KURDISH NATIONAL EPICS: STIMULATING REPRESSED KURDISH NATIONALISM

Edited by: Michael M. Gunter
Published on Sivil Magazine in Hewler, Kurdistan (October 3rd 2009)
Translated to Kurdish By: Sarwar Salar Chuchani (www.sarwarkurd.blogfa.com)


Although the fourth largest nation in the Middle East, the Kurds remain a stateless people whose very future existence is challenged by the states in which they live. Moreover, as history is written by the hegemons—which the Kurds certainly have not been—Kurdish accomplishments have often been ignored or simply appropriated by those who are hegemons. Kurdish belles lettres provide an excellent example. Many are not aware that a Kurdish literature even exists. In truth no records remain of any pre-Islamic Kurdish literature, in part, because much undoubtedly has been lost due to the ceaseless conflicts that have ravished Kurdistan. In addition, many Kurdish authors wrote in Arabic, Persian, or Turkish, while in modern times many Kurds employ Western languages. Such usage obscures the Kurdishness of their literature.
Thus, Kurdish national epics represent an oft-ignored but complex and multifaceted source for understanding and celebrating forgotten, silenced, or repressed Kurdish nationalism. In the beginning of the 16th century, for example, the Kurdish scholar and diplomat Idris Bitlisi (died 1520) composed Hasht Behesht (The Eight Paradises). This volume traced the early history of the Ottoman sultans in Persian. Trusted by both sides, Idris Bitlisi also helped broker important agreements between the Ottomans and the 16 semiautonomous Kurd hukumeti, Kurdish emirates or principalities that possessed many of the characteristics of a state.
Sharaf Khan Bitlisi (1543-1603) was the Kurdish author of the Sharafnama, a very erudite history of the ruling families of the Kurdish emirates. The book was written in Persian, completed in 1596, and is arguably the single most important source for Kurdish history up to that time. The Sharafnama divides its history into four parts. The first deals with five Kurdish dynasties, which have actually enjoyed royalty (saltanat): the Marwanids of Diyarbakir and Jazire, the Hasanwayhids of Dinawar and Shahrizur, the Fadluyids of the Great Lur, the princes of little Lur, and the Ayyubids. The second part lists those dynasties which have had coins struck and the khutba recited in their names. (The khutba is a religious invocation pronounced at the Friday prayer meeting which mentions the Prophet, the first four caliphs, and the current ruler.) The third part numbers the families of hereditary governors (hukkam), while the fourth details the history of the mirs of Bitlis. Clearly, the Sharafnama puts the lie to the claim that the Kurds never have had some sort of independent state.
Composed in Kurdish in 1695 by Ahmadi-i Khani (1650-1706), Mem u Zin is universally considered to be the Kurdish national epic because its introductory parts contain an obvious reference to Kurdish nationalist beliefs: "If only there were harmony among us, if we were to obey a single one of us, he would reduce to vassalage Turks, Arabs and Persians, all of them. We would perfect our religion, our state, and would educate ourselves in learning and wisdom." Since the epic was written at a time when nationalism was unknown in the Islamic Middle East, some even have argued, therefore, that Kurdish is the oldest nationalism in that area of the world. The poem itself runs for more than 2,650 distichs or couplets. Its plot concerns tragic lovers and has been called by some a Kurdish Romeo and Juliet. Mem and Zin were two lovers. Bakir's intrigues caused the death of Mem. Zin then died of grief morning over her lover’s grave. She was buried next to Mem's grave, while Bakir was killed there in revenge. A thorn bush grew out of Bakir's blood and its roots separated the two lovers even in death. The Kurds have seen this separation as a metaphor for the division of Kurdistan victimized by its neighbors.
In modern times repressed Kurdish nationalism has been stimulated by two great patriotic poets, Haji Qadir Koyi (1817-1897) and the much-adored Haji (Piremerd) Tewfiq (1863-1950). A statue of Piremerd stands in the center of Sulaymaniya, the second largest city in today’s largely autonomous Kurdistan of Iraq. Nishtiman (Motherland) was the title of a Kurdish journal published in the mid-1940s during the days of the Mahabad Republic of Kurdistan in Iran. It was received with great enthusiasm by the Kurds and enjoyed a relatively wide distribution. The first issue contained poems, prose, a Kurdish constitution, and articles on Kurdish history. In all, 12 issues appeared. The journal’s motto “Long live greater Kurdistan” illustrated its pan-Kurdish aspirations. In March 1945, the Mahabad Kurds staged a dramatic Kurdish nationalist opera called Daiki Nishtiman. It featured a woman called Daiki Nishtiman, who was the personification of the Kurdish nation. She was abused by three villains representing Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. Eventually she was rescued by her brave Kurdish sons. The opera played for several months in Mahabad and other surrounding towns and made a very profound and emotional nationalist impression on the Kurds. The very term Nishtiman (Motherland) became almost synonymous with that of Kurdistan.

Michael M. Gunter
Professor of Political Science
Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville, TN
USA
*this article was sent by prof Gunter to Sarwar Salar Chuchani
*to read the KURDISH version, click here