Kurdish History Journal
Sharafkhan Bidlisi (1543-1603), Kurdish prince and historian, wrote the Sharafnama — the first comprehensive history of the Kurdish people and their dynasties, completed in 1597.
Read article →Halo Khan Ardalan (r. 1590-1616) was a Kurdish ruler of the Ardalan dynasty in the Shahrizor region, governing during the pivotal Ottoman-Safavid contest for Kurdistan in the late 16th century.
Read article →Idris Bitlisi (1457-1520), Kurdish diplomat, historian and Ottoman advisor, negotiated the Kurdish alliance with Sultan Selim I at Chaldiran and wrote the Hasht Bihisht, a landmark of Persian historiography.
Read article →Mahmud the Kurd (15th century), Kurdish metalwork artist who signed his pieces 'mu'allim mahmud al kurdi,' is regarded as one of the founders of the Veneto-Saracenic artistic style. Works in the British Museum and V&A.
Read article →Sultan Sahak (late 14th-early 15th century), Kurdish religious leader from Barzinjah near Sulaymaniyah, founded or reformed Yarsanism — an ancient syncretic Kurdish faith with over a million followers today.
Read article →Khvajeh Ali Safavi (died 1427), son of Sadr al-Din Musa and grandson of Safi-ad-din Ardabili, led the Safaviyya Sufi order from 1391 to 1427 and significantly expanded its Anatolian following.
Read article →Izz al-Din Shir (died 1423), Kurdish founder of the Emirate of Hakkari, established a principality that ruled the Lake Van region for over four centuries and defied Qara Qoyunlu authority.
Read article →Mela Huseynê Bateyî (1417-1495), Kurdish poet and cleric from Hakkari, wrote the Mewlûda Kurmancî — founding the Bateyî school of Kurdish mawlid poetry that remains influential today.
Read article →Sayyid Husayn Ahlati (died 1397), Persianate Kurdish Muslim occultist and physician-alchemist at the Mamluk court, played a pivotal role in the late 14th century revival of Islamic occultism.
Read article →Mele Perişan (1356-1431), Kurdish poet affiliated with the Ardalan vassaldom, wrote the Parishan-nama — considered the oldest known work in the Gorani literary tradition of Kurdish poetry.
Read article →Zain al-Din al-Iraqi (1325-1404), Kurdish hadith scholar from a family rooted near Erbil, wrote the Alfiyya poem on hadith sciences and taught Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, one of Islam's greatest scholars.
Read article →Sadr al-Din Musa (1305-1391), son of Safi-ad-din Ardabili, led the Safaviyya Sufi order for over 50 years and shaped the institution that would eventually become the Safavid dynasty of Iran.
Read article →Shabankara'i (c. 1298-1358), Kurdish poet and historian from Fars, wrote the Majma al-Ansab fi l-Tawarikh — one of the most valuable historical chronicles of the late Ilkhanid period in Persia.
Read article →Sayyid Husayn Ahlati (died 1397) was a Persianate Kurdish Muslim occultist and alchemist, personal physician to Sultan Barquq, who played a pivotal role in the late 14th-century renaissance of Islamic occultism.
Read article →Mele Perişan (1356-1431) was the earliest known Gorani Kurdish poet, affiliated with the Ardalan principality, whose Parishan-nama is considered the oldest work in the Gorani literary tradition.
Read article →Zain al-Din al-Iraqi (1325-1404), Kurdish hadith scholar born in Cairo to a family from near Erbil, was the greatest hadith master of his age and teacher of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani.
Read article →Sadr al-Din Musa (1305-1391) was the son of Safi-ad-din Ardabili and second head of the Safaviyya Sufi order — the Kurdish-origin order that would eventually establish the Safavid dynasty.
Read article →Shabankara'i (c. 1298-1358) was a Kurdish poet and historian from Fars who wrote the Majma al-Ansab fi l-Tawarikh, a major Persian chronicle of the Ilkhanid period.
Read article →Abulfeda (1273-1331), Kurdish Ayyubid geographer and historian, governor of Hama, wrote the Taqwim al-Buldan geography and Concise History of Humanity — the Moon has a crater named after him.
Read article →Safi-ad-din Ardabili (c. 1252-1334), Kurdish Sufi mystic of Ardabil, founded the Safaviyya order whose descendants would later establish the Safavid Empire and transform Iran forever.
Read article →Fakhr al-Din al-Akhlati (died 1260) was a Kurdish scholar from Akhlat near Lake Van, one of the medieval Jazira's important Kurdish intellectual figures of the 13th century.
Read article →Amadin was a 13th-century Kurdish Yazidi saint, venerated as a healer — particularly of stomach ailments — in the Yazidi faith, representing the rich tradition of Kurdish Yazidi holy figures.
Read article →Sheikh Obekr was a 13th-century Kurdish Yazidi saint venerated in the Yazidi faith, part of the rich tradition of Yazidi holy figures who have served as spiritual pillars of Kurdish culture.
Read article →Sheikh Mand, 13th-century Kurdish Yazidi saint and Ayyubid military commander, was granted the title Emir of the Kurds by Saladin for commanding the Hakkariya regiment of the Ayyubid Army.
Read article →