Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji’s royal government in Sulaimani combined a cabinet, Kurdish newspapers and postage stamps with an unstable struggle over authority in British-administered Iraq.

Modern Sulaimani spread across a valley beyond green fields, with mountains and large clouds behind the city
Sulaimani, photographed by Diyar Mohammed on 18 April 2016. The modern city provides geographical context; this is not a photograph of the 1922–1924 government. CC BY-SA 4.0. Diyar Mohammed · Sulaimani · 18 April 2016 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the 1919 rebellion to the 1922 return

The Kingdom of Kurdistan refers to Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji’s royal government centred on Sulaimani in 1922–1924. His earlier revolt in 1919 ended in defeat and exile in India. British officials brought him back in 1922, hoping he could counter Turkish influence in the disputed Mosul province. [1] His return opened another struggle over who could govern the city and surrounding districts.

A cabinet with named responsibilities

Jordi Tejel Gorgas dates Mahmud’s reinstatement as governor to 10 October 1922 and his adoption of the royal title to a month later. His eight-member cabinet combined relatives, landowners and educated officials. His brother Sheikh Qadir became prime minister; the Christian merchant Qarim Alaqa held finance, and former Ottoman general Mustafa Pasha took education. [2] These appointments show an administration with distinct portfolios, rather than a royal title alone.

Printing, schools and public fundraising

Hassanpour identifies the government press and two schools as important intellectual resources. The Mandate authorities established the hand-operated press in 1920. Bangî Kurdistan sought a replacement machine in August 1922. Officials, merchants, shopkeepers and teachers contributed: 210 donors gave 7,353 rupees. [3] Printing Kurdish required both public support and money.

A press that travelled with the retreat

Mahmud’s forces carried the press to Jasna caves in Sourdash, where Bangî Heq appeared. Troops returned it to Sulaimani. Repairs after Mahmud’s July 1923 return enabled Umêdî Îstiqlal to begin on 20 September. Three Southern Kurdistan Government stamps followed in 1924. Hassanpour dates the government’s fall to July that year. [3] Stamps do not establish a separate currency.

Bombardment, changing control and local division

The RAF Museum records a summons to Baghdad, an ultimatum, aerial bombardment and a military column’s occupation of Sulaimani on 17 May 1923. [4] Mahmud returned after a British withdrawal that July. Tejel describes refugees associated with the British leaving the city and surrounding districts being detached from Mahmud’s jurisdiction. [2] This was an interrupted, territorially limited government. Opposition to British rule did not mean that every Kurdish notable or merchant supported Mahmud.

The kingdom and the wider Mosul question

Britain and Turkey disputed Mosul province until 1926. [1] The kingdom’s defeat was one episode in this longer struggle over northern Iraq. Its local authority should be distinguished from the wider territory evoked by its name.

Sources and further reading

  1. Richard Wilding and Ako Shwani, The King of Kurdistan: Shaikh Mahmud and the Kurdish Revolt of 1922, Royal Society for Asian Affairs, 17 May 2023; event essay.
  2. Jordi Tejel Gorgas, Urban Mobilization in Iraqi Kurdistan during the British Mandate, Middle Eastern Studies 44/4 (2008), pp.537–552; Chawy Kurd republication.
  3. Amir Hassanpour, Nationalism and Language in Kurdistan 1918–1985 (1992), government-press excerpt, Kurdish Academy of Language.
  4. RAF Museum, British Military Aviation in 1923, February–May entry; British military account of the 1923 campaign.