The Treaty of Zuhab (1639): The Treaty That Made Kurdistan’s Partition Permanent
- Sherko Sabir
- May 24
- 6 min read
Introduction
On 17 May 1639, the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran signed a treaty at Qasr-e Shirin in western Iran that would permanently seal the fate of Kurdistan. The Treaty of Zuhab — also known as the Treaty of Qasr-e Shirin — ended the last of nearly 150 years of intermittent wars between the two empires and drew a border through the Kurdish homeland that, with minor modifications, still defines the frontiers of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran today. It was the treaty that made the partition of Kurdistan permanent.
If the Peace of Amasya (1555) was the first formal partition of Kurdistan, the Treaty of Zuhab was its permanent ratification. The border it established divided approximately seventy percent of Kurdish territory under Ottoman suzerainty, with the remaining thirty percent under Safavid Iran. No Kurdish representative participated in the negotiations. No Kurdish interest was considered. Two empires drew a line through a nation’s homeland, and that line has never been erased.
Contents
What Was the Treaty of Zuhab?
The Treaty of Zuhab was signed on 17 May 1639 between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran at Qasr-e Shirin in western Iran. It ended the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639 — the last in a series of devastating conflicts between the two empires that had been fought, almost without exception, across Kurdish territory. The treaty is widely regarded as a consolidation and permanent ratification of the earlier Peace of Amasya (1555), confirming the division of the Near East and the Caucasus between the two powers.
Under the treaty, all of Mesopotamia including Baghdad was irreversibly ceded to the Ottomans, while the Safavids retained Azerbaijan, eastern Georgia, and the eastern Kurdish territories including the Ardalan emirate. The border established at Zuhab laid the rough outline for the modern frontiers between Iran and the states of Turkey and Iraq. For Kurdistan, this meant a permanent partition: seventy percent of Kurdish territory fell under Ottoman rule, and thirty percent under Iranian rule.
Key Takeaways
• The Treaty of Zuhab made the partition of Kurdistan permanent — the border it established between Ottoman and Safavid territory still forms the basis of the modern Turkey-Iran and Iraq-Iran frontiers.
• Approximately 70% of Kurdish territory fell under Ottoman suzerainty, with 30% under Safavid Iran — a division that fragmented Kurdish political, cultural, and economic life.
• No Kurdish voice was present at the negotiations — Kurdistan was treated as a borderland to be divided, not as a homeland belonging to a distinct nation.
• The treaty was the culmination of 125 years of Ottoman–Safavid wars (1514–1639) that were fought almost entirely on Kurdish soil, devastating Kurdish communities while serving imperial interests.
Quick Facts
Treaty Name: Treaty of Zuhab (also: Treaty of Qasr-e Shirin / Shirin Palace Agreement) Date: 17 May 1639 Parties: Ottoman Empire (Sultan Murad IV) and Safavid Iran (Shah Safi I) Type: Peace treaty and permanent border settlement Key Provision for Kurds: Permanent division of Kurdistan — ~70% Ottoman, ~30% Safavid Conflict Ended: Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639 Ottoman Gains: All of Mesopotamia including Baghdad; western Kurdistan confirmed Safavid Gains: Azerbaijan, eastern Georgia, eastern Kurdistan (including Ardalan) Legacy: Border forms the basis of modern Turkey-Iran and Iraq-Iran frontiers Significance: Made the partition of Kurdistan permanent
Historical Context: 125 Years of War on Kurdish Soil
The Treaty of Zuhab was the culmination of 125 years of Ottoman–Safavid conflict that began with the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514. Across this period, the two empires fought repeated wars — in 1532–1555, 1578–1590, 1603–1618, and 1623–1639 — and the primary theatre of every one of these conflicts was Kurdistan. Kurdish cities were besieged, occupied, lost, and recaptured. Kurdish populations were displaced, conscripted, and killed. Kurdish tribal loyalties were exploited by both sides.
The final war (1623–1639) was triggered when Safavid Shah Abbas I recaptured Baghdad and much of Iraq from the Ottomans in 1623. Ottoman Sultan Murad IV launched a major campaign to retake it, culminating in the gruelling Siege of Baghdad in 1638. After Murad recaptured the city, both empires were exhausted. The Treaty of Zuhab was the result — a recognition by both sides that the borders established over a century of warfare had become the permanent reality.
The Treaty Terms: Kurdistan’s Permanent Partition
The Treaty of Zuhab largely confirmed the territorial arrangements of the Peace of Amasya, with some modifications. The Ottomans retained all of Mesopotamia, including Baghdad, and their control over western Kurdistan — encompassing Diyarbakır, Van, Mosul, Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah, and the former Kurdish emirates. The Safavids retained eastern Kurdistan, including the Ardalan emirate and the Kurdish-inhabited regions of western Iran.
