He rose to power as a young prince when the Kilab tribe entrusted him and his cousin, Mani, to regain possession of Aleppo after it was given to the Fatimids by his uncle, Thimal.
Clashes followed between Mahmud and his uncle; Atiyya decided to call 1,000 Turcoman archers from Diyarbakır to aid him—the first free Turks to enter Syria.
After Atiyya's supporters pillaged the Turcoman camp, their chief, Ibn Khan, decided to serve Mahmud—which proved decisive.
[2] In 1070 Mahmud appealed to Alp Arslan, the Seljuk Sultan, to control the Turcomans who were constantly increasing in number and were creating disorder in and around Aleppo.
Romanos was also presumed to be unhappy about Mahmud's conversion to Sunni Islam and allegiance to the rising power of the Seljuks.