From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kurdistan ("Land of the Kurds"
[3]; also formerly spelled
Curdistan[4][5]; ancient name:
Corduene[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]) is a roughly defined geo-cultural region wherein the
Kurds form a prominent majority population, and
Kurdish culture, language, and
national identity have historically been based.
The earliest official use of the toponym Kurdistan dates back to 12th century when Saljukid ruler
Sanjar conquered the Kurdish territory and established a province of that name, centered at Bahar, near modern
Hamadan[13].
Contemporary use of Kurdistan refers to parts of eastern
Turkey (
Turkish Kurdistan), northern
Iraq (
Iraqi Kurdistan), northwestern Iran (
Iranian Kurdistan) and northern
Syria inhabited mainly by Kurds
[14], Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern
Zagros and the eastern
Taurus mountain ranges
[15], and covering small portions of
Azerbaijan and
Armenia.
Iraqi Kurdistan first gained autonomous status in 1970 agreement with the Iraqi government and its status was re-confirmed as an
autonomous entity within the federal Iraqi republic in 2005.
[16] There is also a province by the name
Kurdistan in Iran, although it does not enjoy self-rule.
Some
Kurdish nationalist organizations seek to create an independent
nation state of Kurdistan, consisting of some or all of the areas with Kurdish majority, while others campaign for greater Kurdish autonomy within the existing national boundaries.
[17]
This article is part of the
Kurdish history and Culture series |
| Ancient history |
| |
| Medieval history |
| |
| Modern history |
| |
| Culture |
| |
History
Ancient period
Various groups, among them the
Guti,
Hurrian ,
Mannai (
Mannaeans),
Medes and
Armenians had lived in this region in antiquity
[18] The original Mannaean homeland was situated east and south of the
Lake Urmia, roughly centered around modern-day
Mahabad.
[19] The Medes came under
Persian rule during the reign of
Cyrus the Great and Darius.
The Kingdom of
Corduene, which emerged from the declining
Seleucid Empire, was located to the south and south-east of
Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia and ruled northern Mesopotamia and southeastern
Anatolia from 189 BC to AD 384. At its zenith, the Roman Empire ruled large Kurdish-inhabited areas, particularly the western and northern Kurdish areas in the Middle East. Corduene became a
vassal state of the
Roman Republic in 66 BC and remained allied with the Romans until AD 384. Corduene was situated to the east of
Tigranocerta, that is, to the east and south of present-day
Diyarbakır in south-eastern Turkey.
Some historians have correlated a connection between Corduene with the modern names of Kurds and Kurdistan
[7][20][21];
T. A. Sinclair dismissed this identification as false
[22], while a common association is asserted in the
Columbia Encyclopedia [23].
Some of the ancient districts of Kurdistan and their corresponding modern names:
[24]
- Corduene or Gordyene (Siirt, Bitlis and Şırnak)
- Sophene (Diyarbakır)
- Zabdicene or Bezabde (Gozarto d'Qardu or Jazirat Ibn or Cizre)
- Basenia (Bayazid)
- Moxoene (Muş)
- Nephercerta (Miyafarkin)
- Artemita (Van)
19th-century map showing the location of the Kingdom of Corduene in 60 B.C
One of the earliest records of the phrase
land of the Kurds is found in a
Syriac Christian document of
late antiquity, describing the stories of Christian saints of the Middle East, such as the
Abdisho. When the
Sassanid Marzban asked Mar Abdisho about his place of origin, he replied that according to his parents, they were originally from
Hazza, a village in
Assyria. However they were later driven out of Hazza by
pagans, and settled in
Tamanon, which according to Abdisho was in the
land of the Kurds. Tamanon lies just north of the modern Iraq-Turkey border, while Hazza is 12 km southwest of modern
Irbil. In another passage in the same document, the region of
Khabur is also identified as
land of the Kurds.
[25]
Medieval period
Map by Mahmud al-Kashgari (1074), showing
Arz ul Akrad Arabic for
land of Kurds located between
Arz ush Sham (Syria), and
Arz ul Iraqeyn (Iraq Arabi and Iraq Ajami).
In tenth and eleventh centuries, several Kurdish principalities emerged in the region: in the North the
Shaddadid (951–1174) (in east
Transcaucasia between the
Kur and
Araxes rivers) and the
Rawadid (955–1221) (centered in
Tabriz and ruled all of
Azarbaijan), in the East the
Hasanwayhid (959–1015) (in Zagros between Shahrizor and
Khuzistan) and the
Annazid (990–1116) (centered in
Hulwan) and in the West the
Marwanid (990–1096) in south of
Diyarbakır and north of
Jazira[26][27].
