Editing Kurds (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of the Kurdish people}}

===Antiquity===
{{main|Origin of the Kurds}}

The country ''Kar-da-ka'' is mentioned on a [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] clay tablet dated to the 3rd millennium BC.{{Sfn|Bois|Minorsky|MacKenzie|2012|p=447, Column 2}} This land was located next to "the people of Su", which [[G. R. Driver]] placed to the south of [[Lake Van]].<ref name=":5">{{cite journal|title=The Name Kurd and its Philological Connexions|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=55|issue=3|pages=393–403|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00067605|year=1923|last1=Driver|first1=G. R.|s2cid=162528712}}</ref> A thousand years later, a people who may have been called ''Qur-ṭi-e'' (the reading is uncertain),{{Sfn|Bois|Minorsky|MacKenzie|2012|p=447, Column 2}} thought by Driver to be related to ''Kar-da-ka'' and located west of Lake Van, are mentioned in the inscriptions of the [[Assyria|Assyrian]] king [[Tiglath-Pileser I]].<ref name=":5" /> In the late 5th century BC, [[Xenophon]] mentioned the [[Carduchii|Karduchoi]], a people living to the east of the Bohtan River; this name survived in later times as ''Qardu'' or ''[[Corduene]]'' and other similar toponyms near [[Mount Judi]], on the left bank of the Tigris. The connection between ''Kurd'' and ''Qardu'' and the identification of the Kurds with the Karduchoi, based on the similarity of the names and the correspondence of the inhabited territory, was widely accepted at the beginning of the 20th century, but it was deemed philologically impossible by [[Martin Hartmann]], [[Theodor Nöldeke]] and F. H. Weissbach, who instead identified the [[Cyrtians]], a tribe living in [[Media (region)|Media]] and [[Persis|Persia]], as the ancestors of the Kurds.{{Sfn|Bois|Minorsky|MacKenzie|2012|pp=447-448}}{{Efn|This identification was earlier proposed by [[Friedrich Carl Andreas|F. C. Andreas]]. [[Garnik Asatrian]] considers the identification of the ethnonyms to be likely but not the actual descent of the Kurds from the Cyrtians.{{Sfn|Asatrian|2009|pp=26-27}}}} Since then, the connection between ''Kurd'' and ''Qardu'' / ''Karduchoi'' has been rejected by many scholars.{{Sfn|Asatrian|2009|p=25: "Its [the ethnonym Kurd's] possible connection to Xenephon's καρδόυχοι must be considered now as obsolete [...]. This view was thoroughly discussed and rejected by Th. Nöldeke just on the threshold of the 20th century [...]. And though some two decades later G. R. Driver [...] had attempted to revive the ''Kurd''/καρδόυχοι (Arm. ''Kordu-kʻ'') correlation, nonetheless, it was not accepted within iranological academic circles for phonetic and historical reasons"}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Marciak |first=Michał |authorlink=Michał Marciak |title=Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene: Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West |date= |publisher=Brill |year=2017 |isbn=978-90-04-35072-4 |location=Leiden |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hwEtDwAAQBAJ&dq=karduchoi&pg=PA220 220]–221|quote=It is frequently stated that Gordyene was 'an apparently Kurdish or proto-Kurdish state,' and that its population were ancestors of the modern Kurds. However, this identification, which is apparently based on the similarity of the names of the two peoples, the Καρδοῦχοι and the Kurds (as well as on a very partial overlap of the inhabited territories), is rejected by many scholars on linguistic grounds.}}</ref>

Many Kurds consider themselves descended from the [[Medes]], an ancient Iranian people, and even use a calendar dating from 612 BC, when the [[Assyria]]n capital of [[Nineveh]] was conquered by the Medes.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Iran v. Peoples of Iran (1) A General Survey |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-v1-peoples-survey |access-date=4 March 2016 |last=Frye |first=Richard Nelson |author-link=Richard N. Frye}}</ref> The claimed Median descent is reflected in the words of the [[Ey Reqîb|Kurdish national anthem]]: "We are the children of the Medes and [[Kai Khosrow]]."<ref>{{cite book|author=Ofra Bengio|title=Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=caCDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|date=15 November 2014|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-75813-1|page=87}}</ref> Both Kurdish and the [[Median language]] (about which very little is known) are categorized as [[Northwestern Iranian languages]], but the current scholarly consensus is that there is no attested pre-modern ancestor of the Kurdish languages. The existing evidence suggests that Kurdish is not a descendant of the Median language. [[D. N. Mackenzie]] theorized that Kurdish and split off from the linguistic sub-group of Median at an early point and evolved in parallel with Persian. Certain essential similarities exist between Kurdish and Persian, more than other Northwestern Iranian languages, which has led some scholars to conclude that Kurdish developed from early on in close proximity to Persian, with Kurdish speakers later migrating into the Median territory.<ref>{{cite book |last=Öpengin |first=Ergin |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781108623711%23CN-bp-24/type/book_part |title=The Cambridge History of the Kurds |date=2021-04-22 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-62371-1 |editor-last=Bozarslan |editor-first=Hamit |pages=607–610 |chapter=The History of Kurdish and the Development of Literary Kurmanji |doi=10.1017/9781108623711.025 |access-date=2025-03-25 |editor2-last=Gunes |editor2-first=Cengiz |editor3-last=Yadirgi |editor3-first=Veli}}</ref>

