The Kurds , also the Kurdish people , are an
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
ethnic group in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. They have historically inhabited the mountainous areas to the south of
Lake Van
Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...
and
Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia;
az, اۇرمۇ گؤلۆ, script=Arab, italic=no, Urmu gölü;
ku, گۆلائوو رمیەیێ, Gola Ûrmiyeyê;
hy, Ուրմիա լիճ, Urmia lich;
arc, ܝܡܬܐ ܕܐܘܪܡܝܐ is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is ...
, a geographical area collectively referred to as
Kurdistan
Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...
. Most Kurds speak Northern Kurdish
Kurmanji Kurdish
Kurmanji ( ku, کورمانجی, lit=Kurdish, translit=Kurmancî, also termed Northern Kurdish, is the northern dialect of the Kurdish languages, spoken predominantly in southeast Turkey, northwest and northeast Iran, northern Iraq, northern ...
(Kurmanji) and
Central Kurdish
Central Kurdish (), also called Sorani (), is a Kurdish dialect or a language that is spoken in Iraq, mainly in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan in western Iran. Sorani is one of the two of ...
(Sorani).
There are various hypotheses as to predecessor populations of the
Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...
, such as the
Carduchoi of Classical Antiquity. The earliest known Kurdish dynasties under Islamic rule (10th to 12th centuries) are the
Hasanwayhid
Hasanwayhids or Hasanuyid was a powerful Shia Kurdish dynasty reigning the western parts of Iran such as Iranian Azerbaijan and Zagros Mountains between Shahrizor and Khuzestan from c. 959 to 1015. The last Hasanwayhid ruler died in 1015 in Sarmad ...
s, the
Marwanid
The Marwanids or Dustakids (983/990-1085, ) were a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty in the Diyar Bakr region of Upper Mesopotamia (present day northern Iraq/southeastern Turkey) and Armenia, centered on the city of Amid (Diyarbakır).
Territory
...
s, the
Rawadid
Rawwadid or Ravvadid (also Revend or Revendi) or Banū Rawwād () (955–1071) was a Sunni Muslim Kurdish dynasty, centered in the northwestern region of Adharbayjan (Azerbaijan) between the late 8th and early 13th centuries.
Originally of Az ...
s, the
Shaddadid
The Shaddadids were a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty. who ruled in various parts of Armenia and Arran from 951 to 1199 AD. They were established in Dvin. Through their long tenure in Armenia, they often intermarried with the Bagratuni royal fami ...
s, followed by the
Ayyubid dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
founded by
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
. The
Battle of Chaldiran
The Battle of Chaldiran ( fa, جنگ چالدران; tr, Çaldıran Savaşı) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia an ...
of 1514 is an important turning point in Kurdish history, marking the alliance of Kurds with the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
. The ''
Sharafnameh
The ''Sharafnama'' ( Kurdish: شەرەفنامە Şerefname, "The Book of Honor", Persian: Sharafname, شرفنامه) is the famous book of Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi (a medieval Kurdish historian and poet) (1543–1599), which he wrote in 1597, in ...
'' of 1597 is the first account of Kurdish history. Kurdish history in the 20th century is marked by a rising sense of Kurdish nationhood focused on the goal of an independent Kurdistan as scheduled by the
Treaty of Sèvres
The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...
in 1920. Partial autonomy was reached by
Kurdistan Uyezd
Kurdistan uezd,, ku, Кӧрдӧйәзд, Kurduyezd also known colloquially as Red Kurdistan,, ku, Кӧрдьстана Сор, Kurdistana Sor was a Soviet administrative unit that existed for six years from 1923 to 1929 and included the distr ...
(1923–1926) and by
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...
(since 1991), while notably in
Turkish Kurdistan
Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () refers to the southeastern part of Turkey, where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of the ...
, an armed conflict between the Kurdish insurgent groups and
Turkish Armed Forces
The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...
was ongoing from 1984 to 1999, and the region continues to be unstable with renewed violence flaring up in the 2000s.
Name
There are different theories about the origin of the name ''Kurd''. According to one theory, it originates in
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
as كورت ''kwrt-'', a term for "nomad; tent-dweller". After the
Muslim conquest of Persia
The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion.
Th ...
, this term was adopted into Arabic as ''kurd-'', and was used specifically for nomadic tribes.
The ethnonym ''Kurd'' may ultimately derive from an ancient toponym in the upper Tigris basin. According to the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
Orientalist
Godfrey Rolles Driver
Sir Godfrey Rolles Driver (20 August 1892 – 22 April 1975), known as G. R. Driver, was an English Orientalist noted for his studies of Semitic languages and Assyriology.J. A. Emerton, 'Driver, Sir Godfrey Rolles (1892–1975)'. In ''Oxfo ...
, the term ''Kurd'' is related to the
Sumerian ''Karda'' which was found in
Sumerian clay tablets of the third millennium B.C. He wrote in a paper published in 1923 that the term ''Kurd'' was not used differently by different nations and by examining the philological variations of Karda in different languages, such as ''Cordueni'', ''Gordyeni'', ''Kordyoui'', ''Karduchi'', ''Kardueni'', ''Qardu'', ''Kardaye'', ''Qardawaye'', he finds that the similarities undoubtedly refer to a common descent.
As for the
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
noun ''kwrt-'' originating in an ancient toponym, it has been argued that it may ultimately reflect a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
toponym ''Qardu'', ''Kar-da'', which may also be reflected in the Arabic (Quranic) toponym
''
Ǧūdī'' (re-adopted in Kurdish as ''Cûdî'')
The name would be continued in classical antiquity as the first element in the toponym ''
Corduene
Corduene hy, Կորճայք, translit=Korchayk; ; romanized: ''Kartigini'') was an ancient historical region, located south of Lake Van, present-day eastern Turkey.
Many believe that the Kardouchoi—mentioned in Xenophon’s Anabasis as havin ...
'', and its inhabitants, mentioned by
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...
as the tribe of the ''
Carduchoi'' who opposed the retreat of the
Ten Thousand
The Ten Thousand ( grc, οἱ Μύριοι, ''oi Myrioi'') were a force of mercenary units, mainly Greeks, employed by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Bat ...
through the mountains north of Mesopotamia in the 4th century BC. This view is supported by some recent academic sources which have considered Corduene as proto-Kurdish region.
[''Revue des études arméniennes'', vol. 21, 1988–1989, p. 281, By Société des études armeniennes, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Published by Imprimerie nationale, P. Geuthner, 1989.] However, some modern scholars reject these connections. Alternatively, ''kwrt-'' may be a derivation from the name of the ''
Cyrtii'' tribe instead.
According to some sources, by the 16th century, there seems to develop an ethnic identity designated by the term ''Kurd'' among various
Northwestern Iranian groups, without reference to any specific Iranian language.
Sherefxan Bidlisi
Sharaf al-Din Khan b. Shams al-Din b. Sharaf Beg Bedlisi (Kurdish: شەرەفخانی بەدلیسی, ''Şerefxanê Bedlîsî''; fa, شرفالدین خان بن شمسالدین بن شرف بیگ بدلیسی; 25 February 1543 – ) was ...
in the 16th century states that there are four divisions of "Kurds": ''
Kurmanj ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...
'', ''
Lur
A lur, also lure or lurr, is a long natural blowing horn without finger holes that is played with a brass-type embouchure. Lurs can be straight or curved in various shapes. The purpose of the curves was to make long instruments easier to car ...
'', ''
Kalhor'' and ''
Guran
Guran is a character from ''The Phantom'' comic strip. Guran is the best friend of the main character, Phantom.
Character synopsis
According to Lee Falk's novel '' The Story of the Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks'', Guran is ten years older tha ...
'', each of which speak a different dialect or language variation. Paul (2008) notes that the 16th-century usage of the term ''Kurd'' as recorded by Bidlisi, regardless of linguistic grouping, might still reflect an incipient
Northwestern Iranian
The Western Iranic languages are a branch of the Iranic languages, attested from the time of Old Persian (6th century BC) and Median.
Languages
The traditional Northwestern branch is a convention for non-Southwestern languages, rather than a ...
"Kurdish" ethnic identity uniting the Kurmanj, Kalhor, and Guran.
Early history
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
is a language of the
Northwestern Iranian
The Western Iranic languages are a branch of the Iranic languages, attested from the time of Old Persian (6th century BC) and Median.
Languages
The traditional Northwestern branch is a convention for non-Southwestern languages, rather than a ...
group which has likely separated from the other
dialects of Central Iran during the early centuries AD (the
Middle Iranian
The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau.
The Iranian languages are groupe ...
period). Kurdish has in turn emerged as a group within Northwest Iranian during the Medieval Period (roughly 10th to 16th centuries).
The Kurdish people are believed to be of heterogeneous origins, both from Iranian-speaking and non-Iranian peoples.
[M. Van Bruinessen, ''Agha, Shaikh and State'', 373 pp., Zed Books, 1992. p. 122:], group=Note combining a number of earlier tribal or ethnic groups including
Lullubi
Lullubi, Lulubi ( akk, 𒇻𒇻𒉈: ''Lu-lu-bi'', akk, 𒇻𒇻𒉈𒆠: ''Lu-lu-biki'' "Country of the Lullubi"), more commonly known as Lullu, were a group of tribes during the 3rd millennium BC, from a region known as ''Lulubum'', now the Sha ...
,
[Thomas Bois, ''The Kurds'', 159 pp., 1966. (see p. 10)] Guti
José María Gutiérrez Hernández (born 31 October 1976), known as Guti, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager.
