Kurdish History Journal
Sarpol-e Zahab (Serpêl), the Kurdish city in western Iran beneath the 4,000-year-old Anubanini relief — a frontier town struck by the Iran–Iraq War and the 2017 earthquake.
Read article →Javanrud (Cuwanro), the Kurdish town in the Kermanshah highlands of western Iran — a Sunni Kurdish community known for its role in the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.
Read article →Baneh (Bane), the Kurdish border city in the Zagros of western Iran — famed for its markets and trade, and marked by the hardship of the kolbars who cross its mountains.
Read article →Bingöl (Çewlîg), the Kurdish and Zaza province of eastern Turkey — the “land of a thousand lakes,” a heartland of the Zazaki language amid rugged mountains.
Read article →Qaladze (Qeladize), the Kurdish town in north-eastern Iraqi Kurdistan bombed by Iraq in 1974 and razed during Anfal — then rebuilt by its people as a symbol of endurance.
Read article →Koya (Koye), the historic Kurdish town between Erbil and Sulaymaniyah — a centre of learning and poetry, and home of Haji Qadir Koyi, founding poet of Kurdish nationalism.
Read article →Derik (Dêrik / al-Malikiyah), the northeasternmost town in Syria — a mixed Kurdish and Christian town of the Jazira in Rojava, beside the Rmeilan oil fields.
Read article →Sardasht (Serdeşt), the Kurdish town in north-western Iran remembered as the first town bombed with chemical weapons against its civilians — by Iraq on 28 June 1987.
Read article →Barzan, the mountain homeland of the Barzani family in Iraqi Kurdistan — birthplace of Mustafa Barzani, cradle of the KDP, and site of the 1983 disappearance of 8,000 Barzanis.
Read article →Explore the differences between Turkish and Turkic in this insightful blog post. Understand why Turkish and Turkic are not the same thing.
Read article →Explore how Syria was created in 1946 with no ancient history or language. Uncover the truth about Syria's origins and its modern identity.
Read article →Ranya (Ranye), the Kurdish town beside Lake Dukan known as Derî Raperîn — “the Gateway of the Uprising” — where the 1991 Kurdish revolt against Saddam Hussein began.
Read article →Batman (êlih), the Kurdish oil city of south-eastern Turkey — a 20th-century boomtown by the Batman River, near the medieval Malabadi Bridge and ancient Hasankeyf.
Read article →Paveh (Pawe), the Kurdish town of the Hawraman highlands in western Iran — famed for its terraced stone architecture and the UNESCO-listed cultural landscape of Uramanat.
Read article →Şırnak (Şirnex), the Kurdish city in the Botan mountains of south-eastern Turkey — beneath Mount Cudi, the Quranic resting place of Noah’s Ark.
Read article →Akre (Akrê), the Kurdish mountain town in Iraqi Kurdistan famed for hosting the largest Newroz celebration in Kurdistan — a hillside set alight with torches each spring.
Read article →Siirt (Sêrt), the historic Kurdish city of south-eastern Turkey — its mix of Kurds and Arabs, its blankets and pistachios, and the shrine of Veysel Karanî.
Read article →Hasakah (Hesîçe), the largest city of the Jazira in north-east Syria — a mixed Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian city at the heart of Rojava and the war against ISIS.
Read article →Ağrı (Agirî), the Kurdish province of Mount Ararat — Çiyayê Agirî — home to the 1930 Ararat Rebellion and the tomb of Ehmedê Xanî, poet of Mem û Zîn.
Read article →Hakkari (Colemêrg), the Kurdish mountain city and former emirate in the far south-east of Turkey — its Cilo peaks, its Kurdish and Assyrian past, and its highland identity.
Read article →Cizre (Cizîr), the Tigris town that was capital of the Bohtan emirate and the setting of Mem û Zîn — a heartland of Kurdish history and literature.
Read article →Afrin (Efrîn), the Kurdish city and olive country of north-west Rojava in Syria — its people, the ancient Ain Dara temple, and the 2018 occupation and displacement.
Read article →Kermanshah (Kirmaşan), the largest Kurdish city of Rojhelat in western Iran — its Southern Kurdish people, the Taq-e Bostan reliefs, and the Bisotun inscription.
Read article →Khanaqin (Xaneqîn), a Kurdish-majority city in Iraq’s disputed territories near the Iranian border — its Arabization under Saddam, the Alwand River, and Article 140.
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