Kurdish History Journal
Articles filed under Kurdish Icons.
The life of Abdullah Cevdet (1869–1932) — the Kurdish intellectual who co-founded the Young Turks, published İctihad for 28 years, championed Kurdish independence, and was barred from the republic he helped create.
Read article →Caleb McLamb, known as Sura, is an American creator whose Kurdish-language videos draw on his years in Sulaimani. His published interview, music catalogue and own business pages document different parts of his work.
Read article →Discover the legacy of Piramerd, a key figure in Kurdish literature and nationalism. Explore Piramerd's enduring influence on Kurdish identity and resilience.
Read article →Han Mahmud, or Xan Mehmûd, was a nineteenth-century Kurdish ruler associated with Müküs, today Bahçesaray. His expansion around Lake Van, changing relations with neighbouring rulers and two periods of exile show how local authority met Ottoman centralisation. His defeat in 1847 ended his regional rule.
Read article →Mustafa Pasha Yamulki was a Kurdish Ottoman officer, tribunal judge and participant in Sulaymaniyah’s political and publishing life. Also known as Nemrut Mustafa Pasha, he served in Sheikh Mahmud’s administration and edited Bangî Kurdistan. His career requires distinguishing separate court proceedings, newspaper editions and conflicting biographical dates.
Read article →Explore the life of Haji Mala Saeed Kirkukli Zada, a key figure in Kurdish autonomy. Discover how Haji Mala Saeed Kirkukli Zada shaped Kurdish history.
Read article →Ehmedê Xasî’s mewlid was a landmark in Zazaki literary publication. Its printing notice, devotional structure and later textual studies give a clearer account of his achievement than a claim that no Zazaki had previously been written.
Read article →Explore Şerif Pasha's journey as a diplomat turned Kurdish nationalist. Delve into his advocacy for Kurdistan at the Paris Peace Conference. Discover his legacy.
Read article →Sheikh Said’s uprising joined religious authority, Kurdish political networks and resistance to the early Turkish Republic. Its defeat, emergency legislation and contested memory require a chronology that distinguishes events from later interpretations.
Read article →Explore the life of Mevlanzade Rifat Bey, a defiant voice for justice in the Ottoman twilight. Discover his fight for justice and enduring legacy.
Read article →Abdulhakim Arvasi (1865–1943) taught in Başkale and Istanbul across war, displacement and the closure of Sufi lodges. His writings and his relationship with Necip Fazıl Kısakürek explain his lasting influence.
Read article →Cheragh-Ali Khan Zanganeh served Amir Kabir and the Qajar state. His own Isfahan narrative records urban conflict and official intervention, while later research questions how those events became court history.
Read article →Archival studies trace Bedirhan’s diplomatic career, the 1906 rupture and a Kurdish school in Khoy, while leaving the circumstances of his reported 1918 death uncertain.
Read article →Seyid Riza, also written Seyit Rıza, was an Alevi religious and tribal leader in Dersim. His opposition to state intervention, execution in Elazığ on 15 November 1937 and the continuing search for his burial place connect his biography with Kurdish and Alevi memory.
Read article →Explore the life of Sheikh Ali Hisam-ad-Din Naqshbandi, a key figure in Kurdish Sufism. Discover his enduring influence on the Naqshbandi order.
Read article →Explore the life of Shamdin Agha, the Kurdish commander who shaped 19th-century Damascus. Discover how Shamdin Agha influenced regional power dynamics.
Read article →Sabat Islambouli earned her medical degree at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1890. College records, an 1885 photograph and an archivist’s account document her training more clearly than her later professional life.
Read article →Edeb, also known as Abdullah Beg Misbah al-Diwan, wrote within the classical Kurdish literary tradition. His surviving collection invites closer reading of love, religious language and poetic form, while biographical sources disagree on his life dates.
Read article →Mikdad Midhat Bedir Khan founded Kurdistan in Cairo in 1898. His early editorship, Ottoman career and his brother’s later work need to be distinguished to understand the newspaper’s history.
Read article →Hariq, also written Herîq, was the pen name of the classical Kurdish poet Mela Salih. His Central Kurdish poems bring together separation, disappointment with society and religious reflection. Reading individual ghazals reveals more than a biography built from repeated anecdotes or an assumption that every beloved must represent God.
Read article →A biographical dictionary documents Saeb’s education, judicial appointments and Persian–Turkish poetry. A later Sulaymaniyah cultural record traces the Saib family.
Read article →Osman Esad Efendi, known as Osman Efendîyo Babij, wrote Bîyîşa Pêxemberî in the Zaza of Siverek. Its manuscripts, posthumous publication and later editions document an early Zaza literary work.
Read article →Diyap Ağa represented Dersim in Turkey’s first Grand National Assembly. Parliamentary records reveal his support for Ankara, proposals for local government and services, and arguments about political unity.
Read article →Emin Ali Bedir Khan born into exile and raised in the shadow of his family's legacy, Emin emerged as a lawyer, civil servant, rebel leader, and visionary advocate for Kurdish rights.
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