Kurdish History Journal
Ali Hariri (c. 1009-1079), the first known poet to write in Kurmanji Kurdish, pioneered the classical Kurdish literary tradition with Sufi poetry celebrating love and Kurdistan.
Read article →Shah Husayn (r. 1417-1424), the last major Kurdish Hazaraspid Atabeg of Lorestan, governed the final years of a three-century dynasty before Timurid ruler Shahrukh ended Kurdish rule in 1424.
Read article →Muzaffar al-Din Afrasiab II (r. 1340-1355), Kurdish Hazaraspid Atabeg of Lorestan, defended his dynasty's mountain capital Idaj against Muzaffarid attack and maintained Kurdish rule.
Read article →Yusuf Shah II (Rukn al-Din), Kurdish Hazaraspid Atabeg 1330-1340, expanded the dynasty by annexing Shushtar, Hoveizeh and Basra, extending Kurdish rule deep into Khuzestan and Iraq.
Read article →Shams al-Din Alp Arghun (r. 1259-1274), Kurdish Hazaraspid Atabeg of Lorestan, rebuilt his principality after Mongol devastation and navigated Ilkhanid suzerainty with skill.
Read article →Nusrat al-Din (r. 1252-1257), Kurdish Hazaraspid Atabeg of Lorestan, held the southern Zagros principality through one of the most dangerous periods of Mongol expansion in the Islamic world.
Read article →Imad al-Din ibn Hazarasp (r. 1248-1251), Kurdish Hazaraspid Atabeg of Lorestan, maintained his family's Kurdish principality during the turbulent early years of Mongol suzerainty.
Read article →Malik Hazarasp (r. 1204-1248), Kurdish Hazaraspid Atabeg of Lorestan, allied with the Khwarazmian Shah against the Mongols and gave his name to a dynasty that lasted three centuries.
Read article →Abu Tahir ibn Ali (r. 1115-1153) founded the Kurdish Hazaraspid dynasty in Lorestan, establishing three centuries of native Kurdish rule across the southern Zagros Mountains.
Read article →An-Nasir Dawud, son of Al-Mu'azzam Isa, briefly ruled Damascus then governed Kerak in Transjordan as a Kurdish Ayyubid scholar-prince and political survivor.
Read article →Al-Mansur Ibrahim, Ayyubid ruler of Homs 1240-1246, grandson of the great Kurdish commander Shirkuh, maintained the Shirkuh line of Kurdish Ayyubid rule in central Syria.
Read article →Al-Muzaffar Ghazi, son of Al-Adil I, was a Kurdish Ayyubid ruler of Mayyafariqin in the Jazira who defended the northeastern frontier of the Kurdish Empire.
Read article →Al-Awhad Ayyub, son of Al-Adil I, was a Kurdish Ayyubid ruler who controlled Khilat and Mayyafariqin in the Jazira, campaigning alongside his brother Al-Ashraf Musa.
Read article →Tughtakin ibn Ayyub, brother of Saladin, founded the Ayyubid dynasty of Yemen in 1174 on behalf of his brother, extending Kurdish imperial power to the Arabian Peninsula.
Read article →Al-Muzaffar I Umar (Taqi ad-Din Umar), Kurdish Ayyubid nephew of Saladin and first Emir of Hama (1178-1191), was one of the most formidable commanders of the Kurdish Empire.
Read article →Muhammad ibn Shirkuh, son of the great Kurdish commander Shirkuh, founded the Ayyubid dynasty of Homs (1179-1186) and married Saladin's sister Sitt al-Sham, cementing Kurdish unity.
Read article →Farrukh Shah, Kurdish Ayyubid nephew of Saladin and Emir of Baalbek, served as Viceroy of Damascus and won key victories against the Crusaders defending the Kurdish Empire's frontier.
Read article →Sitt al-Sham (died 1220), Kurdish Ayyubid princess, sister of Saladin, founded the al-Shamiyah al-Kubra Madrasa in Damascus and was a key figure in the Kurdish imperial court.
Read article →Dayfa Khatun (died 1242), Kurdish Ayyubid princess, daughter of Al-Adil I, served as Regent of Aleppo 1236-1242, building the al-Firdaws Madrasa and Khanqah al-Farafira.
Read article →Al-Muzaffar I Umar, son of Saladin's brother Shahanshah, was the first Ayyubid ruler of Hama (1178-1191), founding a Kurdish branch that endured over 150 years and produced scholar-kings.
Read article →Muhammad ibn Shirkuh, son of the great Kurdish commander Shirkuh, founded the Ayyubid dynasty of Homs in 1178, extending the Kurdish Empire into a new branch that lasted over a century.
Read article →Farrukh Shah, nephew of Saladin and son of Shahanshah ibn Ayyub, was a Kurdish Ayyubid commander who defended the Damascus frontier and Baalbek against Crusader incursions.
Read article →Sitt al-Sham, daughter of Najm ad-Din Ayyub and sister of Saladin, was a Kurdish Ayyubid princess known for charitable works and political influence at the heart of the empire.
Read article →Dayfa Khatun, daughter of Al-Adil I, regent of Aleppo 1216-1242, was one of the most powerful women of the Kurdish Ayyubid Empire and a patron of scholarship.
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