Editing Kurds (section)

===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.