M R Izady A. Introduction and a survey of the relevant primary sources: Detailed study of clan names among…

Scruples of Kurdish Political Elite under Scrutiny M. R. Izady, 1994 Limping back from the bloody Battle of Chaldiran against…

An overwhelming majority of Muslim and non-Muslim Kurds are followers of one of many mystic Sufi orders (or tariqa). The bonds of…

The history of Judaism in Kurdistan is ancient. The Talmud holds that Jewish deportees were settled in Kurdistan 2800 years…

About three-fifths of the Kurds, nearly all of them Kurmânji speakers, are today at least nominally Sunni Muslims of the…

The followers of the Yezidi religion, who have variously referred to themselves also as the Yazidi, Yazdâni, Izadi, and Dasna’i,…

A majority of the Dimila Kurds of Anatolia and some of their Kurmânji speaking neighbors are followers of another denomination…

Most non-Muslim Kurds follow one of several indigenous Kurdish faiths of great antiquity and originality, each of which is a…

The early history of Christianity in Kurdistan closely parallels that of the rest of Anatolia and Mesopotamia. By the early…

Bâbism was formed in Persia in 1844 by Mirzâ Ali Muhammad (1819-1850), the Bdb, or “the portal” (to the Deity). Bdb, or Bdbtl, standing…

The infusion of an Indo-European (Iranic) language, culture, and genetic element into the Kurdish population over the two millennia preceding…

Layla Zana (Kurdish: Leyla Zana) was born in 1961 in the small village of Bache in Northern Kurdistan (Northern Kurdistan…

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Notes on Kurdish Political Naiveté By Prof. Mehrdad R. Izady, 1995 The head of Egypt’s celebrated Sphinx is collapsing. To…

The Economist THEIR history is full of tales of persecution, betrayal and desperate flight. But few Kurdish fables are as…

Robert Olson, Professor of Middle East Politics, University of Kentucky Due to the strong resistance to the US occupation of…

By Prof. M. R. Izady The geopolitics of Kurdistan has effectively precluded the formation of an independent Kurdish state in this…

The Treaty of Sèvres, 1920 THE TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN THE ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS AND TURKEY SIGNED AT SÈVRES…

The Treaty of Sèvres, 1920 “PART I” THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS   ARTICLES 1 TO 26 AND…

The Treaty of Sèvres, 1920 (never adopted, superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne) The treaty of peace between the allied…

Treaties and historcial Treaties Treaty of Qasri Shirin, 17 May 1639 Treaty of Sèvres, 10 August 1920

A Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Kurdistan This provisional Constitution shall be presented to a public plebiscite within…

Manifesto of the Kurdish People for the Creation of a Free, Independent and Unified Homeland 1996 Justice dictates that all…

Included in agricultural production are animal products. The most important animals have been traditionally sheep and to a lesser extent…

In an otherwise water-starved region, Kurdistan is blessed with abundant precipitation. The generous regime has made Kurdistan one of the…

Kurdistan has among the largest oil reserves in the Middle East and the world. With about 45 billion barrels, Kurdistan…

Marco Polo writes of the Kurds of the area between Mus, Mardin, and Mosul, and reports they produced cotton “in…

Kurdistan’s wealth of high-grade pasture lands has long made it suitable for a pastoralist economy, but it is equally suitable…

The First Documented Resettlementof Kurds into Western and Southwestern Anatoliacirca 181 BC By: M. R. Izady, July 1998 During the Seleucid/Macedonian…

By Prof. Mehrdad R. Izady The late Dr. Henny Harald Hansen (1900-93) will long be remembered for her many authored and…

by Anwar Soltani Presented to the International Conference on the Sharafnama in Berlin, 1-3 May, 1998 THE MANUSCRIPTS Soon after…

By Dr Kamal Mirawdeli Sharafkhan Bidlisi (Kurdish: Mír Sheref el Dín Bitlísí) was born to a ruling family from the…

By Mehrdad R. Izady, 1992 In correspondence with the prestigious British scientific journal, Nature (Vol.360,5, Nov. 1992, p.24), Rudolph Michel of…

By Prof. Mehrdad Izady A most important first step in launching the field of Kurdish studies is the creation of…

Prof. M. R. Izady A few years ago, I was given a letter from an American, non-academic individual, asking “Are Kurds…

By Prof. M. R. Izady General history One of the least-known-and most fascinating-chapters in Kurdish history is the long-lasting participation…

KURDISTANICA introduces related articles to History section at this page. You may apply for a scholarly membership to post your…

Prince Sharaf al-Dîn Bitlîsî By Prof M.R. Izady Although primarily a collection of dynastic histories, there is little doubt that the…

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Mehrdad lzady (Kurdish: Mihrdad Ízedí, مهرداد ئیزه‌دی) was born in 1963 to a Kurdish father and a Belgian mother. He spent much…

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Prof Jalile Jalil

By Prof. M. R. Izady Like many other aspects of their national existence and identity, the extent of the areas…

