Muhammad was a member of the Shayban tribe, originally from the Diyar Bakr in the northern Jazira,[1] and the grandson of Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani.
Muhammad succeeded him in his post, continuing his work of suppressing the various local rebellions by Muslim and Christian princes.
[3] 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.
[6] 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.