The Mazyadids, named after their ancestor Mazyad al-Shaybani (also Shaybanids after their original tribe of Shayban or Yazidids after Mazyad's son Yazid), was an Arab family what came to rule over the region of

Shirvan Shirvan (from fa, شروان, translit=Shirvān; az, Şirvan; Tat: ''Şirvan''), also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical Iranian region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both pre-Islam ...

(in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

) in the mid 9th century. From 861 on, with

Haytham ibn Khalid Haytham ibn Khalid was the first Shirvanshah, or independent ruler of Shirvan, renouncing the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate in 861 and beginning the Mazyadid dynasty. Biography He was the son of the Shaybani Arab Khalid ibn Yazid al-Shayb ...

's assumption of the ancient Iranian title of ''

Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, ...

'', they practically broke free of

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...

control and ruled Shirvan more or less independently until the 14th century.

Branches

Mazyadid dynasty was first generation of whole independent Shirvanshahs. Dynasty ruled both

and Layzan, until latter invaded

Shamakhy Shamakhi ( az, Şamaxı, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Shamakhi District. The city's estimated population was 31,704. It is famous for its traditional dancers, the Shamakhi Dancers, and also for perhaps giving i ...

and united crowns. The dynasty was a vassal and tributary state to

Sallarids The Sallarid dynasty ( fa, سالاریان), (also known as the Musafirids or Langarids) was a Muslim dynasty, of Daylami origin, which ruled in Tarom, Samiran, Daylam, Gilan and subsequently Azerbaijan, Arran, and some districts in Eastern Arm ...

, Sajids and others. The Mazyadid reign is largely unexplored due to lack of sources. Sometimes numismatic evidences are the only sources about reign and existence of shahs.

Family tree

Descent from Mazyad, rulers shown in bold.

Aftermath

The Mazyadids were succeeded by

Kasranids The Kasranids (Persian: سلسله کسرانی) were a branch of the Shirvanshahs, who ruled the Shirvan region for 387 years. The word "Kasra" was derived from legendary king Kai Khosrow of Iran, reflecting a shift in naming tradition from Arabic ...

which is regarded as the start of the cultural

Persianization Persianization () or Persification (; fa, پارسی‌سازی), is a sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Persian society becomes " Persianate", meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Persian ...

of Shirvan.

References

Sources

* Sara Ashurbeyli – Shirvanshahs, Baku, 2007 Medieval Azerbaijan Arab dynasties Banu Shayban Shirvanshahs {{Azerbaijan-stub