Kurdish Iranian family
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Iranian Kurdish (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranê [1] )population of 4 million.[4] The region is the eastern part of the greater cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.The Kurds are a people indigenous to a geocultural region commonly refered to as Kurdistan (a contiguous region including adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey). Smaller communities can also be found in Lebanon, Armenia, Azerbaijan (Kalbajar and Lachin, to the west of Nagorno Karabakh) and, in recent decades, some European countries and the United States (See Kurdish diaspora).
The first mention of the Kurds in historical records was in cuneiform writings from the Sumerians (3,000 BCE), who talked of the "land of the Karda."[14] They are commonly identified with the ancient kingdom of Corduene[15] and mostly of Aryan origin.[16] Ethnically related to Iranian people groups[17] [18] they speak Kurdish, an Indo-European language of the Iranian branch.
Estimated at about 30 million people, the Kurds comprise one of the largest ethnic groups in the world without a separate country. Historically, Kurds have repeatedly tried to become independent. They have fought the Sumerians, Assyrians, Persians, Mongols, European crusaders, and Turks. In 20th century, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq have put down many Kurdish uprisings [19].
Historic roots of the Kurdish people==
The earliest known evidence of a unified and distinct culture in the Kurdish mountains dates back to the Halaf culture of 8,000-7,400 years ago. This was followed by the Hurrian period which lasted from 6,300 to about 2,600 years ago. The Hurrians spoke a language that was possibly part of the Northeast Caucasian (or the proposed Alarodian) family of languages, akin to modern Chechen and Lezgian. The Hurrians spread out and eventually dominated significant territories outside their Zagros-Taurus mountainous base. However, like their Kurdish descendents, they did not expand very far from the mountains. As they settled, the Hurrians divided into many clans and subgroups, founding city-states, kingdoms and empires with eponymous clan names. These included the Gutis, Kurti, Khaldi, Mards, Mushku, Mannaeans (Mannai), Mitanni, Urartu, Lullubi and the Kassites among others. All these tribes were part of the larger group of Hurrians (Khurrites), and together helped to shape the Hurrian phase of Kurdish history [1]. The "Hurrian" name has survived, most prominently in the dialect and district of Hawraman/Auraman in present-day Iran. The region of Mahabad was the centre of the Mannaeans, who flourished in the early 1st millennium BC.[2]
There are numerous historical records that refer to the antecedents of the modern Kurds. The ancient Greek historian Xenophon referred to the Kurds in Anabasis as "Khardukhi...a fierce and protective mountain-dwelling people" who attacked Greek armies in 400 BCE. The present-day home of the Kurds, the high mountain region south and south-east of Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia, was in the possession of Kurds before the time of Xenophon, and was known as the country of the "Carduchi", "Cardyene" or "Cordyene".[3]
The Lullubi people inhabited the Sharazor plain in Iraqi Kurdistan and are known to have fought wars with the Akkadians around 2300-2200 B.C. Today a Kurdish clan known as Lullu may be a possible derivation of the ancient Lullubi.[4] Moreover, the name Madai appears in the Book of Genesis as a Japhethic grandson of Noah in the Biblical tradition. Scholars have identified Madai with various nations, including the early Mitanni and the Medes who were contemporaries of the ancient Persians.
By the end of the Hurrian period, the Kurdish areas seem to have been culturally and ethnically homogenized to form a single civilization which was identified as such by the neighboring cultures and peoples. In early Sumerian writings about the northern parts of Mesopotamia, The area was referred to as the land of the "Karda" or "Qarduchi" and the land of the "Guti" or "Gutium". These are described as being the same people only differing in tribal name. The Babylonians called these people "Gardu" and "Qarda". In neighbouring area of Assyria, they were "Qurti" or "Guti". When the Greeks entered the territory, they referred to these people as either "Kardukh", "Carduchi" or "Gordukh". The Armenians called the Kurds "Gortukh" or "Gortai-kh" and the Persians knew them as "Gord" or "Kord". In the Syriac, Hebrew and Chaldean languages they were, respectively, "Qardu", "Kurdaye" and "Qurdaye". In Aramaic and Nestorian they were "Qadu".
In addition, the lands populated by the Kurds were also invaded by the Assyrians, Akkadians, Armenians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, and Turks. Consequently, these groups also have influenced modern Kurds both culturally and genetically. As a result of this vast parade of peoples, the Kurds are a combination of indigenous peoples living in the Zagros Mountains and numerous invaders and migrants.[5] Recent genetic tests of random Kurdish populations show links to the Caucasus, various Iranian peoples, Europeans, northern Semites, and Anatolia.
