Muhammad III of Shirvan

Muhammad III is first mentioned in 917, when he was appointed as the ruler of Layzan and Tabarsaran by his father Abu Tahir ibn Yazid. When Muhammad's father died in 948, he succeeded him as the ruler of Shirvan, and appointed his son Ahmad as the ruler of Layzan, while his other son Haytham ibn Muhammad was appointed as the ruler of Tabarsaran.[1][2] From 948 to 956, Muhammad constantly raided the territories of the non-Muslims, who are called "infidels" in Muslim sources.

On 4 June 956, Muhammad died of small-pox. However, according to another source, he was poisoned by his vizier Ibn al-Maraghi. The reason for that was because, when Muhammad was suffering from small-pox, Ibn al-Maraghi used the opportunity to kill the imprisoned brother of Muhammad and had his body hidden. When Muhammad miraculously survived the illness, he ordered the release of his brother. Ibn al-Maraghi, who feared that his life was in danger, had Muhammad poisoned.[1] Ahmad then succeeded Muhammad as the ruler of Shirvan.

Writing in the first half of the 10th-century, the Arab historian and geographer al-Masudi reported that Muhammad III was "incontrovertibly" descended from the Sasanian monarch Bahram V Gur (r. 420–438), which demonstrates the early Persianization of the Shirvanshahs.[3]

• Bosworth, C. E. (1973). "The Heritage of Rulership in Early Islamic Iran and the Search for Dynastic Connections with the Past". Iran. Taylor & Francis. 11: 51–62. doi:10.2307/4300484. JSTOR 4300484.
• Madelung, Wilferd (1975). "Minor dynasties of northern Iran". In Frye, Richard N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 198–250. ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
• Minorsky, Vladimir (1958). A History of Sharvān and Darband in the 10th-11th Centuries. Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons, Ltd.