His brother Majdud in Lahore did not recognize him as sultan, but his sudden death paved the way for Mawdud to exercise control over the eastern portion of the Ghaznavid Empire.

Mawdud was able to hold on to his Afghan realms and Indus valley territories while pushing north into Central Asia and stabilizing his western front with the Seljuqs.

However, Mas'ud was eventually defeated by the Seljuks at the Battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, and chose to leave Greater Khorasan for India, but was taken captive by his own soldiers, and replaced with his brother Muhammad, who had him killed.

[2] In 1043, Ahmad Shirazi fell out of favor and was replaced with Abd al-Razzaq Maymandi as Mawdud's vizier.

Furthermore, Mawdud also sent soldiers to Sistan in order to exert his authority over the ruler of the region, the Nasrid Abu'l-Fadl Nasr.