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[edit] Kurdish Dynasties
The Kurdish kingdom of Corduene, situated to the east of Tigranocerta[6] (east and south of present-day Diyarbakir, Turkey) became a province of the Roman Empire in 66 BCE and was under Roman control for four centuries until 384 CE.
In the second half of the 10th century, the Kurdish area was shared amongst four big Kurdish principalities. In the North was the Shaddadid (951-1174) in parts of present-day Armenia and Arran. In the East were the Hasanwayhids (959-1015) and the Annazid (990-1117) in Kermanshah, Dinawar and Khanaqin. In the West were the Marwanid (990-1096) of Diyarbakir. After these, the Ayyubid (1171-1250) of Syria and the Ardalan dynasty (14th century-1867) were established in present-day Khanaqin, Kirkuk and Sinne.
[edit] Medieval Kurdish Dynasties
From 10th century to 12th century A.D., two Kurdish dynasties were ruling this region, the Hasanwayhid (959-1015) and the Ayyarids (990-1117) (in Kermanshah, Dinawar and Khanaqin). The Ardalan state which was established in early 14th century, controlled the territories of Zardiawa (Karadagh), Khanaqin, Kirkuk, Kifri, and Hawraman. The capital city of the state was first in Sharazour in present-day Iraqi Kurdistan, but was moved to Sinne(Sanandaj) (in present-day Iran) later on. The Ardalan Dynasty continued to rule the region until the Qajar monarch Nasser-al-Din Shah(1848-1896) ended their rule in 1867 CE.
[edit] Seljukid and Khwarazmid Period
In 12th century CE, Sultan Sanjar, created a province called Kurdistan centered at Bahar located to the northeast of Hamadan. This province included Hamadan, Dinawar, Kermanshah , Sanandaj and Sharazur. It was ruled by Sulayman, the nephew of Sanjar. In 1217, Kurds of Zagros defeated the troops of Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, the Khwarazmid King, who were sent from Hamadan[7].
[edit] Safavid Period
According to Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Safavid family hailed from Iranian Kurdistan, and later moved to Azarbaijan. They finally settled in the 11th century C.E. at Ardabil [8]. During Safavid rule, the government tried to extend its control over Kurdish inhabited areas in western Iran. At that time, there were a number of semi-independent Kurdish emirates such as the Mukriyan (Mahabad), Ardalan (Sinne), and Shikak tribes around Lake Urmiye and northwest Iran. Kurds resisted this policy and tried to keep some form of self-rule. This led to a series of bloody confrontations between the Safavids and the Kurds. The Kurds were finally defeated, and as a result the Safavids decided to punish rebellious Kurds by forced relocation and deportation of Kurds in 15-16th century. This policy began under the reign of the Safavid King Tahmasp I (r. 1514-1576).
Between 1534 and 1535, Tahmasp I began the systematic destruction of the old Kurdish cities and the countryside. Large numbers of Kurds from these areas found themselves deported to the Alborz mountains and Khorasan (Khurasan), as well as the heights in the central Iranian Plateau; the Laks suffered most. At this time the last remnant of the ancient royal Hadhabâni (Adiabene) tribe of central Kurdistan was removed from the heartland of Kurdistan and deported to Khorasan, where they are still found today. See [9] and [10] under the title "Khurasani Kurdish Dances".
[edit] Simko Revolts Against Reza Shah
Weakness of the Persian government during World War I, encouraged some Kurdish chiefs to take advantage of the chaotic situation. Ismael Agha (also known as Simko) chief of the Shikak tribe, established his authority in the area west of Lake Urmia from 1918 to 1922. Jaafar Sultan of Hewraman region also took control of the region between Marivan and north of Halabja and remained independent until 1925. In 1922, Reza Khan (who later became the first Pahlavi monarch), took action against Kurdish leaders. Simko was forced to abandon his region in Fall 1922, and spent eight years in hiding. When the Iranian government persuaded him to submit, he was ambushed and killed around Ushno (Oshnaviyeh) in 1930. After this, Reza Shah pursued a crude but effective policy against the Kurds. Hundreds of Kurdish chiefs were deported and forced into exile. Their lands were also confiscated by the government [11][12].
