Zengid dynasty
The most prosperous period of Sinjar's history occurred in the 12th–13th centuries, beginning with the rule of the Turkmen atabeg Jikirmish in , through the high cultural period under a cadet branch of the Zengid dynasty and ending with Ayyubid rule. The Armenian Mamluk ruler of Mosul, Badr ad-Din Lu'lu', in the first half of the 13th century, led a campaign against the Yazidis of the mountains, massacring Yazidis and desecrating the mausoleum of the Yazidi founder or reformer Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir in the Lalish valley. During roughly the same era, Sunni Muslim Kurdish tribes launched widespread campaigns against the Yazidi population.