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-Muttal ...

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

Diyar Bakr Diyar Bakr ( ar, دِيَارُ بَكرٍ, Diyār Bakr, abode of Bakr) is the medieval Arabic name of the northernmost of the three provinces of the Jazira ( Upper Mesopotamia), the other two being Diyar Mudar and Diyar Rabi'a. According to th ...

in the northern 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'') 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 th ...

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

and Arran).Ter-Ghewondyan (1976), pp. 27–28 His father Khalid 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 Tovma Artsruni ( hy, Թովմա Արծրունի; also known in English-language historiography as Thomas Artsruni; precise birth date and date of death unknown) was a ninth-century to tenth-century Armenian historian and author of the ''History ...

(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 Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: �aːɲd͡ ...

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 Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was ...

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