In the early 8th century, Bukhtis and Bajnawi Kurds ruled the area surrounding Sinjar and Jazira mountains known under name "Zozan" by Arab geographers. Yaqoot Hamawi describes their residing area to be from Ikhlat to Salmas which included many strongholds belonging to Bokhtis; he also mentioned town of Jardhakil as their capital. The principality ruled over an area extending from Diyarbakir to Van and from Rawanduz to Sinjar at its peak. The first governors of Bohtan, were from the Azizan family, who originally followed Yezidism later converted to Sunni Islam and were related to the Governors of the Principality of Bitlis. Following their role in the Ottoman defeat of the Safavids in the Battle of Caldiran in 1514, Bohtan was granted the status of a Hükümet, and it became a hereditary Kurdish principality within the Ottoman Empire.