Babak Khorramdin in the context of Khurramites

The Sajid dynasty (Persian: ساجیان, romanized: sâjiyân, also known as Banu Saj) was a Muslim dynasty, of Iranian origin, that ruled from 889/890 until 929. The Sajids ruled Azerbaijan and parts of Armenia first from Maragha and Barda and then from Ardabil. The Sajids originated from the Central Asian province of Ushrusana and were of Iranian (Sogdian) descent and culturally Arabised. Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Saj Diwdad the son of Diwdad, the first Sajid ruler of Azerbaijan, was appointed as its ruler in 889 or 890. Muhammad's father Abu'l-Saj Devdad had fought under the Ushrusanan prince Afshin Khaydar during the latter's final campaign against the rebel Babak Khorramdin in Azerbaijan, and later served the caliphs. Toward the end of the tenth century, as the central authority of the Abbasid Caliphate weakened, Muhammad was able to form a virtually independent state. Much of the Sajids' energies were spent in attempting to take control of neighboring Armenia. The dynasty ended with the death of Abu'l-Musafir al-Fath in 929.

Ḥaydar ibn Kāwūs (Arabic: حيدر بن كاوس, Persian: خِیذَر اِبنِ کاووس, romanized: Kheyzar ebn-e Kāvus), better known by his hereditary title of al-Afshīn (Arabic: الأفشين, Persian: اَفشین, romanized: Afshin), was a senior general of Sogdian descent at the court of the Abbasid caliphs and a vassal prince of Oshrusana. He played a leading role in the campaigns of Caliph al-Mu'tasim, and was responsible for the suppression of the rebellion of Babak Khorramdin and for his battlefield victory over the Byzantine emperor Theophilos during the Amorium campaign. Eventually he was suspected of disloyalty and was arrested, tried and then executed in June 841.