 Before becoming amir, he acted as a mediator during the Samanid invasion of Sistan in 911.After the Samanids conquered Sistan, Kathir ended up in the service of the caliphal representative Abu Yazid Khalid, who wrested Sistan from the Samanids but then threw off Abbasid sovereignty.Kathir participated in Abu Yazid Khalid's invasion of Kerman and Fars in 917, in which the latter was defeated and killed.