Articles

In-depth research and analysis on Kurdish history, culture, and identity.

History and Identity

Evliya Çelebi in Kurdistan

Evliya Çelebi toured the Kurdish lands in the 17th century. The name Kurdistan, Abdal Khan's library at Bitlis, Kurdish word lists: one traveller's testimony.

Jul 13, 202614 min read read

History and Identity

Western Travellers Among the Kurds

From missionary Campanile to Rich in Sulaymaniyah, from Soane in disguise to Edmonds: Western travellers' testimony on the Kurds, and the limits of the gaze.

Jul 13, 202613 min read read

History and Identity

Agha, Shaikh, and Mîr: The Old Order of Kurdish Society

Who is the agha, how did the shaikhs rise, why did the mîrs vanish? Bruinessen's classic thesis on the old order of Kurdish society and its traces today.

Jul 13, 202613 min read read

History and Identity

Kurdistan in the First Encyclopedia (1896): 'A Large Country'

In 1896 Şemseddin Sami named Kurdistan 'a large country' in the first Turkish encyclopedia. The story of the entries M. Emin Bozarslan brought to light.

Jul 13, 202613 min read

History and Identity

Pioneers of Kurdish Studies: The Birth of a Science

From a Kurdish grammar printed in Rome in 1787 to Minorsky, Yerevan, and Dr. Izady: how the science of studying the Kurds was born, pioneer by pioneer.

Jul 13, 202613 min read

History and Identity

Dimdim Castle: A Resistance That Became a Legend

Dimdim Castle held against the Safavid army in 1609 to 1610. Biradost's mîr Emîr Xan became Xanê Lepzêrîn in folk memory. The record and the epic, side by side.

Jul 13, 202612 min read read

Culture and Memory

Kurdish Cuisine: Geography on a Table

Kurdish cuisine is geography on a table. Mast, dew, savar, and tenûr bread: Ala Barzinji's book on the dairy culture, winter stores, and the Newroz spread.

Jul 13, 202612 min read read

Culture and Memory

Kurdish Folk Epics: From Memê Alan to Siyabend û Xecê

Memê Alan, Siyabend û Xecê, Zembîlfiroş, Kerr û Kulik: Kurdish folk epics carried a people's geography, morality, and memory to today in the dengbêj's voice.

Jul 13, 202613 min read read

Literature and Language

Cegerxwîn: The Poet of Exile

Cegerxwîn (1903-1984): a mele near Gercüş who dropped the robe to write against the agha and ignorance. The exile poet's life, traced in documents.

Jul 13, 202612 minutes read

Culture and Memory

Kurdish Proverbs: The Mind of a People

Gotinên pêşiyan, the words of those who came before: a proverb is a people's distilled mind. Twelve Kurmancî proverbs, verified from the Chyet dictionary.

Jul 13, 202612 min read read

Culture and Memory

Hasankeyf: Twelve Thousand Years Underwater

Hasankeyf was a rock city of twelve thousand years. The Artuqid bridge, the Ayyubid meliks, the Ilısu Dam, the moved monuments, and the rising water of 2020.

Jul 13, 202613 min read read

Culture and Memory

Diyarbakır Walls and Hevsel Gardens: The Memory of Stone

From Rome's expansion of 349 to the Hevsel market gardens and the 2015 UNESCO listing: how Diyarbakır's 5.8 km of black basalt became a ledger in stone.

Jul 13, 202613 min read read