The term ''Kurd'' is first encountered in Arabic sources of the seventh century.<ref name="MartinIdentity">Martin van Bruinessen, "The ethnic identity of the Kurds," in: ''Ethnic groups in the Republic of Turkey'', compiled and edited by Peter Alford Andrews with Rüdiger Benninghaus [=Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, Reihe B, Nr.60]. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwich Reichert, 1989, pp. 613–21.  excerpt: "The ethnic label "Kurd" is first encountered in Arabic sources from the first centuries of the Islamic era; it seemed to refer to a specific variety of pastoral nomadism, and possibly to a set of political units, rather than to a linguistic group: once or twice, "Arabic Kurds" are mentioned. By the 10th century, the term appears to denote nomadic and/or transhumant groups speaking an Iranian language and mainly inhabiting the mountainous areas to the South of Lake Van and Lake Urmia, with some offshoots in the Caucasus. ... If there was a Kurdish-speaking subjected peasantry at that time, the term was not yet used to include them."{{cite web|url=http://www.let.uu.nl/~Martin.vanBruinessen/personal/publications/Bruinessen_Ethnic_identity_Kurds.pdf|title=The Ethnic Identity of the Kurds in Turkey|access-date=23 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015152331/http://www.let.uu.nl/~Martin.vanBruinessen/personal/publications/Bruinessen_Ethnic_identity_Kurds.pdf|archive-date=15 October 2015}}</ref> Books from the early Islamic era, including those containing legends such as the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' and the [[Middle Persian]] [[Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan|''Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan'']], and other early Islamic sources provide early attestation of the name ''Kurd''.<ref>A. Safrastian, ''Kurds and Kurdistan'', The Harvill Press, 1948, p. 16 and p. 31</ref> The Kurds have ethnically diverse origins.<ref name="Shoup">{{cite book|author=John A. Shoup III|title=Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GN5yv3-U6goC&pg=PA159|date=17 October 2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-363-7|page=159}}</ref><ref name="McDowall 2004">{{cite book|title=A Modern History of the Kurds|edition=Third|first=David|last=McDowall|date=14 May 2004|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-85043-416-0|pages=8–9, 373, 375|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dgDi9qFT41oC&pg=PA9}}</ref>

During the [[Sassanid era]], in ''[[Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan]]'', a short prose work written in Middle Persian, [[Ardashir I]] is depicted as having battled the Kurds and their leader, [[Madig]]. After initially sustaining a heavy defeat, Ardashir I was successful in subjugating the Kurds.<ref>''Kârnâmag î Ardashîr î Babagân.'' Trans. D. D. P. Sanjana. 1896</ref> In a letter Ardashir I received from his foe, [[Artabanus V of Parthia|Ardavan V]], which is also featured in the same work, he is referred to as being a Kurd himself.{{blockquote|
<poem>
You've bitten off more than you can chew
and you have brought death to yourself.
O son of a Kurd, raised in the tents of the Kurds,
who gave you permission to put a crown on your head?<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Limbert|first1=J.|year=1968|title=The Origins and Appearance of the Kurds in Pre-Islamic Iran|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=1|issue=2|pages=41–51|doi=10.1080/00210866808701350}}</ref>
</poem>}} The usage of the term ''Kurd'' during this time period most likely was a social term, designating Northwestern Iranian nomads, rather than a concrete ethnic group.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>{{Sfn|Asatrian|2009|p=23}}

Similarly, in AD 360, the Sassanid king [[Shapur II]] marched into the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] province [[Zabdicene]], to conquer its chief city, Bezabde, present-day [[Cizre]]. He found it heavily fortified and guarded by three legions and a large body of Kurdish archers.<ref name="gutenberg.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16167/16167-h/raw7a.htm|title=The Seven Great Monarchies, by George Rawlinson, The Seventh Monarchy, Part A|via=Project Gutenberg|access-date=2 March 2014}}</ref> After a long and hard-fought siege, Shapur II breached the walls, conquered the city and massacred all its defenders. Thereafter he had the strategically located city repaired, provisioned and garrisoned with his best troops.<ref name="gutenberg.org"/>

Qadishaye, settled by [[Kavad I|Kavad]] in [[Singara]], were probably Kurds<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3, Issue 2|last=Fisher|first=W. B.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1968|isbn=9780521246934|pages=761}}</ref> and worshiped the martyr [[Abd-al-Masih (martyr)|Abd al-Masih.]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Origins of Cities in Dry-Farming Syria and Mesopotamia in the 3rd Millennium B.C.|last=Weiss|first=Harvey|publisher=Four Quarters Publishing|year=1986|isbn=9780931500084 |location=Guilford, Connecticut|pages=76}}</ref> They revolted against the Sassanids and were raiding the whole Persian territory. Later they, along with Arabs and Armenians, joined the Sassanids in their war against the Byzantines.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fisher|first=G.|year=2016|title=Writing the History of the 'Persian Arabs': The Pre-Islamic Perspective on the "Nasrids" of al-Hirah|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=49|pages=247–290|doi=10.1080/00210862.2015.1129763|s2cid=163337124}}</ref>

