Roj Bash !

It is always interesting to ferret old dictionnaries of History and geography. Thus, the Bouillet (ed. 1880), at the entry “Anatolia” mentionned it as a portion of Minor Asia :

“Anatolia, which had formed during a long time one single pashalik, whith Koutayeh (Kütahya) as capitale, is today divided in 11 eyalets : Trebizond, Kastamuni, Kodavenkiar, Biga, Angora (Ankara), Farukhan, Aïdin, Karaman (Caramania), Adana, Marash, Sivas.”

Kourdistan is, in accordance to the same Bouillet, a region of Asia, divided in Turkish Kourdistan and Persian Kourdistan.

Turkish Kourdistan (part of former Assyria with Gordyene and the Landi of Karduks), is a country in Eastern Turkey, between Armenia, AlJazirah, Iraq arabi and Persia. It forms the pashaliks of Shehrezur and Mosul and a part of Baghdad and Van’s one.”

Persian Kourdistan (a part of former Media) province of Persia, between Aderbaijan, Iraq ajami, Khousistan and Turkish Kourdistan, 400 000 inhabitants.; chief town : Kirmanshah.”

As for the Kurds, they are described like that : “KOURDES, Curdi, Gordyaei, Carduci, people of Asia, who inhabit in moutains at the East of the Tigris and the south of Van and Urmiah Lakes the land called from their own name, Kourdistan. They are alert, brave and plunderer. They have been always free ; however, they are nominally included in both Turkish and Persian empires. Almost all of them are sunni muslims some are Nestorians. Man believed that they are issued from former Chaldeans and Parthians.”

As for Turkey, it is in the Bouillet synonymous of Ottoman empire, and then presented as “one of the largest States in the world”. Eastern Turkey is divided in 6 great regions : Anatolia, Armenia, Kurdistan, Aljazirah or Mesopotamia, Iraq-Arabi, Syria. Among the 21 eyalets of Anatolia, there are “‘Erzerum (Armenia), Van (Assyria), Kurdistan or Diarbekir (Northern-Mesopotamia), Shehrzor (Eastern Assyria).”

Other times, other boundaries, Sharaf Kkan of Bitlis, in his History of Kurdish prince, indicated, at the 16th century, the following geographical limits of Kurdistan :

Borders and territories of the Kurds’ land, which called Kurdistân, starts at the shore of Hormuz Sea – which flows into the Indian Ocean and from there, it draws a straight line until the region of Malâtya and Mara’sh. Fars, Persian Irâq, Azerbaydjan, Minor and Major Armenia are at the north of this line. Arab Irâk, Mosul and Diyârbakir are at the south of this border.

And let look at the lack of precision concerning the Bilad al Akrad or Zûzan for medieval geographers…

Extract of the next number of the review Etudes kurdes, Saladin et les Kurdes of Boris James (soonly published) in the chapter Kurdistan, Zûzân al-Akrad :

The author mentionned at first the province of Kordestân, created by the Seljuk sultan of Iran, Sanjar, with “Bahar for capitale, the regions around Dînawar, Hamadân, Kermânshâh (Qirmisîn), Sinna (current Sanandadj)… (…) We constate that, though the attribution of a such name at the region, the city of Hamadan, for example, does not seem to be majoritary populated by Kurds at Saladin’s time.”

Concerning the Bilâd al-Akrâd (The Land of Kurds in Arabic), there is no exact description of its limits and localizations, even if it is attested by historians and geographers, like al-Isfahanî, al-Sh’aranî (which indicated that Hisn Kayfâ aka Hasankeyf is in the Land of Kurds).

Zûzân (Zozan=mountain apsture in Kuridsh) is more vague : “Geographical block inhabited by Kurds and Armenians”. For Yaqût al-Hamwî : “It is a region in the middle of Armenian moutains, between Akhlat, Azerbayjân, the Diyar Bâkr and Mosul. Its inhabitants are Armenians (Ahlulâ Arman) ; there are Kurdish groups also (wa fîhâ tawaîf min al-Akrâd).” Ibn al-Athîr said : “Zûzân is a region spred from the Eastern bak of the Tigris to Jazirah. It starts at 2 days of Mosul and reaches the limits of Salmâs districts. There are there many citadels, all belonged by Bashnawiya and Bukhtiyya Kurds.”