Wajih Ad-Din Mas'ud - Conflict With Togha Temur

Conflict With Togha Temur

In 1340, Mas'ud and Hasan struck against Arghun Shah's Jauni Kurban. Although normally much stronger militarily, most of the Jauni Kurban forces were gone on the campaign against the Chobanids (which was soon to end in failure). In the ensuing battle the Jauni Kurban were defeated and forced to evacuate Nishapur, which the Sarbadars occupied. Mas'ud apparently believed that, as long as he maintained his status as Togha Temur's vassal by sending tribute and keeping the khan's name on the coinage, that the latter would be willing to ignore this attack against Arghun Shah. In 1341 or 1342 however, an army under the command of Togha Temur's brother 'Ali Ke'un was sent to punish the Sarbadars. In the ensuing battle, Togha Temur's forces were routed and 'Ali Ke'un was killed. The remnants of the army, which fled in the direction of Mazandaran, was pursued by the Sarbadars, who killed many of Togha Temur's officials. Jajarm, Damghan, Simnan, and Gurgan were then occupied, and Togha Temur and his personal following fled to Mazandaran.

Mas'ud and Hasan had therefore taken over much of western Khurasan, but their relationship was becoming increasingly strained. Their views on the nature of government were greatly different. Mas'ud feared that Hasan was intent on establishing a radical Shi'i theocracy, with or without Mas'ud's consent. Furthermore, although Sabzewar was largely Shi'i, the recently conquered territories had a majority Sunni population, making Hasan's influence there minimal. Hasan advocated forcibly converting the Sunnis to Shi'ism, which was something that Mas'ud, whose power base consisted of moderate Shi'is and Sunnis, opposed. Mas'ud had also thrown off Togha Temur's suzerainty, but decided to acknowledge the Chobanids instead, since they now shared a border. Coins were struck in the name of the Chobanids' puppet khan Suleiman Khan. Since both the Chobanids and Suleiman were Sunni, Hasan detested this arrangement.

Although a conflict between Mas'ud and Hasan seemed inevitable, they both agreed to lead a campaign against the Kartids of Herat, who were nominally vassals of Togha Temur. The Sarbadars marched on Herat in 1342; they were met by the Kartid malik Mu'izzu'd-Din Husain at Zava and the two sides began to fight. The battle at first seemed to go well for the Sarbadars, but then Hasan Juri was struck down by an assassin, and his followers, suspecting Mas'ud, immediately abandoned the battlefield. Malik Husain was then able to counterattack and defeat Mas'ud. The Sarbadars then had little choice but to abort the campaign.