Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn Yazid al-Shaybani ( ar, محمد بن خالد بن يزيد الشيباني) was an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

general and governor for the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

, active in the Caliphate's Caucasian provinces in the 9th century. Muhammad was a member of the Shayban tribe, originally from the Diyar Bakr in the northern

Jazira Jazira or Al-Jazira ( 'island'), or variants, may refer to: Business *Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazira, a traditional region known today as Upper Mesopotamia or the smaller region of Cizre * Al-Jazira ( ...

,Ter-Ghewondyan (1976), p. 27 and the grandson of

Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani ( ar, يزيد بن مزيد الشيباني, Yazīd ibn Mazyad al-Shaybānī; died 801) was an Arab general and governor who served the Abbasid Caliphate. Biography Yazid was member of the Shayban tribe, dominant ...

. Yazid and his sons established Shaybanid influence over the Caliphate's

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

n provinces by repeatedly occupying the office of governor (''

ostikan ''Ostikan'' ( hy, ոստիկան) was the title used by Armenians for the governors of the early Caliphates. In modern historiography, it is chiefly used for the caliphal governors of the province of Arminiya, which included Greater Armenia. Ara ...

'') of ''

Arminiya Arminiya, also known as the Ostikanate of Arminiya ( hy, Արմինիա ոստիկանություն, ''Arminia vostikanut'yun'') or the Emirate of Armenia ( ar, إمارة أرمينيا, ''imārat Arminiya''), was a political and geographic de ...

'' (a large province encompassing Armenia, modern

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

and Arran).Ter-Ghewondyan (1976), pp. 27–28 His father

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname.

served in the same office no less than four times: in 813/814, 828–832, briefly in 841 and again shortly after, dying in office ca. 844. Muhammad succeeded him in his post, continuing his work of suppressing the various local rebellions by Muslim and Christian princes.Ter-Ghewondyan (1976), p. 28 After his dismissal, he returned to his ancestral lands in Diyar Bakr, and was re-appointed as ''ostikan'' in 857, following the bloody suppression of a major Armenian rebellion under

Bugha al-Kabir Bugha al-Kabir (), also known as Bugha al-Turki (), was a 9th-century Khazar general who served the Abbasid Caliphate. He was of Khazar origin, and was acquired along with his sons as a military slave (''ghulam'') by al-Mu'tasim in 819/820.Gordo ...

. He received the office again in 878, when according to Tovma Artsruni (Thomas Arcruni) he tried to form an alliance with other local Muslim rulers such as the

Kaysites The Kaysite dynasty () was a Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled an emirate centered in Manzikert from c. 860 until 964. Their state was the most powerful Arab amirate in Armenia after the collapse of the ''ostikan''ate of Arminiya in the late 9t ...

to curtail the rising power of the Prince of Princes Ashot Bagratuni, but was defeated and forced to flee the country. He was the last Shaybanid governor of ''Arminiya''. According to medieval Arabic sources, Muhammad founded the city of Ganja in 859/60, so called because of a treasure unearthed there. According to the legend, the Arab governor had a dream where a voice told him that there was a treasure hidden under one of the three hills around the area where he camped. The voice told him to unearth it and use the money to found a city. He did so and informed the caliph about the money and the city. Caliph al-Mutawakkil made Muhammad the hereditary governor of the city on a condition that he would give the money he found to the caliph.V.Minorsky. A History of Shirvan and Derbent.
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References

Sources

* {{The Arab Emirates in Bagratid Armenia 9th-century births 9th-century deaths Abbasid governors of Arminiya Generals of the Abbasid Caliphate Banu Shayban 9th-century Arabs City founders