Muhammad 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 981 to 991. He was the son and successor of

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 ...

().

Reign

In 981/82, Muhammad III took the town of

Qabala Qabala () is a city and the administrative centre of the Qabala District of Azerbaijan. The municipality consists of the city of Gabala and the village of Küsnət, Qabala, Küsnat. Before the city was known as Kutkashen, but after the Republic o ...

from its ruler, Abd al-Barr ibn Anbasa. In 982, he took control of Barda'a, and made Musa ibn Ali his lieutenant. In 983, a wall around the town of

Shabaran Shabaran (also spelled Shaburan and Shaberan; ), was a town and district in the historical region of Shirvan, in what is now the eastern part of Azerbaijan. Shabaran was founded by the Sasanian king Shapur II (). The 10th-century Persian geograph ...

was constructed under Muhammad IV's orders. In 989/90, the inhabitants of the town of

al-Bab Al-Bab ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Bāb'') is a Syrian city, administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate. Al-Bab is located northeast of Aleppo, south of the Turkish border, and has an area of . Al-Bab has an altitude of . According to the Cen ...

became enthusiastic supporters of Muhammad al-Tuzi, a preacher who had arrived from

Gilan Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Region 3, west of the province of ...

. The latter soon took over the entire town, and fell into disfavour with its ruler, Maymun. The supporters of al-Tuzi laid siege to the castle of Maymun, forcing him to flee to Tabarsaran in 990/91. Muhammad III was subsequently invited by al-Tuzi to take control over al-Bab. He went to the town, staying there for some months and overseeing its administration. He was eventually taken back to Shirvan by his men after suffering a head injury from a battle-axe by Balid, a ''

ghulams Ghilman (singular ',Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . plural ')Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . were slave-soldiers and/or mercenaries in armies throughout the Islamic world. Islamic states from the early 9th centur ...

'' of Maymun, who subsequently reconquered al-Bab. Muhammad III died in November 991 and was succeeded by his brother

Yazid II Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; — 26 January 724), commonly known as Yazid II, was the ninth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 720 until his death in 724. Although he lacked administrative or military experience, he derived prestige from his ...

Coinage and culture

A coin struck under Muhammad III at Barda'a is engraved with the ''

nasab Arabic names have historically been based on a long naming system. Many people from Arabic-speaking and also non-Arab Muslim countries have not had given, middle, and family names but rather a chain of names. This system remains in use througho ...

'' ibn as-Sallar, which demonstrates that Muhammad III wanted to make it clear that he was the rightful heir of the Persian monarchs. "Sallar" is derived from ''

sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...

'', a military title under the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

(224–651).

References

Sources

* * * * {{Shirvanshahs 10th-century monarchs in the Middle East 991 deaths Year of birth unknown