Also known as Banaman Citadel, located on a hilltop towering over the Harir plains, the castle was built by order of Mir Khanzad and is where she ruled over the two districts of Harir and Soran, now the Governorate of Erbil. Khanzad was the sister of Mir Sulaiman (or Sleman), ruler of the Soran Emirate under the Ottoman Empire in the late 16th or early 17th century until he was poisoned by the hand of Lashkry, one of his military commanders. After the deed, the murderous Lashkry fled to the Sinjar (Shengal)…
