Muhammad III was the Shirvanshah from 981 to 991. He was the son and successor of Ahmad (r. 956–981).^[1]

In 981/82, Muhammad III took the town of Qabala from its ruler, Abd al-Barr ibn Anbasa. In 982, he took control of Barda'a, and made Musa ibn Ali his lieutenant. In 983, a wall around the town of Shabaran was constructed under Muhammad IV's orders.^[1] In 989/90, the inhabitants of the town of al-Bab became enthusiastic supporters of Muhammad al-Tuzi, a preacher who had arrived from Gilan. The latter soon took over the entire town, and fell into disfavour with its ruler, Maymun. The supporters of al-Tuzi laid siege to the castle of Maymun, forcing him to flee to Tabarsaran in 990/91.^[2]

Muhammad III was subsequently invited by al-Tuzi to take control over al-Bab.^[3] He went to the town, staying there for some months and overseeing its administration. He was eventually taken back to Shirvan by his men after suffering a head injury from a battle-axe by Balid, a ghulams of Maymun, who subsequently reconquered al-Bab.^[1] Muhammad III died in November 991 and was succeeded by his brother Yazid II.^[4]

A coin struck under Muhammad III at Barda'a is engraved with the nasab ibn as-Sallar, which demonstrates that Muhammad III wanted to make it clear that he was the rightful heir of the Persian monarchs.^[5] "Sallar" is derived from sardar, a military title under the Sasanian Empire (224–651).^[6]

• Akopyan, Alexander; Vardanyan, Aram (2009). "A donative dirham of the Shirwānshāh Muhammad ibn Ahmad (AH 370-81) struck in Barda'a in AH 373 (982/3)". Numismatic Chronicle: 261–267.
• Bosworth, C. E. (2011). "Šervānšāhs". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Madelung, Wilferd (1975). "Minor dynasties of northern Iran". In Frye, Richard N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 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.