During his career, he played almost exclusively for Real Madrid ...
,
Cyrtians
The Cyrtians or Kyrtians ancient Greek (Κύρτιοι ''Kýrtioi'' , Latin Cyrtii) were an ancient tribe in historic Persia near Mount Zagros.G. Asatrian, Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds, Iran and the Caucasus, Vol.13, pp. 1–58, 2009: "E ...
,
[''Encyclopedia Iranica'', "Carduchi" by M. Dandamayev] Carduchi
Corduene hy, Կորճայք, translit=Korchayk; ; Romanization of Hebrew, romanized: ''Kartigini'') was an ancient historical region, located south of Lake Van, present-day eastern Turkey.
Many believe that the Kardouchoi—mentioned in Xenopho ...
.
[Ilya Gershevitch, William Bayne Fisher, ''The Cambridge History of Iran: The Median and Achamenian Periods'', 964 pp., Cambridge University Press, 1985, , (see footnote of p. 257)]
The present state of knowledge about Kurdish allows, at least roughly, drawing the approximate borders of the areas where the main ethnic core of the speakers of the contemporary
Kurdish dialects
Kurdish (, ) is a language or a group of languages spoken by Kurds in the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Kurdish constitutes a dialect continuum, belonging to Western Iranian languages in the Indo-European language ...
was formed. The most argued hypothesis on the localisation of the ethnic territory of the Kurds remains
D.N. Mackenzie's theory, proposed in the early 1960s. Developing the ideas of P. Tedesco and regarding the common
phonetic
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
isoglosses shared by Kurdish,
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, and
Baluchi, D.N. Mackenzie concluded that the speakers of these three languages form a unity within Northwestern Iranian. He has tried to reconstruct such a Persian-Kurdish-Baluchi linguistic unity presumably in the central parts of Iran. According to his theory, the Persians (or Proto-Persians) occupied the
province of Fars in the southwest (proceeding from the fact that the
Achaemenids
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...
spoke Persian), the
Balochs
The Baloch or Baluch ( bal, بلۏچ, Balòc) are an Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located at the southeasternmost edge of the Iranian plateau, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. There ar ...
(Proto-Balochs) inhabited the central areas of Western Iran, and the Kurds (Proto-Kurds), in the wording of G. Windfuhr (1975: 459), lived either in northwestern
Luristan or in the
province of Isfahan.
Early Kurdish principalities
![Hasanwayhids map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Hasanwayhids_map.png)
In the second half of the 10th century there were five Kurdish principalities: in the north the
Shaddadid
The Shaddadids were a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty. who ruled in various parts of Armenia and Arran from 951 to 1199 AD. They were established in Dvin. Through their long tenure in Armenia, they often intermarried with the Bagratuni royal fami ...
(951–1174) (in parts of
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
and
Arran) and
Rawadid
Rawwadid or Ravvadid (also Revend or Revendi) or Banū Rawwād () (955–1071) was a Sunni Muslim Kurdish dynasty, centered in the northwestern region of Adharbayjan (Azerbaijan) between the late 8th and early 13th centuries.
Originally of Az ...
(955–1221) in
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
and
Maragheh
Maragheh ( fa, مراغه, Marāgheh or ''Marāgha''; az, ماراغا ) is a city and capital of Maragheh County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Maragheh is on the bank of the river Sufi Chay. The population consists mostly of Iranian Azerb ...
, in the East the
Hasanwayhid
Hasanwayhids or Hasanuyid was a powerful Shia Kurdish dynasty reigning the western parts of Iran such as Iranian Azerbaijan and Zagros Mountains between Shahrizor and Khuzestan from c. 959 to 1015. The last Hasanwayhid ruler died in 1015 in Sarmad ...
s (959–1015), the
Annazid
The Annazids or Banu Annaz (990/991–1117) was a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty which ruled an oscillating territory on the present-day frontier between Iran and Iraq for about 130 years. The Annazids were related by marriage to the Hasanwayhids wh ...
(990–1117) (in
Kermanshah
Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...
, ''
Dinawar
Dinavar (also spelled Dinawar and Daynavar; fa, دینور) was a major town between the 7th and 10th centuries, located to the northeast of Kermanshah in western Iran. The ruins of the town is now located in Dinavar District, in Sahneh County, ...
'' and
Khanaqin
Khanaqin ( ar, خانقين; ku, خانەقین, translit=Xaneqîn) is the central city of Khanaqin District in Diyala Governorate, Iraq, near the Iranian border (8 km) on the Alwand tributary of the Diyala River. The town is populated b ...
) and in the West the
Marwanid
The Marwanids or Dustakids (983/990-1085, ) were a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty in the Diyar Bakr region of Upper Mesopotamia (present day northern Iraq/southeastern Turkey) and Armenia, centered on the city of Amid (Diyarbakır).
Territory
...
(990–1096) of
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...
.
Later in the 12th century, the Kurdish
Hazaraspid
The Hazaraspids ( fa, هزاراسپیان, 1115–1424), was a Kurdish dynasty that ruled the Zagros Mountains region of southwestern Iran, essentially in Lorestan and which flourished in the later Saljuq, Ilkhanid, Muzaffarid, and Timurid per ...
dynasty established its rule in southern
Zagros
The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوههای زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...
and
Luristan and conquered territories of
Kuhgiluya,
Khuzestan
Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...
and
Golpayegan
Golpayegan ( fa, گلپایگان, Golpāyegān; also known as Shahr-e Golpāyegān meaning "City of Golpayegan") is a city and capital of Golpayegan County, Isfahan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 217,849, in 44,263 famil ...
in the 13th century and annexed
Shushtar
Shushtar ( fa, شوشتر; also Romanized as Shūshtar and Shūstar and Shooshtar) is a city and capital of Shushtar County, Khuzestan Province, Iran.
Shushtar is an ancient fortress city, approximately from Ahvaz, the centre of the province. ...
,
Hoveizeh
Hoveyzeh ( fa, هویزه; ar, الهويزة also romanized as Huwaiza, Havizeh, Hawiza, Hawīzeh, Hovayze, and Hovayzeh; also known as Hūzgān or Khūzgān) is a city and capital of Hoveyzeh County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census ...
and
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
in the 14th century.
One of these dynasties may have been able, during the decades, to impose its supremacy on the others and build a state incorporating the whole Kurdish country if the course of history had not been disrupted by the massive invasions of tribes surging out of the steppes of
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
. Having conquered
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and imposed their yoke on the caliph of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
, the
Seljuq Turks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
annexed the Kurdish principalities one by one. Around 1150,
Ahmad Sanjar
Senjer ( fa, ; full name: ''Muizz ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Adud ad-Dawlah Abul-Harith Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malik-Shah'') (''b''. 1085 – ''d''. 8 May 1157) was the Seljuq ruler of Khorasan from 1097 until in 1118,[Kurdistan
Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...]
. The province of Kurdistan, formed by Sanjar, had as its capital the village Bahar (which means lake or sea), near ancient
Ecbatana
Ecbatana ( peo, 𐏃𐎥𐎶𐎫𐎠𐎴 ''Hagmatāna'' or ''Haŋmatāna'', literally "the place of gathering" according to Darius I's inscription at Bisotun; Persian: هگمتانه; Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭧𐭬𐭲𐭠𐭭; Parthian: 𐭀𐭇 ...
(
Hamadan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') ( Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ha ...
). It included the vilayets of
Sinjar
Sinjar ( ar, سنجار, Sinjār; ku, شنگال, translit=Şingal, syr, ܫܝܓܪ, Shingar) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its p ...
and
Shahrazur
Shahrizor or Shahrazur () is a region part of Kurdistan Region, Iraq situated in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate and west of Avroman. Shahrizor is a fertile plain watered by the tributaries of Tandjaro river which flows to Diyala and Tigris rivers. ...
to the west of the
Zagros
The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوههای زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...
mountain range and those of Hamadan, Dinawar and
Kermanshah
Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...
to the east of this range. An autochthonous
civilization
A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system).
Ci ...
developed around the town of Dinawar (today ruined), located 75 km North-East of Kermanshah, whose radiance was later only partially replaced by that of
Senna, 90 km further North.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
(1254–1324) met Kurds in
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
on his way to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and he wrote what he had learned about Kurdistan and the Kurds to enlighten his European contemporaries. The
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
Kurdologist Kurdology or Kurdish studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Kurds and consists of several disciplines such as culture, history and linguistics. Kurdish studies traces its institutional history to 1916, when in St. Petersburg in t ...
Mirella Galetti, sorted these writings which were translated into Kurdish.
Ayyubid period
![Cristofano dell'altissimo, saladino, ante 1568 - Serie Gioviana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Cristofano_dell%27altissimo%2C_saladino%2C_ante_1568_-_Serie_Gioviana.jpg)
One of the periods where Kurds were at the peak of their power was during the 12th century, when
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
, who belonged to the Rawadiya branch of the
Hadabani tribe, founded the
Ayyubid
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
dynasty, under which several Kurdish chieftainships were established. The dynasty ruled areas extending from the
Kurdish regions to as far as
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
.
Kurdish principalities after the Mongol period
After the
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
period, Kurds established several independent states or
principalities
A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...
such as
Ardalan
Ardalan ( ku, میرنشینی ئەردەڵان) was a hereditary Kurdish vassaldom in western Iran from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with Sanandaj as capital. The territory corresponded roughly to present-day Kurdistan Province ...
