The Hamdanids hailed from Arab Taghlib tribe, and are descendants of Adi ibn Usama al-Taghlibi.

[2] In 916, Husayn, due to a disagreement with vizier Ali b. Isa, revolted, was captured, imprisoned, and executed in 918.

[5] The rule of Hassan Nasir al-Dawla (929–968), governor of Mosul and Diyar Bakr, was sufficiently tyrannical to cause him to be deposed by his own family.

Ali Sayf al-Dawla 'Sword of the State' ruled (945–967) northern Syria from Aleppo, and became the most important opponent of the Christian Byzantine Empire's re-expansion.

His court was a centre of culture, thanks to its nurturing of Arabic literature, but it lost this status after the Byzantine sacking of Aleppo.