East Kurdistan (Rojhelat)

East Kurdistan, known in Kurdish as Rojhelat, refers to the Kurdish cultural region in western and northwestern Iran. Rojhelat means east in this geographical usage; Rojava refers to the western part of Kurdistan in Syria. Rojhelat is a cultural and geographical name, not a single Iranian administrative unit. It is also broader than Iran’s province named Kurdistan. [1] [2]

A landscape across provincial boundaries

Hawraman, also written Uramanat, offers a clear example. Its UNESCO-listed cultural landscape lies in the Zagros Mountains across parts of Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces. Terraced villages and gardens, livestock keeping and seasonal movement between elevations show how communities have adapted to mountain conditions. UNESCO added the landscape to the World Heritage List in 2021. [2]

Such places connect architecture with everyday work. A stepped village is not only a striking view: its houses, paths, fields and water use belong to a landscape shaped by the people who live there. Its history includes both continuity and change, rather than a culture frozen at one point in the past. [2]

Languages and musical life

Kurdish cultural life in Iran is linguistically diverse. Iranica’s account of Kermanshah describes Sorani, or Central Kurdish, in the northwest and Southern Kurdish across much of the province, alongside Gurani-speaking communities. Hawrami speech also crosses provincial and international boundaries. These patterns show why provincial borders are a poor guide to the full range of local languages. [3]

Sanandaj is an important centre of Kurdish musical life. It joined UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network as a City of Music in 2019. UNESCO highlights the daf, a frame drum, alongside musicians, festivals and instrument-making. Music provides one way to understand the region through creative practice as well as through political history. [4]

Mahabad and modern political history

In 1946, the short-lived Kurdish republic centred on Mahabad was led by Qazi Muhammad. Its emergence was connected to the wartime Soviet presence in northern Iran and the politics that followed. It collapsed in December 1946 as Iranian government authority returned. Mahabad remains an important episode in histories of Kurdish self-government, but its brief existence should not be confused with a lasting independent state. [5]

More recently, Jina Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody in September 2022 triggered nationwide protests under the slogan Woman, Life, Freedom. In its September 2024 update, the UN Fact-Finding Mission reported that physical violence in custody had led to her death and described the continuing lack of meaningful accountability. These findings place documented human rights concerns alongside the region’s wider social and cultural history. [6]

Continue with our Kurdistan overview and the neighbouring South Kurdistan (Başûr) guide.