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Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranê or Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) *) is an unofficial name for the parts of Iran inhabited by Kurds and has borders with Iraq and Turkey. It includes the greater parts of West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan Province, Kermanshah Province, and Ilam Province. Kurds form the majority of the population of this region with an estimated population of 4 million. The Historical Dictionary of Iran, J. Lorentz, 1995, p172). The region is the eastern part of the greater cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.

History

For the origin of Kurds see History of the Kurds and Kurds article. A very early record of confrontation between the Kurds and the Sassanid Empire appears in a historical text called the Book of the Deeds of Ardashir son of Babak. The book explains the life of "Ardashir Papagan" or Ardashir I of Persia, the founder of the Sassanid Dynasty, and is written in the Pahlavi language. In this book, the author explains the battle between Kurdish King Madig and Ardashir.* (Chapter 5) While according to some sources such as Dehkhoda Dictionary, Ardashir was the son of a Kurdish mother from Shabankareh tribe in the Fars Province Dehkhoda Dictionary, by Dehkhoda. Library of Congress Title: Lughatʹnāmah / taʾlīf-i Dihkhudā ; naẓar-i Muḥammad Muʻīn. Library of Congress Call Number: AE36 .D4 Pers. Entry for (کرد)., others such as Fars-nama(ca. 1107 CE) and Maslik al-absar of al-Umari do not consider Shabankareh as Kurdish and differentiate between Shabankareh and Kurds. Moreover the Kurdish history of Sharafnama (written by Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in 16th century), does not mention Shabankareh among the Kurdish dynasties *.

Medieval Kurdish Dynasties

From 10th century to 12th century A.D., two Kurdish dynasties were ruling this region, the Hasanwayhid (959-1015) and the Ayyarids (990-1117) (in Kermanshah, Dinawar and Khanaqin). The Ardalan state which was established in early 14th century, controlled the territories of Zardiawa (Karadagh), Khanaqin, Kirkuk, Kifri, and Hawraman. The capital city of the state was first in Sharazour in present-day Iraqi Kurdistan, but was moved to Sinne(Sanandaj) (in present-day Iran) later on. The Ardalan Dynasty continued to rule the region until the Qajar monarch Nasser-al-Din Shah(1848-1896) ended their rule in 1867 CE.

Safavid Period

According to Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Safavid family hailed from Iranian Kurdistan, and later moved to Azarbaijan. They finally settled in the 11th century C.E. at Ardabil *. (also Potter, p.75)

During Safavid rule, the government tried to extend its control over Kurdish inhabited areas in western Iran. At that time, there were a number of semi-independent Kurdish emirates such as the Mukriyan (Mahabad), Ardalan (Sinne), and Shikak tribes around Lake Urmiye and northwest Iran. Kurds resisted this policy and tried to keep some form of self-rule. This led to a series of bloody confrontations between the Safavids and the Kurds. The Kurds were finally defeated, and as a result the Safavids decided to punish rebellious Kurds by forced relocation and deportation of Kurds in 15-16th century. This policy began under the reign of the Safavid King Tahmasp I (r. 1514-1576).

Between 1534 and 1535, Tahmasp I began the systematic destruction of the old Kurdish cities and the countryside. Large numbers of Kurds from these areas found themselves deported to the Alborz mountains and Khorasan (Khurasan), as well as the heights in the central Iranian Plateau; the Laks suffered most. At this time the last remnant of the ancient royal Hadhabâni (Adiabene) tribe of central Kurdistan was removed from the heartland of Kurdistan and deported to Khorasan, where they are still found today. See and [http://www.coe.ohio-state.edu/mmerryfield/global_resources/modules/MECIran.htm under the title "Khurasani Kurdish Dances".