There is also a 7th-century text by an unidentified author, written about the legendary [[Christian martyr]] [[Mar Qardagh]]. He lived in the 4th century, during the reign of Shapur II, and during his travels is said to have encountered [[Abdisho (died 345)|Mar Abdisho]], a deacon and martyr, who, after having been questioned of his origins by Mar Qardagh and his [[Marzoban]]s, stated that his parents were originally from an Assyrian village called Hazza, but were driven out and subsequently settled in Tamanon, a village in "the land of the Kurds", identified as being in the region of [[Mount Judi]].<ref>Walker, J. T. (2006). ''The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq''. Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], pp. 26, 52.</ref>

===Medieval period===
[[File:Saladin the Victorious.jpg|thumb|Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, or [[Saladin]], founder of the [[Ayyubid dynasty]] in the Middle East]]
Early Syriac sources use the terms ''Hurdanaye, Kurdanaye, Kurdaye'' to refer to the Kurds. According to [[Michael the Syrian]], Hurdanaye separated from Tayaye Arabs and sought refuge with the Byzantine Emperor [[Theophilos (emperor)|Theophilus]]. He also mentions the [[Persian people|Persian]] troops who fought against Musa chief of Hurdanaye in the region of Qardu in 841. According to [[Bar Hebraeus|Barhebreaus]], a king appeared to the Kurdanaye and they rebelled against the Arabs in 829. Michael the Syrian considered them as [[Paganism|pagan]], followers of [[mahdi]] and adepts of [[Magi]]anism. Their mahdi called himself [[Christ]] and the [[Holy Ghost]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mouawad|first=R.J.|year=1992|title=The Kurds and Their Christian Neighbors: The Case of the Orthodox Syriacs|journal=Parole de l'Orient|volume=XVII|pages=127–141}}</ref>

In the early [[Middle Ages]], the Kurds sporadically appear in Arabic sources, though the term was still not being used for a specific people; instead, it referred to an amalgam of nomadic western Iranian tribes, who were distinct from [[Persian people|Persians]]. However, in the [[High Middle Ages]], the Kurdish ethnic identity gradually materialized, as one can find clear evidence of the Kurdish ethnic identity and solidarity in texts of the 12th and 13th centuries,<ref>James, Boris. (2006). Uses and Values of the Term Kurd in Arabic Medieval Literary Sources. ''Seminar at the American University of Beirut'', pp. 6–7.</ref> though, the term was also still being used in the social sense.<ref>James, Boris. (2006). Uses and Values of the Term Kurd in Arabic Medieval Literary
Sources. ''Seminar at the American University of Beirut'', pp. 4, 8, 9.</ref> Since 10th century, Arabic texts including [[al-Masudi]]'s works, have referred to Kurds as a distinct linguistic group.<ref>{{Cite book|last=James|first=Boris|title=Grounded Identities: Territory and Belonging in the Medieval and Early Modern Middle East and Mediterranean|publisher=Brill|year=2019|isbn=9789004385337|editor-last=Tamari|editor-first=Steve|pages=20|chapter=Constructing the Realm of the Kurds (al-Mamlaka al-Akradiyya): Kurdish In-betweenness and Mamluk Ethnic Engineering (1130-1340 CE)}}</ref> From 11th century onward, the term Kurd is explicitly defined as an [[ethnonym]] and this does not suggest synonymity with the ethnographic category nomad.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=James|first=Boris|year=2014|title=Arab Ethnonyms( 'Ajam, 'Arab, Badu and Turk): The Kurdish Case as a Paradigm for Thinking about Differences in the Middle Ages|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=47|issue=5|pages=683–712 (see 692)|doi=10.1080/00210862.2014.934149|s2cid=143606283}}</ref> [[Al-Tabari]] wrote that in 639, [[Hormuzan]], a Sasanian general originating from a noble family, battled against the [[Early Muslim conquests|Islamic invaders]] in [[Khuzestan]], and called upon the Kurds to aid him in battle.<ref>al-Tabari. ''The Conquest of Iraq, Southwestern Persia, and Egypt''. Trans. G. H. A. Juynboll. Albany: [[State University of New York Press]], 1989, p. 121.</ref> However, they were defeated and brought under Islamic rule.
[[File:Kurdsih_Wariors.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Kurdish warriors by Frank Feller]]
In 838, a Kurdish leader based in Mosul, named [[Mir Jafar Dasni|Mir Jafar]], revolted against the Caliph [[al-Mu'tasim]] who sent the commander Itakh to combat him. Itakh won this war and executed many of the Kurds.<ref>T. Bois. (1966). ''The Kurds''. Beirut: Khayat Book & Publishing Company S.A.L., p. 87.</ref><ref>K. A. Brook. (2009). ''The Jews of Khazaria''. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc., p. 184.</ref> Eventually, Arabs conquered the Kurdish regions and gradually converted the majority of Kurds to Islam, often incorporating them into the military, such as the [[Hamdanids]] whose dynastic family members also frequently intermarried with Kurds.<ref>Canard (1986), p. 126</ref><ref>Kennedy (2004), pp. 266, 269.</ref>

