Persian leaders from the north and from the south (5)
I believe the answer is:
shahs
'persian leaders' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'north and from the south' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'south' could be 's' (abbreviation) and 's' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hahs' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'from the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shahs that I've seen before include "Titles for the former monarchs of Iran" , "Former rulers of Persia" .)