Battle of Dimdim

There is a well documented historical account of a long battle in 1609-1610 between Kurds and the Safavid Empire. The battle took place around a fortress called Dimdim located in Beradost region around Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran. In 1609, the ruined structure was rebuilt by "Emîr Xan Lepzêrîn" (Golden Hand Khan), ruler of Beradost, who sought to maintain the independence of his expanding principality in the face of both Ottoman and Safavid penetration into the region. Rebuilding Dimdim was considered a move toward independence that could threaten Safavid power in the northwest. Many Kurds, including the rulers of Mukriyan (Mahabad), rallied around Amir Khan. After a long and bloody siege led by the Safavid grand vizier Hatem Beg, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, Dimdim was captured. All the defenders were massacred. Shah Abbas ordered a general massacre in Beradost and Mukriyan (reported by Eskandar Beg Turkoman, Safavid Historian in the Book "Alam Aray-e Abbasi") and resettled the Turkish Afshar tribe in the region while deporting many Kurdish tribes to Khorasan. Although Persian historians (like Eskandar Beg ) depicted the first battle of Dimdim as a result of Kurdish mutiny or treason, in Kurdish oral traditions (Beytî dimdim), literary works (Dzhalilov, pp. 67-72), and histories, it was treated as a struggle of the Kurdish people against foreign domination. In fact, Beytî dimdim is considered a national epic second only to Mem û Zîn by Ehmedê Xanî (Ahmad Khani). The first literary account of Dimdim battle was written by Faqi Tayran. (see * and * ). Also see " O. Dzh. Dzhalilov, Kurdski geroicheski epos "Zlatoruki Khan" (The Kurdish heroic epic "Gold-hand Khan"), Moscow, 1967, pp. 5-26, 37-39, 206.

The Khurasani Kurds are a community of nearly 1.7 million people deported from western Kurdistan to Khorasan (northeastern Iran) by Persia during the 16th to 18th centuries. Also see "Izady, Mehrdad, H. ,The Kurds: A Concise Handbook, Crane Russak, 1992". For a map of these areas see *.

Zand Period

A "hybrid of Kurd and Lur elements ruled Persia under the Zand dynasty", from 1750 to 1794. (Potter, Sick, p.75) During the mid 18th century, the Kurdish tribe of Bajalan came into conflict with the Zand dynasty. The tribe was based in Qasr-e Shirin and Sar Pol-e Zahab region located in the present-day Kermanshah province in western Iran. When Karim Khan Zand conquered Kermanshah region, the Bajalan chief Abd-Allah Khan, fought against Zand forces. Bajalans were defeated near Khanaqin by Nazar Ali Khan Zand in 1775, and 2,000 of their men were slaughtered ( Encyclopaedia Iranica, pp.532-533, *).

Qajar Period

In 1880, Shaykh Ubaydullah, a Kurdish leader, engaged in a series of revolts against the Iranian government. These revolts were successfully suppressed by the Qajar Kings, and this was one of the Iran's few victories during the Qajar period (See Amanat, Abbas. Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896. London: I. B. Tauris, 1997, p.408). In early 20th century, Ismail Agha Simko took advantage of the chaotic situation in the aftermath of World War I, and rebelled against the Iranian government. He was finally defeated by Reza Shah Pahlavi (*, p.25).

Kurds in Modern Iran

Simko Revolts Against Reza Shah

Weakness of the Persian government during World War I, encouraged some Kurdish chiefs to take advantage of the chaotic situation. Ismael Agha (also known as Simko) chief of the Shikak tribe, established his authority in the area west of Lake Urmia from 1918 to 1922. Jaafar Sultan of Hewraman region also took control of the region between Marivan and north of Halabja and remained independent until 1925. In 1922, Reza Khan (who later became the first Pahlavi monarch), took action against Kurdish leaders. Simko was forced to abandon his region in Fall 1922, and spent eight years in hiding. When the Iranian government persuaded him to submit, he was ambushed and killed around Ushno (Oshnaviyeh) in 1930. After this, Reza Shah pursued a crude but effective policy against the Kurds. Hundreds of Kurdish chiefs were deported and forced into exile. Their lands were also confiscated by the government (see The Kurdish Question, By W. G. Elphinston, Journal of International Affairs, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1946, p.97)*.

World War II

When Allied troops entered Iran in September 1941, Persian Army was quickly dissolved and their ammunition was seized by the Kurds. Sons of Kurdish chiefs seized the opportunity and escaped from their exile in Tehran. A Kurdish chief from Baneh, named Hama Rashid took control of Sardasht, Baneh and Mariwan in western Iran. He was finally driven out of the region by the Persian Army in the Fall of 1944 (see The Kurdish Question, By W. G. Elphinston, Journal of International Affairs, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1946, p.97-98)*.

