Mardavij belonged to the Arghich tribe, which claimed to be descended from Arghush Farhadan, king of Gilan who lived during the time of Kay Khosrow.

During the invasion, Mardavij managed to heavily wound Abu Muhammad near Amol, thus avenging his maternal uncle Harusindan, who was killed by the hands of the Alids.

Mardavij thus founded the Ziyarid dynasty and became ruler of Asfar's former territories, which included Ray, Qazvin, Zanjan, Abhar, Qom and Karaj.

Makan then extended his rule over most of Gurgan and even took possession of Nishapur in western Khurasan, which he was forced to abandon in 931, bowing to pressure by the Samanid ruler Nasr II.

[9] Not long afterwards Mardavij granted Ali administrative rule over Karaj, a strategically important town probably situated near modern Bahramabad.

[2] Mardavij then began to focus on western Iran, where his troops managed to conquer as far as Ahvaz, and forced Ali, who was now in Shiraz, to once again acknowledge his authority.

[citation needed] In January 935, shortly before Nowruz festivities, Mardavij was assassinated by his Turkish slaves, whom he had treated badly, while favoring his Daylamite/Gilaki troops.

[6][2] After his assassination, many of his troops entered the service of the Abbasids, while some others joined Ali, who founded the Buyid dynasty, and had taken over Mardavij possessions in central and southern Iran.

Mardavij was buried in Gonbad-e Mardaviz, a place located in the north east of Amin Abbad Borough in the city of Rey, south of Tehran.

[10] During the Pahlavi era, where interest in pre-Islamic Iran was high, Mardavij appeared as the hero in stories and comic strips of children's magazines in the 1960s.