Mu'ayyid Al-Din Ai-Aba - Expansion and Death

Expansion and Death

Following the imprisonment of Mahmud Khan, Ai-Aba rigorously attempted to expand his domain. In 1163 he received gifts and an investiture patent from the Seljuk sultan of Hamadan, Arslan Shah, and Ai-Aba hereafter inserted his name in the khutba, although the Seljuk had no effective authority over him. During this time he engaged in border disputes with the Ghurids. He also seized Qumis from the Bavandids, although they were able to take back the province in 1164. In the same year, the amir of Herat died and local citizenry handed over the city to Ai-Aba, in the hopes that he could protect them from the Ghuzz. Campaigns against the Ghuzz in Merv and Sarakhs were also undertaken.

In the mid 1160s, Khwarezmid armies began raiding into Khurasan. Ai-Aba, fearing that they would eventually move against him, wrote of the matter in 1167 to his friend Ildeniz, the Atabeg of Azerbaijan and the "protector" of the Hamadan Seljuks. Ildeniz responded by writing to the Khwarezmshah, warning him that Khurasan comprised part of the territories of the Seljuks.

In 1174 Ai-Aba led an expedition into Khwarezm following an appeal for help by the recently displaced Khwarezmshah, Sultan Shah, who had lost his throne to his brother Tekish. Unfortunately for Ai-Aba, his army was defeated by Tekish's forces and he himself was captured and killed. In Nishapur he was succeeded by his son Toghan-Shah.