Kurdish History Journal
The Shaddadids and Rawadids — Kurdish dynasties that ruled Armenia, Arran, and Azerbaijan, fought Georgia for two centuries, and built the Manuchihr Mosque at Ani.
Read article →The Marwanids of Diyar Bakr — how a Kurdish shepherd built a kingdom on the Byzantine frontier, and why this dynasty matters for Kurdish history.
Read article →The Aishanids, Hasanwayhids, and Annazids — the first Kurdish dynasties of the Islamic era, their wars, their golden age under Badr ibn Hasanwayh, and their destruction by the Seljuk Turks.
Read article →How the Islamic conquest transformed Kurdistan — from the Arab campaigns of 637 CE through Kurdish rebellions, the Khurramite wars, and the extraordinary story of Theophobos.
Read article →How Rome and Persia fought for centuries across the Kurdish highlands — from Trajan's invasion to Julian's death, the sieges of Singara and Bezabde, and the treaty that changed everything.
Read article →The Cyrtians: elite Zagros mountain slingers who fought for Seleucid kings, rebel satraps, and Rome — their military history and connection to the Kurdish highlands.
Read article →The inscriptions of Ashurnasirpal II record three Zamua expeditions in 881–880 BCE. Read alongside regional archaeology, they reveal local coalitions, coercive tribute and the gradual establishment of Assyrian administration.
Read article →Gordyene was an ancient territory of the upper Tigris, recorded under several Greek, Latin and regional names. Its history includes mountain villages, fortified towns, local kings and changing relationships with Armenia, Rome and Persia.
Read article →How the Karduchoi mountain warriors fought Xenophon's Ten Thousand in 401 BCE — the earliest account of the peoples of Kurdistan and their connection to the Kurds.
Read article →How the Medes destroyed the Assyrian Empire at Nineveh in 612 BCE — their rise, military campaigns, and significance as the most cited ancestors of the Kurds.
Read article →The Lullubi: ancient Zagros mountain warriors who fought the Akkadian Empire, carved Iran's oldest rock relief, and shaped the highlands that became Kurdistan.
Read article →Who were the Gutians? The Zagros mountain people blamed for destroying the Akkadian Empire — their origins, wars, dynasty, and debated connection to Kurdish history.
Read article →A sourced comparison of Kurdish-linked forces in Iraq and Syria, Peshmerga reform, anti-IS partnerships and the limits of outdated descriptions.
Read article →The complete history of how Kurdish Peshmerga, YPG, YPJ, and SDF forces fought ISIS across Iraq and Syria — from Sinjar and Kobani to Raqqa and Baghuz.
Read article →From 23 February to 6 September 1988, Iraqi state forces carried out the eight-stage Anfal campaign against rural Kurdish communities. Its history is documented through survivors’ accounts, captured government records, forensic investigation and the later Iraqi tribunal judgment.
Read article →The Barzani revolts and the rise of the Peshmerga: four decades of Kurdish warfare in Iraq from 1931 to the Algiers collapse of 1975.
Read article →The Sheikh Said, Ararat, and Dersim rebellions: the three interwar Kurdish revolts in Turkey that shaped Kurdish resistance and Turkish military doctrine.
Read article →Sheikh Ubeydullah's 1880 revolt: the first modern Kurdish uprising, the invasion of Iran, and the birth of Kurdish nationalism as a military force.
Read article →The 19th-century wars that destroyed Kurdish autonomy: Baban, Soran, Botan, Bedr Khan, and Yezdanser vs Ottoman centralisation.
Read article →The military campaigns of Saladin and the Ayyubid dynasty: Hattin, Jerusalem, the Third Crusade, and the wars that built the greatest Kurdish empire.
Read article →The Hasanwayhids, Annazids, Marwanids, Rawwadids and Shaddadids fought for towns, fortresses and succession. Their histories reveal changing alliances and different paths into imperial dependence.
Read article →Inscriptions, administrative records and Greek narratives reveal changing conflicts along the Zagros and neighbouring northern highlands. They also describe trade, agriculture and imperial government: the evidence is richer than a story of permanent mountain resistance.
Read article →The 2016 US-KRG Memorandum of Understanding was the first formal bilateral military agreement between the US and the Kurdistan Region, recognising the Peshmerga as security partners.
Read article →Announced on 2 December 2014, the Erbil–Baghdad agreement linked northern oil exports through SOMO with federal budget transfers and Peshmerga funding. Its implementation in 2015 depended on delivery schedules, pipeline capacity, public finances and continuing political agreement.
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