The Buhturid clan in the Gharb had been known as the Banu Abi Abdallah after Ali ibn al-Husayn's great-grandfather. They became known as the Banu Buhtur after the ascent of Ali ibn al-Husayn's son Nahid al-Dawla Buhtur. Clans independent of the Buhturids were settled in neighboring districts, including the Banu Ma'n (Ma'nids), which was established in the Chouf immediately south of the Gharb in 1120 and established political and marital ties with the Buhturids, and the Banu Shihab, which was established in Wadi al-Taym between Mount Lebanon and the western countryside of Damascus in 1173. Buhtur was recognized as the emir (prince or commander) of the Gharb in June 1147 by the last Burid atabeg of Damascus Mujir al-Din Abaq. The latter's written declaration, as recorded verbatim by Ibn Yahya, is the earliest known text about the Buhturids. It acknowledged Buhtur's command of the Gharb, control of its villages, ownership of their revenues and protection of its "ru'asa" (village chiefs) and peasants. Buhtur was likely among the frontier commanders called by Abaq to help repulse a Crusader raid against Damascus in 1148, and his Druze warriors were likely a component of the "many archers" who had come "from the direction of the Biqa' [Beqaa Valley] and from elsewhere" to defend the city during that battle referenced by the Damascene historian Ibn al-Qalanisi (d. 1160).