Hulwan (East Syriac ecclesiastical province)  Metropolitanate of Hulwan was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the eighth and twelfth centuries, with suffragan dioceses for Dinawar, Hamadan, Nihawand and al-Kuj (perhaps Karaj d'Abu Dulaf). The city of Hulwan (Syriac: ) was one of the chief towns in the western Iranian province of Media. Metropolitanate of Hulwan was ranked among the 'exterior provinces', so called to distinguish them from the province of the patriarch and the five core Mesopotamian 'interior' provinces. A number of East Syriac dioceses in Iran existed by the beginning of the fifth century, but they were not grouped into a metropolitan province in 410. After establishing five metropolitan provinces in Mesopotamia, Canon XXI of the synod of Isaac provided that 'the bishops of the more remote dioceses of Fars, of the Islands, of Beth Madaye (Media), of Beth Raziqaye (Rai) and of the country of Abrshahr (Tus) must accept the definition established in this council at a later date'. By the end of the fifth century there were at least three East Syriac dioceses in the Sassanian province of Media in western Iran. Hamadan (ancient Ecbatana) was the chief city of Media, and the Syriac name Beth Madaye (Media) was regularly used to refer to the East Syriac diocese of Hamadan as well as to the region as a whole. Although no East Syriac bishops of Beth Madaye are attested before 457, the reference to Beth Madaye in Canon XXI of the synod of Isaac probably indicates that the diocese of Hamadan was already in existence in 410. Bishops of Beth Madaye were present at most of the synods held between 486 and 605. Two other dioceses in western Iran, Beth Lashpar (Hulwan) and Masabadan, seem also to have been established in the fifth century. A bishop of 'the deportation of Beth Lashpar' was present at the synod of Dadisho in 424, and bishops of Beth Lashpar also attended the later synods of the fifth and sixth centuries. Bishops of the nearby locality of Masabadan were present at the synod of Joseph in 554 and the synod of Ezekiel in 576.