Scythians in Ancient Kurdistan

The earliest known record of Scythians in ancient Kurdistan dates back to 819 B.C., when a king of Nairi, an Urartian vassaldom, south of lake Van, is mentioned whose name was ''Sa-ti-ri-a'' (from old Iranic <*Xsathria: king).

Decades later we read about Scythians as lords of the lands of Urartians and Mannaeans (corresponding to much of Kurdistan), during which they had established good relations with Assyrian kings, and were often in conflict with Median tribes (Hamadan-Rey area), who inhabited the regions to the southeast of the lands under Scythian hegemony. Kimmerians (a group of Kurdistani Scythians) conquered as far as Ellipi in what is nowadays south of modern Kirmanshah).

After the fall of Assyria, -which recent archeological evidence indicates that unlike the traditional common belief, happened without Median  participation -, Scythians could even proceed eastwards to conquer and rule the Median lands for nearly three decades. Although according to ancient accounts, Median king Cyaxares intoxicated the Scythian nobles, the Scythians and Parthians under a Scythian queen, Zarina, launched attacks against the Medians.

Again, decades later, we read about Scythians in Kurdistan: A significant Scythian kingdom during this period was Skythenoi (as known by Xenophon, Sacassani by Pliny/Livy and Sakasene by Ptolemy). Its capital Gymnias was located in northern Kurdistan, (modern Bayburt). Strabo even mentions a smaller Scythian kingdom recorded by him as Sagapeni, located between Elymais and Adiabene, the latter itself ruled by a Scythian dynasty called Shiraks (see here).

On the Medieval History of the Kurds

A valuable book, indeed a comprehensive encyclopedia, on the medieval history of the Kurds, whose title can be loosely translated as ''Kurdish Tribal Confederations and Dynasties in the Middle Ages'', written by Dr. Zirar Siddiq Tewfiq:

Kurdish Version (هۆز و ده‌سه‌ڵاته‌ هۆزه‌كییه‌ كوردییه‌كانی چاخی ناوه‌ڕاست)(Hoz u deselate hozekiye kurdiyekanî chaxî nawerast)

Arabic Version  (القبائل و الزعامات القبلية الکردية في العصرالوسيط)

The Hurro-Urartian Substratum in Kurdish (1)

The toponyms are generally conservative and give insight to the human history of the region when it comes to possible linguistic influnce or shifts. 

It has long been shown by scholars that significant portion of Kurdish toponymy originates from Hurro-Urartian; examples are ''Barzani'' which was name of a Hurrian god; or Kurdish clan names ''Zibari'' from ''Sippar'', ''Musuri'' from ''Musri'', or name of ''Ziwiya'' from ''Zibiya'' ( capital of Hurro-Urartian kingdom of Manna, south of lake Urmia), name vally of ''Harir'' from ''Kiruri'', and dozens other place names and hydronyms such as Xabur, Van, etc. To these also must be added the name of 'Kurdistan' itself in Kurdish (endonym), i.e. ''Kurdawari'','' awari'' being the Hurrian word meaning ''land, field''.
Name of the Kurdish village ''Roboski'' is a remnamt of the name ''Eribuski'', the golden eagle of Teshup.

But so far there has been no effort to look into Kurdish vocabulary to analysis thousands of words with no etymology relating them to Iranic (IE), Arabic (Semitic)  or Turkic (Altaic), but with clear Hurro-Urartian cognates.


(See also Urartian morphology and Kurdish)

Kingdom of Garmakan

The region around Kirkuk which is nowadays known in Kurdish as ''Garmiyan'' was in pre-Islamic era ruled by a local kingdom named ''Garmakan'' and was centered at the city of Kirkuk. This ancient kingdom could be traced back to the first and second millenia BC; according to the American scholar and iranologist Richard Nelson Frye possibly to the early Gutians who also built the city of Kikrkuk and put it as the capital of their powerful kingdom which encompassed much of modern Kurdistan. Although this is only part of the history of Kirkuk but it clearly proves the Kurdistaniness reality of Kirkuk in pre-Islamic era, as it has been in post Islamic period. 

  

Sadaqiyan dynasty

One of the earliest independant dynasties after Islamic conquest was Sadaqiyans who ruled central and northeastern Kurdistan and were centered at Urmia. 

The dynasty was founded by Sidqa ibn Ali who launched uprisings against Abbasid Caliph Abu Jafar Al-Mansur (712-775 AD). 

