|Stevenson|1926|pp=254ff}}{{sfn|Whittow|1996|p=381}}
== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
== Sources ==
* {{EI2 | volume=3 | title=Ḥamdānids | first = Marius | last = Canard | authorlink = Marius Canard | pages = 126–131 | url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/hamdanids-COM_0259 }}
* {{EI2 | volume=5 | title = Luʾluʾ | first = Marius | last = Canard | authorlink = Marius Canard | page = 820 | url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/lulu-SIM_4695}}
* {{The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates | edition = Second }}
* {{cite book|last=Stevenson|first=William B.|title=The Cambridge Medieval History, Volume V: Contest of Empire and Papacy|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgemedieva05buryuoft |editor-last=Bury|editor-first=John Bagnell|location=New York|publisher=The Macmillan Company|year=1926|chapter=Chapter VI. Islam in Syria and Egypt (750–1100)|pages=242–264 }}
* {{The Making of Byzantium, 600–1025}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Sa'd al-Dawla]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of rulers of Aleppo|Emir of Aleppo]]|years=991–1002}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Lu'lu' al-Kabir]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Hamdanid dynasty}}
[[Category:10th-century births]]
[[Category:1002 deaths]]
[[Category:10th-century monarchs in the Middle East]]
[[Category:11th-century monarchs in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Hamdanid emirs of Aleppo]]
[[Category:10th-century Syrian people]]
[[Category:Arab people of the Arab–Byzantine wars]]
[[Category:Syrian Shia Muslims]]
[[Category:11th-century murdered monarchs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:10th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:11th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:11th-century Syrian people]]