The Kurds
Hassan Arfa
Oxford University
First of all, it must be understood which people are to be considered as Kurds. As a result of a mixing of races due to many invasions, it is difficult to define to which race the individuals in different communities in the Middle East belong. In the case of the Kurds, the first criterion must be the use of one of the two chief Kurdish dialects, Zaza in the north and Kermanji in the centre and the south, to which Gurani, spoken In Kermanshah, can be added. But secondly, and perhaps chiefly, there is the feeling of the people that they are Kurds. The Kurdish groups scattered in eastern Iran, east Azerbaijan and even in south-eastern Iran, and the people of Garrus, in spite of their common ancestry have abandoned the Kurdish language and habits of life, and lost all affinity with the bulk of Kurds ...
Hassan Arfa has had long and firsthand experience of the Kurdish problem both as a soldier and as a diplomat. He fought the Kurds for many years in the frontier districts of Iran, but kept friendly relations with most of the Kurdish chiefs, his former adversaries. He was Chief of Staff of the Iranian Army from 1944-46 and Ambassador to Turkey from 1958-61. He has written an historical and political study of the Kurds in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq up to the present time, and considers in detail the many revolts carried out by the Kurds against the Governments of these three countries for patriotic, religious or other lesser reasons. His study reveals many little known facts about the vicissitudes of this warlike mountain race.
Contents
Preface / ix
Note on the Spelling of Proper Names / xi
Chapter I A Short History of the Kurds / 1
1. The people and the regions where they are found. Their languages.
2. The Kurds before Islam
3. The Kurds up to the nineteenth century
4. Up to the Treaty of Sfevres (1920)— Obeydollah (1880). The First World War (1914-1918). The attitude of the Great Powers
Chapter II The Kurds in Turkey / 33
1. The rebellion of Shaikh Sa’id
2. The revolt in northern Kurdistan, Ihsan Nuri, and the Jelali
3. Saiyid Reza in Dersim
4. The Turkish Government’s policy towards the Kurds
Chapter III The Kurds in Iran / 47
1. Simko in Azerbaijan
2. The Kurdish rebellion in Kordestan province
3. The first revolt of the Kurds during the Second World War—Hama Rashid
4. The Kurdish rising in Mahabad, 1945-1946
5. The present position of the Kurds in Iran
Chapter IV The Kurds in Iraq / 107
1. Shaikh Mahmud of Suleymaniyah
2. Shaikh Ahmad of Barzan
3. Molla Mostafa of Barzan
4. The Kurdish revolt and war against the Arabs
Chapter V Conclusion / 155
Bibliography / 161
Glossary of Geographical and Personal Names / 164
Index / 167
List of Illustrations
I. Isma’il Aqa (Simko) / 52
II. Haji Qazi; Imam Jom’eh; General Ibrahim Arfa; Amir As’ad Dehbokri; Majid / 53
III. Habibollah Mohit; Ali Reza Ardalan; Shaikh Sadeq / 53
IV. Kurdish Mollas in Saqqez / 68
V. Mir Haj Ahmad; Lieut. Nuri Ahmad; Colonel Izzet Abd-el-Aziz; Molla Mostafa Barzani;
Qader Beg Badr Khan; Captain Khairollah / 68
VI. Mohammad Qazi / 69
VII. Abdollah Mandan / 69
VIII. Mohammad Javanmardi with relatives / 116
IX. Kurds of Mahabad dancing during a marriage festivity / 116
X. Shaikh Mohammad Barzinja / 117
XI. Molla Mostafa / 132
XII. Abdollah Aqa Mandan / 133
XIII. Mozaffar Khan Habibi; Ali Khan Hamaveysi; Mohammad Habibi; Mohammad Ali Khan Amir Hosayni; Abd-el-Qader Saberi; Yahya Khan Galbaghi; Mohammad Hamaveysi; Mohammad Khan Fatehi / 133
List of Maps
I. Region inhabited by Kurds / frontispiece
II. The Kurds in Turkey / 35
III. The Kurds in Iran / 49
IV. The Kurds in Iraq / 109
PREFACE
The reader will wonder how it is possible for an Iranian officer, who for years fought against the Kurds in the frontier districts, to write an objective and impartial account of their history, position and aspirations, and not introduce a bias in favour of his own country which includes a Kurdish minority about one million strong.
The author acknowledges that his task is delicate. He has avoided any consideration of what might be called political and moral justice, or the proposing of solutions desirable either from his or his country’s point of view, and has restricted himself to an account of known and undeniable historical facts. He hopes that this study will provide useful information to those who are interested in the Kurdish question (or rather let us say questions) by shoving the background of present-day events and so making them more understandable to the general public.
Having lived and travelled much among the different Kurdish tribes, the author has had the opportunity of becoming closely acquainted with their way of life and has conceived a sympathy for these warlike mountaineers, freedom-loving, restless and often chivalrous, with whom he has had to deal both thro negotiations and through exchange of fire.
I am deeply grateful to the tireless help of a dear friend, Mrs. Narguesse McKellip, who graciously typed the whole manuscript and gave me very practical advice.
I also have much profited by information given to me by my Kurdish friends, in particular Mr. Abd-el-Qader Saberi, whose thorough knowledge of past and present events in the Kurdish regions has been invaluable for bringing this book up to date.
Hassan Arfa
Teheran
August 1965
I
A short history of the Kurds
I. The People and the Region Where They Are Found
Their Languages
First of all, it must be understood which people are to be considered as Kurds. As a result of a mixing of races due to many invasions, it is difficult to define to which race the individuals in different communities in the Middle East belong. In the case of the Kurds, the first criterion must be the use of one of the two chief Kurdish dialects, Zaza in the north and Kermanji in the centre and the south, to which Gurani, spoken In Kermanshah, can be added. But secondly, and perhaps chiefly, there is the feeling of the people that they are Kurds. The Kurdish groups scattered in eastern Iran, east Azerbaijan and even in south-eastern Iran, and the people of Garrus, in spite of their common ancestry have abandoned the Kurdish language and habits of life, and lost all affinity with the bulk of Kurds living around the frontiers of Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Thus they cannot be considered as forming part of the Kurdish people of today.
There are several theories about their original home, but many ethnologists agree that they are the mixture of the Median branch of the Aryans (the Iranians being the Persian branch) with indigenous populations, to which the Guti belonged. These people have been influenced in their turn by later invaders, including Armenians, Semites (Arabs and Assyrians), Turks, Turkomans, and Persian Iranians, but have absorbed them, although their physical characteristics vary according to the degree and kind of the admixture.
The region where the Kurds thus defined form the majority of the population is chiefly mountainous. It is limited to the east by the eastern slopes of the Zagros mountains up to Lake ...
Hassan Arfa
The Kurds
Oxford University
Oxford University Press
The Kurds
An historical and political study
Hassan Arfa
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Army 1944-46
Ambassador to Turkey 1958-61
London
Oxford University Press
New York & Toronto
1966
Oxford University Press, Ely House, London W.l
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© Oxford University Press 1966
Printed In Great Britain
By Ebenezer Baylis and Son,
Limited the Trinity Press, Worcester, and London
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