Muhammad was second
Shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
of
Layzan whose father was first
Layzanshah Yazid ibn Khalid, a member of junior branch of
Yazidids
The Yazidids () or Mazyadids (after their ancestor Mazyad al-Shaybani) or Shaybanids (after Banu Shayban), were an Arab family what came to rule over the region of Shirvan (in Azerbaijan) in the mid 9th century. Starting from Haytham ibn Khalid' ...
. He was nephew of first independent
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 ...
Haytham I.
Nothing about his reign is known in sources except for that his "rule lasted a long time, his prestige grew and his affairs prospered". He was thought to be a
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 ...
earlier because of a confusing note left by
al-Masudi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
who mentioned that it was Muhammad ibn Yazid that annexed principalities of Khursān (lands south to
Derbent
Derbent (russian: Дербе́нт; lez, Кьвевар, Цал; az, Дәрбәнд, italic=no, Dərbənd; av, Дербенд; fa, دربند), formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It is ...
) and Vardān (north of
Quba). According to
Vladimir Minorsky
Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (russian: Владимир Фёдорович Минорский; – March 25, 1966) was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to the study of Persian, Lurish and Kurdish history, geography, ...
, this confusion is a result of both father and son of
Abu Tahir Yazid having same name.
Muhammad of Layzan was clearly from a different branch and not Shirvanshah
and probably died .
References
Sources
*
{{Shirvanshahs