,
Badinan,
Baban
Baban () was a Kurdish principality existing from the 16th century to 1850, centered around Sulaymaniyah. The Baban principality played an active role in the Ottoman- Safavid conflict and gave significant military support to the Ottomans. They wer ...
,
Soran,
Hakkari Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to:
*Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq
*Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey
*Hakkâri Province
Hakkâri Province (, tr, Hakkâri ili, ...
and
Badlis. A comprehensive history of these states and their relationship with their neighbors is given in the famous textbook of ''
Sharafnama
The ''Sharafnama'' (Kurdish: شەرەفنامە Şerefname, "The Book of Honor", Persian: Sharafname, شرفنامه) is the famous book of Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi (a medieval Kurdish historian and poet) (1543–1599), which he wrote in 1597, in Pe ...
'' written by Prince Sharaf al-Din Biltisi in 1597. The most prominent among these was
Ardalan
Ardalan ( ku, میرنشینی ئەردەڵان) was a hereditary Kurdish vassaldom in western Iran from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with Sanandaj as capital. The territory corresponded roughly to present-day Kurdistan Province ...
which was established in the early 14th century. The state of
Ardalan
Ardalan ( ku, میرنشینی ئەردەڵان) was a hereditary Kurdish vassaldom in western Iran from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with Sanandaj as capital. The territory corresponded roughly to present-day Kurdistan Province ...
controlled the territories of Zardiawa (Karadagh),
Khanaqin
Khanaqin ( ar, خانقين; ku, خانەقین, translit=Xaneqîn) is the central city of Khanaqin District in Diyala Governorate, Iraq, near the Iranian border (8 km) on the Alwand tributary of the Diyala River. The town is populated b ...
,
Kirkuk
Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, ...
,
Kifri
Kifri ( ar, کفري; ku, کفری, translit=Kifrî; tr, Kifri) is the central town of Kifri District in Diyala Governorate, Iraq. It has a Kurdish majority and a Turkmen and Arab minority. It is administered by Kurdistan Region but remains a d ...
, and
Hawraman
Avroman or Hawraman, ( ku, ههورامان, translit=Hewraman, fa, اورامان) is a mountainous region located within the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah in western Iran and in north-eastern Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The main part o ...
, despite being vassals themselves of the various in
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
centred succeeding Turkic federations in the region, namely that of the
Kara Koyunlu
The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu ( az, Qaraqoyunlular , fa, قره قویونلو), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a culturally Persianate, Muslim Turkoman "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, En ...
, and the
Ak Koyunlu specifically. The capital city of this state of Ardalan was first in Sharazour in
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...
, but was moved to
Sinne (in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
) later on. The
Ardalan
Ardalan ( ku, میرنشینی ئەردەڵان) was a hereditary Kurdish vassaldom in western Iran from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with Sanandaj as capital. The territory corresponded roughly to present-day Kurdistan Province ...
Dynasty was allowed to rule the region as vassals by many of the sovereign rulers over the wider territory, until the
Qajar
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
monarch
Nasser-al-Din Shah
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدینشاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...
(1848–1896) ended their rule in 1867.
Kurdish quarters
In the Middle Ages, in many cities outside of Kurdistan, Kurdish quarters were formed as a result of an influx of Kurdish tribal forces, as well as scholars. In these cities, Kurds often also had mosques, madrasahs and other edifices.
* In Aleppo, the Haret al-Akrad. The city of Aleppo also had Kurdish mosques like al-Zarzari, al-Mihrani, al-Bashnawayin.
[James, B. Saladin et les Kurdes: Perceptions d’un Groupe au Temps des Croisades. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2006. P. 52.]
* In Baghdad, Darb al-Kurd, recorded since the 11th century.
* In
Barda, Bab al-Akrad, recorded in the 10th century.
* In Cairo, Haret al-Akrad, at al-Maqs.
* In Damascus, Mount Qasyun at
Rukn al-dîn and Suq al-Saruja. Kurdish notables had also built mosques and madrasahs by name of al-Mudjadiyya, Sab‘ al-Madjânîn, al-Mihrani. Some other notables who patronized buildings were Balâchû al-Kurdî, Musa al-Kurdi, Habib al-Kurdi. There also was a Kurdish cemetery.
* In Gaza,
Shuja'iyya
Shuja'iyya ( ar, الشجاعية), also ''Shejaiya'', ''Shijaiyeh'', ''Shujayya'', ''Shuja'ia'', ''Shuja'iya'', is a neighborhood district of the Palestinian people, Palestinian city of Gaza City, Gaza and one of the largest neighborhoods in Gaza ...
, named after Shuja' al-Din Uthman al-Kurdi, who died in 1239.
* In Hebron,
Haret al-Akrad: associated with the Ayyubid conquests.
* In Jerusalem, Haret al-Akrad (later Haret esh-Sharaf, named after a certain Sharaf ad-Din Musa, who died in 1369). The city also had a madrasah-
ribat
A ribāṭ ( ar, رِبَـاط; hospice, hostel, base or retreat) is an Arabic term for a small fortification built along a frontier during the first years of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb to house military volunteers, called ''murabitun'' ...
by the name of
Ribat al-Kurd, built in 1294 by Amir Kurd al-Mansuri (Kurt al-Manṣūrī).
Safavid period
For many centuries, starting in the early modern period with
Ismail I
Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...
, Shah of
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
Persia, and Ottoman Sultan
Selim I
Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite last ...
, the Kurds came under the suzerainty of the two most powerful empires of the
Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
and staunch arch rivals, the
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
Ottoman Empire and the various
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
Empires. It started off with the rule of
Ismail I
Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...
, who ruled over all regions that encompass
native Kurdish living areas, and far beyond. During the years 1506–1510,
Yazidis
Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking Endogamy, endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran ...
revolted against
Ismail I
Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...
(who may have had Kurdish ancestry himself).
[Tapper, Richard, ''Frontier Nomads of Iran. A political and social history of the Shahsevan''. Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997. pp 39.][E. Yarshater, ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', "The Iranian Language of Azerbaijan"], group=Note Their leader,
Shir Sarim Shir Sarim or Sarim Khan was a Yazidis, Yazidi Kurds, Kurdish leader who led an uprising against Safavid dynasty, Safavid Persia during the reign of Ismail I, Shah Ismail I.
Sarim was described as being a ”hundred and ten years old, with a white ...
, was defeated and captured in a bloody battle wherein several important officers of
Ismail
Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...
lost their lives. The Kurdish prisoners were put to death "with torments worse than which there may not be".
In the mid-17th century the Kurds on the western borders disposed of firearms, According to
Tavernier, the mountain people between
Nineveh
Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...
and
Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
would not sell anything but for gunpowder and bullets. Even so, firearms were incorporated neither wholesale nor wholeheartedly among the Kurds, apparently for the same reasons that hindered their acceptance in iran proper. In a
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
statistical overview of tribes dating from the period of Shah sultan Husayn in the early 18th century, it is said that the Kurds of Zafaranlo tribe refused to carry the Tufang, because they considered it unmanly to do so, as a result of which most continued to fight with lance and sword, and some with arrow and bow.
Displacement of the Kurds
Removal of the population from along their borders with the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
in Kurdistan and the Caucasus was of strategic importance to the
Safavids
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were moved to other regions in the Safavid empire, only to defend the borders there. Hundreds of thousands of other ethnic groups living in the Safavid empire such as the
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
,
Assyrians,
Georgians
The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...
,
Circassians
The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia in ...
, and
Turkomans, were also removed from the border regions and resettled in the interior of
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, but mainly for other reasons such as socio-economic, and bureaucratic ones. During several periods, as the borders moved progressively eastward, with the Ottomans pushing deeper into the Persian domains, entire Kurdish regions of
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
were at one point or another exposed to horrific acts of despoliation and deportation. These began under the reign of the
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
Shah
Tahmasp I
Tahmasp I ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 to 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne after t ...
(ruled 1524–1576). Between 1534 and 1535, Tahmasp, using a policy of
scorched earth
A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...
against his Ottoman arch rivals, began the systematic destruction of the old Kurdish cities and the countryside. When retreating before the Ottoman army, Tahmasp ordered the destruction of crops and settlements of all sizes, driving the inhabitants before him into
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
, from where they were later transferred permanently, nearly 1,600 km (1,000 miles) east, into
Khurasan
Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...
.
Shah Abbas inherited a state threatened by the Ottomans in the west and the
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...
in the northeast. He bought off the former, in order to gain time to defeat the latter, after which he selectively depopulated the
Zagros
The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوههای زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...
and
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
approaches, deporting
Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...
,
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
,
Georgians
The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...
,
North Caucasians
The peoples of the Caucasus, or Caucasians, are a diverse group comprising more than 50 ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus.
By language group
Language families indigenous to the Caucasus
Caucasians who speak languages which have l ...
and others who might, willingly or not, supply, support or be any use in an Ottoman campaign in the region. Shah Abbas forcibly depopulated much of the
Kurdish lands ahead of the Ottoman expansion. He made it lucrative and prestigious for Kurds to become military conscripts, and raised an army of tens of thousands of predominantly Kurdish soldiers. Abbas also razed villages to the ground and marched the people into the Persian heartland.
The magnitude of
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
Scorched earth
A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...
policy can be glimpsed through the works of the Safavid court historians. One of these, ''Iskandar Bayg Munshi'', describing just one episode, writes in the ''Alam-ara ye Abbasi'' that
Shah Abbas, in furthering the scorched earth policy of his predecessors, ''set upon the country north of the
Araxes and west of
Urmia
Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an alt ...
, and between
Kars
Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...
and
Lake Van
Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...
