Fariburz III () was the

Shirvanshah The Shirvanshahs (Arabic/) were the rulers of Shirvan (in present-day Azerbaijan) from 861 to 1538. The first ruling line were the Yazidids, an originally Arab and later Persianized dynasty, who became known as the Kasranids (also referred t ...

from to 1255. He ruled during a time in Shirvanshah history that scholarship has referred to "a period of total confusion", due to the lack of written records and contradictory numismatic evidence.

Reign

Based on numismatic evidence, it was initially suggested that Fariburz III's father Garshasp I did not rule after 1225. However, new evidence suggests that Garshasp I's reign was longer. The numismatist Blau discovered a unique coin with the name of Garshasp I, and which mentions the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

al-Mustansir I Abu Ja'far al-Mansur ibn al-Zahir (17 February 1192 – 2 December 1242), commonly known as al-Mustansir I, was the 36th Abbasid caliph, ruling from 1226 to 1242. He succeeded al-Zahir as caliph in the year 1226, and was the penultimate caliph t ...

, who ruled from 1226 to 1242. Moreover, a newly found inscription from another tower in

Mardakan Mardakan (, ) is a settlement and municipality in Khazar Rayon of Baku, Azerbaijan, located on the coast of the Caspian Sea, with a population of 32,084. It's positioned on the eastern Absheron Peninsula, about 30 km away from downtown Baku, and ...

suggests that Garshasp I was still living by 1233/34, and perhaps also still ruling. This new evidence suggests that Garshasp I ruled jointly with his son Fariburz III. Fariburz may have ruled an area outside the capital until his father's death. Another theory is that Fariburz was given control over the central government by Garshasp I, who withdrew to

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

region. Fariburz accepted suzerainty of the

Khwarazmshah Khwarazmshah was an ancient title used regularly by the rulers of the Central Asian region of Khwarazm starting from the Late Antiquity until the advent of the Mongols in the early 13th-century, after which it was used infrequently. There were a to ...

Jalal al-Din Mangburni Jalal al-Din Mangburni (), also known as Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah (), was the last Khwarazmshah of the Anushtegin dynasty. The eldest son and successor of Ala ad-Din Muhammad II of the Khwarazmian Empire, Jalal al-Din was brought up at Gurganj ...

in 1226, during his invasion of Caucasus. Shirvan along with the rest of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

was conquered by the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

between 1235–1239. It is unknown if there were other ruling Shirvanshahs at the time of Fariburz III's death. He was succeeded by his son Akhsitan II.

Legacy

The 13th-century Persian

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' Nozhat al-Majales'' of Jamal al-Din Khalil Shirvani was dedicated to Fariburz III. The work demonstrates the broad distribution of the Persian language and Iranian culture in the northwestern Iranian regions of Arran,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

Pir Huseyn Khanqah The Pir Huseyn Khanqah and Mausoleum lies along the left bank of Pirsaat River (Pirsaatçay), 126 kilometers to the southwest of Baku. The inscription plaque over the portal, read by V. Kratchkovskaya in 1952, announces that the khanqah (dervish ...

was built during Fariburz's reign. He also raised Sabayil Castle near Baku in 1223/4.

References

Sources

* * {{Shirvanshahs 1255 deaths Year of birth unknown 13th-century Iranian people