Adud al-Dawla, like the previous Buyid rulers, maintained the Abbasids in Baghdad, which gave legitimacy to his dynasty in the eyes of some Sunni Muslims. However, he showed more interest than his predecessors to the pre-Islamic culture of Iran, and was proud of his Iranian origin. He visited Persepolis alongside Marasfand, the Zoroastrian chief priest ("mobad") of Kazerun, who read the pre-Islamic inscriptions in the city for him. Adud al-Dawla later left an inscription in the city, which tells about his awareness of being heir of an ancient pre-Islamic civilization. Adud al-Dawla even claimed descent from the Sasanian king Bahram V Gor, minted coins of him wearing a Sasanian type crown, which carried the traditional Sasanian inscription, "Shahanshah, may his glory increase." The reverse side of the coin said: "May Shah Fanna Khusraw live long."