Shaddadis

   The Shaddadis were a Kurdish dynasty who ruled the area in east Transcaucasia between the Kur and Araxes Rivers from 951 to 1074 during the decline of the Abbasid caliphate. They had a main line in Gandja and Dwin and a junior line in Ani, which lasted long after the senior line ended.

   It is not clear, however, just how thoroughly Kurdish the Shad-dadis were, as their ethnicity was complicated by their adoption of Dailamite names like Lashkari and Marzuban, as well as Armenian ones such as Ashot. This mixture reflected the ethnic diversity of northwestern Persia at this time. Contemporary Christian sources testify to the fairness the Shaddadis showed their Christian Georgian and Armenian subjects. The Shaddadis were eventually overrun by Turkic incursions.