Kurd encyclopedia topics

Language

The Kurdish language belongs to the north-western sub-group of the Iranian languages, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. The older Hurrian language of the people inhabiting the Kurdish areas was replaced by Indo-European around 850 BCE, with the arrival of the Medes to Western Iran. Nevertheless, Hurrian influence on Kurdish is still evident in its ergative grammatical structure and toponyms.

Most Kurds are bilingual or polylingual, speaking the languages of the surrounding peoples such as Arabic, Turkish and Persian as a second language. Kurdish Jews and some Kurdish Christians (not be confused with ethnic Assyrians of Kurdistan) usually speak Aramaic (for example: Lishana Deni) as their first language. Aramaic is a Semitic language related to Hebrew and Arabic rather than Kurdish.

The Kurdish language has two major dialects:

The Kurmanji dialect group.
The Sorani dialect group.

And several sub-dialects

Commenting on the differences between the "dialects" of Kurdish, Kreyenbroek clarifies that in some ways, Kurmanji and Sorani are as different from each other as English and German, giving the example that Kurmanji has grammatical gender and case-endings, but Sorani does not, and observing that referring to Sorani and Kurmanji as "dialects" of one language is supported only by "their common origin...and the fact that this usage reflects the sense of ethnic identity and unity of the Kurds." The Yazidi Kurds Speak Kurmanji.

Population

The exact number of Kurdish people living in the Southwest Asia is unknown, due to both an absence of recent census analysis and the reluctance of the various governments in Kurdish-inhabited regions to give accurate figures.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Kurds comprise 20% of the population in Turkey, 15-20% in Iraq, perhaps 8% in Syria, 7% in Iran and 1.3% in Armenia. In all of these countries except Iran, Kurds form the second largest ethnic group. Roughly 55% of the world's Kurds live in Turkey, about 20% each in Iran and Iraq, and a bit over 5% in Syria. These estimates place the total number of Kurds at somewhere between 27 and 36 million.

History

Origins

It was formerly considered sufficient to describe the Kurds as the descendants of the Carduchi (Gordyaei), who opposed the retreat of the Ten Thousand through the mountains in the 4th century BCE. Kurds now consider themselves to be Indo-European who are descendants of multiple groups (including many non-Indo-European) believed to have settled in what they now refer to as Kurdistan, over a period of thousands of years.

Early cultures included the Halaf and Ubaid. The Hurrian period in the mid third millennium BCE is the earliest well-documented period. The 3rd millennium was the time of the Guti (Kurti) and Hattians. The 2nd and 1st millennium BCE were the time of the Kassites, Mitanni, Mannai (Mannaeans), Urartu, and Mushku. All of these peoples shared a common identity and spoke one language or closely related languages or dialects. These groups are thought to have been non-Indo-Europeans, apart from the original Mitanni . The Median Empire was dominant from the 630s BCE to 550 BCE, and by 400 BCE the Carduchi had established a culture independent from the Persian Empire.

Other ancient groups included the Mard, Adiabene, Zila and Khaldi.

Ancient period

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 the ancient Greek historian Xenophon, and was known as the country of the Carduchi, Cardyene or Cordyene. Xenophon referred to the Kurds in the Anabasis as "Kardukhi...a fierce and protective mountain-dwelling people" who attacked Greek armies in 400 BCE.

The kingdom of Cordyene or Corduene was a high mountain region south and south-east of Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia, and it was situated to the east of Tigranocerta (east and south of present-day Diyarbakır). The word Corduene is no doubt the ancient representative of the modern Kurdistan, and means a country in which Kurds dwelt. Kurds seem to have been at one time the chief inhabitants of the Mons Masius, the modern Jebel Kara Dagh and Jebel Tur, which was then called Gordyene, or the Gordisean mountain chain.

Corduene became a province of the Roman Empire in 66 BCE and was under Roman control for four centuries until 384 CE. The Roman historian Pliny, considered Cordueni (inhabitants of Corduene) descendants of Carduchis. He stated, Joining on to Adiabene are the people formerly called the Carduchi and now the Cordueni, past whom flows the river Tigris... The people of Corduene were known to have worshipped the Hurrian sky God Teshub.

Medieval period

In the seventh century, the Arabs possessed the castles and fortifications of the Kurds. The conquest of the cities of Sharazor and Aradbaz took place in the year 643 CE.

