After his death, his brother Vushmgir and his Samanid allies led the dynasty in wrestling for control over territory against the Buyids in the early- to mid-10th century.

However, Qabus was placed in exile from 980 to 998 by the Buyid ruler, Adud al-Dawla who would then dominate Tabaristan, the heartland of Ziyarid power.

The dynasty was descended from Vardanshah, leader of the Shahanshahvand tribe, which traced its descent back to the legendary king Arghush Farhadan, who was the ruler of Gilan, and lived during the time of Kai Khosrow.

Mardavij then began aggressively expanding his territories, killing Asfar and capturing several important cities in Iran, such as Hamadan, Dinavar, Kashan, Isfahan, Shiraz[3] and Ahvaz from the Abbasids.

[4] He further planned to restore the Sasanian Empire through conquering Baghdad and ousting the Abbasid Caliphate, but was instead murdered in 935.

In 939 or 940 the Samanid governor Abu 'Ali Chaghani attacked Gorgan; Vushmgir sent Makan aid, but the city fell after a long siege.

Vushmgir fled to Tabaristan, but was faced there with a revolt by his governor of Sari, al-Hasan ibn al-Fairuzan, who was a cousin of Makan and blamed the Ziyarid for his death.

[7] Vushmgir was killed by a boar during a hunt in 967, shortly after a Samanid army had arrived for a joint campaign against the Buyids.

He then established good relations with the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud of Ghazni who had taken control of Khorasan, but still acted as an independent sovereign.

[8] Due to his tyrannical rule, Qabus was overthrown by his own army in 1012, and was succeeded by his son Manuchihr, who quickly recognized the sovereignty of Mahmud of Ghazni, and married one of his daughters.

Manuchihr died in 1031, and was succeeded by his son Anushirvan Sharaf al-Ma'ali whom Mahmud of Ghazni had chosen as the heir of the Ziyarid dynasty.

Anushirvan died in 1059 and was succeeded by his cousin Keikavus, the celebrated author of the Qabus nama, a major work of Persian literature.

His reign was however short and in 1090, the Nizari Ismaili state under Hassan-i Sabbah invaded and conquered his domains, which ended Ziyarid rule in Tabaristan.

[9] The height from base to tip is 49 m. Legend has it, that the body of Qabus was enclosed in a glass coffin which was suspended by chains from the interior dome inside the tower.