With the help of his brothers, Sadaqa was able to liberate large parts of Atropatene as well as Mosul. Following liberating Urmia, he extended his dominion to include regions of Khoy, Salmas, Shno (Oshnavieh), Lajan, Sindus, Mukriyan etc.

During reign of Abbasid Harun al Rashid, Sadaqiyans were able to extend further their dominon, and even the governor of region of Tabriz  accepted their suzerainty. 

The successful expeditions by Sadaqiyans horrified Abbasids, who subsequently sent to Atropatene a large army under Khazima, who could only occupy Maragha and soon was defeated by Sadaqiyan forces. this indicates military superiority of Sidqiyans. 

After Sadaqa, his son Ali took power, who even extended further his dominion. Thereafter Ali's son Sadaqa II, known as Zariq (also: Zardiq, Zarir, Zorayq, Zurayq or Zuraiq) who ruled 209-212 A.H. Like his grandfather (Sadaqa), Zuraiq was a capable warlord. He contacted with Abbasids and claimed he is ready to battle Babak Khurramdin in return for his rule over Azarbaijan and Armenia being recognized by Abbasids. The Abbasid Caliph Mamun accepted the deal and persuaded him to counter Babak Khorramdin who along with his Kurdish generals such as Ismah and Nasr was hiding in the mountains of Azarbaijan. However there is no record of confrontation of Zuraiq with Babak, which indicates  a possible collusion between the two.

In 211 A.H. Zariq sent an army to Mosul in order to recapture it. He was innitially defeated however, again attacked with a force of 40.000 troops, captured Mosul and killed Sayid ibn Yonus Azdi. This angered Mamun; he sent an army under Muhamad ibn Humaid, who defeated Zuraiq; he was executed in 212 after Hijra (827-8 AD).

Ardashir and the Kurds

One of the most interesting and important episodes of the Book of deeds of Ardashir son of Babak is his adventures with the Kurds (ca 220s AD).

Ardashir's mother, like Nizami Ganjavi's mother was of Kurdish descent. Ardawan, the last emperor of Parthians in a letter calls Ardashir ''a Kurd and raised by Kurds''.

With regards to Kurds, book of deeds of Ardashir elaborates Ardashir's attack on kingdom of Corduene, that is the northern Mesopotamia from lake Urmia to Euphrates; In this battle Madig king of Kurds, severely defeats Ardashir. Later Ardashir after having prepared a large army, rushes upon the Kurds and surprizes them with a night attack and finally defeates the Kurds after facing a severe resistance. Ardashir sends all the booty he collected from this battle to Pars.

On the road the army of Haftan-bokht, ''the king of the Kirm'' (i.e. Kirmanshah), struck against them, seized the entire wealth, property, and portable lodges from those cavalry soldiers of Ardashir, and carried them into Guzaran (modern Kuzaran, located to the west of city of Kermanshah and to the east of Sarpol Zahab), one of the boroughs of Gular (modern Kalar, to the north of Kuzaran), where Kirmanshah had its abode.

''Kirm'' is the old and middle Iranic for ''serpent''. The people of Kurdistan were known as people of serpent (by ethnic Hayqs of Armenia as ''Mar'', serpent, snake); Indeed, in Assyrian records the gate to the road to the Kimmerian was named ''Musasir'', which literally means ''Exit of Serpent''.

Ardashir then entertained this idea: "I shall go to Armenia (northeastern Anatolia, north of lake Van) and Ataropatgan (or Atropatene; east of lake Urmia), because Yazdan-kard (Domitianus) of Shaharzur (now Suleimania) has with many soldiers and heroes, passed beyond the frontiers of Shaharzur which at that time was part of the the kingdom of Garmian and its capital was at Kirkuk, concluded a treaty with the ruler of the land of shah of Kirm (or land of Kirmanshah), and become his ally." But as soon as Ardashir heard of the assault and victory of the sons of Haftan-bokht towards his (Ardashir's) army, he decided to firstly, put in order the affairs at Pars and become fearless of the enemies, and after that begin to meddle with other enemies."
It is mentioned also that the kingdom of Kirm was able to recruit significant numbers of troops from ''the land of Sind'', that is the area of Duhok and Zaxo.