Kurdistan in the
Middle Ages was a collection of semi-independent and independent states called "
emirates". It was nominally under indirect political or religious influence of Khalifs or Shahs. A comprehensive history of these states and their relationship with their neighbors is given in the text of "Sharafnama", written by Prince
Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in 1597.
[28][29] The emirates included
Baban,
Soran,
Badinan and
Garmiyan in present-day Iraq; Bakran, Botan (or
Bokhtan) and
Badlis in Turkey, and
Mukriyan and
Ardalan in Iran.
The earliest medieval attestation of the
toponym Kurdistan is found in a 12th century
Armenian historical text by
Matteos Urhayeci. He described a battle near
Amid and
Siverek in 1062 as to have taken place in
Kurdistan.
[30][31] The second record occurs in the prayer from the
colophon of an Armenian manuscript of the
Gospels, written in 1200.
[32][33]
| “ | Let Christ-God bless Khoja Hovhanes Mughdusi, from Kurdistan, who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and took the holy Gospels from the aliens.
| ” |
The third use of the term Kurdistan is found in Nuzhat-al-Qulub, written by
Hamdollah Mostowfi in 1340.
[34]
Modern period
In the 16th century, after prolonged wars, Kurdish-inhabited areas were split between the
Safavid and
Ottoman empires. A major division of Kurdistan occurred in the aftermath of the
Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, and was formalized in the 1639
Treaty of Zuhab.
[35] Prior to
World War I, most Kurds lived within the boundaries of the
Ottoman Empire in the
province of Kurdistan.
[citation needed]. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the
Allies contrived to create several countries within its former boundaries - according to the never-ratified
Treaty of Sèvres, Kurdistan, along with
Armenia, were to be among them. However, the reconquest of these areas by the forces of
Kemal Atatürk (and other pressing issues) caused the Allies to accept the renegotiated
Treaty of Lausanne and the borders of the modern Republic of Turkey - leaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region. Other Kurdish areas were assigned to the new British and French
mandated states of
Iraq and
Syria.
At the
San Francisco Peace Conference of 1945, the Kurdish delegation proposed consideration of territory claimed by the Kurds, which encompassed an area extending from the
Mediterranean shores near
Adana to the shores of the
Persian Gulf near
Bushehr, and included the
Lur inhabited areas of southern
Zagros.
[36][37]
At the end of the
First Gulf War, the Allies established a safe haven in northern Iraq. Amid the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from three northern provinces,
Iraqi Kurdistan emerged in 1992 as an autonomous entity inside Iraq with its own local government and parliament.
People
Main article:
Kurdish peopleThe Kurds are a people of Indo-European origin. They speak an
Iranic language known as
Kurdish, and comprise the majority of the population of the region - however, included therein are
Arab,
Armenian,
Assyrian,
Azeri,
Jewish,
Ossetian,
Persian, and
Turkic communities. Most inhabitants are Muslim, but adherents to other religions are present as well- including
Yazidis, the
Yarsan,
Alevis,
Christians[38], and
Jews[39]
Geography
According to the
Encyclopædia Britannica, Kurdistan covers about 190,000 km², and its chief towns are
Diyarbakır (Amed),
Bitlis (Bedlîs) and
Van (Wan) in Turkey,
Arbil (Hewlêr) in Iraq, and
Kermanshah (Kirmanşan),
Sanandaj (Sine) and
Mahabad (Mehabad) in Iran.
[40] According to the
Encyclopaedia of Islam, Kurdistan covers around 190,000 km² in Turkey, 125,000 km² in Iran, 65,000 km² in Iraq, and 12,000 km² in Syria, with a total area of approximately 392,000 km².
[41]
Historic map from 1721, showing borders of Curdistan provinces in
Persia.
Iraqi Kurdistan is divided into six
governorates, three of which (and parts of others) are under the control of the
Kurdistan Regional Government.
Iranian Kurdistan encompasses
Kurdistan Province and the greater parts of
West Azarbaijan,
Kermanshah, and
Īlām provinces.
Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdish:
Kurdistana Binxetê[42]) is located primarily in northeastern Syria, and covers the greater part of the province of
Al Hasakah. The major cities in this region are
Al-Qamishli (Kurdish:
Qamişlû) and
Al Hasakah (Kurdish:
Hesaka).