, which he commanded to be laid waste and the population of the countryside and the entire towns rounded up and led out of harm's way.'' Resistance was met "with
massacres
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
and
mutilation
Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: ''mutilus'') refers to severe damage to the body that has a ruinous effect on an individual's quality of life. It can also refer to alterations that render something inferior, ugly, dysfunctional, or imper ...
; all immovable property, houses, churches, mosques, crops ... were destroyed, and the whole horde of prisoners was hurried southeast before the Ottomans should counterattack". Many of these Kurds ended up in
Khurasan
Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...
, but many others were scattered into the
Alburz
The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs nort ...
mountains, central
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, and even
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
. They became the nucleus of several modern Kurdish enclaves outside
Kurdistan
Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...
proper, in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
. On one occasion
Abbas I is said to have intended to transplant 40,000 Kurds to northern Khorasan but to have succeeded in deporting only 15,000 before his troops were defeated.
Massacre of Ganja
According to the early 17th century
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
historian
Arak'el Davrizhetsi, the
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
Kurdish tribe
The following is a list of tribes of Kurdish people, an Iranic ethnic group from the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan in Western Asia.
Iraq
Baghdad Governorate
The following tribes are present in Baghdad Governorate:
* Feyli tribe
Diyala Govern ...
of Jekirlu inhabited the region of
Ganja
Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: aːɲd ...
. In 1606, when
Shah Abbas reconquered Ganja, he ordered a general massacre of the Jekirlu. Even infants were slaughtered with sharp swords.
Battle of Dimdim
There is a well documented historical account
of a long battle in 1609–1610 between Kurds and the
Safavid Empire
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
. The battle took place around a fortress called "Dimdim" (DimDim) in Beradost region around
Lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
Urmia
Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an alt ...
in northwestern
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. In 1609, the ruined structure was rebuilt by "
Emîr Xan Lepzêrîn" (Golden Hand Khan), ruler of Beradost, who sought to maintain the independence of his expanding principality in the face of both Ottoman and Safavid penetration into the region. Rebuilding Dimdim was considered a move toward independence that could threaten Safavid power in the northwest. Many Kurds, including the rulers of Mukriyan rallied around Amir Khan. After a long and bloody siege led by the
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
grand vizier
Hatem Beg, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, Dimdim was captured. All the defenders were massacred.
Shah Abbas ordered a general massacre in Beradost and Mukriyan (reported by Eskandar Beg Turkoman, Safavid Historian in the Book ''Alam Aray-e Abbasi'') and resettled the Turkish
Afshar tribe
Afshar ( az, Əfşar افشار; tr, Avşar, ''Afşar''; tk, Owşar; fa, اَفشار, Āfshār) is a tribe of Oghuz Turkic origin, that split into several groups in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan.
During the Seljuk conquests of the 11th century ...
in the region while deporting many
Kurdish tribes
The following is a list of tribes of Kurdish people, an Iranic ethnic group from the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan in Western Asia.
Iraq
Baghdad Governorate
The following tribes are present in Baghdad Governorate:
* Feyli tribe
Diyala Gover ...
to
Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
. Although Persian historians (like Eskandar Beg) depicted the first battle of Dimdim as a result of Kurdish mutiny or treason, in Kurdish oral traditions (Beytî dimdim), literary works (Dzhalilov, pp. 67–72), and histories, it was treated as a struggle of the Kurdish people against foreign domination. In fact, Beytî dimdim is considered a national epic second only to
Mem û Zîn
''Mem and Zin'' ( ku, Mem û Zîn) is a Kurdish classic love story written down in 1692 and is considered to be the épopée of Kurdish literature. It is the most important work of Kurdish writer and poet Ahmad Khani (1651-1707). ''Mam and Zin'' ...
by
Ahmad Khani
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
. The first literary account of this battle is written by
Faqi Tayran.
Ottoman period
![Kurdish Prince (From the Italian book 1876, Giro Mondo)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Kurdish_Prince_%28From_the_Italian_book_1876%2C_Giro_Mondo%29.jpg)
When Sultan
Selim I
Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite last ...
, after defeating Shah
Ismail I
Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...
in 1514, annexed
Western Armenia
Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the eastern parts of Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that are part of the historical homeland of the Armenians. Weste ...
and
Kurdistan
Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...
, he entrusted the organisation of the conquered territories to Idris, the historian, who was a Kurd of
Bitlis
Bitlis ( hy, Բաղեշ '; ku, Bidlîs; ota, بتليس) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Bitlis Province. The city is located at an elevation of 1,545 metres, 15 km from Lake Van, in the steep-sided valley of the Bitlis R ...
. He divided the territory into ''
sanjaks
Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ)
* Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province")
* Bulgarian: окръг ('' okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region")
* el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province") ...
'' or districts, and, making no attempt to interfere with the principle of heredity, installed the local chiefs as governors. He also resettled the rich pastoral country between
Erzerum
Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010.
The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...
and
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...
, which had lain in waste since the passage of
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
, with Kurds from the
Hakkari Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to:
*Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq
*Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey
*Hakkâri Province
Hakkâri Province (, tr, Hakkâri ili, ...
and Bohtan districts.
Janpulat Revolt
The Janpulat (Turkish: Canpulatoğlu, Arabic:
Junblat) clan was ruled by local Kurdish feudal lords in the
Jabal al-Akrad
Jabal al-Akrad ( ar, جبل الأكراد ''Jabal al-Akrād'', ''Mountain of the Kurds'') is a rural mountainous region with an elevation that ranges from 400 to 1,000 meters above sea level, in northwestern Syria along the Syrian Coastal Moun ...
and
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, image_map1 =
...
region for almost a century before the Ottoman conquest of Syria. Their leader, Hussein Janpulatoğlu, was appointed as governor of Aleppo in 1604, however he was executed by
Çiğalzade Sinan Pasha allegedly for his late arrival at the
Battle of Urmia. According to Abul Wafa Al-Urdi, Janpulat had been murdered because of his Kurdish origins. His nephew,
Ali Janbulad
Ali Janbulad Pasha (transliterated in Turkish as Canbolatoğlu Ali Paşa; died 1 March 1610) was a Kurds, Kurdish tribal chief from Kilis and a rebel Ottoman Empire, Ottoman governor of Aleppo Eyalet, Aleppo who wielded practical supremacy over ...
, revolted in revenge and declared sovereignty in 1606 and was supported by the
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
of
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
,
Ferdinand I. He conquered a region stretching from
Hama
, timezone = EET
, utc_offset = +2
, timezone_DST = EEST
, utc_offset_DST = +3
, postal_code_type =
, postal_code =
, ar ...
to
Adana
Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million.
Adana lies in the heart ...
with 30,000 troops. Grand Vizier,
Murad Pasha, marched against him with a large army in 1607. Ali Pasha managed to escape and was later pardoned and appointed governor of province of
Temesvár in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
. He was eventually executed by Murad Pasha in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
in 1610.
Rozhiki Revolt
In 1655, ''Abdal Khan'' the Kurdish ''Rozhiki'' ruler of
Bidlis
Bitlis ( hy, Բաղեշ '; ku, Bidlîs; ota, بتليس) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Bitlis Province. The city is located at an elevation of 1,545 metres, 15 km from Lake Van, in the steep-sided valley of the Bitlis R ...
, formed a private army and fought a full scale war against the
Ottoman troops.
Evliya Çelebi
Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...
noted the presence of many
Yazidi
Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...
s in his army. The main reason for this armed insurrection was the discord between Abdal Khan and
Melek Ahmad Pasha, the Ottoman governor of
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...
and Abdal Khan. The Ottoman troops marched onto Bidlis and committed atrocities against civilians as they passed through ''Rozhiki'' territory. Abdal Khan had built great stone redoubts around Bitlis, and also old city walls were defended by a large army of Kurdish
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
armed with
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
s. Ottomans attacked the outer defensive perimeter and defeated Rozhiki soldiers, then they rushed to loot
Bidlis
Bitlis ( hy, Բաղեշ '; ku, Bidlîs; ota, بتليس) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Bitlis Province. The city is located at an elevation of 1,545 metres, 15 km from Lake Van, in the steep-sided valley of the Bitlis R ...
and attacked the civilians. Once the Ottoman force established its camp in Bidlis, in an act of revenge, Abdal Khan made a failed attempt to assassinate Melek Ahmad Pasha. A unit of twenty Kurdish soldiers rode into the tent of Yusuf Kethuda, the second-in-command and fought a ferocious battle with his guards. After the fall of Bidlis, 1,400 Kurds continued to resist from the city's old
citadel
A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
In ...
. While most of these surrendered and were given amnesty, 300 of them were massacred by Melek Ahmad with 70 of them dismembered by sword and cut into pieces.
Bedr Khan of Botan
![Khurasani kurdish exclave 1835](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Khurasani_kurdish_exclave_1835.png)
Except for the short Iranian recapture under
Nader Shah
Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...
in the first half of the 18th century, the system of administration introduced by Idris remained unchanged until the close of the
Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29. But the Kurds, owing to the remoteness of their country from the capital and the decline of Turkey, had greatly increased in influence and power, and had spread westwards over the country as far as
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
.
After the war with Russia, the Kurds attempted to free themselves from Ottoman control which resulted in the Bedr Khan clan uprising in 1834. The Ottoman Porte made the decision to then end the autonomous regions of the Eastern portion of the Empire. This was done by Rashid Pasha, also a Kurd.
