Abu Mansur Muhammad

He was also related to the Samanid officer Amirak Tusi and belonged to a dehqan family from Tus, who claimed descent from a spahbed ("army chief") who had served the Sasanian king Khosrau II.

Bukhara was captured by the forces of Abu 'Ali, and Nuh's uncle Ibrahim ibn Ahmad was crowned as the new ruler of the Samanid dynasty.

He was, however, unable to win a decisive battle over Abu 'Ali, who had gained the support of other Samanid vassals, such as the rulers of Khuttal, and made peace with him instead.

Marzuban's brother and the Sallarid ruler of Dailam, Wahsudan, sent an army under the Kurdish general Daisam, but the latter was forced to retreat to Arran.

The vizier of Daisam, Ibn Mahmud, then betrayed him and joined Abu Mansur, who managed to successfully conquer Azerbaijan.

[4] However, an unnamed secretary of Abu Mansur, who had greatly helped him during his conquest of Azerbaijan, felt insulted that he had chosen Ibn Mahmud as his minister instead of him, that he raised an army and joined Daisam.

Meanwhile, Turkic officers began increasing their power and influence, which resulted in growing instability in the Samanid state.

The faction led by Alptigin and Muhammad Bal'ami wanted Abd al-Malik's young son Nasr as the new Samanid ruler, while a faction led by the Turkic general Fa'iq and several prominent Iranian statesmen, wanted the latter's brother Mansur I as the new Samanid ruler.