Medieval history

Until 10th century Arbil was populated by Hadhabani (Adiabeni) Kurds who gradually migrated northward.^{[citation needed]} In 1310 the Assyrian population suffered a massacre by the Arabs; with the help of some Kurds, who were seen as traitors by the Kurdish majority.Its Aramaic speaking Assyrian population remained significant in size until destruction of the city by the forces of Timurlane in 1397. From its Christian period come many church fathers and well-known authors in Syriac, the classical language off-shoot of Aramaic. The 13th century Syriac writer Gewargis Warda Arbillaya^{[citation needed]} [from Arbil] identifies the Christian population of Arbil and neighboring areas as Assyrians in a prayer dedicated to the Rogation of the Ninevites. In the wake of Timur's raids, when only one Christian village is alleged to have survived, Arbil increasingly became a Muslim-dominated town. As is attested in the region in general, those who converted to Islam became enfolded into the ethnic Muslim culture of the region, whether Turkish, Arab, Persian or Kurdish. Arbil is also the birth place of the famous Muslim historian and writer of 13th century, Ibn Khallikan. Erbil was ruled successively Umayyads, Abbasids, Buwayhids, Seljuks, Atabegs of Erbil (1131-1232), who was a Turkmen state, Ilkhanids, Jalayirids, Karakoyun and Akkoyun during Middle Age.

The modern town of Arbil stands on a tell topped by an Ottoman fort. During the Middle Ages, Arbil became a major trading centre on the route between Baghdad and Mosul, a role which it still plays today with important road links to the outside world. A small population of Assyrian Christians (about 15,000) live mostly in suburbs such as Ankawa.

The Kurdish name for the city is Hawler meaning the place where sun is worshipped. The name is thought to derive from the Greek helio (sun).