The principal towns were strongly garrisoned, and many of the Kurd
bey
Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...
s were replaced by Turkish governors. A rising under Bedr Khan Bey in 1843 was firmly repressed, and after the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
the Turks strengthened their hold on the country. In the 1830's, Bedr Khan was defeated by the united Assyrians of Hakkari.
The modernizing and centralizing efforts of
Sultan Mahmud II
Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839.
His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...
antagonized Kurdish feudal chiefs. As a result two powerful
Kurdish families rebelled against the Ottomans in 1830. ''Bedr Khan'' of Botan rose up in the west of Kurdistan, around
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...
, and ''Muhammad Pasha'' of
Rawanduz
Rawandiz ( ar, رواندز; ku, ڕەواندز, Rewandiz) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, located in the Erbil Governorate, close to the Iran–Iraq border, borders with Iran and Iraq–Turkey border, Turkey, it is located 10 km ...
rebelled in the east and established his authority in
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
and
Erbil
Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000.
Hu ...
. At this time, Turkish troops were preoccupied with invading Egyptian troops in Syria and were unable to suppress the revolt. As a result, ''Bedr Khan'' extended his authority to ''Diyarbakır'', ''Siverik'' (
Siverek
Siverek (from hy, Սեւավերակ, lit=black ruins, translit=Sevaverag, ku, Sêwreg) is a city and district in the south-east of Turkey, in Şanlıurfa Province. Population 107,634 (city); 247,000 (district) (2000 census). Siverek is in Şanl ...
), ''Veransher'' (
Viranşehir
Viranşehir ( ku, Wêranşar) is a market town serving a cotton-growing area of Şanlıurfa Province, in southeastern Turkey, 93 km east of the city Şanlıurfa and 53 km north-west of Ceylanpınar at the Syrian border. In Late Antiquity ...
), ''Sairt'' (
Siirt
Siirt ( ar, سِعِرْد, Siʿird; hy, Սղերդ, S'gherd; syr, ܣܥܪܬ, Siirt; ku, Sêrt) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the seat of Siirt Province. The population of the city according to the 2009 census was 129,188.
History
Pr ...
), ''Sulaimania'' (
Sulaymaniyah
Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, Go ...
) and ''Sauj Bulaq'' (
Mahabad
Mahabad ( fa, مهاباد, ku, مەهاباد, translit=Mehabad), also Romanized as Mihābād and Muhābād and formerly known as Savojbolagh, is a city and capital of Mahabad County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its p ...
). He established a Kurdish principality in these regions until 1845. He struck his own coins, and his name was included in Friday sermons. In 1847, the Turkish forces turned their attention toward this area, and defeated Bedr Khan and exiled him to
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
. He was later allowed to return to
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
, where he lived until his death in 1868. Bedr Khan Beg made two campaigns in 1843 and 1846 against the Assyrian Christians (Nestorians) of Hakkari and massacred up to 4,000 Assyrians in an attempt to Islamize the region; those Assyrians who met their fate were the mother and the two brothers of the yet to be spiritual Assyrian leader Mar Shimun.
Bedr Khan became king when his brother died. His brother's son became very upset over this, which the Turks exploited in tricking him into fighting his uncle. They told him that they would make him king if he killed Bedr Khan. Bedr Khan's nephew brought many Kurdish warriors with to attack his uncle's forces. After defeating Bedr Khan, Bedr Khan's nephew was executed instead of becoming king as the Turks had promised.
There are two famous Kurdish songs about this battle, called "Ezdin Shêr" and "Ez Xelef im". After this, there were further revolts in 1850 and 1852.
Kurdistan as an administrative entity had a brief and shaky existence of 17 years between 13 December 1847 (following
Bedirhan Bey's revolt) and 1864, under the initiative of
Koca Mustafa Reşit Pasha
Koca (a Turkish word meaning "great" or "large") may refer to:
People
Epithet
* Koca Ragıp Pasha (1698–1763), Ottoman statesman
* Koča Andjelković (1755–1789), Serbian rebel
* Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha (1769–1855), Ottoman admiral
* ...
during the
Tanzimat
The Tanzimat (; ota, تنظيمات, translit=Tanzimāt, lit=Reorganization, ''see'' nizām) was a period of reform in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerif in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. ...
period (1839–1876) of the Ottoman Empire. The capital of the province was, at first,
Ahlat
Ahlat ( ku, Xelat, ) is a town and district in Turkey's Bitlis Province in Eastern Anatolia Region. From 1929 to 1936, it was a district of Van Province. The town of Ahlat is situated on the northwestern shore of Lake Van. The mayor is Abdulalim M ...
, and covered
Diyarbekir,
Muş
Muş (; hy, Մուշ; ku, Mûş) is a city and the provincial capital of Muş Province in Turkey. Its population is mostly Kurds.
Etymology
Various explanations of the origin of Muş's name exist. Its name is sometimes associated with the Arme ...
, Van,
Hakkari Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to:
*Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq
*Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey
*Hakkâri Province
Hakkâri Province (, tr, Hakkâri ili, ...
, Botan (
Cizre
Cizre (; ar, جَزِيْرَة ٱبْن عُمَر, Jazīrat Ibn ʿUmar, or ''Madinat al-Jazira'', he, גזירא, Gzira, ku, Cizîr, ''Cizîra Botan'', or ''Cizîre'', syr, ܓܙܪܬܐ ܕܒܪ ܥܘܡܪ, Gāzartā,) is a city in the Cizre Dis ...
) and
Mardin
Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on ...
. In the following years, the capital was transferred several times, first from Ahlat to Van, then to Muş and finally to Diyarbakır. Its area was reduced in 1856 and the province of Kurdistan within the Ottoman Empire was abolished in 1864. Instead, the former provinces of
Diyarbekir and
Van have been re-constituted. Around 1880, Shaikh Ubaidullah led a revolt aiming at bringing the areas between Lakes Van and Urmia under his own rule, however Ottoman and Qajar forces succeeded in defeating the revolt.
Shaikh Ubaidullah's Revolt and Armenians
![Diyarbekir shepherd, Mardin Kurd, Aljazeera Kurd, 1873](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Diyarbekir_shepherd%2C_Mardin_Kurd%2C_Aljazeera_Kurd%2C_1873.jpg)
The
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 was followed by the
uprising of Sheikh Ubeydullah in 1880–1881 to found an independent Kurd
principality
A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...
under the protection of Turkey. The attempt, at first encouraged by the
Porte
Porte may refer to:
*Sublime Porte, the central government of the Ottoman empire
*Porte, Piedmont, a municipality in the Piedmont region of Italy
*John Cyril Porte, British/Irish aviator
*Richie Porte, Australian professional cyclist who competes ...
, as a reply to the projected creation of an Armenian state under the suzerainty of Russia, collapsed after Ubeydullah's raid into Persia, when various circumstances led the central government to reassert its supreme authority. Until the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 there had been little hostile feeling between the Kurds and the Armenians, and as late as 1877–1878 the mountaineers of both races had co-existed fairly well together.
In 1891, the activity of the Armenian Committees induced the Porte to strengthen the position of the Kurds by raising a body of Kurdish
irregular cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
, who were well-armed
Hamidieh soldier
The ''Hamidiye'' regiments (literally meaning "belonging to Hamid", full official name ''Hamidiye Hafif Süvari Alayları'', Hamidiye Light Cavalry Regiments) were well-armed, irregular, mainly Sunni Kurdish but also Turkish, Circassian,Pal ...
s after the Sultan
Abd-ul-Hamid II
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
. Minor disturbances constantly occurred, and were soon followed by a massacre and rape of Armenians at
Sasun by Kurdish nomads and Ottoman troops.
20th century history
Rise of nationalism
Kurdish nationalism emerged at the end of the 19th Century around the same time as Turks and Arabs began to embrace an ethnic sense of identity in place of earlier forms of solidarity such as the idea of Ottoman citizenship or membership of a religious community, or ''millet''. Revolts occurred sporadically but only in 1880 with the uprising led by
Sheikh Ubeydullah
}) also known as ''Sayyid Ubeydullah'', was the leader of the first modern Kurdish nationalist struggle. Ubeydullah demanded recognition from Ottoman Empire and Qajar dynasty authorities for an independent Kurdish state, or Kurdistan, which he woul ...
were demands as an ethnic group or nation made. Ottoman sultan
Abdul Hamid ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الحميد) is a Muslim male given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Ḥamīd'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which gave rise t ...
responded by a campaign of integration by co-opting prominent Kurdish opponents to strong Ottoman power with prestigious positions in his government. This strategy appears successful given the loyalty displayed by the Kurdish
Hamidiye regiments during World War I.
The Kurdish ethnonationalist movement that emerged following World War I and end of the Ottoman empire was largely reactionary to the changes taking place in mainstream Turkey, primarily radical
secularization
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
which the strongly Muslim Kurds abhorred, centralization of authority which threatened the power of local chieftains and Kurdish autonomy, and rampant
Turkish nationalism
Turkish nationalism ( tr, Türk milliyetçiliği) is a political ideology that promotes and glorifies the Turkish people, as either a Turkey#Demographics, national, Turkish people, ethnic, or Turkish language, linguistic group. The term "ultrana ...
in the new Turkish Republic which obviously threatened to marginalize them.
Western powers (particularly the United Kingdom) fighting the Turks also promised the Kurds they would act as guarantors for Kurdish independence, a promise they subsequently broke. One particular organization, the Kurdish Teali Cemiyet (
Society for the Rise of Kurdistan
Society for the Rise of Kurdistan ( ku, Cemîyeta Tealîya Kurdistanê) also known as the Society for the Advancement of Kurdistan (SAK), was secretly established in Istanbul, Constantinople on 6 November 1917 and officially announced organizat ...
