The Shaddadids were a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty. who ruled in various parts of Armenia and Arran from 951 to 1199 AD. They were established in Dvin. Through their long tenure in Armenia, they often intermarried with the Bagratuni royal family of Armenia. They began ruling in the city of Dvin, and eventually ruled other major cities, such as Barda and Ganja. A cadet line of the Shaddadids were given the cities of Ani and Tbilisi as a reward for their service to the Seljuqs, to whom they became vassals. From 1047 to 1057, the Shaddadids were engaged in several wars against the Byzantine army. The area between the rivers Kura and Aras was ruled by a Shaddadid dynasty. Kurdish rulers History Shaddadids of Dvin and Ganja In 951, Muhammad established himself at Dvin. Unable to hold Dvin against Musafirid incursion, he fled to the Armenian Kingdom of Vaspurakan. His son, Lashkari I, ended Musafirid influence in Arran by taking Ganja in 971. He later expanded into Transcaucasia as far north as Shamkir and as far east as Barda (present-day Azerbaijan). The reign of his brother, Marzuban, also lasted only a few years. Muhammad's third son, Fadl I, expanded his territory during his lengthy reign. He took Dvin from Armenian Bagratids in 1022, and his campaigns against them met with varying degrees of success. He also raided the Khazars in 1030, while holding parts of Arran (present-day Azerbaijan). Later that year, while returning from a successful campaign in Georgia, his army encountered Georgian and Armenian forces and was decisively defeated. Following Fadl I's defeat, the entire region became chaotic, with the Byzantine Empire pressuring Armenian princes and the Seljuq Turks gaining influence over Arran after a resurgent Seljuq attack on Dvin. Abu'l-Fath Musa succeeded Fadl I in 1031, and reigned until his murder by his son and successor Lashkari II in 1034. The poet Qatran Tabrizi praised Lashkari II for his victory over Armenian and Georgian princes during his stay in Ganja. Lashkari II ruled Arran for fifteen years in what is described by the Ottoman historian Münejjim Bashi as a troubled reign. When he died in 1049, Anushirvan succeeded him, but he was still underage, and real power lay with the chamberlain (hajib) Abu Mansur, who served as regent. The new regime was quickly opposed by a large faction among the populace. Münejjim Bashi, summarizing a now lost local