 During the Ayyubid period the region, and the city of Erbil, were granted as a fief to the emir Gökböri by Saladin in 1190.Yaqoot 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.