Kurani, Ibrahim ibn al-Shahrazuri al-
Kurani, Ibrahim ibn al-Shahrazuri al- (Ibrahim ibn al-Shahrazuri al-Kurani) (1615-1690). Scholar and mystic of Kurdistan. Because of his special relationship with the Achehnese ‘Abd al-Ra’uf al-Sinkili, he had an important influence on the development of Islam in what is now Indonesia.
Ibrahim al-Kurani is one of the prominent Kurdish Muslim scholars. He became a grand shaykh in Medina. His intellectual thoughts of Sufism strongly influenced a number of his Malay-Indonesian students, including 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Sinkili (Abdrurrauf ibn Ali al-Jawi).
Al-Kurani was a Sufi 'alim, and also a prolific writer, who mastered both esoteric and exoteric Islamic knowledge. His works involve various Islamic fields such as tafsir, hadith, fiqh, theology and Sufism. It is estimated that al-Kurani's works number close to 100.
Ibrahim ibn al-Shahrazurial-Kurani see Kurani, Ibrahim ibn al-Shahrazuri al-
Kurani, Ibrahim ibn al-Shahrazuri al- (Ibrahim ibn al-Shahrazuri al-Kurani) (1615-1690). Scholar and mystic of Kurdistan. Because of his special relationship with the Achehnese ‘Abd al-Ra’uf al-Sinkili, he had an important influence on the development of Islam in what is now Indonesia.
Ibrahim al-Kurani is one of the prominent Kurdish Muslim scholars. He became a grand shaykh in Medina. His intellectual thoughts of Sufism strongly influenced a number of his Malay-Indonesian students, including 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Sinkili (Abdrurrauf ibn Ali al-Jawi).
Al-Kurani was a Sufi 'alim, and also a prolific writer, who mastered both esoteric and exoteric Islamic knowledge. His works involve various Islamic fields such as tafsir, hadith, fiqh, theology and Sufism. It is estimated that al-Kurani's works number close to 100.
Ibrahim ibn al-Shahrazurial-Kurani see Kurani, Ibrahim ibn al-Shahrazuri al-
Kurbuqa, Abu Sa‘id
Kurbuqa, Abu Sa‘id (Abu Sa‘id Kurbuqa) (Abu Sa'id Kur-bugha) (d. 1102). Turkish commander of the Saljuq period and lord of Mosul.
Abu Sa'id Kurbuqa see Kurbuqa, Abu Sa‘id
Kur-bugha, Abu Sa'id see Kurbuqa, Abu Sa‘id
Abu Sa'id Kur-bugha see Kurbuqa, Abu Sa‘id
Kurbuqa, Abu Sa‘id (Abu Sa‘id Kurbuqa) (Abu Sa'id Kur-bugha) (d. 1102). Turkish commander of the Saljuq period and lord of Mosul.
Abu Sa'id Kurbuqa see Kurbuqa, Abu Sa‘id
Kur-bugha, Abu Sa'id see Kurbuqa, Abu Sa‘id
Abu Sa'id Kur-bugha see Kurbuqa, Abu Sa‘id
Kurd ‘Ali, Muhammad Farid
Kurd ‘Ali, Muhammad Farid (Muhammad Farid Kurd ‘Ali) (Muhammad Kurd Ali) (1876-1953). Syrian journalist, scholar and man of letters. He is the author of a monumental history of Syria (Khitat al-Sham), and was the founder and first president of the Academy of Arabic Language (Arab Academy) in Damascus.
The writings of Kurd 'Ali embraced a wide range of subjects, but he paid special attention to the historical achievements of Arabic-Islamic civilization.and to a comparison of those achievements with the ascendancy of Western Europe. Kurd 'Ali's historical writings were intended not only to inform readers about the past but also to demonstrate the positive achievements of Arab-Islamic civilization. He believed that European progress was generated by the rediscovery of ancient knowledge during the Renaissance, and argued that Arab Muslims must become aware of the achievements of their ancestors in order to experience their own awakening and renewal..
