Kurdish History Journal
Articles filed under Kurdish Art and Culture.
Faramarz is a legendary warrior of Rostam’s family. His Shahnameh episodes, the two Faramarz-nama poems and later religious interpretations preserve different stories rather than one historical biography.
Read article →Tus is a legendary commander whose authority fails in the Forud episode. Ferdowsi gives him explicit orders, a warning from Bahram and a later dismissal; literary scholarship shows how wounded honour complicates the reader’s judgement.
Read article →Cejna Êzî follows three fasting days and is observed on a Friday reckoned through the Eastern calendar. Community accounts and fieldwork explain its prayers, light symbolism, shared meals and remembrance; the 2026 feast falls on 18 December.
Read article →The Feast of the Assembly brings Yezidi pilgrims to Lalish in autumn. Sacred places, renewed textiles, ritual objects, shared food and family journeys give the gathering its religious and social meaning.
Read article →The Derafsh-e Kaveyani links Kawa’s apron-banner in the Shahnameh with accounts of the Sasanian royal standard. Its literary origin, historical descriptions and Kurdish reinterpretations require different evidence.
Read article →Ker û Kulik is a Kurdish narrative of brotherhood, a coveted horse and violence within a family. Published tellings give the story concrete people and consequences, while differences between them reveal the importance of identifying the version being read.
Read article →Giv in the Shahnameh: the loyal champion of the House of Karen, son of Gudarz and father of Bizhan, who sought the prince Kay Khosrow in Turan for seven years.
Read article →Gudarz is a commander, father and grieving survivor in the Shahnameh. His dream sends Giv to find Kay Khosrow; his duel with Piran and return from the mountains reveal the cost of the heroic family’s service.
Read article →Qaren, also written Qaran, is a commander associated with Kawa in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. His episodes turn on deception, the death of his brother Qobad and a disputed decision to protect the army’s families.
Read article →Nowzar, also written Nauzar or Naudar, is the son and successor of Manuchehr in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. His story moves from unjust government and reconciliation to captivity and execution by Afrasiyab.
Read article →Yazidism is the religion of the Yazidi people, centred on one creator God, Tawûsî Melek and a rich tradition of ritual and sacred recitation. Its communities, languages, holy places and festivals have particular histories and regional forms. This introduction provides a route into those traditions and the people who maintain them.
Read article →Yarsanism, the Ahl-e Haqq or People of Truth: the Kurdish faith founded by Sultan Sahak, with its seven theophanies, the sacred tanbur, the jam ceremony and the Kalam-e Saranjam.
Read article →Garsivaz in the Shahnameh: the envious brother of Afrasiab whose slanders poisoned the king against the pure prince Siyavash and brought about his tragic murder.
Read article →Yazidi scholarship describes three inherited groups, relationships with religious guides, and specialised offices. Lineage manuscripts also document ties between pir families and their followers.
Read article →Piran Viseh is a Turanian commander whose actions complicate the Shahnameh’s wars. His protection of Kay Khosrow, peace proposals and final encounter with Gudarz reveal both compassion and the limits of reconciliation.
Read article →Farangis in the Shahnameh: the Turanian princess, faithful wife of Siyavash and mother of Kay Khosrow, who chose loyalty to her murdered husband over her own father.
Read article →Sindukht in the Shahnameh: the wise queen of Kabul, mother of Rudaba, who through her own courage and diplomacy averted a war and united the houses of Iran and Kabul.
Read article →Sudabeh is Kay Kavus’s wife and Siyavash’s stepmother in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. Her pursuit of the prince, his refusal and her accusation form a court crisis whose best-known image is Siyavash riding unharmed through fire.
Read article →Qewwals are specialist reciter-musicians in Yazidi religious life. Their work connects sacred hymns, instruments, teaching and visits to communities. Research on named performers and documented preservation projects shows how oral transmission continues alongside recordings and written texts.
Read article →The Baba Sheikh is a senior Yazidi religious authority. Ritual duties, the 2020 succession and statements welcoming survivors show how the office works alongside other community institutions.
Read article →The Yazidi Mir combines religious and public responsibilities. Hazim Tahsin Beg’s account of the 2019 succession, contemporary objections and later meetings show how the office works in practice.
Read article →Gordafarid confronts Sohrab in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh after the capture of Hojir. Her episode combines mounted combat, negotiation and escape, but the fortress does not remain secure. Reading the continuation changes the meaning of her success.
Read article →Tahmineh chooses Rostam and later tells Sohrab who his father is. Reading the Persian text alongside scholarship on manuscript variation and lament gives a fuller account than blaming the tragedy on a mother’s silence.
Read article →Rudaba, daughter of Mehrab of Kabul and Sindukht, chooses Zal in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. Their romance becomes a crisis for two families and a city, resolved through negotiation before the extraordinary birth of Rostam.
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