The title 'Shirvanshah' appears to date back to the period before Islam's emergence in the Arabian peninsula. Ibn Khordadbeh mentions the Shirvanshah as one of the local rulers who received their title from the first Sassanid emperor, Ardashir I. Al-Baladhuri also mentions that a Shirvanshah, together with the neighbouring Layzanshah, were encountered by the Arabs during their conquest of Persia, and submitted to the Arab commander Salman ibn Rab'ia al-Bahili.