In 934, the [[Daylamite]] [[Buyid]] dynasty was founded, and subsequently conquered most of present-day Iran and Iraq. During the time of rule of this dynasty, Kurdish chief and ruler, Badr ibn Hasanwaih, established himself as one of the most important emirs of the time.<ref>K. M. Ahmed. (2012). ''The beginnings of ancient Kurdistan (c. 2500–1500 BC) : a historical and cultural synthesis''. [[Leiden University]], pp. 502–503.</ref>

In the 10th–12th centuries, a number of [[Kurdish principalities]] and dynasties were founded, ruling Kurdistan and neighbouring areas:
[[File:AyyubidGreatest.png|thumb|The Ayyubid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin, founded by Saladin.]]
*The [[Shaddadids]] (951–1174){{Sfn|Bosworth|1996|p=151}}{{sfn|Peacock|2000}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=215}}{{Sfn|Vacca|2017|p=7}} ruled parts of [[Armenia]] and [[Arran (Caucasus)|Arran]].
*The [[Rawadid dynasty|Rawadid]] (955–1221) were Arab origin, later Kurdicized{{Sfn|Vacca|2017|p=7}} and ruled [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]].
*The [[Hasanwayhids]] (959–1015){{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=215}} ruled western Iran and upper Mesopotamia.
*The [[Marwanids (Diyar Bakr)|Marwanid]]s (990–1096){{sfn|Bosworth|1996|p=89}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=215}}{{Sfn|Vacca|2017|p=7}} ruled eastern Anatolia.
*The [[Annazids]] (990–1117){{sfn|Aḥmad|1985|p=97–98}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=215}} ruled western Iran and [[Upper Mesopotamia]] (succeeded the Hasanwayhids).
*The [[Hazaraspids]] (1148–1424){{sfn|Bosworth|2003|p=93}} ruled southwestern Iran.
*The [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]] (1171–1341){{Sfn|Mazaheri|Gholami|2008}} ruled [[Egypt]], [[Syria]], Upper Mesopotamia, [[Hejaz]], [[Yemen]] and parts of southeastern Anatolia.

Due to the Turkic invasion of Anatolia and Armenia, the 11th-century Kurdish dynasties crumbled and became incorporated into the Seljuk dynasty. Kurds would hereafter be used in great numbers in the armies of the [[Zengid]]s.<ref>F. Robinson. (1996). ''The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 44.</ref> The [[Ayyubid dynasty]] was founded by Kurdish ruler [[Saladin]],{{Sfn|Riley-Smith|2008|P=|p=64}}{{Sfn|Humphreys|1977|p=29}}{{Sfn|Laine|2015|p=133}}{{Sfn|Lewis|2002|p=166}} as succeeding the Zengids, the Ayyubids established themselves in 1171. Saladin led the Muslims to recapture the city of [[Jerusalem]] from the [[Crusaders]] at the [[Battle of Hattin]], also frequently clashing with the [[Hashashin|Assassin]]s. The Ayyubid dynasty lasted until 1341 when the Ayyubid sultanate fell to [[Mongols|Mongolian]] invasions.

===Safavid period===
{{further|Safavid dynasty}}
[[File:Abbas_I_of_Persia.jpg|thumb|200x200px|5th [[Safavid dynasty#Safavid Shahs of Iran|Safavid shah]] [[Abbas the Great]], married a [[Mukriyan|Mukri]] noblewoman in 1610 AD.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Butler|first1=Herbert|title=Sir Thomas Herbert, Bart: Travels in Africa, Persia, and Asia the Great : Some Years Travels Into Africa and Asia the Great, Especially Describing the Famous Empires of Persia and Hindustan, as Also Divers Other Kingdoms in the Oriental Indies, 1627–30, the 1677 Version. Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies.|date=2012|publisher=ACMRS (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies)|isbn=978-0-86698-475-1|page=403}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=American Society of Genealogists|date=1997|page=244}}</ref>]]