Republic of Kurdistan in Mahabad

Although Iran had declared its neutrality in the Second World War, it was occupied by Allied forces. With support from the Soviet Union, a Kurdish state was created in the city of Mahabad in 1946 by the Kurdish Movement Komeley Jiyanewey Kurd under the leadership of Qazi Muhammad. Since the minuscule entity extended no further than the small cities of Mahabad, Bukan, Naqada, and Oshnaviyeh in Iran, not even all of Iranian Kurdistan supported the experiment, let alone the Kurds in other states *. The Republic of Mahabad, as it is often called, lasted less than a year, as the end of the war and the withdrawal of the occupying Soviet forces allowed the central government to defeat the separatists and return Kurdistan to Iran.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and The Kurds

Another wave of nationalism engulfed eastern Kurdistan after the fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty in the winter of 1979, and as a result Ayatollah Khomeini, the new religious leader of Iran, declared a jihad (holy war) against Kurds. The crisis deepened after Kurds were denied seats in the assembly of experts gathering in 1979, which were responsible for writing the new constitution. Ayatollah Khomeini prevented Dr. Ghassemlou, the elected representative of the region to participate in the assembly of experts’ first meeting.Kurds were therefore deprived of their political rights under the new Iranian constitution, since the majority of them belonged to the Sunni branch of Islam. In the spring of 1980, government forces under the command of President Abolhassan Banisadr conquered most of the Kurdish cities through a huge military campaign, sending in mechanized military divisions to Kurdish cities including Mahabad, Sinne, Pawe, and Marivan [http://www.alefbe.com/revolution6.htm.

Kurdish political organizations were enthusiastic supporters of the revolution against the Shah, which brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power in 1979. The Shah had shown himself to be no friend of Kurdish aspirations for greater autonomy and a loosening of Tehran's control over their affairs. From the early days of the revolution, relations between the central government and Kurdish organizations have been fraught with difficulties. The Kurds, with their different language and traditions and their cross-border alliances, were seen as vulnerable to exploitation by foreign powers who wished to destabilize the young republic. In a speech, Ayatollah Khomeini called the concept of ethnic minority contrary to Islamic doctrines. He also accused those who do not wish Muslim countries to be united in creating the issue of nationalism among minorities. His views were shared by many in the clerical leadership (60).

Sunni Kurds, unlike the overwhelming majority of their countrymen, abstained from voting to endorse the creation of an Islamic republic in April 1979. That referendum institutionalized Shia primacy and made no provision for regional autonomy. As early as 1979 armed conflict broke out between armed Kurdish factions and the Iranian government's security forces. The Kurdish forces included primarily the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) and the leftist Komala (Revolutionary Organization of Kurdish Toilers)(61).

The new leadership had little patience for Kurdish demands and opted for crushing unrest through military means. Ayatollah Khalkhali(62), sentenced thousands of men to execution after summary trials without regard for the rights of the accused. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps fought to reestablish government control in the Kurdish regions. As a result more than 10,000 Kurds were killed *.

Half of the Kurdish population lives under the administration of the West Azarbaijan province, in which unverified minorities of Azaris and Persians (mainly Shiites) are claimed to have held a monopoly on important posts for the last 60 years. These areas were cut off the Kurdistan province after the fall of the Mahabad Republic. Kurds also suffer discrimination in the Iranian legal system, in which Sunnis (which includes most of the Kurds) are barred from standing as candidates for important posts such as the Presidency. *

Human Rights situation In Iranian Kurdistan

There are five to eight million Kurdish Iranians residing mainly in the west and northwest of the country in areas contiguous with Kurdish populations in the neighboring states of Iraq and Turkey. Increasing numbers of Kurds also reside in Tehran and in the southwest, where the oil industry provides employment opportunities. Most Iranian Kurds are Sunni Muslims, which, as has been noted, has been an aggravating factor in the Kurds' relations with the Shia central authorities in Tehran.

During Iran-Iraq war, Kurdish forces settled in Iraq and kept on military attacks against Iran. * Moreover, during the war years Kurdish regions became a battlefield for many armed opposition groups, including the Fedayan and the People's Mujahedin of Iran, inviting government reprisals that caused casualties among the civilian population.

