Muhammad III was the

Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, a ...

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

Ahmad Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

().

Reign

In 981/82, Muhammad III took the town of

Qabala Qabala ( az, Qəbələ) 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 Küsnat. Before the city was known as Kutkashen, but after the Republic of ...

from its ruler, Abd al-Barr ibn Anbasa. In 982, he took control of

Barda'a Barda ( az, Bərdə ) is a city and the capital of the Barda District in Azerbaijan, located south of Yevlax and on the left bank of the Tartar river. It served as the capital of Caucasian Albania by the end of the 5th-century. Barda became the chi ...

, and made Musa ibn Ali his lieutenant. In 983, a wall around the town of

Shabaran Shabran (Shabaran, Shavaran, Sabaran) ( az, Şabran) – was a historical town and district which existed from the 5th to the 18th centuries. It was in what is now the eastern part of the Azerbaijani Republic, within the borders of Greater Caucasu ...

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

al-Bab Al-Bab ( ar, الْبَاب / ALA-LC: ''al-Bāb'') is a city, ''de jure'' administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate of the Syrian Arab Republic. As of December 2016, the city is under the control of pro-Turkish militias, as part of ...

became enthusiastic supporters of Muhammad al-Tuzi, a preacher who had arrived from Gilan. 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 Tabasarans are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group native predominantly to southern part of the North Caucasian Republic of Dagestan. Their population in Russia is about 150,000. They speak the Tabasaran language. They are mainly Sunni Muslims. ...

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

Coinage and culture

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

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

'' 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/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

'', a military title under the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

(224–651).

References

Sources

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