Kurdish mythology () is the collective term for the beliefs and practices of the culturally, ethnically or linguistically related group of ancient peoples who inhabited the

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

mountains of northwestern

Zagros The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...

, northern

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

and southeastern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. This includes their

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

pagan religion prior to them converting to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, as well the local myths, legends and

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

that they produced after becoming

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Legendary origin

Supernatural origin legend

A legend recorded by

Judaic Judaism () is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which the ...

scholars claimed that the people of

Corduene Gordyene or Corduene (; ; ) was an ancient historical region, located south of Lake Van, present-day eastern Turkey. According to the ''1911 Encyclopædia Britannica'', Gordyene is the ancient name of the region of ''Bohtan'', now Şırnak Prov ...

had supernatural origins, when

King Solomon King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

arranged the marriage of 500 women to

jinns Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

. The same legend was also used by early Islamic authorities, in explaining the origins of the

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

. In the writings of the 10th-century Arab historian

al-Masudi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

, the Kurds are described as the offspring of King Solomon’s concubines engendered by the demon Jasad. On learning who they were, Solomon shall have exclaimed "Drive them (''ukrudūhunna'') in the mountains and valleys" which then suggests a negative connotation such as the "thrown away". Another version says that they are the descendants of King Solomon's concubines and his angelical servants. These were sent to Europe to bring him "five hundred beautiful maidens" for the king's harem. However, when these had done so and returned to Israel the king had already died. As such, the jinn settled in the mountains, married the women themselves, and their offspring came to be known as the Kurds.

Legend of Milan and Zilan

Many Kurdish tribes trace their origins to the

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and Zilan tribes. According to

Mark Sykes Colonel Sir Tatton Benvenuto Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet (16 March 1879 – 16 February 1919) was an English traveller, Conservative Party politician, and diplomatic advisor, particularly with regard to the Middle East at the time of the First ...

, Ibrahim Pasha, then chief of the Milli tribe, gave the following explanation: "Years and years ago the Kurds were divided into two branches, the Milan and Zilan; there were 1,200 tribes of the Milan, but God was displeased with them and they were scattered in all directions, some vanished, others remained; such as remained respect me as the head of the Milan." One variation adds a third branch, the Baba Kurdi. According to one version of the legend, the Milan settled in

Dersim Tunceli (, , ) is a municipality (belde) in Tunceli District and capital of Tunceli Province, Turkey. The city has a Zaza majority. It had a population of 35,161 in 2021. Name During Ottoman times, the settlement was called ''Kalan'' or ''Mam ...

, but Sultan Selim ordered some to sedentarize and build houses, and others to nomadize southward. A famous semi-historical

Yezidi Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish-speaking endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The majority of Yazidis remaining in ...

figure of Kurdish folklore, Derwêşê Evdî, was of the Şerqi tribe of the Milan.

Descendants of Kaveh's army

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, who is named Zuhak by the Kurds, was an evil Assyrian king who conquered Iran and had serpents growing from his shoulders. Zahhak's rule lasted for one thousand years; his evil reign caused spring to no longer come to Kurdistan. During this time, two young men were sacrificed daily and their brains were offered to Zahhak's serpents in order to alleviate his pain. However, the man who was in charge of sacrificing the two young men every day would instead kill only one man a day and mix his brains with those of a sheep in order to save the other man. As discontent grew against Zahhak's rule, the nobleman

Fereydun Fereydun (, ; New Persian: , ''Fereydūn/Farīdūn'') is an Iranian mythical king and hero from the Pishdadian dynasty. He is known as an emblem of victory, justice, and generosity in Persian literature. According to Abolala Soudavar, Fereydun ...

planned a revolt. According to the legend, the young men who had been saved from the fate of being sacrificed were according to the legend were the ancestors of the Kurds. They were trained by Kaveh into an army that marched to Zahhak's castle, where Kaveh killed the king with a hammer. Kaveh is said to have then set fire to the hillsides to celebrate the victory and summon his supporters; spring returned to

the next day.

Mythological figures

The Sasanian king Khosro II Parvez is highly esteemed in the Kurdish oral tradition, literature and mythology.

Kaveh the blacksmith

Called ''Kawe-y asinger'' in Kurdish, some Kurds believe that the ancestors of the Kurds fled to the mountains to escape the oppression of an Assyrian king named Zahhak, who is later killed and overthrown at the hands of Kawe. It is also believed that these people, like Kawe the Blacksmith who took refuge in the mountains over the course of history, later they were called by the profession of their ancestor and created a Kurdish ethnicity. Kaveh is a geographical and symbolic figure in Kurdish nationalism. In common with other mythologies, Kurdish mythology sometimes is also used for political aims.

Mythological creatures

Shahmaran

Shahmaran Shahmaran is a mythical creature, half-woman and half-snake, originating in Indo-Iranian and Turkic folklores. Etymology The name ''Shāhmārān'' comes from the Persian words ''Shāh'' ( شاه), and ''mārān'' (; 'snakes'; مار ''mar ...

'' (or ''Şahmaran'') is a mythical creature in Kurdish Folklore, she's believed to be a human-snake hybrid that lived in a cave, and she was considered the wisdom goddess to protect secrets. It's also believed that when shahmaran dies her spirit passes to her daughter.

Simurgh

The legendary bird of Iranian tradition, the ''

simurgh The simurgh (; ; also spelled ''senmurv, simorgh, simorg'', ''simurg'', ''simoorg, simorq'' or ''simourv'') is a benevolent bird in Persian mythology and Persian literature, literature. It bears some similarities with mythological birds from di ...

'', is called in Kurdish. The scholar Kamilla Trever quotes two Kurdish folktales about the bird. These versions go back to the common stock of Iranian ''simurgh'' stories.