Hamdallah Mustawfi, the 14th-century Ilkhanate historian, gives some interesting facts about the Buyids' internal affairs. Majd al-Dawla attempted to seize the throne from his mother, Sayyida Shirin. Shirin escapes to Kurdistan and returns later to surprise her son:
In A. H. 388 Qábús b. Washmgír returned from Khurásán and recaptured Gurgán and Tabaristán. After protracted fighting he makes peace with Majdu'd-Dawla on condition that these two provinces and Mázandarán shall be ceded to him. Qábús subsequently takes Gílán, and gives it to his son Minúchihr. Qábús reigned 15 years after his return. Then his army mutinied, made his son Minúchihr king, and put him in prison, where he shortly afterwards died. Minú-chihr makes peace with Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna (who gives him his daughter in marriage), and recognizes him as his overlord and suzerain. He puts to death his father's murderers. Majdu'd-Dawla, having reached years of discretion, desires to recover the powers assumed by his mother. She flees to Badr b. Hasanawayh the Amír of Kurdistán. He helps her to defeat Majdu'd-Dawla, captures Ray, takes prisoner Majdu'd-Dawla and his wazir Abú ‘Alí, and restores Sayyida, who richly rewards him and sends him back to Kurdistán.
Mustawfi was a bureaucrat. The use of "Kurdistan" as a territorial unit must be understood in terms of its bureaucratic purpose. This type of categorization was ultimately disastrous. Boris James' map illustrates the restriction it created.
It is analogous to the repercussions of the division of provinces in modern-day Iran. The establishment of a province called "Kurdistan" in modern-day Iran is not without implications, which are inherent in the division. Historically and currently, it signified the demise of the kurd label. The Mongol and Turkish invasions played a key role in the fall of the Kurd-label throughout wide territory over time, both in terms of its existence and growth.
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