 He was appointed to the post sometime before 956/7, when he is mentioned for the first time as going to meet Sayf al-Dawla at Adana, where he received a robe of honour.In late 961, with the support of the populace of Tarsus, he renounced his allegiance to the Hamdanid ruler, acknowledging the Abbasid caliph al-Muti instead.In early 962 however he was faced with the invasion of Cilicia by the Byzantine commander-in-chief Nikephoros Phokas, who seized the fortress of Ayn Zarba and pillaged the Cilician countryside.