Adarbaigan (East Syriac diocese)

The diocese, attested between the fifth and eighth centuries, was centred on the town of Ganzak and was included in the metropolitan province of Adiabene.

The diocese of Adarbaigan appears to have covered the territory included within the Sassanian province of Atropatene.

These boundary changes probably affected Christian communities living in the upper valley of the Lesser Zab river.

[1] A separate East Syriac metropolitan province was created for Adarbaigan in the second half of the thirteenth century, possibly centred on Tabriz.

Raiding and brigandage were rife in Mesopotamia at this period, and the creation of a new East Syriac metropolitan province reflected a migration of Christians from the Tigris plains to the relative safety of Adarbaigan, where there was a strong Mongol military presence.