Then Ardashir dispatched an innumerable army with chieftains to the battle of Kirmanshah. The army of Kirmanshah deposited their entire wealth, riches, property, and portable lodges in the citadel and fortress of Guzaran, and privately took refuge in mountain cavities. And the cavalry of Ardashir had no knowledge thereof, so they, on reaching the foot of the fortress of Gular, blockaded the citadel. When night fell, the army of Kirmanshah attacked them, committed bloodshed, killed many of Ardashir's troops, and seized from them horses, saddles, saddle-tackles, property, and portable lodges. With lamentation and dishonor, the troops returned to Ardashir in a disgraceful condition and unarmed...

Ardashir became much distressed, and consequently, invited to his capital all his troops from different cities and territories, and engaged himself with a large army to battle against Kirmanshah.

When he arrived at the fortress of Guzaran, the whole army of Kirmanshah had encamped itself inside the fortress, so he too encamped his army round the outer walls of the fortress.

The Shah of Kirm, Haftan-bokht, had seven sons, and each of them was appointed by him governor of a city with one thousand men under him. At this juncture, one of the sons, who was in Arvastan (Arabia; west of Euphrates), came by the passage of a sea, with a, large army composed of soldiers from Arabia and Mazenderan, and stood against Ardashir in battle.

The army of Kirmanshah, which had been inside the fortress, completely marched out, and vehemently struggled and fought with Ardashir's troops, many being killed on both sides. When the army of Kirmanshah came out of the fortress, it took such a by-road that it became impossible for any of Ardashir's troops to go out of the camp or to bring in any food for himself or fodder for his horses, and, consequently the satiety of all men and animals was changed into want of food and helplessness.

When Mitrok, son of Anoshepat, an inhabitant of Zarham in Pars, heard that Ardashir was without provision near the capital of land of Kirmanshahan , and obtained no victory over its army; he accoutered his troops and heroes, marched towards the residence of Ardashir, and carried away all the wealth and riches of Ardashir's treasure.

Ardashir, hearing of such violation on the part of Mitrok and other men of Pars, reflected upon it for a while thus: "I ought to postpone the battle with Kirmanshah, and then go to fight out a battle with Mitrok." He, therefore, summoned all his forces back to his quarters, deliberated with their commanders, first sought the means of delivering himself and his army.

That very moment a long arrow, dispatched from the fortress, came down and pierced, as far as its feathers, through the roasted lamb that was on the table.

On the arrow it was written as follows: "This arrow is darted by the troops of the lord of the glorious Dragon; we ought not to kill a great man like you, so we have struck that roasted lamb," Ardashir, having observed the state of things, disencamped his army and withdrew from the place.

The army of Kirmanshah hastened after Ardashir, and hemmed in his men again in such a manner that Ardashir's army could not proceed further. So Ardashir himself passed away singly by the sea-coast

Ardashir marched again towards Ardashir-Gadman, undertook the battle with Mitrôk, son of Anoshepat, killed Mitrok, and took possession of his territory, land, wealth and property.

Then Ardashir disguised himself as a merchant from Kkorasan and enetred the castle of Kirmanshah and poisoned him by a trick.

Ardashir commanded that the fortress should be razed to the ground and demolished, while on its site he ordered the city which they call Guzaran to be erected. In that quarter he caused an Atash-i Warharan to be enthroned. He loaded on the backs of one thousand camels the wealth, property, gold, and silver contained in the fortress, and dispatched them to Gobar. Then Ardashir installed a friendly and trusted vassal kingdom over the area of Kirmanshahan, which lasted from 226 to 380 AD. and is known as Kayusid or Kavusakan. A number of tombs cut into living rock in the mountains of the Kermanshah region is believed to date back from the House of Kayus. The most famous carvings in Kermanshah are at Taq Bustan believed to be the historic site of the dynasty.

The book of deeds of Ardashir further mentions his battle in Mokristan (Mokriyan, abode of Mokri Kurds, to the northeast of Garmiyan) and Barjan (abode of Barzan Kurds, between Garmiyan and Sind).

Although the topography of the story mentioned in the book of deeds of Ardashir precisely fits that of geography of Kurdistan, some biased western scholars tried in past to falsify this remarkable part of Kurdish history by linking it to the dry and uninhabitable deserts of eastern Iran, however it was protested by intelligent Kurdish intellectuals such as Mihrdad Izady who in his great and precious article ''QALEH-I YAZDIGIRD Cultural Treasure of the Kurdish Past'' (1993) clarifies the history of a mountain castle in Kirmanshahan to the ancient castle of king of Kirm in Guzaran.

(Image: Ardashir is believed to be standing here in this relief at Taq-e Bostan. On the left is an Iranic Izad (god), on the right is Kayus of Kirmanshah, and below him is Haftanbokht.)

