Ahmad Maymandi

[3] The son of the governor of Bust, Maymandi was raised as the foster brother of the Ghaznavid prince Mahmud, and would first start his administrative career as the head of the department of correspondences of Khorasan.

He would thereafter rapidly rise to higher offices, finally becoming the vizier of the Ghaznavid dynasty in 1013, which would last until 1024, when he was arrested due to the great amount of wealth that he had gained, which the suspicious Mahmud disliked.

[4] Maymandi began his administrative career in 994 as head of the department of correspondence during Mahmud's governorship of Khorasan under his Samanid overlords.

During his governorship, he was praised by the inhabitants of the region, and managed to hand out extensive funds to Mahmud, whose financial demands were never moderate.

[12] In the same year, the Ghaznavid army deposed the Ma'munid ruler Abu'l-Harith Muhammad, and Altun Tash was appointed as the governor of the region.

[12] During the early 1020s, Maymandi urged Mahmud to invade Jibal, which was then under the control of the young Buyid ruler Majd al-Dawla.

However, the real ruler of the region was Majd al-Dawla's mother Sayyida Shirin, which was already known by the neighbors of the Buyids, including the Ghaznavids.

[13] In 1024, because Maymandi had gained a great amount of wealth during his career as a vizier, Mahmud removed him from his office, confiscated his property, and had him imprisoned at Kalinjar in India.

[6] Although not being near as wealthy as he used to be during his first vizierate, he delivered food and money to the needy, and sent several expensive gifts to Mas'ud in order to avoid the jealousies which resulted in his fallout with Mahmud.

[6] Abu Sahl Hamdawi, a man of letters and patron of poets, who served in high offices under the Ghaznavids, was originally a student of Maymandi.

The contemporary historian Bayhaqi describes him in his final days as baneful harsh with his taxmen, while at the same time he grieves him as one "with whom bravery, honesty, ability, and greatness all passed away".