Saffarid dynasty
Farrukhi was born in in Sistan, a region extending across the border between eastern Iran and what is now southern Afghanistan. At that time Sistan was under Saffarid rule. Farrukhi's father Julugh was a high-ranking military slave ("ghulam") of the Saffarid king Khalaf ibn Ahmad (). The origins of Julugh are unclear. Regardless, Farrukhi grew up in a Muslim Persian-speaking environment, and was essentially a Persian. In 1003, the Saffarid dynasty was abolished by the Ghaznavid monarch Mahmud (), who made Sistan a Ghaznavid province.