, or SAK) was central to the forging of a distinct Kurdish identity. It took advantage of period of political liberalization during the
Second Constitutional Era
The Second Constitutional Era ( ota, ایكنجی مشروطیت دورى; tr, İkinci Meşrutiyet Devri) was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire between the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the 1920 dissolution of the G ...
(1908–1920) of Turkey to transform a renewed interest in
Kurdish culture
Kurdish culture is a group of distinctive cultural traits practiced by Kurdish people. The Kurdish culture is a legacy from ancient peoples who shaped modern Kurds and their society.
Kurds are an ethnic group mainly in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. Th ...
and language into a political nationalist movement based on ethnicity.
[
]
After World War I
Some Kurdish groups sought self-determination and the championing in the Treaty of Sèvres
The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...
of Kurdish autonomy in the aftermath of World War I
The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, ne ...
, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk prevented such a result. Kurds backed by the United Kingdom declared independence in 1927 and established so-called Republic of Ararat
The Republic of Ararat, or Kurdish Republic of Ararat,Abbas Vali, ''Essays on the origins of Kurdish nationalism'', Mazda Publishers, 2003, p. 199./ref> ( ku, کۆماری ئارارات, translit=Komara Agiriyê and ku, Komara Araratê) was ...
. Turkey suppressed Kurdist revolts in 1925, 1930, and 1937–1938, while Iran did the same in the 1920s to Simko Shikak
Simko Shikak. Birth name: Ismail Agha Shikak. born 1887, was a Kurdish chieftain of the Shekak tribe. He was born into a prominent Kurdish feudal family based in Chihriq castle located near the Baranduz river in the Urmia region of northwestern ...
at Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia;
az, اۇرمۇ گؤلۆ, script=Arab, italic=no, Urmu gölü;
ku, گۆلائوو رمیەیێ, Gola Ûrmiyeyê;
hy, Ուրմիա լիճ, Urmia lich;
arc, ܝܡܬܐ ܕܐܘܪܡܝܐ is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is ...
and Jaafar Sultan of Hewraman region who controlled the region between Marivan
Mariwan ( fa, مريوان; ) also known as Qale Marīvān - "Fort Marivan"; formerly, Dezhe Shahpur (Persian: دِژ شاهپور), also Romanized as Dezhe Shāhpūr and Dezhe Shapoor) is a town in – and the capital of – Marivan Cou ...
and north of Halabja
Halabja ( ku, هەڵەبجە, Helebce, ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the capital of Halabja Governorate, located about northeast of Baghdad and from the Iranian border.
The city lies at the base of what is often referred to ...
.
From 1922 to 1924 in Iraq, a Kingdom of Kurdistan existed. When Ba'athist administrators thwarted Kurdish nationalist ambitions in Iraq, war broke out in the 1960s. In 1970 the Kurds rejected limited territorial self-rule within Iraq, demanding larger areas including the oil-rich Kirkuk
Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, ...
region. For recent developments see Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...
.
In 1922, an investigation was initiated for Nihad Pasha, the commander of Al Jazira, Mesopotamia, El-Cezire front, by ''Adliye Encümeni'' (Council of Justice) of Grand National Assembly of Turkey with allegations of fraud. During a confidential convention on the issue on 22 July, a letter of introductions by the Cabinet of Ministers and signed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal was read. The text was referring to the region as "Kurdistan" three times and providing Nihad Pasha with full authorities to support the local Kurdish administrations (''idare-i mahallîyeye dair teşkilâtlar'') as per the principle of self-determination (''Milletlerin kendi mukadderatlarını bizzat idare etme hakkı''), in order to gradually establish a local government in the regions inhabited by Kurds (''Kürtlerle meskûn menatık'').
In 1931, Iraqi Kurdish statesman Mihemed Emîn Zekî, while serving as the Minister of the Economy in the first Nuri as-Said government, drew the boundaries of Turkish Kurdistan as: "With mountains of Ararat and the Georgia (country), Georgian border (including the region of Kars Province, Kars, where Kurds and Georgians live side by side) to the north, Iranian border to the east, Iraqi border to the south, and to the west, a line drawn from the west of Sivas to İskenderun. These boundaries are also in accord with those drawn by the Ottomans." In 1932, Garo Sassouni, formerly a prominent figure of Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Dashnak Armenia, defined the borders of "Kurdistan proper" (excluding whole territory of Wilsonian Armenia) as: "... with a line from the south of Erzincan to Kharput, incorporating Tunceli, Dersim, Bingöl, Çarsancak, and Malatya, including the mountains of Osmaniye Province, Cebel-i Bereket and reaching the Syrian border", also adding, "these are the broadest boundaries of Kurdistan that can be claimed by Kurds."
During the 1920s and 1930s, several large-scale Kurdish revolts took place in this region. The most important ones were the Saikh Said Rebellion in 1925, the Ararat Revolt in 1930 and the Dersim Revolt in 1938 (see Kurds in Turkey). Following these rebellions, the area of Turkish Kurdistan was put under martial law and many Kurds were displaced. Government also encouraged resettlement of Kosovo Albanians, Albanians from Kosovo and Assyrians in the region to change the population makeup. These events and measures led to a long-lasting mutual distrust between Ankara and the Kurds.
In 1937, during the period of Stalinism, many Kurds in Armenia, along with Kurds in Azerbaijan, became victims of forced migration, and were forcibly deported to Kazakhstan.
World War II
During World War Two, the Kurds formed 10 companies in the Iraq Levies that the British had recruited in Iraq. Kurds supported the British in the defeating the pro-Nazi 1941 Iraqi coup d'état. Twenty-five percent of the Iraq Levies' 1st Parachute Company was Kurdish. The Parachute Company was attached to the Royal Marine Commando and was active in Albania, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus.
Kurds participated in the Soviet occupation of northern Iraq in 1941, creating the Persian Corridor, a vital supply line for the USSR. This led to the short-lived formation of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad.
Despite the fact they were a tiny minority in the Soviet Union, Kurds played a significant role in the Soviet war effort. On 1 October 1941, Samand Siabandov was awarded the honour Hero of the Soviet Union. Kurds served at Battle of Smolensk (1941), Smolensk, Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942), Sevastopol, Siege of Leningrad, Leningrad, and Battle of Stalingrad, Stalingrad. Kurds took part in the Soviet partisans, partisan movement behind German lines. Karaseva received both the Hero of the Soviet Union medal and the medal Partisan of the Fatherland War (First Degree) for organising partisans to fight against the Germans in Volyn Oblast, Volhynia Oblast in Ukraine. Kurds took part in the Budapest Offensive, advance into Hungary and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, invasion of Japanese-held Manchuria.
Post-WWII
Turkey
About half of all Kurds live in Turkey. According to the CIA Factbook they account for 18 percent of the Turkish population. They are predominantly distributed in the southeastern corner of the country.["The cultural situation of the Kurds"](_blank)
A report by Lord Russell-Johnston, Council of Europe, July 2006
The best available estimate of the number of persons in Turkey speaking the Kurdish language is about five million (1980). About 3,950,000 others speak Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) (1980). While population increase suggests that the number of speakers has grown, it is also true that the ban on the use of the language in Turkey was only lifted in 1991 and still exists in most official settings (including schools), and that many fewer ethnic Kurds live in the countryside where the language has traditionally been used. The number of speakers is clearly less than the 15 million or so persons who identify themselves as ethnic Kurds.
From 1915 to 1918, Kurds struggled to end Ottoman rule over their region. They were encouraged by Woodrow Wilson's support for non-Turkish nationalities of the empire and submitted their claim for independence to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The Treaty of Sèvres
The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...
stipulated the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state in 1920, but the subsequent Treaty of Lausanne (1923) failed to mention Kurds. After the Sheikh Said rebellion was suppressed in 1925, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Kemal Atatürk established a Reform Council for the East () which prepared the 1925 Report for Reform in the East (Turkey), Report for Reform in the East () which encouraged the creation of Inspectorates-General (Turkey), Inspectorates-Generals (, UMs), in the areas comprising a majority Kurdish population. Following there were established three regional Inspectorates Generals comprising the Kurdish provinces, the Inspectorates General were ruled with Martial Law and Kurdish notables in the areas were meant to be resettled to the west of Turkey. The Inspectorates Generals were disestablished in 1952.
During the relatively open government of the 1950s, Kurds gained political office and started working within the framework of the Turkish Republic to further their interests but this move towards integration was halted with the 1960 Turkish coup d'état. The 1970s saw an evolution in Kurdish nationalism as Marxist political thought influenced a new generation of Kurdish nationalists opposed to the local feudal authorities who had been a traditional source of opposition to authority, eventually they would form the militant separatist Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan, PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party in English.
Following these events, Turkey officially Denial of Kurds by Turkey, denied the existence of the Kurds or an other distinct ethnic groups and any expression by the Kurds of their ethnic identity was harshly repressed. Until 1991, the use of the Kurdish language – although widespread – was illegal. As a result of reforms inspired by the EU, music, radio and television broadcasts in Kurdish are now allowed albeit with severe time restrictions (for example, radio broadcasts can be no longer than sixty minutes per day nor can they constitute more than five hours per week while television broadcasts are subject to even greater restrictions). Additionally, education in Kurdish is now permitted though only in private institutions.
