Filan (Caucasus)

Filan (فلان) was a people and principality in the early medieval Caucasus. They are known only from Arabic-language sources. According to the 9th-century historian al-Baladhuri, their ruler, the Filan-Shah, had been appointed as an autonomous prince by the Sasanian emperor Khosrow I ((r. 531 – 579)). The tribe likely lived in what is now southern Dagestan, but its ethnic identity is uncertain; they may have been of Avar origin. According to the 10th-century geographer al-Mas'udi, the Filan eventually became part of the neighbouring principality of Sarir.