The [[Safavid]] dynasty, established in 1501, also established its rule over Kurdish-inhabited territories. The paternal line of this family actually had Kurdish roots,<ref>{{Harvnb|Amoretti|Matthee|2009}}: "Of Kurdish ancestry, the Ṣafavids started as a Sunnī mystical order (...)"<br>{{Harvnb|Matthee|2005|p=18}}: "The Safavids, as Iranians of Kurdish ancestry and of nontribal background, did not fit this pattern, although the stat they set up with the aid of Turkmen tribal forces of Eastern Anatolia closely resembled this division in its makeup. Yet, the Turk versus Tajik division was not impregnable."<br>{{Harvnb|Matthee|2008}}: "As Persians of Kurdish ancestry and of a non-tribal background, the Safavids did not fit this pattern, though the state they set up with the assistance of Turkmen tribal forces of eastern Anatolia closely resembled this division in its makeup."<br>{{Harvnb|Savory|2008|p=8}}: "This official version contains textual changes designed to obscure the Kurdish origins of the Safavid family and to vindicate their claim to descent from the Imams."<br>{{Harvnb|Hamid|2006|pp=456–474}}: "The Safavids originated as a hereditary lineage of Sufi shaikhs centered on Ardabil, Shafeʿite in school and probably Kurdish in origin."<br>{{Harvnb|Amanat|2017|p=40}} "The Safavi house originally was among the landowning nobility of Kurdish origin, with affinity to the Ahl-e Haqq in Kurdistan (chart 1). In the twelfth century, the family settled in northeastern Azarbaijan, where Safi al-Din Ardabili (d. 1334), the patriarch of the Safavid house and Ismail's ancestor dating back six generations, was a revered Sufi leader."<br>{{harvnb|Tapper|1997|p=39}}: "The Safavid Shahs who ruled Iran between 1501 and 1722 descended from Sheikh Safi ad-Din of Ardabil (1252–1334). Sheikh Safi and his immediate successors were renowned as holy ascetics Sufis. Their own origins were obscure; probably of Kurdish or Iranian extraction, they later claimed descent from the Prophet."<br>{{harvnb|Manz|2021|p=169}}: "The Safavid dynasty was of Iranian – probably Kurdish – extraction and had its beginnings as a Sufi order located at Ardabil near the eastern border of Azerbaijan, in a region favorable for both agriculture and pastoralism."</ref> tracing back to [[Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah]], a dignitary who moved from Kurdistan to Ardabil in the 11th century.<ref name="Daftary">F. Daftary, "Intellectual Traditions in Islam", I.B. Tauris, 2001. pg 147: "But the origins of the family of Shaykh Safi al-Din go back not to Hijaz but to [[Kurdistan Province|Kurdistan]], from where, seven generations before him, Firuz Shah Zarin-kulah had migrated to Adharbayjan"</ref><ref>Barry D. Wood, The Tarikh-i Jahanara in the Chester Beatty Library: an illustrated manuscript of the "Anonymous Histories of Shah Isma'il", Islamic Gallery Project, Asian Department Victoria & Albert Museum London, Routledge, Volume 37, Number 1 / March 2004, Pp: 89 – 107.</ref> The [[Battle of Chaldiran]] in 1514 that culminated in what is nowadays Iran's [[West Azerbaijan Province]], marked the start of the [[Ottoman-Persian Wars]] between the Iranian Safavids (and successive Iranian dynasties) and the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]]. For the next 300 years, many of the Kurds found themselves living in territories that frequently changed hands between Ottoman Turkey and Iran during the protracted series of Ottoman-Persian Wars.

The Safavid king [[Ismail I]] (r. 1501–1524) put down a Yezidi rebellion which went on from 1506 to 1510. A century later, the year-long [[Battle of Dimdim]] took place, wherein the Safavid king [[Abbas I of Persia|Abbas I]] (r. 1588–1629) succeeded in putting down the rebellion led by the Kurdish ruler Amir Khan Lepzerin. Thereafter, many Kurds were deported to [[Khorasan Province|Khorasan]], not only to weaken the Kurds, but also to protect the eastern border from invading [[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan]] and [[Turkmen people|Turkmen]] tribes.<ref name="autogenerated2">''A People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan'' By Gérard Chaliand, Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, and Marco Pallis, p. 205.</ref> Other forced movements and deportations of other groups were also implemented by Abbas I and his successors, most notably of the [[Armenians]], the [[Abbas I's Kakhetian and Kartlian campaigns|Georgians]], and the [[Circassians]], who were moved en masse to and from other districts within the Persian empire.{{sfn|Blow|2009|page=66}}{{sfn|Aslanian|2011|page=1}}{{sfn|Bournoutian|2002|page=208}}{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2015|pages=291, 536}}{{sfn|Floor|Herzig|2012|page=479}}

The Kurds of Khorasan, numbering around 700,000, still use the [[Kurmanji]] Kurdish dialect.<ref name="coucileu">''[http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewHTML.asp?FileID=11316&lang=en "The cultural situation of the Kurds]'', A report by Lord Russell-Johnston, Council of Europe, July 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2015.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/f52bcc85689b17998025679f003f5a36?Opendocument|title=Fifteenth periodic report of States parties due in 1998: Islamic Republic of Iran|publisher=Unhchr.ch|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref> Several Kurdish noblemen served the Safavids and rose to prominence, such as [[Shaykh Ali Khan Zanganeh]], who served as the [[List of Safavid Grand Viziers|grand vizier]] of the Safavid [[shah]] [[Suleiman I of Persia|Suleiman I]] (r. 1666–1694) from 1669 to 1689. Due to his efforts in reforming the declining Iranian economy, he has been called the "Safavid [[Amir Kabir]]" in modern historiography.{{sfn|Matthee}} His son, [[Shahqoli Khan Zanganeh]], also served as a grand vizier from 1707 to 1716. Another Kurdish statesman, [[Ganj Ali Khan]], was close friends with Abbas I, and served as governor in various provinces and was known for his loyal service.