As late as 1994, however, Leyla Zana, the first female Kurdish representative in Grand National Assembly of Turkey, was charged with making "separatist speeches" and sentenced to 15 years in prison. At her inauguration as an MP, she reportedly identified herself as a Kurd. Amnesty International reported that "[s]he took the oath of loyalty in Turkish, as required by law, then added in Kurdish, 'I shall struggle so that the Kurdish and Turkish peoples may live together in a democratic framework.' In response to this, calls for her arrest blaming her of being a "Separatist" and "Terrorist" were heard in the Turkish parliament.
The Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK), also known as ''KADEK'' and ''Kongra-Gel'' is Kurdish militant organization which has waged an armed struggle against the Turkish state for cultural and political rights and self-determination for the Kurds. Turkey's military allies the US, the EU, and NATO see the PKK as a terrorist organization.
From 1984 to 1999, the PKK and the Turkish military engaged in open war, and much of the countryside in the southeast was depopulated, with Kurdish civilians moving to local defensible centers such as Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...
, Van, and Şırnak, as well as to the cities of western Turkey and even to western Europe. The causes of the depopulation included PKK atrocities against Kurdish clans who they could not control, the poverty of the southeast, and the Turkish state's military operations. Human Rights Watch has documented many instances where the Turkish military forcibly destroyed houses and villages. An estimated 3,000 Kurdish villages in Turkey were virtually wiped off the map, representing the displacement of more than 378,000 people.
Nelson Mandela refused to accept the ''Atatürk Peace Award'' in 1992 because of the oppression of the Kurds, but later accepted the award in 1999.
Iraq
Kurds make up around 17% of Iraq's population. They are the majority in at least three provinces in Northern Iraq which are known as Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...
. There are around 300,000 Kurds living in the Iraqi capital Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
, 50,000 in the city of Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
and around 100,000 Kurds living elsewhere in Southern Iraq. Kurds led by Mustafa Barzani were engaged in heavy fighting against successive Iraqi regimes from 1960 to 1975. In March 1970, Iraq announced a peace plan providing for Kurdish autonomy. The plan was to be implemented in four years. However, at the same time, the Iraqi regime started an Arabization program in the oil rich regions of Kirkuk and Khanaqin. The peace agreement did not last long, and in 1974, the Iraqi government began a new offensive against the Kurds. Moreover, in March 1975, Iraq and Iran signed the 1975 Algiers Agreement, Algiers Accord, according to which Iran cut supplies to Iraqi Kurds. Iraq started another wave of Arabization by moving Arabs to the oil fields in northern Iraq, particularly those around Kirkuk. Between 1975 and 1978, 200,000 Kurds were deported to other parts of Iraq.
During the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, the regime implemented anti-Kurdish policies and a ''de facto'' civil war broke out. Iraq was widely condemned by the international community, but was never seriously punished for oppressive measures such as the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, the wholesale destruction of thousands of villages and the deportation of thousands of Kurds to southern and central Iraq. The campaign of Iraqi government against Kurds in 1988 was called ''Anfal'' ("Spoils of War"). The Anfal attacks led to destruction of two thousand villages and death of between 50 and 100,000 Kurds.
After the Kurdish uprising in 1991 ( ku, Raperîn) led by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, Iraqi troops recaptured the Kurdish areas and hundreds of thousand of Kurds fled to the borders. To alleviate the situation, a "safe haven" was established by the Security Council. The autonomous Kurdish area was mainly controlled by the rival parties KDP and PUK. The Kurdish population welcomed the American troops in 2003 by holding celebrations and dancing in the streets. The area controlled by peshmerga was expanded, and Kurds now have effective control in Kirkuk and parts of Mosul. By the beginning of 2006, the two Kurdish areas were merged into one unified region. A series of referendums were scheduled to be held in 2007, to determine the final borders of the Kurdish region.
In early June 2010, following a visit to Turkey by one of the PKK leaders, the PKK announced an end to the cease fire, followed by an air attack on several border villages and rebel positions by the Turkish air force.
On 11 July 2014 KRG forces seized control of the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk Field, Kirkuk oilfields, prompting a condemnation from Baghdad and a threat of "dire consequences", if the oilfields were not relinquished back to Iraq's control. The 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum took place on September 25, with 92.73% voting in favor of independence. This triggered a 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, military operation in which the Iraqi government retook control of Kirkuk and surrounding areas, and forced the KRG to annul the referendum.
Iran
The Iranian Kurdistan, Kurdish region of Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
has been a part of the country since ancient times. Nearly all of Kurdistan
Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...
was part of the Safavid Empire, Iranian Empire until its western part was lost during the Ottoman–Persian Wars, wars against the Ottoman Empire. Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, at the Treaty of Versailles, Paris Conferences in 1919, Tehran demanded various territories including Turkish Kurdistan
Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () refers to the southeastern part of Turkey, where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of the ...
, Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
, and even Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...
, but these demands were quickly rejected by Western powers. Instead, the Kurdish area was divided by modern Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Today, the Kurds inhabit mostly North-Western Iran but also parts of Khorasan Province, Khorasan, and constitute approximately 7–10% of Iran's overall population (6.5–7.9 million), compared to 10.6% (2 million) in 1956 or 8% (800,000) in 1850.
Unlike in other Kurdish-populated countries, there are very strong ethno-linguistical, historical and cultural ties between Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...
and others as Iranian peoples. Some of modern Iranian dynasties like Safavids
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
and Zands are considered to be partly of Kurdish origin. Kurdish literature in all of its forms (Kurmanji language, Kurmanji, Sorani language, Sorani and Gorani language (Zaza-Gorani), Gorani) has been developed within History of Iran, historical Iranian Geography of Iran, boundaries under strong influence of Persian language. Due to Kurds sharing a common history, very close cultural and linguistic links as well as common origins with the rest of Iran, this is seen as a reason why Kurdish leaders in Iran do not want a separate Kurdish state.
The government of Iran has always been implacably opposed to any sign of independence for the Iranian Kurds. During and shortly after the First World War, the government of Iran was ineffective and had very little control over events in the country and several Kurdish Kurdish tribes, tribal chiefs gained local political power, and established large confederations. In the same time, a wave of nationalism from the disintegrating Ottoman Empire has partly influenced some Kurdish chiefs in border region, and they posed as Kurdish nationalist leaders. Prior to this, identity in both countries largely relied upon religion i.e. Shia Islam in the particular case of Iran. In 19th century Qajar dynasty, Iran, Shia–Sunni relations, Shia–Sunni animosity and describing Sunni Kurds as Ottoman fifth column was quite frequent.
During the late 1910s and early 1920s, Simko Shikak revolt, tribal revolt led by Kurdish chieftain Simko Shikak
Simko Shikak. Birth name: Ismail Agha Shikak. born 1887, was a Kurdish chieftain of the Shekak tribe. He was born into a prominent Kurdish feudal family based in Chihriq castle located near the Baranduz river in the Urmia region of northwestern ...
swept across Iranian Kurdistan. Although elements of Kurdish nationalism were present in the movement, historians agree they were hardly articulate enough to justify a claim that recognition of Kurdish identity was a major issue in Simko's movement, and he had to rely heavily on conventional tribal motives. Pahlavi dynasty, Government forces and non-Kurds were not the only ones to have allegedly been attacked, the Kurdish population was also robbed and assaulted. The fighters do not appear to have felt any sense of unity or solidarity with fellow Kurds. Kurdish insurgency and seasonal migrations in the late 1920s, along with long-running tensions between Tehran and Ankara, resulted in border clashes and even military penetrations in both Iranian and Turkish territory. Two regional powers have used Kurdish tribes as tool for own political benefits: Turkey has provided military help and refuge for anti-Iranian Turcophone Simko Shikak revolt, Shikak rebels in 1918–1922, while Iran did the same during Ararat rebellion against Turkey in 1930. The Iranian government's forced detribalization and sedentarization in the 1920s and 1930s resulted in many tribal revolts in Iranian regions such as Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan, Luristan and Iranian Kurdistan, Kurdistan. In particular case of the Kurds, these policies partly contributed to developing revolts among some tribes.
As a response to growing Pan-Turkism and Pan-Arabism in region which were seen as potential threats to the territorial integrity of Iran, Pan-Iranist ideology has been developed in the early 1920s. Some of such groups and journals openly advocated Iranian support to the Kurdish opposition against Turkey. Pahlavi dynasty has endorsed Iranian Iranian peoples, ethnic Iranian nationalism, nationalism which allegedly seen the Kurds as integral part of the Iranian nation. Another significant ideology during this period was Marxism which arose among Kurds under influence of the USSR. It culminated in the Iran crisis of 1946 which included a bold attempt KDP-I and communist groups to try to gain autonomy to establish the USSR, Soviet puppet government called Republic of Mahabad. It arose along with Azerbaijan People's Government, another Soviet puppet state. The state itself encompassed a very small territory, including Mahabad
Mahabad ( fa, مهاباد, ku, مەهاباد, translit=Mehabad), also Romanized as Mihābād and Muhābād and formerly known as Savojbolagh, is a city and capital of Mahabad County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its p ...
and the adjacent cities, unable to incorporate the southern Iranian Kurdistan which fell inside the Anglo-American zone, and unable to attract the tribes outside Mahabad itself to the nationalist cause. As a result, when the Soviets withdrew from Iran in December 1946, government forces were able to enter Mahabad unopposed when the tribes betrayed the republic.
