Mazyadids
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Mazyadids
(Yazidids), a dynasty of Arab governors of Shirwan (799-1050).
The founder of the Mazyadids was Yazid ibn Mazyad al Shaybani. His descendants exploited the weakening of the caliphate to turn Shirwan into their own hereditary possession, and in 861 assumed the title of Shirwanshah. In the mid-ninth century, the Mazyadids also controlled Caucasian Albania (Aran). The Mazyadids were particularly strong in the tenth century. Vassal dependencies of the Mazyadids included, at different times, the historical region of Sheki, and part of southeast Dagestan including Derbent, Lakz (land of the Lezgins), and Tabasaran (land of the Tabasaranians).
REFERENCE
Minorskii, V. F. Istoriia Shirvana i Derbenda X-XI vv. Moscow, 1963.The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.