===Zand period===
{{further|Zand dynasty}}
[[File:کریم خان زند.JPG|thumb|[[Karim Khan]], the Laki ruler of the Zand Dynasty]]
[[File:Antonion Zeno Shindler - Kurd Man - 1985.66.165,714 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg|thumb|Impression of a Kurdish man by American artist Antonio Zeno Shindle circa 1893]]

After the fall of the Safavids, Iran fell under the control of the [[Afsharid Empire]] ruled by [[Nader Shah]] at its peak. After Nader's death, Iran fell into civil war, with multiple leaders trying to gain control over the country. Ultimately, it was [[Karim Khan]], a Laki general of the [[Zand tribe]] who would come to power.<ref>A fourth pretender was Karim Khan, son of Aymak of the Zand, a section of [[Lak people (Iran)|Lak]] tribe {{cite book|author=Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes|title=A History of Persia|publisher=Macmillan and Company, limited|year=1930|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y6BCAAAAIAAJ&q=%22A+fourth+pretender+was+Karim+Khan,+son+of+Aymak+of+the+Zand%22|page=277}}</ref>

The country would flourish during Karim Khan's reign; a strong resurgence of the arts would take place, and international ties were strengthened.<ref name="Iranica Zand">J. R. Perry (2011) [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/karim-khan-zand "Karim Khan Zand"]. Retrieved 7 July 2013.</ref> Karim Khan was portrayed as being a ruler who truly cared about his subjects, thereby gaining the title ''Vakil-e Ra'aya'' (meaning "Representative of the People" in [[Persian language|Persian]]).<ref name="Iranica Zand"/> Though not as powerful in its geopolitical and military reach as the preceding Safavids and Afsharids or even the early Qajars, he managed to reassert Iranian hegemony over its integral territories in the [[Caucasus]], and presided over an era of relative peace, prosperity, and tranquility. In [[Ottoman Iraq]], following the [[Ottoman–Persian War (1775–76)]], Karim Khan managed to seize [[Basra]] for several years.<ref>'' 'Abd al-Hamid I'', M. Cavid Baysun, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, ed. H.A.R. Gibb, J.H. Kramers, E. Levi-Provençal and J. Schacht, (Brill, 1986), 62.</ref><ref>Dionisius A. Agius, ''In the Wake of the Dhow: The Arabian Gulf and Oman'', (Ithaca Press, 2010), 15.</ref>

After Karim Khan's death, the dynasty would decline in favour of the rival [[Qajars]] due to infighting between the Khan's incompetent offspring. It was not until [[Lotf Ali Khan]], 10 years later, that the dynasty would once again be led by an adept ruler. By this time however, the Qajars had already progressed greatly, having taken a number of Zand territories. Lotf Ali Khan had multiple successes before ultimately succumbing to the rival faction. Iran and all its Kurdish territories would hereby be incorporated in the [[Qajar dynasty]].

The Kurdish tribes present in [[Baluchistan]] and some of those in [[Fars province|Fars]] are believed to be remnants of those that assisted and accompanied Lotf Ali Khan and Karim Khan, respectively.<ref>P. Oberling (2004) [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kurdish-tribes "Kurdish Tribes"]. ''Encyclopædia Iranica''. Retrieved 7 July 2013.</ref>

===Ottoman period===
{{further|Ottoman Kurds|Ottoman Empire|Sheikh Ubeydullah}}

When Sultan [[Selim I]], after defeating Shah [[Ismail I]] in [[Battle of Chaldiran|1514]], annexed [[Western Armenia]] and Kurdistan, he entrusted the organisation of the conquered territories to [[Idris Bitlisi|Idris]], the historian, who was a Kurd of [[Bitlis]]. He divided the territory into ''sanjaks'' or districts, and, making no attempt to interfere with the principle of heredity, installed the local chiefs as governors. He also resettled the rich pastoral country between [[Erzerum]] and [[Erivan]], which had lain in waste since the passage of [[Timur]], with Kurds from the [[Hakkari (historical region)|Hakkari]] and Bohtan districts. For the next centuries, from the [[Peace of Amasya]] until the first half of the 19th century, several regions of the wide Kurdish homelands would be contested as well between the Ottomans and the neighbouring rival successive [[Iran|Iranian dynasties]] (Safavids, [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharids]], [[Qajar dynasty|Qajars]]) in the frequent [[Ottoman-Persian Wars]].

The Ottoman centralist policies in the beginning of the 19th century aimed to remove power from the principalities and localities, which directly affected the Kurdish emirs. [[Bedirhan Bey]] was the last emir of the [[Cizre|Cizre Bohtan]] [[Emirate]] after initiating an uprising in 1847 against the Ottomans to protect the current structures of the Kurdish principalities. Although his uprising is not classified as a nationalist one, his children played significant roles in the emergence and the development of Kurdish nationalism through the next century.<ref>Ozoglu, Hakan. Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries. February 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-7914-5993-5}}. Pg 95.</ref>

The first modern Kurdish nationalist movement emerged in 1880 with an uprising led by a Kurdish landowner and head of the powerful Shemdinan family, [[Sheik Ubeydullah]], who demanded political autonomy or outright independence for Kurds as well as the recognition of a Kurdistan state without interference from Turkish or Persian authorities.<ref>Ozoglu, Hakan. Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries. February 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-7914-5993-5}}. Pg 75.</ref> The uprising against [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar Persia]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]] was ultimately suppressed by the Ottomans and Ubeydullah, along with other notables, were exiled to Istanbul.

