Battles
Around 913 AD, Mardavij joined the army of Asfar ibn Shiruya. Asfar, a native of Larijan and a devout Zoroastrian, claimed descent from Shiruyeh (also called as Kavadh II), the patricidal son and successor of Khosrau II or from Shahrbaraz, a Sassanian general and the usurper of the Sassanid throne for a short time who was succeeded by Queen"Pourandokht". http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/printer_9451.shtml., the daughter of Khosrau II of Persia. His name, Asfar, was possibly derived from the Persian term of Asp-var, ("horseman" or "horse rider"). Asfar was a general in the service of Alavides who ruled Tabaristan at the time. During the Abbasid Caliphate, Alavides lived in the mountainous areas of Daylam and tried to resist the Abbasid Caliphs influence in Iran.
Later, Asfar took advantage of a rebellion in the Samanid army and seized power in Gurgan (presently called Golestan) in northern Iran. Asfar also took Amol, Ghazvin, Zanjan, and the city of Rey and appointed Mardavij as the governor of Zanjan. In 927, due to Asfar's increasingly erratic behavior, a powerful opposition emerged against him and the next year Mardavij joined this opposition, defeated Asfar, and took over Asfar's possessions. At this time, Mardavij officially founded the Ziyarid dynasty. Shortly after, Mardavij raised an army to encounter the Abbasid Caliph first in Hamadan and Kashan, and finally in Isfahan.
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