Lakhm

"Lakhmid" or "Nasrid"

The designation "Lakhmids" or "Lakhmid kingdom" is disputed, and some historians prefer to describe this group as the "Nasrids", the name of the ruling dynasty of this group. The name "Lakhmid" is derived exclusively from one inscription from the late third century, the Paikuli inscription, which refers to the "Amr of the Lakhm", then the Nasrid ruler, as one of the vassals of the Sasanian Empire. However, as historian Greg Fisher points out, there is "no reason to suppose that any connection between Nasrid leaders and Lakhm that may have existed in the third century was still present in the sixth, or that the Nasrids ruled over a homogeneous Lakhmid kingdom". This situation is exacerbated by the fact that the historical sources—mostly Byzantine—start dealing with the Lakhmids in greater detail only from the late 5th century, as well as by the relative lack of archaeological work at Al-Hira.