Muhammad Kurd Ali was a notable Syrian scholar, historian and literary critic in the Arabic language. He was the founder director of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Damascus (1918) till his death.
Originally from Kurdish Sulaimaniya (the work of Mosul), Muhammad Kurd Ali learned to read and write in the kuttab where he also studied the Qu'ran. He studied the preparatory phase at Al-Rushdieya school, and then completed his secondary education at the Azarieh School.
Muhammad Kurd Ali loved writing and journalism, and developed an interest in reading books and collecting them since childhood. Although illiterate himself, his father encouraged him to acquire books, and gave him sufficient assistance to possess them. As he developed more strength in science and language, he started to read newspapers and magazines in French, Turkish and Arabic. At the age of sixteen, he was writing news and articles and was paid by the newspapers. His hobbies did not stop at this point, he loved Arabic poetry, rhyme rhetoric, and kept close company with well-known elderly scholars at the time from his country drawing on their knowledge and literature, such as: Saleem Bukhari, Sheikh Mohammed Al Mubarak, and Sheikh Taher Algaza’ri.
In 1897, he was entrusted with editing the government weekly newspaper (Sham). He carried on with this job for three years and was committed in his articles to assonance. Then Kurd Ali started corresponding with Al-Muqtataf magazine in Egypt for five years through which his fame passed through into Egypt.
Kurd Ali went to Cairo and remained there for ten months during which he worked as the editor of Al-Ra’ed Almasri (Egyptian pioneer) newspaper, and was introduced to its scientists, literary men and thinkers, thus further broadening his horizon and increasing his notoriety so much so that his name in Egypt became no less known than the most famous writers and the very best scholars of that period.
Kurd Ali returned to Damascus where he was a victim of a slander that led to orders by the Ottoman ruler to have Kurd Ali’s house searched. Kurd Ali was later proved innocent. Following this, he emigrated to Egypt in 1906, and established the monthly Al-Muqtabas magazine where he published scientific, literary and historical research. He also edited the Al-zaher newspaper and then edited Al-Mu’ayyad, another daily newspaper. He would report from the West magazines the latest news on science, civilization, invention and development; and he also translated a number of rare manuscript books so he combined both the old and the new.
Muhammad Kurd Ali returned to Damascus in 1908 after the proclamation of the Ottoman Constitution, and published the Al-Muqtabas magazine in addition to a daily newspaper he called Al-Muqtabas in collaboration with his brother Ahmed. He also founded its own press, but the Ottoman Empire harassed and fought against him and later closed the newspaper after one of the Ottoman rulers accused him of exposing the Sultan’s family in one of his articles. So he fled to Egypt and then to Europe and returned later exonerated. But the same was repeated in another charge, so he left the daily newspaper to his brother Ahmed and dedicated himself to the magazine.
Kurd Ali's alarm was intensified after the declaration of the First World War and the beginning of a revenge campaign against the ‘free Arabs’, so he closed the magazine and the newspaper. He was almost driven to the gallows like many other critics of the tyrannical regime, but was saved by a document found in the French consulate in Damascus by a staff member of the French Foreign Ministry before the war. The French staff member had paid a visit to Kurd Ali in his house and wanted to exploit his dislike of the (federals) to bring him towards the pro-French policy in the Middle East, but Kurd Ali disappointed him and advised him to alter their policy in Algeria and Tunisia. There were also similar documents like the (official publication of confidentiality) that had been sent by France's ambassador in Istanbul to the consuls of his country on Syrian lands warning them and proclaiming that Kurd Ali would only work with the Turks. This came together with other papers of this kind found through inspection of consulates early in the war. Djemal Pasha called Kurd Ali and jubilantly informed him of the news but also warned him that if he returned to opposition, he would kill him with his own pistol. Djemal Pasha then ordered the reopening of the newspaper and gave Kurd Ali financial assistance. He also appointed Kurd Ali editor of Al-Sharq (East) newspaper which was issued by the army.
After entering the Faisali Covenant and the independence of Syria from the Ottoman Empire, Kurd Ali found the opportunity to realize the dream that had long enticed him: the establishment of Arab Academy in Damascus in the manner that civilized nations do to save their heritage and maintain their language, and disseminate their literature and sciences. So, he presented the idea to the military ruler Rida Pasha al-Rikabi, who agreed to turn the Court of knowledge with its president and members into an Academy of Arabic Language in Damascus. This was on June 8, 1919, and Muhammad Kurd Ali was appointed president of the Assembly and continued to be so until his death.
Muhammad Farid Kurd 'Ali see Kurd ‘Ali, Muhammad Farid
'Ali, Muhammad Farid Kurd see Kurd ‘Ali, Muhammad Farid
Muhammad Kurd Ali see Kurd ‘Ali, Muhammad Farid
Kurd ‘Ali, Muhammad Farid (Muhammad Farid Kurd ‘Ali) (Muhammad Kurd Ali) (1876-1953). Syrian journalist, scholar and man of letters. He is the author of a monumental history of Syria (Khitat al-Sham), and was the founder and first president of the Academy of Arabic Language (Arab Academy) in Damascus.
The writings of Kurd 'Ali embraced a wide range of subjects, but he paid special attention to the historical achievements of Arabic-Islamic civilization.and to a comparison of those achievements with the ascendancy of Western Europe. Kurd 'Ali's historical writings were intended not only to inform readers about the past but also to demonstrate the positive achievements of Arab-Islamic civilization. He believed that European progress was generated by the rediscovery of ancient knowledge during the Renaissance, and argued that Arab Muslims must become aware of the achievements of their ancestors in order to experience their own awakening and renewal..
Muhammad Kurd Ali was a notable Syrian scholar, historian and literary critic in the Arabic language. He was the founder director of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Damascus (1918) till his death.
Originally from Kurdish Sulaimaniya (the work of Mosul), Muhammad Kurd Ali learned to read and write in the kuttab where he also studied the Qu'ran. He studied the preparatory phase at Al-Rushdieya school, and then completed his secondary education at the Azarieh School.
Muhammad Kurd Ali loved writing and journalism, and developed an interest in reading books and collecting them since childhood. Although illiterate himself, his father encouraged him to acquire books, and gave him sufficient assistance to possess them. As he developed more strength in science and language, he started to read newspapers and magazines in French, Turkish and Arabic. At the age of sixteen, he was writing news and articles and was paid by the newspapers. His hobbies did not stop at this point, he loved Arabic poetry, rhyme rhetoric, and kept close company with well-known elderly scholars at the time from his country drawing on their knowledge and literature, such as: Saleem Bukhari, Sheikh Mohammed Al Mubarak, and Sheikh Taher Algaza’ri.
In 1897, he was entrusted with editing the government weekly newspaper (Sham). He carried on with this job for three years and was committed in his articles to assonance. Then Kurd Ali started corresponding with Al-Muqtataf magazine in Egypt for five years through which his fame passed through into Egypt.
Kurd Ali went to Cairo and remained there for ten months during which he worked as the editor of Al-Ra’ed Almasri (Egyptian pioneer) newspaper, and was introduced to its scientists, literary men and thinkers, thus further broadening his horizon and increasing his notoriety so much so that his name in Egypt became no less known than the most famous writers and the very best scholars of that period.
Kurd Ali returned to Damascus where he was a victim of a slander that led to orders by the Ottoman ruler to have Kurd Ali’s house searched. Kurd Ali was later proved innocent. Following this, he emigrated to Egypt in 1906, and established the monthly Al-Muqtabas magazine where he published scientific, literary and historical research. He also edited the Al-zaher newspaper and then edited Al-Mu’ayyad, another daily newspaper. He would report from the West magazines the latest news on science, civilization, invention and development; and he also translated a number of rare manuscript books so he combined both the old and the new.
Muhammad Kurd Ali returned to Damascus in 1908 after the proclamation of the Ottoman Constitution, and published the Al-Muqtabas magazine in addition to a daily newspaper he called Al-Muqtabas in collaboration with his brother Ahmed. He also founded its own press, but the Ottoman Empire harassed and fought against him and later closed the newspaper after one of the Ottoman rulers accused him of exposing the Sultan’s family in one of his articles. So he fled to Egypt and then to Europe and returned later exonerated. But the same was repeated in another charge, so he left the daily newspaper to his brother Ahmed and dedicated himself to the magazine.
Kurd Ali's alarm was intensified after the declaration of the First World War and the beginning of a revenge campaign against the ‘free Arabs’, so he closed the magazine and the newspaper. He was almost driven to the gallows like many other critics of the tyrannical regime, but was saved by a document found in the French consulate in Damascus by a staff member of the French Foreign Ministry before the war. The French staff member had paid a visit to Kurd Ali in his house and wanted to exploit his dislike of the (federals) to bring him towards the pro-French policy in the Middle East, but Kurd Ali disappointed him and advised him to alter their policy in Algeria and Tunisia. There were also similar documents like the (official publication of confidentiality) that had been sent by France's ambassador in Istanbul to the consuls of his country on Syrian lands warning them and proclaiming that Kurd Ali would only work with the Turks. This came together with other papers of this kind found through inspection of consulates early in the war. Djemal Pasha called Kurd Ali and jubilantly informed him of the news but also warned him that if he returned to opposition, he would kill him with his own pistol. Djemal Pasha then ordered the reopening of the newspaper and gave Kurd Ali financial assistance. He also appointed Kurd Ali editor of Al-Sharq (East) newspaper which was issued by the army.
After entering the Faisali Covenant and the independence of Syria from the Ottoman Empire, Kurd Ali found the opportunity to realize the dream that had long enticed him: the establishment of Arab Academy in Damascus in the manner that civilized nations do to save their heritage and maintain their language, and disseminate their literature and sciences. So, he presented the idea to the military ruler Rida Pasha al-Rikabi, who agreed to turn the Court of knowledge with its president and members into an Academy of Arabic Language in Damascus. This was on June 8, 1919, and Muhammad Kurd Ali was appointed president of the Assembly and continued to be so until his death.
Muhammad Farid Kurd 'Ali see Kurd ‘Ali, Muhammad Farid
'Ali, Muhammad Farid Kurd see Kurd ‘Ali, Muhammad Farid
Muhammad Kurd Ali see Kurd ‘Ali, Muhammad Farid
Kurdi, Muhammad Amin al-
Kurdi, Muhammad Amin al- (Muhammad Amin al-Kurdi) (d.1914). One of the leading figures in the recent history of the Naqshbandiyya order, and author of several influential works, including Tanwirul-Qulub.
Muhammad Amin al-Kurdi see Kurdi, Muhammad Amin al-
Muhammad Amin al-Kurdi see Kurdi, Muhammad Amin al-
Kurds
Kurds. A linguistic-cultural group concentrated in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and parts of Syria. The Kurds are an Iranian people who live mainly at the junction of more or less laicized Turkey, Shi‘a Iran, Arab Sunni Iraq and North Syria, and the former Soviet Transcaucasia. The name “Land of the Kurds” seems to date from the time of the Saljuq Sultan Sanjar. The Kurds played an important part in the history of the Middle East. Several dynasties, such as the Marwanids of Diyarbakr, the Ayyubids, the Shaddadids and probably the Safavids, as well as prominent personalities, were of Kurdish origin. The Treaty of Sevres (1920) had foreseen an independent Kurdistan, but the idea was suppressed by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923).
Kurds are a people of the highlands of eastern Anatolia and the northwestern section of the Zagros Mountains. In their current disparate state, Kurds can be found over five international borders, from Iran and Iraq to Turkey, Syria, and the Soviet Union. The land of Kurdistan is predominantly mountainous but is interrupted frequently by fertile and well-watered valleys, some of which are, like the plains of Mahi Dasht, of unusual fertility and expanse. Many of the major rivers of Southwest Asia have their source in Kurdistan, such as the Tigris, Euphrates, Araks, Kura, Kizil Irmak, Safid Rud, and Karkheh. The heartland of Kurdistan is the area bordered on the southeast by two tributaries of the Tigris, the Little and the Great Zab, and on the northwest by Lake Urmia. This area has been known successively as Gutium, Kardush, and Ardalan.
