[3] He ruled during a time in Shirvanshah history that scholarship has referred to "a period of total confusion", due to the lack of written records and contradictory numismatic evidence.

[8] In 1225, the Khwarazmshah Jalal al-Din Mangburni (r. 1220–1231) demanded that Garshasp pay him a tribute identical to the one the Shirvanshah Fariburz I (r. 1063–1096) had paid the Seljuk ruler Malik-Shah I (r. 1072–1092) over a century ago.

The numismatist Blau discovered a unique coin with the name of Garshasp, and which mentions the Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir I, who ruled from 1226 to 1242.

The proposal was accepted, but was soon cancelled due to George IV's death, which occurred while he was en route to the ceremony.

[15] According to another source, a younger son of Garshasp - who was sent to Georgian court to be baptized and raised as a consort to Gurju Khatun in 1222 - Jalal al-Din Sultanshah was captured by Khwarazmshah Jalal al-Din Mangburni in 1226, circumcised was given Gustasfi as a fief.