Several Marxist insurgencies continued for decades (1967 Kurdish revolt in Iran, 1967, 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran, 1979, KDPI insurgency (1989–96), 1989–96) led by KDP-I and Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, Komalah, but those two organization have never advocated a Kurdish country as did the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK in Turkey. Still, many dissident leaders, among others Qazi Muhammad and Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, were executed or assassinated. During Iran–Iraq War, Tehran has provided support for Iraqi-based Kurdish groups like Kurdish Democratic Party, KDP or Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, along with asylum for 1,400,000 Iraqi refugees, mostly Kurdish refugees, Kurds. Although Kurdish Marxist groups have been marginalized in Iran since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in 2004 new Iran–PJAK conflict, insurrection has been started by PJAK, separatist organization affiliated with the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK and designated as Terrorist organization, terrorist by Iran, Turkey and the United States. Some analysts claim that the PJAK does not pose any serious threat to the government of Iran. Cease-fire has been established in September 2011 following the Iranian offensive on PJAK bases, but several clashes between PJAK and IRGC took place after it. Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, accusations of discrimination by Western organizations and of foreign involvement by the Iranian side have become very frequent.
Kurds have been well integrated in Politics of Iran, Iranian political life during the reign of various governments. During the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi some members of parliament and high army officers were Kurds, and there was even a Kurdish Cabinet Minister. During Pahlavi dynasty, Pahlavi reign Kurds allegedly received many favours from the authorities, for instance to keep their land after the White Revolution, land reforms of 1962. In the early 2000s, the supposed presence of thirty Kurdish deputies in the 290-strong Parliament of Iran, parliament has allegedly shown that Kurds have a say in Iranian politics. Some of influential Kurdish politicians during recent years include former Vice President of Iran, first vice president Mohammad Reza Rahimi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Mayor of Tehran and second-placed Iranian presidential election, 2013, presidential candidate in 2013. Kurdish language is today used more than at any other time since the Iranian Revolution, Revolution, including in several newspapers and among schoolchildren. Large numbers of Kurds in Iran show no interest in Kurdish nationalism, especially Shia Kurds, and even vigorously reject the idea of autonomy, preferring direct rule from Tehran. Iranian national identity is questioned only in the peripheral Kurdish Sunni regions.
Syria
Kurds and other Non-Arabs account for ten percent of Syria's population, a total of around 1.9 million people. This makes them the largest ethnic minority in the country. They are mostly concentrated in the northeast and the north, but there are also significant Kurdish populations in Aleppo and Damascus. Kurds often speak Kurdish in public, unless all those present do not. Kurdish human rights activists are mistreated and persecuted. No political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish or otherwise.
Techniques used to suppress the ethnic identity of Kurds in Syria include various bans on the use of the Kurdish language, refusal to register children with Kurdish names, the replacement of Kurdish place names with new names in Arabic, the prohibition of businesses that do not have Arabic names, the prohibition of Kurdish private schools, and the prohibition of books and other materials written in Kurdish. Having been denied the right to Syrian nationality, around 300,000 Kurds have been deprived of any social rights, in violation of international law. As a consequence, these Kurds are in effect trapped within Syria. In February 2006, however, sources reported that Syria was now planning to grant these Kurds citizenship.
On 12 March 2004, beginning at a stadium in Qamishli (a city in northeastern Syria where many Kurds live), clashes between Kurds and Syrians broke out and continued over a number of days. At least thirty people were killed and more than 160 injured. The unrest spread to other Kurdish inhabited towns along the northern border with Turkey, and then to Damascus
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, ...
and Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
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.
Armenia
Between the 1920s and 1990s, Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
was a part of the Soviet Union, within which Kurds, like other ethnic groups, had the status of a protected minority. Armenian Kurds were permitted their own state-sponsored newspaper, radio broadcasts and cultural events. During the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, many non-Yazidis and Kurds were forced to leave their homes. Following the end of the Soviet Union, Kurds in Armenia were stripped of their cultural privileges and most fled to Russia or Western Europe.["Kurds and Kurdistan: A General Background"]
p. 22 Recently introduced National Assembly (Armenia)#Electoral System, Electoral System of the Armenian National Assembly reserves one seat in the National Assembly (Armenia), parliament to the representative of the Kurdish minority.
Republic of Azerbaijan
In 1920, two Kurdish-inhabited areas of Jewanshir (capital Kalbajar) and eastern Zangazur (capital Lachin) were combined to form the Kurdistan Okrug (or "Red Kurdistan"). The period of existence of the Kurdish administration was brief and did not last beyond 1929. Kurds subsequently faced many repressive measures, including deportations. As a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, many Kurdish areas have been destroyed and more than 150,000 Kurds have been deported by the Armenian forces since 1988.[
]
Kurds In Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon
The Kurdish leader Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
along with his uncles Ameer Adil and Ameer Sherko, were joined by Kurdish fighters from the cities of Tigrit, Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
, Erbil and Sharazur in a drive towards 'Sham' (today's Syria and Lebanon) in order to protect Islamic lands against crusader attack. The Kurdish King and his uncles ruled north Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Egypt for a short period. Salah El Din in Syria, Ameer Sherko in Egypt and Ameer Adil in Jordan, with family members ruling most of the cities of today's Iraq. The Kurds built many monumental castles in the lands which they ruled, especially in what was called 'Kurdistan of Syria' and in Damuscus, the capital of Syria. A tall building, called 'Qalha', is still standing, in the mid south-west quarter of Damascus. The Ayubian dynasty continued there for many years, all from Kurdish descent.
Genetics
Although the Kurds came under the successive dominion of various conquerors, including the Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
, Roman Empire, Romans, Byzantine Empire, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, Sassanid Empire, Sassanid Persians, and Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persians they may have remained relatively unmixed by the influx of invaders, because of their protected and inhospitable mountainous homeland.
Similarity to Europeans and peoples of the Caucasus
A study by Richards and colleagues of mitochondrial DNA in the Near East found that Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Ossetians and Armenians show a high incidence of mtDNA U5 lineages, which are common among Europeans, although rare elsewhere in the Near East. The sample of Kurds in this study came from northwest Iran and northeast Iraq, where Kurds usually predominate.
A geographically broad study of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor found that populations located west of the Indus Valley mainly harbor mtDNAs of Western Eurasian origin.
When Ivan Nasidze and his colleagues examined both mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA, they found Kurdish groups most similar genetically to other West Asian groups, and most distant from Central Asian groups, for both mtDNA and the Y chromosome. However, Kurdish groups show a closer relationship with European groups than with Caucasian groups based on mtDNA, but the opposite based on the Y chromosome, indicating some differences in their maternal and paternal histories.
Similarity to Azerbaijanis of Iran
According to DRB1, DQA1 and DQB1 allele frequencies showed a strong genetic tie between Kurds and Azeris, Azerbaijanis of Iran. According to the current results, present-day Kurds and Azerbaijanis of Iran seem to belong to a common genetic pool.
Similarity to Georgian people
David Comas and colleagues found that mitochondrial sequence pools in Georgians and Kurds are very similar, despite their different linguistic and prehistoric backgrounds. Both populations present mtDNA lineages that clearly belong to the Western Eurasian gene pool.
Similarity to Jewish people
In 2001 Nebel et al. compared three Jews, Jewish and three non-Jewish groups from the Middle East: Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazim, Sephardi Jews, Sephardim, and History of Jews in Kurdistan, Kurdish Jews from Israel; Muslim Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian Authority Area; Bedouin from the Negev; and Muslim Kurds. They concluded that Kurdish and Sephardi Jews were indistinguishable from one another, whereas both differed slightly, yet noticeably, from Ashkenazi Jews. Nebel et al. had earlier (2000) found a large genetic relationship between Jews and Palestinian Arabs, but in this study found an even higher relationship of Jews with Iraqi Kurds. They conclude that the common genetic background shared by Jews and other Middle Eastern groups predates the division of Middle Easterners into different ethnic groups.
Nebel et al. (2001) also found that the Cohen modal haplotype, considered the most definitive Jewish haplotype, was found among 10.1% of Kurdish Jews, 7.6% of Ashkenazim, 6.4% of Sephardim, 2.1% of Palestinian Arabs, and 1.1% of Kurds. The Cohen modal haplotype and the most frequent Kurdish haplotype were the same on five markers (out of six) and very close on the other marker. The most frequent Kurdish haplotype was shared by 9.5% of Kurds, 2.6% of Sephardim, 2.0% of Kurdish Jews, 1.4% of Palestinian Arabs, and 1.3% of Ashkenazim. The general conclusion is that these similarities result mostly from the sharing of ancient genetic patterns, and not from more recent admixture between the groups.
See also
* History of Iraqi Kurdistan
* List of Kurdish dynasties and countries
* Timeline of Kurdish uprisings
Explanatory notes
References
{{Reflist, 24em
Further reading
* ''Nineveh and Its Remains: A Narrative of an Expedition to Assyria 1867, Massacre of Nestorians'' by Bedr Khan Beg, pp. 129–174.
* John Murray (1867)
''Nineveh and its remains: a narrative of an expedition to Assyria during the years 1845, 1846 and 1847''
External links
"A Brief Survey of the History of the Kurds"
by Kendal Nezan, President of the Kurdish Institute of Paris.
Yezidism: historical roots
''International Journal of Kurdish Studies'', January 2005.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010721001234/http://www.kurdistanica.com/ ''Encyclopaedia of Kurdistan''] KURDISTANICA
History of Judaism in Kurdistan
KURDISTANICA
Kurdish Institute
Kurdish language, history, books and latest news articles
''Encyclopædia Iranica''
''Encyclopædia Iranica''.
History of the Kurdish people,
History of Kurdistan,
Kurdish people, *
Yazidi history