Oldest cities in the world!

Many cities in Kurdistan are among the top oldest cities in the world where human race resided and settled in.  Below I've provided a short list of some of the oldest cities in Kurdistan. 

• Arbil, capital of KRG; simply the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world! Urban life at Arbil can be dated back to at least the third millennium BC, (5000 years ago)! The city was founded by Hurrians (Khurrites), the forefathers of the Kurds in the land of Karda. Unlike what some people may think, the name of the city is not of semitic origin, but semitized. In other words, the name of the city is of Hurrian origin, (note the Hurrian toponym prefix ''ar''), however when Semitic people migrated northwards and became a power in the region, they reflected the name as ''Arbela'' which according to their language meant ''four gods''. 
  
• Kirkuk, nicknamed ''Quds of kurdistan''; founded by Hurrian-related tribes from eastern Kurdistan (either Guti or Lullubi); the old name of the city was Arrapha. 
  
• Oshnaviya, Shno, that is the ancient town of Ushnuya. 
  
• Sharazor, is said to have been built by Zor son of Zahhak. It was destroyed by Mongols.
  
• Pinaca, later Bezabde, today Cizre, in ancient kingdom of Corduene which was part of the Roman empire
  
• Sareisa, an extremely ancient site, was also an important city in ancient Corduene. 
  
• Satalca, ancient city in southeastern Anatolia, was also part of Corduene
  
• Tigranocerta, modern Miyafarqin/Silvan in southeastern Anatolia. The city was founded by Tigran, a Prthian noble who later became a despot king over Armenia, after he relocated many Kurds to the site wich eventually became Tigranocerta or Tigranakart (parthian for ''city of Tigran'') 
  
• Nineveh, today Mosul, the city was actually founded by Semitic peoples, and was capital of Assyria, however after fall of Assyria the site was inhabited by Kurds up to the twentieth century when it was arabised by the British created state of Iraq.  
  

The list goes on to Mars :) ...

Kurds in shadow of history

Below, I've provided a list of notable pre-Islamic Kurdish clans and/or dynasties whose names survived as tribal names up to the modern era. The list is certainly no limited to those listed by me. It's worthy of note that each of these played significant roles in political scene of the time they were shining.
Hezebani: descendants of the Adiabene; the medieval rulers of tracts between Arbil, Urmia, and Maragha.
Garmiyan: from Garmakan; in and around Kirkuk.
Rawendi: from Orontes. As Orontids they ruled over what today is known as Armenia and Azarbaijan. Their offshoots continued to keep their realm over the same areas during early centuries of Islamic era as Shadadids and Rawadids. The city of Rawandiz too takes its name from them.
Bokhtan: from Pactiana together with Armenia formed thirteenth satrap of Achaemenid empire. the city of Bohtan in northern Kurdistan takes its name from Bokhtanis.
Soran: from Suren. a very powerful Arsacid clan who ruled what is now known as southern Kurdistan (Iraqi Kurdistan) during reign of Yazdgird of Sassanids. they continued to real the area up to midle of ninteenth century when attacked by Ottomans. Nowadays the southern Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish is called Sorani too.
Feyli: from Pahlavi. synonymous with Arsacid. Or more accurately name of language and people whose royal class named Arsacids.
Mardîn: a city in northern Kurdistan which takes its name from Mards, mentioned in Greek and Armenian sources.
Mihrani: who were one of the four clans united to support Saladin. they took their name from Mihranid a dynasty ruling Aran in the early Christian era, today known as Republic of Azerbaijan. (the name Aran is Kurdish for 'lowland')
Caf/Cafan or Jaf: from Gabiane of Greek sources. Jaf has been one of the most populous Kurdish tribes who dwelled mainly in southeastern Kurdistan. The city of Javanroud too takes its name from Jafs.

Actually as noted above the list is too longer than what listed here.

Beautiful Homeland

Today I'm going to point out some interesting facts about Kurdistan; though not limited to those listed below but I think the most notable ones are as following:

• Kurdistan is the first place on earth where "agriculture" began (Cradle of Agriculture).
  
• Kurdistan is the land associated with "Garden of Eden".
  
• Kudistan's Mountains are where Noah's Ark is supposed to have landed.
• The alleged grave of prophet Abaraham is located in Kurdistan.
  
• One of the earliest traces of wine has been found in Kurdistan.

(Image: Traditional methods to thresh wheat in Kurdistan, near Sanandaj, Eastern Kurdistan)