In 846 CE, one of the leaders of the Kurds in Mosul revolted against the Caliph Al Mo'tasam who sent the commander Aitakh to combat against him. In this war, Aitakh proved victorious and killed many of the Kurds. In 903 CE, during the period of Almoqtadar, the Kurds revolted again. Eventually Arabs conquered the Kurdish regions and gradually converted the majority of Kurds to Islam.

In the second half of the tenth century, the Kurdish area was shared amongst four big Kurdish principalities. In the North were the Shaddadid (951–1174) in parts of present-day Armenia and Arran, and the Rawadid (955–1221) in Tabriz and Maragheh. 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 Diyarbakır. After these, the Ayyubid (1171–1250) of Syria and the Ardalan dynasty (14th century to 1867) were established in present-day Khanaqin, Kirkuk and Sinne.

Religion

Islam

Today, the majority of Kurds are officially Muslim, belonging to the Shafi school of Sunni Islam. Mystical practices and participation in Sufi orders are also widespread among Kurds. There is also a minority of Kurds who are Shia Muslims, primarily living in the Ilam and Kermanshah provinces of Iran, Central and south eastern Iraq (Fayli Kurds). The Alevis are another religious minority among the Kurds, mainly found in Turkey.

Yazdanism

Yazdanism is a controversial theory that refers to a group of native monotheistic religions practiced among the Kurds: Alevism, Yarsan and Yazidism. The main element in Yazdani faiths is the belief in seven angelic entities that protect the world, therefore these traditions are named as Cult of Angels. Some groups classify the various Kurdish faiths under the Yazdani umbrella.

The original religion of the Kurds was Yazidism, a religion greatly influenced by Jewish, Zoroastrian, Christian and Islamic beliefs. However, there are significant differences between Yazdanism and Zoroasterianism, such as the belief in re-incarnation. Most Yazidis live in Iraqi Kurdistan, in the vicinity of Mosul and Sinjar. The Yarsan (or Ahl-e Haqq) religion is practised in western Iran, primarily around Kermanshah.

Judaism and Christianity

Christianity and Judaism both are still practised in very small numbers. Rabbi Asenath Barzani, who lived in Mosul from 1590 to 1670, was among the very first Jewish women to become a rabbi.The overwhelming majority of the Kurdish Jews had immigrated to the Jewish State, Israel, during the early 1950s. For centuries, the Jews had lived as protected subjects of the tribal chieftains (aghas) and survived in the urban centers and villages in which they lived. In return for the protection granted by their aghas, the Jews would occasionally give them gifts, services and commissions of their commercial and agricultural transactions.

Culture

Kurdish culture is a legacy from the various ancient peoples who shaped modern Kurds and their society, but primarily of three layers of indigenous (Hurrian), ancient Iranian (Medes), and Islamic roots.

Kurdish culture is close to that of other Iranian peoples. Kurds, for instance, also celebrate Newroz (March 21) as New Year's Day.

Kurdish films mainly evoke poverty and the lack of rights of Kurdish people in the region. Yılmaz Güney (Yol ) and Bahman Qubadi (A Time for Drunken Horses, Turtles Can Fly) are among the better-known Kurdish directors.

Music

Traditionally, there are three types of Kurdish Classical performers: storytellers (çîrokbêj), minstrels (stranbêj), and bards (dengbêj). No specific music was associated with the Kurdish princely courts. Instead, music performed in night gatherings (şevbihêrk) is considered classical. Several musical forms are found in this genre. Many songs are epic in nature, such as the popular Lawiks, heroic ballads recounting the tales of Kurdish heroes such as Saladin. Heyrans are love ballads usually expressing the melancholy of separation and unfulfilled love, while Lawje is a form of religious music and Payizoks are songs performed during the autumn. Love songs, dance music, wedding and other celebratory songs (dîlok/narînk), erotic poetry, and work songs are also popular.

Notes and references

Bibliography

Barth, F. 1953. Principles of Social Organization in Southern Kurdistan. Bulletin of the University Ethnographic Museum 7. Oslo.
Hansen, H.H. 1961. The Kurdish Woman's Life. Copenhagen. Ethnographic Museum Record 7:1-213.
Leach, E.R. 1938. Social and Economic Organization of the Rowanduz Kurds. London School of Economics Monographs on Social Anthropology 3:1-74.
Longrigg, S.H. 1953. Iraq, 1900-1950. London.
Masters, W.M. 1953. Rowanduz. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan.