(self-designation, Kurd, Kurmanj), one of the ancient peoples of Southwest Asia. Their ethnic origin and history have been inadequately studied. They live mainly in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, in the area known as Kurdistan, as well as in several other countries. According to various estimates, they numbered between 7.5 and 12 million persons in 1971. They speak Kurdish. Most are Sunni Muslims, with a smaller number adhering to Shi’ism. Others belong to various sects, such as the Yezidis and Ali-Illahis, or Ahl-i Haqq.
The Kurdish tribal unions and feudal principalities that existed in Kurdistan were nominally subject to the dynasties ruling in Iran and the Ottoman state. The efforts of the ruling circles of these states and, after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, of Turkey and Iran to deprive the Kurds of all rights and assimilate them, caused numerous rebellions. The Kurds’ struggle intensified after World War II. In Iraq their right to national autonomy was recognized in 1970.
The Kurds’ social system is marked by the dissolution of feudal ties and the development of capitalist relationships. A working class is arising in the oil, transport, and other industries, as well as a bourgeoisie. Nevertheless, certain groups of Kurds retain vestiges of the tribal social system. The Kurds’ chief occupations are agriculture (cereal crops, fruit, and tobacco) and seminomadic herding. Crafts are well developed. The Kurds have a rich and unique culture in folklore, literature, and art.
In the 19th century, in accordance with the Gulistan Treaty of 1813, the Turkmanchai Treaty of 1828, and the Berlin Congress of 1878, some Kurds became Russian subjects. In the USSR the Kurds live primarily in Transcaucasia and to a lesser extent in Middle Asia and Kazakhstan (89,000 persons, 1970 census). They have had an opportunity to develop all aspects of their national culture, and, together with the other peoples of the USSR, they participate actively in communist construction. They are employed chiefly in agriculture, although some work in industry. A national intelligentsia has emerged. Various publications are issued in Kurdish, including the newspaper Ria Taza in Armenia, and radio programs are broadcast in Kurdish. There are centers for the study of Kurdish history and culture in Leningrad, Yerevan, and other cities.
Literature. The history of Kurdish literature has received inadequate attention, and many works have not been studied. The works of some medieval poets have not yet been dated precisely. Medieval literature (11th through 18th centuries) developed in the Kirmanji dialect in the Kurdish feudal principalities of Bohtan, Hakari, Bahdinan, and Bitlis (Turkish Kurdistan). Kurdish folklore is rich, varied in genre, and poetic. Written literature continually drew upon the treasury of folklore.
One of the earliest Kurdish poets was Ali Hariri (c. 11th century), who composed a divan of lyric poems written in colorful vernacular. The narrative poems A Single Word, Sons of the Fatherland, In Truth, Life Is a Dream, and The Ruby Necklace are ascribed to Ali Termuki, or Teremahi (10th-11th centuries). The 12th-century Sufi poet Mala-i-Jizri left a large divan of lyric poetry combining the meters of aruz with the forms of Kurdish folk poetry. Of the urban literature that appeared in the 15th century only the narrative poem The Basket Seller, attributed to Mala Bata (1417–94), has survived. The poem, based on a legend, contains elements of protest against social oppression.
The name of the folk singer, poet-philosopher, and lyric poet Faqih Teiran (14th or 16th century) has become legendary. The cycle Faqie Teira, which at first included only his verses, was later encrusted with imitations and verses about the poet, regarded as a defender of the people and champion of their welfare. The 16th-century poet Selim Sleman wrote the Kurdish version of the epic Yusuf and Zulayka. The 17th-century poet Ahmad-e Khani introduced ideas of the Enlightenment and strove to portray reality. He wrote the narrative poem Mem and Zin and the poetic Arabic-Kurdish dictionary Neu behar. The folk epic Dimdim Fortress treats the theme of the common people as the champions of independence.
By the early 17th century another literary center arose in Iranian Kurdistan at the court of the rulers of the Kurdish principality of Ardelan. The most outstanding poets of this group were Sheik Ahmad Tahti (1640-?), Mustafa Besarani (1641–1702), Mala Tahir Avromani, and Muhammad Kuli Sleman. Their works are written in the Gorani dialect and show the influence of Sufism.
The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw the decline of Kurdish literature. It abandoned folk traditions and became the property of a narrow circle of Sufi court poets. The literary center shifted to northern Iraq, and the southern dialects of Sorani and Murki became the literary language. In the literature of this period religious-mystical, lyrical, and patriotic trends coexist. Patriotic themes were further developed in modern democratic poetry in the work of Nali (1797–1855), Kurdi (1809–49), Selim (1800–66) and Haji Qadir of Koi (1815–92), fighter and bard of Kurdish uprisings and the founder of Kurdish democratic poetry. His verses resound with an appeal for national consciousness, unity, and the national-liberation struggle.
In the early 1920’s a modern Kurdish literature began to develop under the influence of the national-liberation struggle. An appeal for resistance to national oppression animates the poetry of Ahmad Mukhtar Jaf beg (1897–1935), Tahir beg (1875–1917), Ahmad Hamdi beg (1876–1936), Ziwar (1875–1948), Piramerd (1867–1950), and Faik Bekas (1905–48).
The Great October Socialist Revolution and Soviet poetry had a great impact on modern Kurdish literature. Among modern poets who champion civil and national rights, peace, and democracy, the best known are Sexmus Jagarkhun (born 1903), Abdullah Sleman Goran (1904–62), Osman Sabri (born 1906), Hadrijan Hazhar (born 1920), and Dilzar (born 1928). Prose developed between the 1940’s and 1960’s, represented by the realists Shakir Fattah, Ibrahim Ahmad (born 1912), Muhammad Amin (born 1921), and Marouf Barzinji (born 1921).
In the USSR Kurdish literature arose after the October Revolution of 1917, chiefly in the Armenian SSR. In 1931 the autobiographical novella of Arab Shamilov (born 1897), Kurdish Shepherd, was published in Russian (the Kurdish version appeared in 1935). Shamilov’s other works include the novels Dawn (1958) and A Happy Life (1959).
In the 1930’s the anthologies First Works (1932), Kurdish Writers (1934), and The Third Book (1935) were published. Many books by Kurdish writers appeared in 1935, including Spring, a book of verse by Amine Avdal (1906–64), Nubar by Vazire Nadri (1911–46), and Otare Sharo’s First Radiance. Among noteworthy short story writers of the prewar years were Adzhie Dzhindi (born 1908) and Dzhardoe Gendzho (1904–45).
The works of Kurdish writers written during the Great Patriotic War (1941–45) are imbued with Soviet patriotism and faith in victory over the enemy, for example, the narrative poems Nado and Gulizar by Nadri, Bako by Avdal, and Taiiar by Kachakhe Murad (born 1914).
In the postwar years Soviet Kurdish poetry gained prominence. Important collections include Kurdish Poems (1955), The Native Source (1957), and My Days (1960) by Dzhasme Dzhalila (born 1908); Poems (1957) and Two Worlds (1963) by Sharo; Lyric and Narrative Poems (1963) by Avdal; and Rainbow (1961) and My Dream (1963) by Usve Bako (born 1909).
An integral part of Soviet literature as a whole, Soviet Kurdish literature portrays contemporary reality. Soviet Kurdish writers also create works about the life of Kurds outside the Soviet Union and their national-liberation struggle, for example, Bako’s narrative poem Said (1954) and the novellas of Ali Avdlrakhman (born 1919).
Architecture and decorative and applied art. The summer dwelling of the Kurdish nomads is a tent made with several rows of poles covered by woolen material. In the mountainous regions of Turkey, Iran, and Iraq (and in former times, Transcaucasia), the winter dwelling is a dugout, sometimes in the side of a mountain, or a semidugout with a domed stepped roof having a hole in the center to admit light and let out smoke. The roofbeams rest on posts, and the bolsters are often shaped and sometimes decorated with carving. Cave dwellings are found in some areas.
The houses of farmers in the plains regions and of urban Kurds are made of pisé, stone, unfired brick, or adobe, depending on the location. They are rectangular, one or two stories high, and usually flat-roofed. In rural settlements a shed, stable, storehouse, and other buildings are usually attached to the dwelling.
Several Kurdish religious monuments have been preserved, notably the 12th-century mosque in Laleash, near Mosul (Iraq)—a rectangular building with a hall divided by columns into two naves—and the square domed tombs of sheikhs. Distinctive tombstones in the form of stylized figures of horses, rams, lions, and other animals are found every where. Ruins of ancient fortifications have survived in Piruz and Shiwa, near Baneh (Iran).
In the Soviet Union the Kurds live in comfortable settlements with schools, hospitals, and other amenities. Urban-type houses, often two-storied, are being built of hewn rock, tuff, or, more rarely, sun-dried bricks.
Over the centuries the Kurds have developed various forms of decorative applied folk art: rug weaving, pottery, jewelry-making, engraving on copper utensils, and carving in wood and stone. The brightly colored Kurdish rugs with geometric or floral designs are especially famous. Frequently the rug patterns contain pictures of peacocks (religious symbol of the Yezidis), horns (symbol of herding), or spiders (symbol of rug weaving and the sun). The rugs, both pile and napless, usually have a pattern of repeated large medallions on the central field and an ornamental border. Striped palas rugs are also common. Other handicrafts include the production of felt material with geometric designs, patterned knitted stockings and socks, and woven woolen articles such as women’s belts and handbags.
Kurdish artisans in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, and elsewhere produce engraved copper ware, gold-inlaid weapons, silver jewelry decorated with niello for women, and buckles and ornaments for belts and harnesses. Pipes, cigarette cases, chess pieces, and small benches are fashioned from wood. Embroidered silk wall hangings are produced in several areas. Glazed and unglazed ceramics are being developed around Van (Turkey) and Sanandaj (Iran) and in northern Iraq.