 In their place, Abu’l-Fath, the commander of the army, took over many functions of the government.He eventually revolted, however, and gained a large degree of support from the people outside of Zarang.Abu’l-Fath was further supported by another Saffarid, Abu’l-‘Abbas b. Tahir, who, as a great-grandson of Amr b. Laith, could claim to be directly related to the original Saffarid amirs (in contrast, Ab Ja’far Ahmad could only claim descent from Amr on his mother's side).