The origins of the Kurds are still somewhat uncertain. Variations of the word "Kurd" appear regularly in ancient sources. Of the invaders from the mountainous region of “Gutium,” Naram-Sin (2291-2255 B.C.T.), king of Agade (Akkadia), said, “in the mist of the mountains they grew up, they became virile, they acquired stature ....” The Gutis set up a dynasty in Sumeria (c.2250-2120 B.C.T.). Akkadian sources mention a mountain kingdom of Gutium to the east and north of Assyria as one of the regions annexed by the Kassite rulers of Akkadia around 1400 B.C.T. Assyrian sources of the late second millenium also mention Gutium, the country of the “Gutis” to the east and north of Assyria. Babylonian tablets of the sixth century B.C.T. enumerate the “Kardakas” among the Babylonian royal guards. The “Carduchis,” “Cardaces,” or “Kurtioi” are credited by Greek and Roman writers with playing a considerable role in the latter history of the Persian Achaemenid empire. In post-Achaemenid times, the form Gordyene was more commonly employed by historians. It remained the dominant form until the beginning of the Islamic age, when the term Kurdistan was finally established for the country.
The Islamic conquests of the seventh century of the Christian calendar opened a much clearer chapter in the history of the Kurds. Kurds set up various dynasties, both within Kurdistan and beyond, and some of these acquired great distinction: the Shaddadids of Arran and eastern Armenia (c. 951-1174); the Rawwadids of Azerbaijan (early tenth century to 1071); the Marwanids of central and eastern Anatolia (983-1085); and the Ayyubids of Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, and the Yemen (1169 to the end of the fifteenth century), of whom Saladin, famous for his defeat of the Crusaders, is the most celebrated. The illustrious Safavids of Persia (1501-1722), although a Turkic-speaking dynasty, were quite probably of Kurdish origin as well. The Zands of Persia (1750-1794) were the last Kurds to found a ruling dynasty before the eclipse of Kurdish fortunes in modern times.
From 1514 to the middle of the sixteenth century the western parts of Kurdistan passed into Ottoman hands, while the smaller eastern portion stayed under the jurisdiction of various dynasties of Persia. This situation continued until the end of World War I, when the Ottoman portion was divided into Syrian, Iraqi, and Turkish sections. The Kurdish regions of the Caucasus had already passed into Russian hands by the early nineteenth century.
The twentieth century has brought Kurdistan a degree of fragmentation never before experienced by the Kurds. With the advent of modern states and well-guarded national boundaries in the Southwest Asia, the movement of Kurds and the exchange of ideas and culture among the five fragments of Kurdistan has become exceedingly difficult. This situation was worsened by the reserved or hostile relations among the countries under whose jurisdiction the Kurds live. Faced with this fragmentation and the outright denial of their national rights the Kurds became a very politicized and embattled people, usually at odds with the governments under which they live. Kurdish history in the twentieth century was marked by frustration: deportations, wars, popular uprisings, and the formation and liquidation of many Kurdish political parties and declarations of independence. More than once have the Kurds been caught in political and physical crossfire because of their tenuous existence on the border regions of these states. A major force in Southwest Asia for millenia, the Kurds, despite their fragmentation, remain a vital people steadfastly resisting assimilation and elimination.
The linguistic, cultural, and racial “aryanization” of the aboriginal Caucasoid Kurds seems to have begun by the beginning of the second millennium B.C.T. with the continuous immigration and settlement of the Indo-European tribes such as the Kassites, Mitannis, Armenians, Medes, Sakas (Scythians), and Persians. This process probably was completed by the middle of the first millennium B.C.T. at the latest, by which time the Kurds had formed the basis of their contemporary ethnic identity.
The Islamic era brought with it yet another wave of immigrations and settlements in Kurdistan: first the Arabs and later the much more numerous Turkic and Mongol tribes. In Kurdistan today, there are a few Arabic but many more Turkic and Mongol place and tribal names. Except for the Christian and Jewish populations, and a few Turkmen enclaves in Iraqi Kurdistan, the settlers generally have been assimilated into the Kurdish nation.
