Mahabad

Mahabad is a town in and the capital of Mahabad County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. The people are Kurdish, with the town lying south of Lake Urmia in a narrow valley 1,300 metres above sea level. Mahabad is situated in a region that was the center of the Mannaeans, who flourished in 10th to 7th centuries BC. Mannaeans "after suffering several defeats at the hands of both Scythians and Assyrians, the remnants of the Mannaean populace were absorbed by an Iranian people known as the Matieni and the area became known as Matiene. It was then annexed by the Medes in about 609 BC.