With the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1989, the Iranian authorities were again able to devote greater military resources to stamping out Kurdish opposition to its policies. Military deployment was stepped up after the Gulf War and the creation of the Kurdish autonomous zone in northern Iraq. More than 200,000 troops are now permanently stationed in the Kurdish areas. In the course of combating armed opposition groups, the Iranian military has reportedly destroyed villages, expelled village populations, and mined broad areas. It has also attacked the suspected bases of Iranian Kurdish rebel groups inside Iraqi Kurdistan(63). The destruction of villages has been centered in areas adjacent to the Iraqi border in an apparent effort to close off supplies of arms reaching the Kurdish fighters from Iraq and to put an end to illicit cross-border traffic of all kinds.

Thus, the civilian population has been a major victim of the armed conflict. According to McDowall, more than 271 Iranian Kurdish villages were destroyed and depopulated between 1980 and 1992. Between July and December 1993 alone, during a major offensive against Kurdish armed groups, 113 villages were bombed.(64)

Kurdish activists complain that the authorities have withheld reconstruction funds for re-building war-damaged villages, directing such funds instead to the construction of housing for non-Kurdish immigrants in what they claim to be a deliberate attempt by the central government to change the composition of the population in the predominantly Kurdish areas of West Azarbaijan and Kurdistan provinces.(65)

In the cultural sphere, in 1985 a Center for the Propagation of Kurdish Culture and Literature was built in Urmia, the capital of West Azerbaijan province by the Kurdish poet Hemin Mukriyani. Kurdish artists and poets can display their work, including books and magazines published in Kurdish, but their content is strictly controlled by the Ministry of Islamic Guidance.

In January 1997, Karimullah Tavahodi, a Kurdish historian, was detained in Mashhad. He was sentenced to one year of imprisonment because of the content of the fifth volume of his Historical Movement of Kurds of Khorasan. Earlier volumes of this history had won official awards, but the fifth volume was banned. The authorities apparently objected to his portrayal of the Kurds' struggle for cultural autonomy(66).

Like others outside the closed circle of Iran's political leadership, Kurdish politicians who have sought to compete in the political process by constitutional means have found their way blocked(67).

Reform movement and the problem of Kurds

In 1997, Sunni Kurds like many other Iranians took part in the presidential election. Both civilian and military Kurdish opposition groups requested Kurds not to be indifferent toward the election.

President Khatami said on his visit of Kurdish regions: The representation of Kurds in senior officials’ positions in our region is exceedingly low. This is one of the issues that must be given attention. He also praised the glory of Kurdish culture and history.

From Kurdish side, the demands were mainly related to the Kurdish language and top-level officials.

In his first term, Khatami appointed Abdollah Ramezanzadeh to be the first Kurdish governor of the Iranian province of Kurdistan. He also appointed several Sunni and Shia Kurds as his own or cabinet member’s advisors. In his second term, Khatami had two Kurdish cabinet members; both of them were Shia.

The increased presence of Kurdish representatives in the sixth parliament led to expectations that some of the voters’ demands would be met. After the first round, in which 18 Kurds were elected, one candidate said that he expected there would be more Kurdish instruction at the university in Sanandaj, and he called on the Khatami government to have more Kurdish officials. Subsequently, a 40-member parliamentary faction representing the predominantly Kurdish provinces of Kurdistan, Luristan, and Kermanshah was formed. *

During Khatami’s Presidency, Kurdish language chairs were established in a few Universities. However he did not succeed in inserting Kurdish language in education system for children.

At the end of his two terms Kurdish reformist party was established under the leadership of Dr Ramezanzadeh. More than one hundred Kurdish political activists were associated with the party. However, there were many other civilian Kurdish activists who did not join the movement. Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand was among the latter who started an independent human right association to defend the right of Kurdish people. The new generation of Iranian Kurds mainly support such civilian methods rather than traditional military strategies.

In 2004, Mohammad Khatami admitted that he failed to implement his program of democratic reforms. After his terms, oppression of civilian Kurdish activists resumed by the regime.