Turkish Kurdistan encompasses a large area of south eastern Turkey and it is home to an estimated 15 to 20 million Kurds.
[43]
Subdivisions (Upper and Lower Kurdistan)
In
A Dictionary of Scripture Geography (published 1846), John Miles describes Upper and Lower Kurdistan as following:
- Modern Curdistan is of much greater extent than the ancient Assyria, and is composed of two parts the Upper and Lower. In the former is the province of Ardelan, the ancient Arropachatis, now nominally a part of Irak Ajami, and belonging to the north west division called Al Jobal. It contains five others namely, Betlis, the ancient Carduchia, lying to the south and south west of the lake Van. East and south east of Betlis is the principality of Julamerick, south west of it is the principality of Amadia. the fourth is Jeezera ul Omar, a city on an island in the Tigris, and corresponding to the ancient Bezabde. the fifth and largest is Kara Djiolan, with a capital of the same name. The pashalics of Kirkook and Solimania also comprise part of Upper Curdistan. Lower Curdistan comprises all the level tract to the east of the Tigris, and the minor ranges immediately bounding the plains and reaching thence to the foot of the great range, which may justly be denominated the Alps of western Asia. [44]
The northern, northwestern and northeastern parts of Kurdistan are referred to as upper Kurdistan, and includes the areas from west of Amed to lake Urmia.
The lowlands of southern Kurdistan are called lower Kurdistan. The main cities in this area are Kirkuk and Arbil. The city of Kirkuk has been referred to as the capital of lower Kurdistan.
[citation needed]
Climate
Much of the region is typified by an extreme
continental climate — hot in the summer, bitterly cold in the winter. Despite this, much of the region is fertile and has historically exported grain and livestock. Precipitation varies between 200 and 400 mm a year in the plains, and between 700 and 3,000 mm a year on the high plateaux between mountain chains.
[41]
Forests
Kurdistan is a mountainous region with a cold climate receiving annual
precipitation adequate to sustain temperate forests and
shrubs. Mountain chains harbor pastures and forested valleys, totaling approximately 16 million hectares (160,000 km²), including
firs and other
conifers,
oaks,
platanus,
willow, and
poplar.
[41]
Splendid
canyon, northern Iraq
Mountains
Mountains are important geographical and symbolic features of Kurdish life, as evidenced by the saying "Kurds have no friends but the mountains".
[45] Included in the region are
Mount Judi and
Ararat (both prominent in Kurdish folklore),
Zagros, Shingar, Qendil, Shaho, Gabar,
Hamrin, and
Nisir.
Rivers
Zê river in Zebari region, Iraq.
The plateaus and mountains of Kurdistan, which are characterized by heavy rain and snow fall, act as a water reservoir for the Near and Middle East, forming the source of the
Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, as well as other numerous smaller rivers, such as the
Khabur, Tharthar, Ceyhan,
Araxes, Kura, Sefidrud, Karkha, and Hezil. Among rivers of historical importance to Kurds are the
Murat (Arasān) and Buhtān rivers in in Turkey; the Peshkhābur, the
Little Zab, the
Great Zab, and the
Diyala in Iraq; and the Jaghatu (Zarrinarud), the Tātā'u (Siminarud), the Zohāb (Zahāb), and the Gāmāsiyāb in Iran.
These rivers, which flow from heights of three to four thousand meters above sea level, are significant both as water sources and for the production of energy. Iraq and Syria dammed many of these rivers and their tributaries, and Turkey has an extensive dam system under construction as part of the
GAP (Southeast Anatolia Project); though incomplete, the GAP already supplies a significant proportion of Turkey's electrical energy needs. Due to the extraordinary archaeological richness of the region, almost any dam impacts historic sites.
[46]
Lakes
Kurdistan extends to
Lake Urmia in Iran on the east and to semi-contiguous Kurdish-inhabited regions to the west on the Mediterranean. The region includes Lake Van, the largest body of water in Turkey; the only lake in the Middle East with a larger surface is Lake Urmia - though not nearly as deep as Lake Van, which has a much larger volume. Urmia, Van, as well as
Zarivar Lake west of
Marivan, and
Lake Dukan near the city of
Sulaymaniyah, are frequented by tourists.
