Ashot used this support to wage war against the emirs. He began by defeating the Kaysites of Manazkert in 863, with the help of his brother and sparapet, Abas Bagratuni. In 877, he began to fight against the emir of Barda alongside his ostikan; however, failure of this ostikan led to his replacement. The new ostikan made a secret peace treaty with the emir and betrayed Ashot. Ashot learned of the conspiracy against him and sent Abas to disarm the ostikan in Dvin; Abas escorted him to the border under Ashot's orders in order to prevent the Caliph's retaliation. Ashot defeated the emirs of Barda and Manazkert, laying siege to the latter city in 884; however, the siege was ceased prematurely. The siege caused Grigor-Derenik to worry about the borders of Taron, which was under Grigor-Derenik's control. Ashot gained control of the Gugark and Utik regions as early as 860.