Hasanwayhids

   The Hasanwayhids were a Kurdish dynasty who dominated the Zagros between Shahrizur and Khuzistan on the east side of the Shatt al Arab River from c. 959 to 1014 during the period when the power of the Abbasid caliphate was declining. Their eponymous founder was Hasanwayh bin Husayn, who belonged to a branch of the Barzikani Kurdish tribe. He was able to gain some of his power by assisting the Buwayhids (Buyids) in their struggles against the Samanids.

   After Hasanwayh's death in 979, his son, Abu al-Nadjm (later Nasir al-Dawla), achieved such notable successes as imposing order, developing a strong financial administration, building mountain roads and markets, securing the safety of the pilgrims who crossed his territory, and even striking his own coins, a symbol of sovereignty. Indeed, Sharaf Khan Bitlisi in the Sharafnama mentions the Hasanwayhids as one of the five Kurdish dynasties that enjoyed royalty. The last Hasanwayhid heir died in the family's old fortress of Sarmadj in 1047 just as the Selcuk Turks under Ibrahim Inal began to enter the region.