[46]
Underground resources
KRG-controlled parts of Iraqi Kurdistan are estimated to contain around 45 billion barrels (7.2
×10^9 m
3) of oil, making it the sixth largest reserve in the world. Extraction of these reserves began in 2007. Iraq's former Baath regime controls the resources of Kirkuk and Mosul, cities claimed by the KRG to be included in its territory.
As of July 2007, the Kurdish government solicited foreign companies to invest in 40 new oil sites, with the hope of increasing regional oil production over the following 5 years by a factor of five, to about 1 million barrels per day (160,000 m
3/d).
[47] Gas and associated gas reserves are in excess of 100
TCF.
Other underground resources that exist in significant quantities in the region include
coal,
copper,
gold,
iron,
limestone (which is used to produce
cement),
marble, and
zinc. The world's largest deposit of rock sulfur is located just southwest of
Erbil (Hewlêr).
[48]
Conflict and controversy
The incorporation into Turkey of the Kurdish-inhabited regions of eastern Anatolia was opposed by many Kurds, and has resulted in a long-running separatist conflict in which thousands of lives have been lost. The region saw several major Kurdish rebellions, including the
Koçkiri Rebellion of 1920 under the Ottomans, then successive insurrection under the Turkish state - including the 1924
Sheikh Said Rebellion, the
Republic of Ararat in 1927, and the 1937
Dersim Rebellion. All were forcefully put down by the authorities. The region was declared a closed military area from which foreigners were banned between 1925 and 1965
[49][50][51].
In 1983, the Kurdish provinces were placed under
martial law in response to the activities of the militant separatist
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
[52][53] A
guerrilla war took place through the 1980s and 1990s in which much of the countryside was evacuated, thousands of Kurdish-populated villages were destroyed, and numerous extrajudicial summary executions were carried out by both sides.
[54] More than 37,000 people were killed in the violence and hundreds of thousands more were forced to leave their homes.
[55] Volatility in the region eased following the capture of PKK leader
Abdullah Öcalan in 1999, and, with the encouragement of
European Union, the adoption of tolerance policies toward Kurdish cultural activities by the Turkish state. After 2004, political violence increased, and the Turkish-Iraqi border region remains tense.
[56]
Education
See also
References
- ^ "Kurdistan - Definitions from Dictionary.com". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Kurdistan. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
- ^ "Kurdish Studies Program". Florida State University. http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/kurdish/htdocs/announce/KSF.html. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- ^ "Kurdistan". Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/325241/Kurdistan. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
- ^ The Edinburgh encyclopaedia, conducted by D. Brewster—Page 511, Original from Oxford University—published 1830
- ^ An Account of the State of Roman-Catholick Religion, Sir Richard Steele, Published 1715
- ^ N. Maxoudian, Early Armenia as an Empire: The Career of Tigranes III, 95-55 BC, Journal of The Royal Central Asian Society, Vol. 39, Issue 2, April 1952 , pp. 156-163.
- ^ a b A.D. Lee, The Role of Hostages in Roman Diplomacy with Sasanian Persia, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Vol. 40, No. 3 (1991), pp. 366-374 (see p.371)
- ^ M. Sicker, The pre-Islamic Middle East, 231 pp., Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, (see p.181)
- ^ J. den Boeft, Philological and historical commentary on Ammianus Marcellinus XXIII, 299 pp., Bouma Publishers, 1998. (see p.44)
- ^ J. F. Matthews, Political life and culture in late Roman society , 304 pp., 1985
- ^ George Henry Townsend, A manual of dates: a dictionary of reference to the most important events in the history of mankind to be found in authentic records, 1116 pp., Warne, 1867. (see p.556)
- ^ F. Stark, Rome on the Euphrates: the story of a frontier, 481 pp., 1966. (see p.342)
- ^ M. T. O'Shea, Trapped between the map and reality: geography and perceptions of Kurdistan , 258 pp., Routledge, 2004. (see p.77)
- ^ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2005.
- ^ Kurdistan, Britannica Concise.
- ^ Iraqi Constitution, Article 113.
- ^ The Kurdish Conflict: Aspirations for Statehood within the Spirals of International Relations in the 21st Century
- ^ http://kurdistanica.com/english/history/articles-his/his-articles-02.html
- ^ Mahabad - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ^ Rawlinson, George, The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 7, 1871. (copy at Project Gutenberg)
- ^ 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.
- ^ T. A. Sinclair, "Eastern Turkey, an Architectural and Archaeological Survey", 1989, volume 3, page 360.
