Human occupation in the Shahrizor valley goes back to the
prehistoric times, and the plain has been continuously occupied since then. Shahrizor Survey Project has shown that Shahrizor valley was already inhabited during the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. The
Halaf culture, and the Chalcolithic
Ubaid culture have been attested here. This has been shown by extensive archaeological research, especially since 2009, at sites like
Bakr Awa,
Tell Begum,
Gird-î Qalrakh, and
Bestansur (which is on the
UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List) , Iraqi Kurdistan Sites like
Bakr Awa show that there was also occupation here during the
Akkadian Empire period. During the 3rd millennium BC, Shahrizor plain belonged to the kingdom of
Lullubi. During the
Iron Age it was part of the
Zamua kingdom, which stretched from
Lake Urmia to the upper reaches of the
Diyala River, roughly corresponding with the modern
Sulaimania governorate (still called Zamua/Zamwa) in
Iraqi Kurdistan. It was centered at
Sharazur plain. During the rule of the Neo-Assyrian king
Assurnasirbal II, the region was rebellious, and had to be subdued. Arabs associated Shahrizor with biblical legends associated with
Saul and
David suggesting that the region had a
Jewish colony. and also in the inscription of
Narseh alongside
Garmian. During the
Sassanid era the region of Sharazor was one of the 5 provinces of the satrapy of
Medes, an ancient
Iranian people. In the 4th century, some of inhabitants of Sharazor who had converted to Christianity were persecuted by the Sassanids. Among the prominent examples of this persecution is the killing of Bishop Shahdost Shahrazori and 128 of his followers. Sharazur was incorporated into
Ardalan Principality from 11th century until the 16th and was its first capital. Its relics are the historic site of Yassin tepe. It formed afterwards part of
Baban Principality. It was also a center of
Zaydism among the Zaydi Kurdish minority, before the eventual decline of Zaydism. In the Medieval era, the area was incorporated into the territories ruled by many dynasties, including
Annazid,
Aishanid and also
Ayyubid, who were also of Kurdish origins. During the Ayyubid period the region, and the city of Erbil, were granted as a fief to the emir
Gökböri by
Saladin in 1190.
Yaqut al-Hamawi describes the region of Sharazor as areas between
Erbil to the west and
Hamadan to the east including many cities, towns and villages. He mentions the inhabitants of the region as having been entirely
Kurds, who were defended themselves from the Sultan and ruled their area. ==See also==