This book gives the first complete account of the short-lived Kurdish Republic of Mahabad, created in 1946 in north-west Iran in the shadow of the Soviet-inspired `autonomous' Republic of Iranian Azerbaijan. Both republics came into being after the Second World War but during the Soviet occupation of northern Persia under the Anglo-Soviet-Iranian Treaty of 1942, and both collapsed seven months after the withdrawal of Rus¬sian troops in May 1946. The scarcity of information about this obscure series of events, which cannot be pieced together from written sources since the Kurds concerned destroyed all written evidence of their involve¬ment, has hitherto given rise to a good deal of confusion, especially regarding the role of the Soviet Union, the relations between Azerbaijan and Kurdistan, the nature of Kurdish nationalism, and the personality of the principal Kurdish leaders, including Qazi Muhammad of Mahabad and the Iraqi Kurd, Mulla Mustafa Barzani.
The author, who is a member of the United States Foreign Service, gather¬ed the material for this study during 1954-5 when he was stationed at Kurkuk in Iraq and during 1959-61 when living in Tabriz. He was able to interview a number of Kurds, Turks, Persians, and Arabs who recalled the events of 1946-7. He thus throws new light not only on the Mahabad Republic but on the Kurdish nationalist move¬ment, which still remains a live issue, as the Kurdish revolt in northern Iraq in 1961-2 bears witness.
CONTENTS
Preface / v I HISTORY / 1 Before 1800, I ; The Nineteenth Century, 4; The First World War, 9 ; Between the Wars, II
II THE SECOND WORLD WAR / 14 The Russians, the Kurds, and the War, 14; Kurdish Tribes in Iran, 16; The First Visit to Baku, 23
III MAHABAD / 25 The Police Station, 25; The Town, 26; The People, 27; Minorities and Religion, 28; Qazi Muhammad, 3o
IV THE KOMALA / 33 The Founding, 33; The Central Committee, 34; Expansion, 35; Greater Kurdistan, 36; Qazi's Membership, 39; A Kurdish Opera, 39; Azerbai- jan and Kurdistan, 41
V THE SECOND VISIT TO BAKU / 43
VI THE BARZANIS / 47 Their Past, 47; Tribal Life, 49; Mulla Mustafa Returns, 51; The 1945 Revolt, 53
VII PRELUDE TO THE REPUBLIC / 55 Rifles, 55 ; Barzanis and Associates, 55; The Democratic Party of Kurdistan, 56; Azerbaijani Autonomy, 59; Kurdish Autonomy, 6o
VIII THE REPUBLIC FORMED / 62 22 January 1946, 62; The Russian Presence, 64; The Cabinet, 67
IX MARCH / 72 The Iranian Case, 72; In Tabriz, 74; The Barzanis at Mahabad, 75; Tabriz Again, 76; A Mahabad Army, 77
X APRIL / 80 The International Setting, 8o; The Kurdistan— Azerbaijan Territorial Dispute, 8o; The Kurdish- Azerbaijani Treaty, 81; Students for the USSR, 83 ; Qahrawa, 85
XI MAY / 87 Tobacco, 87; Iran and Azerbaijan, 88; The Big Offensive, 89 ; Negotiations, 92 ; Irano-Azerbai- jani Agreement, 93
XII JUNE / 95 Mamashah, 95; Concerning the Offensive, 97; Détente and Truce, 99
XIII JULY / 100 Conditions in the Republic, too; Soviet Influence and Political Tendencies, 102 ; The Northern Front, 104
XIV INTERLUDE / 106 Meeting in Tehran, Io6; Iranian Decisions, Io6; Final Alignments, 108
XV THE END / 111 The Fall of Azerbaijan, III ; The Fall of Maha- bad, 11 2 ; Arms and Arrests, 116; The Alvand Plan, 117 ; In Baku, 118
XVI THE AFTERMATH / 119 The Barzanis Again, 119; Decision in Mahabad, 121; A Final Scene, 126
XVII EPILOGUE / 130 APPENDICES I-THE FIRST VISIT TO BAKU / 133 II-THE FOUNDERS OF THE KOMALA / 133 III-THE SECOND VISIT TO BAKU / 133 IV-MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KURDISTAN IN 1946 AND THE CABINET / 134 V-MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KURDISTAN FORMED IN MAY 1946 / 134 VI-DIRECTORS-GENERAL AND OTHER PERSONALITIES OF THE KURDISH REPUBLIC, 1946 / 135 VII-AN INCOMPLETE LIST OF KURDISH ARMY OFFICERS / 136
Index / 137
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES 1 On a road in Kurdistan (Iraq) 2 `Faqraqa' : an early Median tomb near Qum Qaleh, ten miles from Mahabad 3 Ismail Agha `Simko' at the height of his influence, c. 1921 4 Shaikh Abdullah Effendi Gilani in 1961 5 The Mahabad Police Station (1961) 6 Chom i Sauj Bulaqeh and Mahabad (1961) 7 Faqih (theological students) in a street of Mahabad (1961) 8 Kurdish girls of Mahabad 9 Children in Gazgasek village, west of Mahabad (1960) 10 Mahabad (1961) 11 Street auction in Mahabad (1961) 12 Entrance to Saqqiz from the Baneh road (1961) 13 Mulla Mustafa Barzani (1946) 14 In the bombed-out house of the Shaikhs of Barzan (1955) 15 Muhammad Agha Mergasor, Chief of the Shirwan tribe (Barzani) below police post destroyed by Mulla Mustafa in 1945 (1955) 16 26 of Azar (17 December 1945) : Iranian flag replaced by Kurdish flag at the Mahabad Department of Justice 17 Proclamation of the Republic 18 Mahabad, 1946 19 The Cabinet and other officials, Mahabad, February 1946 20 Chiana village near Naqadeh, spring 1946 21 Officers of the Mahabad army
PREFACE
THE time has perhaps come when a history of the Kurdish Republic of 1946 can usefully be compiled. Not that any particular moment is ideal, for it might still be too early to assess dispassionately all aspects of that controversial era, or already too late to capture accurately the essence of events now beginning to fade in human memories. Because the complete story of the Mahabad Republic cannot be pieced together from published sources, the pages that follow must be based on imperfect memories; for when the Republic collapsed the Kurds who took part in it set about destroying all written evidence of their involvement. Nor have official Iranian sources been inclined to perpetuate the bitter memories of events that deviated from the main stream of Iranian national consolidation and progress.