The border was not a precise line on a map but rather a broad frontier zone running through the Kurdish mountains and along the Zagros range. Exact demarcation would not be attempted until the 19th century, and the process would involve multiple international commissions, British and Russian mediation, and the Treaties of Erzurum (1823 and 1847). But the fundamental division — the splitting of Kurdistan into an Ottoman west and a Persian east — was fixed at Zuhab and has never been undone.
Impact on Kurdistan: A Nation Divided by Design
The Treaty of Zuhab turned what had been a contested, shifting frontier into a permanent international border cutting through the heart of Kurdistan. Kurdish tribes, families, and communities that had maintained connections across the highlands for centuries were now permanently separated by an imperial boundary. The western Kurds lived under increasingly centralised Ottoman administration, while the eastern Kurds were governed by the Safavids and their successors — each empire pursuing its own policies toward Kurdish identity, language, and autonomy.
The alliance with Kurdish nobility had been instrumental in allowing the Ottomans to control the pro-Safavid Turkmen populations of eastern Anatolia and to secure the territories that would later become the borders of modern Turkey. Kurdish military support was essential to Ottoman control of the east. Yet when it came time to draw permanent borders, Kurdish interests counted for nothing. The Kurds had helped build the Ottoman eastern frontier — and were then imprisoned behind it.
On the Safavid side, successive shahs tried to control Kurdish tribal confederates by educating young Kurdish nobles at court, recruiting Kurds into the royal guard, and maintaining client relationships with Kurdish emirs like those of the Ardalan dynasty. But these measures were aimed at integration and control, not autonomy. Eastern Kurdistan under Iranian rule would face its own long history of marginalisation, forced assimilation, and suppression of Kurdish political aspirations.
Timeline of Key Events
1514 — Battle of Chaldiran; beginning of Ottoman–Safavid conflict over Kurdish territories.
1555 — Peace of Amasya; first formal partition of Kurdistan.
1623 — Shah Abbas I recaptures Baghdad; final Ottoman–Safavid war begins.
1638 — Sultan Murad IV recaptures Baghdad after a devastating siege.
17 May 1639 — Treaty of Zuhab signed; Kurdistan permanently divided between the Ottoman and Safavid empires.
1823 & 1847 — Treaties of Erzurum attempt to demarcate the Zuhab border more precisely.
1914 — The Zuhab border finally recognised as an international boundary following demarcation commissions.
Legacy and Significance for Kurdish History
The Treaty of Zuhab is one of the most consequential treaties in Kurdish history because it made the partition of Kurdistan permanent. Every subsequent division of Kurdish territory — from the Sykes-Picot Agreement to the Treaty of Lausanne — was built on the foundation that Zuhab established. The modern borders of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran that cut through Kurdistan today are, in their essential outline, the borders drawn at Zuhab in 1639.
The treaty also represents the final act in a 125-year tragedy. From Chaldiran (1514) to Zuhab (1639), the Kurdish homeland was the primary battlefield of Ottoman–Safavid rivalry. Kurdish cities were destroyed, Kurdish populations were displaced, Kurdish political autonomy was crushed — and at the end of it all, Kurdistan was permanently split in two by a border drawn without Kurdish consent.
The Kurds are often called the world’s largest stateless nation. The Treaty of Zuhab is where that statelessness was permanently inscribed in the map of the Middle East. Understanding Zuhab is essential to understanding why Kurdistan remains divided today — and why the Kurdish struggle for self-determination is not a modern invention but a response to centuries of imperial partition that began on the plains of Chaldiran and was sealed at the palace of Qasr-e Shirin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Treaty of Zuhab?
A peace treaty signed on 17 May 1639 between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran that permanently divided the Near East between the two powers. It confirmed the partition of Kurdistan into western (Ottoman) and eastern (Safavid) zones, establishing borders that still form the basis of modern Turkey-Iran and Iraq-Iran frontiers.
How did the Treaty of Zuhab affect Kurdistan?
It permanently divided Kurdistan between the Ottoman and Safavid empires, with approximately 70% under Ottoman control and 30% under Iran. Kurdish families, tribes, and communities were separated by an international border drawn without Kurdish consent. This division persists in the modern borders of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran.
Are modern borders in the Middle East based on the Treaty of Zuhab?
Yes. The Turkey-Iran and Iraq-Iran borders are, in their essential outline, based on the frontier established at Zuhab in 1639, later refined by the Treaties of Erzurum (1823 and 1847) and international demarcation commissions. The Zuhab border was formally recognised as an international boundary in 1914.
References and Further Reading
Izady, M., The Kurds: A Concise Handbook, Taylor & Francis, 1992.
Van Bruinessen, M., Agha, Shaikh and State: The Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan, Zed Books, 1992.
McDowall, D., A Modern History of the Kurds, I.B. Tauris, 2004.
Ates, S., Treaty of Zohab, 1639: Foundational Myth or Foundational Document?, Iranian Studies, Vol. 52, 2019.
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