Ikhtiyar al-Din Ai-Taq

Ai-Taq had originally been one of the Seljuk sultan Sanjar's ghulams. When Sanjar was captured by rebellious Ghuzz bands in 1153, Ai-Taq built up an army and quickly established his influence in the western regions of Sanjar's empire.

Ai-Taq had not been the only individual to take advantage of Sanjar's overthrow. In Nishapur another of Sanjar's former ghulams, Mu'ayyid al-Din Ai-Aba, had taken power and had gained control of a significant portion of Khurasan. Relations between Ai-Taq and Ai-Aba quickly soured and by 1158 warfare had broken out among them.^[2] Ai-Taq received military assistance from Shah Ghazi Rustam, the Bavandid ruler of Tabaristan. Despite this, his forces were defeated by Ai-Aba and Sultan Mahmud Khan and he was forced to flee to Tabaristan. In the end he was compelled to sue for peace and had to pay off his opponents.^[3]

In around 1160 Ai-Taq was attacked by a force of Ghuzz under their chief Yaghmur. Despite Bavandid support, he was defeated and was forced to flee. He made his way to Khwarezm, where the Khwarezmshah Il-Arslan supplied him with assistance.^[4] This enabled him to establish himself in Gurgan and Dihistan, where he acknowledged the suzerainty of Il-Arslan.^[5] Unfortunately for him, however, he eventually lost the support of the shah, and a Khwarezmid army expelled him from Dihistan in 1165.

• "Al-E Bavand." Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Encyclopædia Iranica. 2 February 2008. <http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/al-e-bavand>
• Bosworth, C. E. (1968). "The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000-1217)". In Boyle, J. A. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran Volume 5. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-06936-6.
• "Il-Arslan, Abu'l-Fath." Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. 2004. Encyclopædia Iranica. 2 February 2008. <http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/il-arslan>