The Sasanian marzban of Azarbaijan, who at this time submitted to the conquerors agreeing to pay tribute, is not mentioned afterwards. In al-Bab (or Bab al-abwab), as the Arabs called Darband, the commander of the Persian garrison made common cause with them against other enemies, chiefly the Armenians and the Khazars. The latter indeed thwarted the further northward advance of the Arabs and during the following decades repeatedly invaded Arran, Armenia and Azarbaljan. When Salman al-Bahill under the caliph 'Uthman invaded eastern Transcaucasia from Armenia, the local princes from Shakkl in the west to Sharvan in the east and Masqat in the north submitted to him and agreed to pay tribute.
The population of Azarbaijan at the time of the conquest was predominantly Iranian, speaking numerous dialects. Groups of Kurds had already penetrated into some parts of the province. To the north the provinces of Arran, between the Kur and Araxes rivers, Sharvan (later Shirvan), the region north of the Kur, and Darband were located in the territory of the ancient kingdom of Albania (Ar. Arran). The Albanians, a non-Indo-European people, had been converted to Armenian Christianity and were partially Armenicized in the areas south of the Kur, where Armenians in large groups had settled and intermarried with them. Their language survived, however, and was still spoken in Barda'a, the capital of Arran, in the 4th/ioth century. The Albanians since the end of the 6th century had been ruled by the Mihranid dynasty which survived under Muslim suzerainty until 821-2.
North of the Kur Iranian immigrants had settled in substantial numbers. Local names like Laizan, Sharvan, Bailaqan suggest that they came from Dailaman and other areas south of the Caspian Sea. Various invaders from the north had also left settlements in the area, most important for this time the Khazars who had occupied the town of Qabala to the west of Sharvan. The variety of the population as well as the mountainous fragmentation of the region favoured the survival of numerous petty principalities, some of which had been established by the Sasanians with the aim of strengthening the border defence. These local dynasties became tributaries of the Arab conquerors and generally survived intact at least until the late Umayyad age, though little is known about their history. Later some of them disappeared, while in other principalities the rule was taken over by members of the new nobility of the conquerors.
Because of the exposed border location of Azarbaljan and Transcaucasia, the Arab conquerors were compelled to station strong forces there. Already in the time of 'Uthman a large number of Kufan warriors were settled in Azarbaljan. Consequently tribal Arabs from Kufa, Basra and Syria migrated to Azarbaljan and gained extensive holdings of land cultivated by the native peasants. About the year 141/75 8-9 the Muhallabid Yazld b. Hatim, appointed governor of Azarbaljan by the caliph al-Mansur, settled Yemeni tribal groups from Basra in various parts of the province. Al-Rawwad b. al-Muthanna al-Azdi, the ancestor of the Rawwadid dynasty, settled between al-Badhdh and Tabriz, gaining power in the latter.
In other towns, too, Arab chieftains came to build their castles and dominated the inhabitants: in Marand Abu'l Ba'ith Halbas of the tribe of Rabf a, in Urmiya Sadaqa b. cAli, a client of Azd, in Miyana 'Abd-Allah b. Ja'far of Hamdan, in Barza the clan of al-Aud, in Nairiz Murr b. 'Amr al-Mausili of Tayy, and in Sarab descendants of al-Ash'athb. Qais of Kinda, one of the early conquerors. These powerful Arab lords and their families caused considerable trouble to the governors of the province in the 2nd/8 th and 3rd/9th centuries. The situation was hardly improved by the frequent appointment of governors belonging to these local families. In the north Barda'a and later al-Bab held strong Arab garrisons and served as bases for the wars with the Khazars. Barda'a received new fortifications under the caliph 'Abd al-Malik, and those of al-Bab were greatly strengthened in 113/731 by Maslama, the son of 'Abd al-Malik, who settled 24,000 Syrian soldiers there. Arran was normally governed by the governors of Armenia. Frequently the provinces of Azarbaljan and Armenia were held jointly by a single governor.
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