Kurdish History Journal
Cembeli in Kurdish legend: the prince of Hekkari who, for love of the beautiful Binevsa Narin, gave up his palace to herd flocks on the high pastures; one of the great Kurdish epics.
Read article →Siyabend and Xece (Khej u Siyabend): one of the great Kurdish epics, the tragic love-story of an outcast youth and the woman he loved, ending in sorrow on Mount Sipan.
Read article →Zembilfirosh in Kurdish legend: the prince who renounced his palace to live as a humble basket-seller and dervish, and the famous tale of the temptation he faithfully resisted.
Read article →Pir Shalyar, the ancient saint and mystic of Hawraman: the legendary healer of the Kurdish Zagros whose miraculous cure of a princess is remembered in one of the oldest surviving Kurdish ceremonies.
Read article →Xidir Nabi (Khidr) in Kurdish folk-belief: the immortal green man of the springs and waters, an ever-living helper-spirit who appears to grant wishes, revered across the Kurdish faiths.
Read article →The legend of Solomon and the jinn: an old mythic tale, recorded by medieval writers, of the origin of the Kurds in the mountains, told as folklore and legend, not history.
Read article →The Peri in Kurdish and Iranic folklore: the beautiful winged spirit-beings of the old Iranic tradition, fairy-like spirits of nature, distinct from the jinn and the demonic divs.
Read article →The divine manifestations in Yarsani tradition: the doctrine that the one Divine Essence reveals itself in the world through successive avatars across the ages, with Sultan Sahak supreme.
Read article →The Khandans in Yarsani tradition: the eleven sacred spiritual houses of the Ahl-e Haqq, the hereditary lineages descending from the holy beings, each led by a Sayyid.
Read article →The Haftan in Yarsani tradition: the higher heptad of seven holy companions of Sultan Sahak, the divine beings closest to the manifestation of the divine, led by Pir Benyamin.
Read article →Pir Ali in Yazidi tradition: the holy figure honoured with the Batizmi festival, remembered for his miracles and revered as an incarnation of the Peacock Angel.
Read article →Sheikh Sherfedin in Yazidi tradition: the holy figure Sharaf ad-Din, son of Sheikh Hasan, revered in the Sinjar region, whose great temple is one of the holiest Yazidi sites.
Read article →Pir Mam Rashan in Yazidi tradition: the holy figure known as the Lord of the Rains, patron of agriculture and the harvest, the bringer of rain venerated on Mount Sinjar.
Read article →Sheikh Obekr in Yazidi tradition: a holy figure of the Heptad, the Seven Holy Beings, the patriarch of the Qatani Sheikhs and bearer of the Xerqa, the sacred garment of asceticism.
Read article →Amadin in Yazidi tradition: the holy figure and son of Sheikh Shems, venerated as a saint of healing and remembered in tradition as a founder of the Bahdinan emirate.
Read article →Musa Sor in Yazidi tradition: the holy figure venerated as the Xudan, the Lord of Air and Wind, patron of the winnowing winds and of healing, a guardian of the breath of life.
Read article →Xatuna Fakhra in Yazidi tradition: the holy female figure venerated as the Xudan of women and children and the patron of childbirth, pregnancy, and fertility.
Read article →Asman in Zoroastrian myth: the yazata of the sky and the shining heaven, the first part of the material world, the firmament in shining armour that stands against the darkness.
Read article →Raman in Zoroastrian myth: the yazata of peace and the joy of life, who gives zest for living, good pastures, and the savour of food, the close companion of Vayu the wind.
Read article →Arshtat in Zoroastrian myth: the yazata of rectitude, rightness, and justice, the close companion of Rashnu who stands with the divine judges at the soul's judgment.
Read article →Nairyosangha in Zoroastrian myth: the messenger-yazata of Ahura Mazda, the divine herald who carries the word between the Wise Lord and the world, associated with fire and prayer.
Read article →Chista in Zoroastrian myth: the yazata of wisdom, knowledge, and insight, the most upright Chista who shows the right path, close companion of Daena and honoured in her own hymn.
Read article →Vourukasha in Zoroastrian myth: the great cosmic world-ocean at the centre of the world, source of all waters, home of the Tree of All Seeds and the Tree of Immortality.
Read article →Drvaspa in Zoroastrian myth: the yazata who protects herds, cattle, and horses, keeping the flocks in health, invoked by the great heroes of legend and honoured in her own Yasht.
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