[2] Nizam al-Din Yahya had died in 1480, having lost most of Sistan to the Timurids; his territories were restricted to the mountainous region bordering Baluchistan.
[3] A change in the Timurid leadership of Sistan, combined with local appeals for the Mihrabanids to return, prompted Sultan Mahmud and Shams al-Din Muhammad to try again to reconquer the province.
The joint administration did not last for long, however, as the local lords and military commanders grew increasingly dissatisfied with Shams al-Din Muhammad.
[5] By the autumn of 1510 Sultan Mahmud judged it wise to mount an offensive; crossing the Helmand, his army was able to surprise and defeat the Uzbeks and their local allies.
[6] As a Safavid vassal, Sultan Mahmud was required to initiate the use of the Shi'a rites in Sistan, a move that was deeply unpopular in the traditionally Sunni province.
He attempted to transfer power to his son-in-law Malik Yahya but this move failed, and the deaths of several Mihrabanid family members left him without anyone to succeed him.
Sultan Mahmud disliked these changes and abandoned Sistan for India, where he was received by the Mughal Emperor Humayun and given the governorship of Lahore for five years.