Ahmed bin Ismail bin Ahmed had become amir of the Samanids upon his father's death in late 907.
Some time afterwards, he had been granted the rights to Sistan, the heart of the Saffarid realm, by Caliph al-Muqtadir.
The Saffarids' infighting made the job much easier.
Ahmad's army had traveled from Farah to Bust, where they meet little resistance.
At the same time, Simjur al-Dawati is now installed as the Samanid governor of Sistan, Tabaristan and Gurgan; however, he soon revolts against Samanid authority as well, and before Ahmad can deal with the rebellion, he is decapitated while sleeping in his tent near Bukhara by some of his slaves on January 12, 914.
After his death, he is brought to Bukhara and buried in Naukanda.
Some of the slaves who had killed the Amir are caught and executed, while others flees to Turkestan.
He is designated as the "Martyred Amir".
Ahmad may have become unpopular among his subjects for his order to change the language of the court from Persian to Arabic; this order was soon rescinded.
He is succeeded by his young son Nasr II.
Due to his youth, his prime minister Abu ’Abd-Allah al-Jaihani undertakes the regency.
Almost immediately, a series of revolts breaks out within the state, the most serious being the one led by his great-uncle Ishaq ibn Ahmad.Ishaq’s sons take part in the rebellion; one son, Mansur, takes control of Nishapur and several other cities in Khurasan.
Eventually, Ishaq is captured, while Mansur dies in Nishapur.
The Abbassids try to benefit from the turmoil of the interregnum to reconquer Sistan, in vain.