===Kurdish nationalism of the 20th century===
{{further|Kurdish nationalism|Rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire|Deportations of Kurds (1916–1934)|Iraqi Kurdistan}}
[[File:Kurdistan1920.png|thumb|Provisions of the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] for an independent [[Kurdistan]] (in 1920)]]
Kurdish nationalism emerged after [[World War I]] with the dissolution of the [[Ottoman Empire]], which had historically successfully integrated (but not assimilated) the Kurds, through use of forced repression of Kurdish independence movements. Revolts did occur sporadically but only in 1880 with the uprising led by [[Sheik Ubeydullah]] did the Kurds as an ethnic group or nation make demands. Ottoman sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] ({{reign | 1876 | 1909}}) responded with a campaign of integration by co-opting prominent Kurdish opponents to strengthen Ottoman power with offers of prestigious positions in his government. This strategy appears to have been successful, given the loyalty displayed by the Kurdish [[Hamidiye (cavalry)|Hamidiye]] regiments during World War I.<ref name="laciner">{{Cite journal|title=The Ideological and Historical Roots of Kurdist Movements in Turkey: Ethnicity Demography, Politics|journal=Nationalism and Ethnic Politics|first=Bal|last=Laçiner|author2=Bal, Ihsan|volume=10|issue=3|pages=473–504|doi=10.1080/13537110490518282|url=http://www.turkishweekly.net/articles.php?id=15|access-date=19 October 2007|year=2004|s2cid=144607707|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011225529/http://www.turkishweekly.net/articles.php?id=15|archive-date=11 October 2007}}</ref>

The Kurdish ethno-nationalist movement that emerged following [[World War I]] and the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1922 largely represented a reaction to the changes taking place in mainstream Turkey, primarily to the radical [[secularization]], the centralization of authority, and to the rampant [[Turkish nationalism]] in the new Turkish Republic.<ref name="natali">{{Cite journal|title=Ottoman Kurds and emergent Kurdish nationalism|journal=Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies|first=Denise|last=Natali|author-link=Denise Natali|volume=13|issue=3|pages=383–387|doi=10.1080/1066992042000300701|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1066992042000300701|date=2004|s2cid=220375529|access-date=19 October 2007}}</ref>

[[Jakob Künzler]], head of a missionary hospital in [[Urfa]], documented the large-scale [[ethnic cleansing]] of both [[Armenian people|Armenians]] and Kurds by the [[Young Turks]].<ref>Fisk, R. ''The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East'', p.322. Vintage. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-7517-1}}</ref> He has given a detailed account of the deportation of Kurds from [[Erzurum]] and [[Bitlis]] in the winter of 1916. The Kurds were perceived to be subversive elements who would take the [[Russian Empire|Russian]] side in the war. In order to eliminate this threat, Young Turks embarked on a large-scale deportation of Kurds from the regions of ''Djabachdjur'', ''Palu'', ''Musch'', ''Erzurum'' and ''Bitlis''. Around 300,000 Kurds were forced to move southwards to Urfa and then westwards to [[Gaziantep|Aintab]] and [[Kahramanmaraş|Marasch]]. In the summer of 1917 Kurds were moved to [[Konya]] in [[central Anatolia]]. Through these measures, the Young Turk [[leader]]s aimed at weakening the political influence of the Kurds by deporting them from their ancestral lands and by dispersing them in small pockets of exiled communities. By the end of World War I, up to 700,000 Kurds had been forcibly deported and almost half of the displaced perished.<ref>Dominik J. Schaller, Jürgen Zimmerer, ''Late Ottoman genocides: the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and Young Turkish population and extermination policies—introduction'', Journal of Genocide Research, Vol.10, No.1, p.8, March 2008.</ref>

Some of the Kurdish groups sought self-determination and the confirmation of Kurdish autonomy in the 1920 [[Treaty of Sèvres]], but in the [[aftermath of World War I]], [[Kemal Atatürk]] prevented such a result. Kurds backed by the United Kingdom declared independence in 1927 and established the [[Republic of Ararat]]. [[Turkey]] suppressed Kurdist revolts in 1925, 1930, and 1937–1938, while Iran in the 1920s suppressed [[Simko Shikak]] at [[Lake Urmia]] and Jaafar Sultan of the Hewraman region, who controlled the region between [[Marivan]] and north of [[Halabja]]. A short-lived [[Soviet]]-sponsored Kurdish [[Republic of Mahabad]] (January to December 1946) existed in an area of present-day Iran.

[[File:Kurdish-inhabited areas of the Middle East and the Soviet Union in 1986.jpg|thumb|right|Kurdish-inhabited areas of the Middle East and the Soviet Union in 1986, according to the U.S. [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA)]]
From 1922 to 1924 in Iraq a [[Kingdom of Kurdistan]] existed. When [[Ba'ath]]ist administrators thwarted Kurdish nationalist ambitions in [[Iraq]], war broke out in the 1960s. In 1970 the Kurds rejected limited territorial self-rule within Iraq, demanding larger areas, including the oil-rich [[Kirkuk]] region.