Women sitiuation

Violence against women in Kurdish regions of Iran is very common. There is also a high rate of self-immolation among Kurdish women in Iran. According to Kurdistan Human Rights Organization, Domestic violence, social injustice, and discrimination are cited as the main reasons for self-immolation among women. The Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan has called on media and NGOs to help raise people's awareness about women's issues in an effort to help change social and cultural patterns relating to men's behavior. The organization has also called on the Iranian government to join international agreements and conventions that guarantee equal rights for women such as the UN Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Violence Against Women**.

Discrimination against the sunni Kurds

In present-day Iran, while Shi'a religious institutions are encouraged, Sunni institutions are blocked. In 1993 a newly constructed Sunni mosque in Sanandaj was destroyed by a mob of Shi'a zealots. Despite the fact that more than one million Sunnis live in Tehran, many of them Kurds, no Sunni mosque exists to serve their religious needs.*

Iran’s revolutionary regime came to see the predominantly Sunni Kurds as its greatest challenge. Former officers of the Shah’s military had established units in the Kurdish regions and threatened the new regime. Tehran also feared what it saw as the Kurds’ separatist tendencies. Shia Kurds who did not have such intentions ended up in conflict with the Sunni Kurds. The central government also sent troops, mostly the highly-committed Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), to fight against the Kurds. *

In a rare public protest, eighteen Sunni parliamentarians wrote to the authorities in July 2003 to criticize the treatment of the Sunni Muslim community and the refusal to allow construction of a mosque in Tehran that would serve that community. *

The Shivan Qaderi incident

After revolution, Kurdish regions in Iran, were battle field for central government and Kurdish military oppositions. However, after a few years the region entered a relatively calm phase free from major security problems. It last almost two decades until July 2005. *

On July 9 2005, a Kurdish opposition activist, Shivan Qaderi * (a.k.a Shwane Qadri or Sayed Kamal Asfaram) and two other Kurdish men were shot by Iranian security forces in Mahabad. According to witnesses, the security forces then tied Qaderi's body to a Toyata jeep and dragged it through the streets. Iranian authorities confirmed that Qaderi, "who was on the run and wanted by the judiciary", was shot and killed while allegedly evading arrest.

For the next six weeks, riots and protests erupted in Kurdish towns and villages throughout Eastern Kurdistan such as Mahabad, Sinne (Sanandaj), Sardasht, Piranshahr (Xanê), Oshnavieh (Şino), Baneh, Bokan and Saqiz * (and even inspiring protests in southwestern Iran and in Baluchistan in eastern Iran) with scores killed and injured, and an untold number arrested without charge. The Iranian authorities also shut down several major Kurdish newspapers arresting reporters and editors.

Several non Kurdish reformist parties and opposition groups condemed the violation of human rights in Kurdistan. They condemed killing civilians by Iran's regime and also Kurdish groups. *

In 13 March 2006, Saleh Nikbakht, a well-known Iranian human right lawyer who is Mr Qaderi's lawyer announced that Qaderi's murderer was a member of Police who shot the victim illegally. He also added that the murderer and the one who ordered the act are under investigations and the judiciary system has been cooperative up to now. Previously government authorities accused Qaderi of "moral and financial violations." Saleh Nikbakht rejected all these allegations.*

PJAK and violation of human rights

In August 2005, four members of Iranian police force were taken hostage by the PJAK armed group in West Azarbaijan Province. PJAK (Partiya Jiyana Azada Kurdistanê in Kurdish or Kurdistan Free Life Party) is a Kurdish military opposition group founded in 2004, said to be linked to the PKK. So far, eight Iranian soldiers and two people have reported killed in fighting between Iranian border guards and PJAKPJAK although being a new established organisation but continuously launchs militant operations against Iranian army forces so that in 2005 just during less than 6 months killed 120 Iranian police and tens wounded. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2005/09/050902_mf_kurds.shtml.

On 26 March 2006, three young Iranians, who were doing their obligatory military service, were killed by PJAK militants at Iran's border with Turkey.*

Historical and tourist Attractions

Image:Zarivar-Lake.jpg|Zirêwar Lake Image:Bracelet2.jpg|Golden bracelet decorated with two pairs of lion cubs lying face to face. From the treasures of Ziwiyeh; 7th century BC.

Major cities

Famous People from Iranian Kurdistan

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Iranian Kurdistan".

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