Muhammad II () was the third

Layzanshah Layzānshah () or Shah of Layzān was a historical title given to the lords of Layzan. According to Vladimir Minorsky, the title was first granted to local rulers by their Sassanid Persian overlords, medieval authors specifically mentioning Anush ...

(king of Layzan, r. 917–948) and the sixth

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 ...

(king of

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 ...

, r. 948–956). He was the son of

Abu Tahir Yazid Abu Tahir Yazid () or Yazid I was sixth Shah of Shirvan and third Shah of Layzan. Reign He was reigning as Layzanshah as heir of his father Muhammad. He attacked Shirvan and captured its ruler Ali I alongside his son Abbas and grandson Abu B ...

. He is often mislabeled as Muhammad III because of sharing same name with Muhammad of Layzan, who was in fact his grandfather and never ruled as Shirvanshah.

Biography

Under Yazid

Muhammad II is first mentioned in 917, when he was appointed as the ruler of Layzan and Tabarsaran by his father Abu Tahir ibn Yazid. He had younger brothers called Ahmad and Abul-Badr.

Reign

When Muhammad's father died in 948, he succeeded him as the ruler of Shirvan, and appointed his son

Ahmad Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...

as the ruler of Layzan, while his other son Haytham ibn Muhammad was appointed as the ruler of Tabarsaran. From 948 to 956, Muhammad constantly raided the territories of the non-Muslims, who are called "

infidels An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligion, irreligious people. Infidel is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical term in Ch ...

" in Muslim sources.

Death

On 4 June 956, Muhammad died of small-pox. However, according to another source, he was poisoned by his ''

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

'' Ibn al-Maraghi. The reason for that was because, when Muhammad was suffering from small-pox, Ibn al-Maraghi used the opportunity to kill the imprisoned brother of Muhammad and had his body hidden. When Muhammad miraculously survived the illness, he ordered the release of his brother. Ibn al-Maraghi, who feared that his life was in danger, had Muhammad poisoned. His son

then succeeded Muhammad as the ruler of Shirvan.

Legacy

Writing in the first half of the 10th-century, the Arab historian and geographer

al-Masudi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

reported that Muhammad II was "incontrovertibly" descended from the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

monarch Bahram V Gur (), which demonstrates the early

Persianization Persianization () or Persification (; ), is a sociological process of cultural change in which a non- Persian society becomes "Persianate", meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, litera ...

of the Shirvanshahs.

References

Sources

* * * {{Shirvanshahs