By Prof. M.R. Izady The most prominent geophysical feature of Kurdistan is clearly its mountainousness. Kurdistan at present is composed…

By Prof. M.R. Izady Kurdistan is geologically quite active. The land straddles the subduction zone between the colliding Eurasian and…

By Prof. M.R. Izady Kurdistan can be divided historically, and on a socio-economic, cultural, and political basis, into five major…

By Prof. M. Izady The vast Kurdish homeland consists of about 200,000 square miles of territory. Its area is roughly…

Dialectology is a sub-field of historical linguistics, the scientific study of linguistic dialect. It studies variations in language based primarily on…

The unprejudiced academics that study Kurdish history are united in the view that the Kurds are an ancient race (1)….

Kurdish (Kurdish: Kurdí, كوردی, Kurdî, Кöрди) language belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. Kurdish dialects are members of the northwestern subdivision…

Language, the principal means used by human beings to communicate with one another. Language is primarily spoken, although it can…

Kurds are fortunate to have some of the most visible aspects of their popular culture authenticated to remote antiquity. Some…

Origin The goats were the first livestock animal to be domesticated. The pinpoint this landmark moment: 10,000 years ago in…

Red-legged partridge with scientific name “Alectoris rufa” calls “Kew, kev, Kewk, keví, and kevkí” in Kurdish. Red-legged partridge is normally 33…

Sirúdí Níshtimaní Kurdistan, Ey reqíb Ey reqíb her, mawe qewmí Kurd ziman Nayshékiné daneyí topí zeman (2) Kes nellé Kurd…

Flag of Kurdistan National Anthem National Birds Kurdish Currency The National Goat – KELL

A new release by blue crane books Watertown, Massachusetts – Writings from Prison by Leyla Zana, the first Kurdish woman…

Pelizzari, Maria Antonella. by Susan Meiselas New York: Random House, 1997, pp 388 “. . . The world is a…

By Christopher de Bellaigue, “New York Review of Books, June 24, 1999” Imagine that you head a foreign delegation on…

By Naom Chomski, ” Updated Edition, June 1999″ One of the best books for Naom Chomski being updated it includes…

KURDISTANICA publishes reviews of bibliographic records related to Kurdistan in any languages. We encourage our callers to submit their reviews….

KURDISTANICA tend to use its global network to collect bibliographic records on Kurds and Kurdistan. Individual can submit records of…

Kurds are fortunate to have some of the most visible aspects of their popular culture authenticated to remote antiquity. Some…

Kurdistan’s wealth of high-grade pasture lands has long made it suitable for a pastoralist economy, but it is equally suitable…

The Legal Documents section of KURDISTANICA provides agreement and Treaties which historically and politically have made an impact of the…

Like other places in the world where many parties are struggling for the limited available support of their constituents, and…

The infusion of an Indo-European (Iranic) language, culture, and genetic element into the Kurdish population over the two millennia preceding…

FAQ Following are Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ] that might arise when you look at KURDISTANICA. For answers to other questions,…

The vast Kurdish homeland consists of about 200,000 square miles of territory. Its area is roughly equal to that of…

Selected biographies of Kurdish historical figures featured on KURDISTANICA history section. You can joing this project by writing a shortbiography…

Yousef Hassanzadeh; Antiquity Vol 80 No 307 March 2006 Mannaean studies as an independent field began with the discovery of…

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1915 up to Present The idea of a nation-state in the modern sense and on the European model was more…

1497 – 1918 This period in the history of the Kurds is one of steady decline in every aspect of…

600 AD – 1600 AD This vibrant period of Kurdish history is marked by the reemergence of Kurdish political power…

400 BC – 600 AD This period in Kurdish history marks the homogenization and consolidation of the modern Kurdish national…

3000 BC- 400 BC This period marks the progressive technological and commercial overshadowing of Kurdistan by neighboring Mesopotamian cultures. It…

0,000 BC – 3000 BC This is by far the most noteworthy period in the history of Kurdistan. The technological…

By Prof. Mehrdad A. Izady Being the native inhabitants of their land. there are no “beginnings” for Kurdish history and people….

Being the native inhabitants of their land, there are no “beginnings” for Kurdish history and people. Kurds and their history…

The Encyclopaedia of Kurdistan, KURDISTANICA is a digital information and database focusing on the Kurdish People. The Encyclopaedia of Kurdistan…

Title The Kurdish Republic of Mahabad Publication Type Journal Article Authors Roosevelt, Jr. Archie Title of Journal The Middle East…

Prof. M. R. Izady Recently I came across a new, and otherwise excellent pictorial book on Kurdish costumes and fabrics. In…

The 1,100th Anniversary of a World-Class Kurdish Scholar By Prof. M. R. Izady The year 1996 marks the 1,100th anniversary of…

7,000 years older than Stonehenge: the site that stunned archaeologists Circles of elaborately carved stones from about 9,500BC predate even…