One of the most elusive tasks is to uncover the exact dates of events or even their order in time. In addition to any errors due to these causes, I have perhaps been too kind to some of the characters of this story and too severe with others ; while the contributions of some, for good or bad, have no doubt been overlooked altogether.
The standard English-language source of information on the Mahabad Republic has been an article that appeared in the Middle East J0urnal in July 1947, written by Archie Roosevelt, Jr, one of the few foreigners to visit Mahabad during the Republic. The fact that several dates were misplaced in that account does not detract from its remarkable insight into conditions at Mahabad at the time.
I must acknowledge my gratitude to -yrus Habibi of Mahabad, now with the American Consulate in Tabriz, who accompanied me and contributed his linguistic skill and balanced judgement on many field trips and interviews in quest of the story of his native town. Nor can I forget the holidays devoted by Mrs Oscar Reynolds of the U.S. Foreign Service to the transcription and typing of the first draft of this history. Of those who read the manuscript and made useful suggestions, Sir Reader Bullard deserves special mention, as does Miss Hermia Oliver, on the editorial staff of Chatham House. Mr Archie Roosevelt was kind enough to read me excerpts from notes of his visit to Mahabad and to let me use two photographs from his collection. I should also like to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr C. J. Edmonds and his book on Iraqi Kurdistan, Kurds, Turks and Arabs; and to Pierre Rondot for encouragement and indirect inspiration of my study.
I must also remain in debt to all those Persians, Arabs, Turks, and Kurds whose confidence in my fair use of the materials they provided encouraged me to believe I could write this small seg-ment of their history. Of the Iranian army officers who were helpful I must mention Major-General (ret) Homayuni, Brigadier General Ali Asghar Fiuzi, and Colonel Mehran. The names of my principal Kurdish sources appear throughout this book and in the appendices. Most of them prefer to remain anonymous, so I shall not cite them individually, except for Sayyid Ahmad, son of Sayyid Taha of Shemdinan, who first told me of his adventures in the service of the Republic one day in 1955 as we motored by jeep into Barzani territory to Mergasor. Sayyid Ahmad's accidental death at Arbil in 1958 removed a bright spirit from the scene and a loyal friend from Kurdistan when I returned there in 1959. Of my other Kurdish friends and sources, those who contributed the most will know who they are.
Books that include names and phrases in Middle Eastern languages customarily set forth a system of transliteration or at least try to justify the lack thereof, as I do, since my system is sometimes inconsistent though based on certain relevant con-siderations. For example, most personal names are derived from Arabic and when written in the Arabic script that is used by the Persian, Arabic, and Kurdish languages, retain their original Arabic spelling. Kurdish pronunciation, though varying greatly within Kurdistan, usually remains nearer to the original Arabic than does Persian. I have therefore tended towards transliteration from the Arabic, making exceptions, as in Obaidullah rather than Ubaidullah, where the Arabic did not hit close enough to actual pronunciation in the region under study. Confining myself within the limits of the latin alphabet and omitting the ain and hamza, I provide no sure means of scientifically restoring foreign names and words to their original forms. Middle Eastern scholars and linguists should have no trouble, however, in recognizing where the ains and other symbols are lacking, and the innocent would do well to remain so.
Because of my past and present association with the United States Foreign Service, I must stress that the material used here is of non-official origin and that I alone am responsible for all views and interpretations.
W.E., April 1962
The Kurdish Republic of 1946
WILLIAM EAGLETON JR Issued under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO 1963, Printed in Great Britain
Oxford University Press, Amen House, London E.C.4 GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI LAHORE DACCA CAPE TOWN SALISBURY NAIROBI IBADAN ACCRA KUALA LUMPUR HONG KONG
MIDDLE EASTERN MONOGRAPHS: 5 THE KURDISH REPUBLIC OF 1946
The Royal Institute of International Affairs is an unofficial and non-political body, founded in 1920 to encourage and facilitate the scientific study of international questions. The Institute, as such, is precluded by the terms of its Royal Charter from expressing an opinion on any aspect of inter national affairs. Any opinions expressed in this publication are not, therefore, those of the Institute.
MIDDLE EASTERN MONOGRAPHS
In order to illuminate the background to international relations in the area, the Royal Institute of International Affairs proposes to publish from time to time under this general title studies of the modern society of the Middle East—its ideas and beliefs, its economic activities, its social and political institutions and important aspects of its recent history. All will be based on first-hand investigation or original thought, and all will be concerned, in their different ways, with a single theme: the vast, rapid and continuing change in Middle Eastern society in modern times, and the problems it poses for the Middle Eastern peoples and for those who have interests among them.
The following have already been published in the series: 1 The Labour Movement in the Sudan, 1946-1955. By the late Saad éd din Fawzi (1957, out of print) 2 Egypt in the Sudan, 1820-1881. By Richard Hill (1959) 3 The Intellectual Origins of Egyptian Nationalism. By Jamal Mohammed Ahmed (196o) 4 A History 0f Landownership in Modern Egypt, 1800-1950. By Gabriel Baer (1962)
