ABSTRACT
Mas'ud b. Muhammad died in 547/1152 in Hamadhan. His death aggravated the dynastic crisis in Jibal. In the end Muhammad b. Mahmud was recognized as sultan by the emirs, but his actual power was derisory. For the Khujandis, it was a time ripe with opportunity. The siege of Baghdad provided them the means to assert even more strongly their pre-eminence on the local political stage. Just as the Khujandis had exploited the crisis of the Saljuq state to increase their autonomy, the crisis of the Atabegs’ state in turn allowed them to regain the power they had lost under the rule of Eldigüz and Pahlawan. Between the years 583/1187 and 585/1189, the Khujandis were at the peak of their power. Not only had they regained their pre-eminent position in Isfahan after the brief threat from the Atabegs, but the sultan was now under a great obligation to them.