The Treaty of Zohab “17 May 1639” Text of the Letter by Envoys of Sultan Murat IV to the Envoys…

Title Kurdish-Turkish Dictionary Publication Type Book Year of Publication 1967 Authors Anter, Musa Publisher Yeni Matbaa City Istanbul Publication Language…

One thing that Individuals/organisations can do to support projects like KAL and KURDISTANICA is to ask their friends, colleagues or…

By Prof. M. R. Izady This detached exclave of Kurdish inhabited land is found on the modern northeastern borders of Iran…

By Robert Olson, University of Texas Press, Austin The Sheikh Said rebellion was the first large-scale nationalist rebellion by the…

Robert Olson, Professor of Middle East Politics, University of Kentucky Due to the strong resistance to the US occupation of…

By Prof. Mehrdad R. Izady The question of Kurdish origins, i.e., who the Kurds are and where they come from, has…

By Prof. Mehrdad Izady Compilation and organization of Kurdish history is a time consuming task. Happily, the cause is the sheer…

The state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation’s (TRT) recent launch of a TV channel, TRT 6, has been followed by…

The first part of the documentary “Kurdistan Mission ” is now available on SCOLA television network on Internet. This documentary…

Vladimir Minorsky, Prehistory of Saladin Saladin’s Origins (A) The famous biographer Ibn Khallikân (A.D. 1211-82) made a special inquiry into the history of…

Kurdistan Mission (Part two) Is a documentary based on the availble issues of “Kurdistan Missionary” a publication of Inter-Synodical Ev.Lutheran…

Part 3 of documentary series ” Kurdistan Mission” now could be downloaded or played on SCOLA’s homepage. The life and…

Part five of documentary series ‘Kurdistan Mission’ videos now is available on Scola’s homepage. In this part the works of…

Henry D. Astarjian With Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech, which marked the inception of the cold war, Soviet propaganda in the…

Tagheh Farhad or Rawansar tomb is a rock tomb near the small town of Ravansar (Kurdish: Rewanser) 57 km north-west…

Gaziantep, Turkey, The Economist, April 29th 2009 When Turkey’s Birecik dam begins filling up at the end of the month,…

Kurdistan Mission, is a documentary series on the activities of the “Lutheran Orient Mission Society” in Sablax (Mahabad) and its…

The Land of the Lion and the Sun as Seen on a Summer Caravan Trip By Harold F. Weston,  The…

By Kamal Mirawdeli, The International Conference, The Kurds Political status and Human Rights, March 1993 Introduction: Kurdistan means the land of…

Mehr News Agency, Tehran, 01/30/2010 The construction project that caused damages to the Anahita Temple in Kangavar in Kermanshah Province…

LONDON, (CAIS) — The joint archaeological expedition team from United States and the Republic of Azerbaijan, in the autonomous republic…

The Netherlands organisation for Scientific Research NWO has granted a subsidy to prof. dr Wilfred H. van Soldt (Humanities, LIAS)…

By Owen Jarus, 15 October 2010 Archaeologists excavating a 2,700 year old temple at the ancient city of Tayinat, in…

The Proto-Neolithic Cemetery in Shanidar Cave. By Ralph S. Solecki, Rose L. Solecki and Anagnostis P. Agelarakis, Texas A&M University…

Diane E. King, 2009 Before the Iraqi Baath regime’s ouster in 2003, I intermittently lived and carried out research in…

Forensic archaeologists uncover evidence of a secret massacre—and help convict Saddam Hussein of crimes against humanity. In May 1988, a…

The Kurdish national currency KURO inherited its name from a common combined word in Kurdish language. KURO is combined of Kur -which…

Paikoli Monument(1) was probably formed by a quadrilateral stone wall (average size: 40 x 60 x 40 cm) filled with…

Urartian Kingdom has not only become known by its organized state structure, advanced architecture, irrigation system, superior quality metal workmanship…

The Sassanian Inscription of PaikuliThe Paikuli inscription is comprised of three parts: introduction, main part, and conclusion. The main part…

In October 2010 the University of Athens obtained permission by the Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism of the Kurdistan Regional…

In a correspondence to the prestigious British scientific journal Nature (vol.360, 5 November, 1992, p. 24) Rudolph Michel of Museum…

Prof. Ismet Cherif Vanli (1924-2011), (Kurdish: Ismet Sheríf Wanlí, عیسمەت شەریف وانلی) was born on November 21, 1924, to Kurdish parents…

Qazi Muhammad [1900 – 1947] (Kurdish: Qazí Mihemed) was born on 1st May 1900 in the city of Mehabad in…

The followers of Yârsânism, also known as the Yârisân, Aliullâhi, Ali-llâhi (i.e., “those who deify Ali”), Alihaq, Ahl-i Haqq (“the…

The National Flag of Kurdistan   INTRODUCTION: The aim of this document is to introduce in brief the history of…