During the 1920s and 1930s, several large-scale Kurdish revolts took place in Kurdistan. Following these rebellions, the area of Turkish Kurdistan was put under [[martial law]] and many of the Kurds were displaced. The Turkish government also encouraged resettlement of [[Albanians in Kosovo|Albanians from Kosovo]] and [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] in the region to change the make-up of the population. These events and measures led to long-lasting mutual distrust between Ankara and the Kurds.<ref>C. Dahlman, "The Political Geography of Kurdistan," ''Eurasian Geography and Economics'', Vol. 43, No. 4, 2002, p. 279.</ref>

Kurdish officers from the Iraqi army [...] were said to have approached Soviet army authorities soon after their arrival in Iran in 1941 and offered to form a Kurdish volunteer force to fight alongside the Red Army. This offer was declined.<ref>
{{cite book|last1=Jwaideh|first1=Wadie|author-link1=Wadie Jwaideh|title=The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FCbspX-dGPYC|series=Contemporary Issues in the Middle East|edition=reprint|location=Syracuse, New York|publisher=Syracuse University Press|date=2006|page=267|isbn=9780815630937|quote=Kurdish officers from the Iraqi army [...] were said to have approached Soviet army authorities soon after their arrival in Iran in 1941 and offered to form a Kurdish volunteer force to fight alongside the Red Army. This offer was declined.}}
</ref>

During the relatively open government of the 1950s in Turkey, Kurds gained political office and started working within the framework of the Turkish Republic to further their interests, but this move towards integration was halted with the [[1960 Turkish coup d'état]].<ref name="laciner"/> The 1970s saw an evolution in Kurdish nationalism as [[Marxist]] political thought influenced some in the new generation of Kurdish nationalists opposed to the local [[feudal]] authorities who had been a traditional source of opposition to authority; in 1978 Kurdish students would form the militant separatist organization [[Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan|PKK]], also known as the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] in English. The [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] later abandoned [[Marxism-Leninism]].<ref name="Abdullah Öcalan 2007, pp. 243-277">Abdullah Öcalan, ''Prison Writings: The Roots of Civilisation'', 2007, Pluto Press, pp. 243–277.</ref>

Kurds are often regarded as "the largest [[Stateless nation|ethnic group without a state]]".<ref>{{cite news|last=Kennedy|first=J. Michael|title=Kurds Remain on the Sideline of Syria's Uprising|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/world/middleeast/kurds-remain-on-sideline-in-syrias-uprising.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/world/middleeast/kurds-remain-on-sideline-in-syrias-uprising.html|archive-date=2022-01-03|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=24 July 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=17 April 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Minahan|first=James|title=Encyclopedia of the stateless nations. 2. D – K|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn.|isbn=978-0-313-32110-8|page=1056|edition=1. publ.|quote=The fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East, the Kurds make up the world's most numerous ethnic group that has, with the exception of northern Iraq, no legal form of self-government.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Handbook of Ethnic Conflict: International Perspectives|year=2012|publisher=Springer|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4614-0447-7|page=243|author=Dan Landis, Rosita D. Albert|quote=Many scholars and organizations refer to the Kurds as being one of the largest ethnic groups without a nation-state (Council of Europe, 2006; MacDonald, 1993; McKeirnan, 1999).}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Aziz|first=Mahir|title=The Kurds of Iraq: Ethnonationalism and National Identity in Iraqi Kurdistan|year=2010|publisher=Tauris Academic Studies|location=London|isbn=978-1-84885-546-5|page=4|quote=The Kurds appear to be the largest ethnic group in the world without a state of their own.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Ben|title=Let's Go 2003: Turkey|year=2002|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-30597-0|page=24|quote=The 1999 capture and conviction of Kurdish guerilla leader Abdullah Ocalan brought increasing international attention to the Kurds, the largest ethnic group in the world without its own nation.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Karolides|first=Nicholas J.|title=Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds|year=2006|publisher=Infobase Pub.|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-7151-7|page=8|edition=Rev.|quote=They are a recognizable ethnic community, the 'world's largest ethnic group without a state of their own.'}}</ref> Some researchers, such as [[Martin van Bruinessen]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Bruinessen|first=Martin|author-link=Martin van Bruinessen|title=Kurdish Ethno-Nationalism Versus Nation-Building States: Collected Articles|publisher=Isis Press|location=Istanbul|page=43|year=2000|isbn=978-975-428-177-4|oclc=46851965}}</ref> argue that while some level of Kurdish cultural, social, political and ideological heterogeneity may exist, the Kurdish community has long thrived over the centuries as a generally peaceful and well-integrated part of Turkish society, with hostilities erupting only in recent years.<ref name="radu">{{cite book|last=Radu|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Radu|title=Dangerous Neighborhood: Contemporary Issues in Turkey's Foreign Relations|publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]]|location=New Brunswick, N.J|page=17|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7658-0166-1|oclc=50269670}}</ref><ref name="elling"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Crane|first1=Keith|last2=Lal|first2=Rollie|last3=Martini|first3=Jeffrey|title=Iran's Political, Demographic, and Economic Vulnerabilities|publisher=[[RAND Corporation]]|location=Santa Monica|page=53|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8330-4527-0|oclc=259715774}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2025}} [[Michael Radu]], who worked for the United States' Pennsylvania Foreign Policy Research Institute, writes that demands for a Kurdish state come primarily from [[Kurdish nationalism|Kurdish nationalists]], Western human-rights activists, and European leftists.<ref name="radu"/>