- ^ Kurds, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001.
- ^ J. Bell, A System of Geography. Popular and Scientific (A Physical, Political, and Statistical Account of the World and Its Various Divisions), pp.133–4, Vol. IV, Fullarton & Co., Glasgow, 1832.
- ^ J. T. Walker, The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq (368 pages), University of California Press, ISBN 0520245784, 2006, pp. 26, 52.
- ^ Maria T. O'Shea, Trapped between the map and reality: geography and perceptions of Kurdistan , 258 pp., Routledge, 2004. (see p.68)
- ^ I. Gershevitch, The Cambridge history of Iran: The Saljuq and Mongol periods, Vol.5, 762 pp., Cambridge University Press, 1968. (see p.237 for "Rawwadids")
- ^ Sharafnama: History of the Kurish Nation
- ^ For a list of these entities see Kurdistan and its native Provincial subdivisions
- ^ Matt'eos Urhayec'i, (Armenian)Ժամանակագրություն (Chronicle), ed. by M. Melik-Adamyan et al., Erevan, 1991. (p.156)
- ^ G. Asatrian, Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds, Iran and the Caucasus, Vol.13, pp.1-58, 2009. (see p.19)
- ^ A.S. Mat'evosyan, Colophons of the Armenian Manuscripts, Erevan, 1988. (p.307)
- ^ G. Asatrian, Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds, Iran and the Caucasus, Vol.13, pp.1-58, 2009. (p.20)
- ^ G. Asatrian, Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds, Iran and the Caucasus, Vol.13, pp.1-58, 2009. (see p.20)
- ^ C. Dahlman, The Political Geography of Kurdistan, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol.43, No.4, pp.271–299, 2002.
- ^ C. Dahlman, The Political Geography of Kurdistan, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol.43, No.4, p. 274.
- ^ The map presented by the Kurdish League Delegation, March 1945
- ^ Mehrdad R. Izady, The Kurds: A Concise Handbook, 1992, Taylor & Francis, Washington, D.C., [1]
- ^ Photos of Kurdish Jews in Israel
- ^ Kurdistan, Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ a b c Encyclopaedia of Islam
- ^ Geographic Distribution of Kurdish and other Iranic Languages
- ^ BBC NEWS | Middle East | Kurds show coded support for PKK
- ^ A Dictionary of Scripture Geography, p 57, by John Miles, 486 pages, Published 1846, Original from Harvard University
- ^ John Bulloch and Harvey Morris, No Friends but the Mountains: The Tragic History of the Kurds, ISBN 0-195-08075-0
- ^ a b Economy: Water, The Encyclopædia of Kurdistan
- ^ Iraqi Kurds open 40 new oil sites to foreign investors | Iraq Updates
- ^ Official statements on the oil and gas sector in the Kurdistan region, Kurdistan Development Corporation.
- ^ M.M. Gunter, The Kurds and the future of Turkey, 184 pp., Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. (see p.6)
- ^ G. Chaliand, A people without a country: the Kurds and Kurdistan, 259 pp., Interlink Books, 1993.(see p.250)
- ^ Joost Jongerden,The settlement issue in Turkey and the Kurds: an analysis of spatial policies, modernity and war, 354 pp., BRILL Publishers, 2007.(see p.37)
- ^ Kurd, The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia including Atlas, 2005
- ^ "[2], NY Times, 28 September 2007
- ^ Martin van Bruinessen, "Kurdistan." The Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World, 2nd edition. Joel Krieger, ed. Oxford University Press, 2001.
- ^ "Kurdish rebels kill Turkey troops", BBC News, 8 May 2007
- ^ "Turkish soldiers killed in blast", BBC News, 24 May 2007
Coordinates: 
37°00′N 43°00′E / 37°N 43°E / 37; 43
With a Lonely Planet guidebook you'll get the best out of your Indonesian trip. The 9th edition of Indonesia will take you to the best beaches and bars in Bali, through lush paddy fields in Sumatra, diving with turtles off the Gilis in Lombok and to a traditional dance in Ubud.
Silih Asah, Silih Asih, Silih Asuh 
Last year, UNESCO recognized batik as world Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity from Indonesia. This traditional piece of cloth painted with colorful pattern is full of life philosophy. Almost every region in Java and Sumatera Island has different type of batik. Cirebon, a city in the northern coast of Java also has its own specialty.