The Kurds themselves proved to be at least as mobile as these immigrants. The early migrations of the Kurds are, however, quite difficult to trace. As early as the time of Strabo, the word Kurd, or kurtioi as he wrote it, was a very general term loosely applied to all those mountain pastoralists living a way of life similar to that of the Kurds. This general usage of the term continued until about the fifteenth century of the Christian calendar, when all of the semi-sedentary and tribal peoples of the Zagros range, from the Strait of Hormuz to central Anatolia, were still referred to as Kurds. The valor and energy of the Kurdish mountaineers often marked them for military service in the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Arabian, Turkish, and even Russian armies (a Kurdish regiment played a crucial role in the Battle of Minsk in World War II). Large segments of the Kurdish population were sometimes transferred to the far borders of one or another empire to man garrisons against outside intrusions. Thus, Kurdish communities can be found in places as far apart as Ferghana, on the Chinese border; the shores of the Aegean Sea; and the shores of the Indian Ocean.
The more general migrations of the Kurds and their colonization of new territories are less enigmatic but as poorly documented. Many of their movements resulted in the assimilation of the Kurds into the indigenous population. Such was the fate of many populous Kurdish tribes, such as the Shaqaqi, who settled in Azerbaijan, Arran, and Shirvan in the last millennium. The Kurdish immigration into Armenia, on the other hand, resulted in the gradual colonization of the region by the Kurds. The Kurdish settlement in Armenia proper must have begun before the advent of Islam. By the tenth century of the Christian calendar, they were already living in the environs of Lake Van, the heartland of historic Armenia. The annihilation of the Armenians, the last indigenous people of eastern Anatolia, at the end of World War I left the area predominantly Kurdish. This act effectively converted the Armenian Plateau into a de facto component of contemporary Kurdistan.
It is safe to assume that the Kurds’ adoption of an Indo-European, Iranian language and culture in the course of the first millennium B.C.T. entailed the worship of Aryan deities as well. Zoroastrianism seems to have made inroads in Kurdistan by the end of the Sasanid era (224-640) and the introduction of Christianity and Islam only added to the religious diversity of Kurdistan. At present, the Kurdish-speaking Kurds are nominally Sunni Muslims of the Shafi’i rite, but the bonds of the Kurds to different Sufi orders (tariqas), such as the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, and Bektashi, some holding heterodox views, brings the Kurds’ “orthodoxy” into question.
The Gurani speakers of southeastern Kurdistan were overwhelmingly of the Ahi-i Haq sect, commonly identified as an extremist sect. In fact, the Kurds were termed ghulat (“extremists”) by medieval Muslim observers such as Nizam al-Mulk. The Zaza speakers of Anatolia adhere to the more conventional Alawite branch of the Shi‘a. A large number of Kurdish Muslims, particularly in the major Kurdish cities, do, however, adhere to the conventionally recognized Islamic denominations.
The Yazidis, predominantly of the Sanjar region of Iraq and Syria, but also living in eastern Anatolia and the Soviet Caucasus, practice a religion, admittedly non-Islamic, that exhibits many Zoroastrian or even early Aryan cult features. Kurdistan is also home to adherents of Judaism and of many established Christian sects, but their numbers, never large, are presently shrinking.
Kurds have been living under foreign rulers for centuries, and have never, up through history, formed larger states or dynasties. In this century, there have been several serious attempts on creating a Kurdistan. Kurds were promised their own state by the Allied forces after World War I. Kurdistan was promised to be established on Turkish territory, but this promise was never kept.
Iraqi Kurds have fought against the Iraqi governments on numerous occasions including 1962 to 1970 and 1974 to 1975. The Kurds were promised autonomy in 1970 to end their struggle then, and they had to give up fighting after a normalization of relations between Iran and Iraq in 1975.
A Kurdish rebellion in Turkey began in 1984. This rebellion continued throughout the end of the twentieth century, even though nothing was gained. The struggle of the Kurds in Turkey cast dark shadows over the image that the international community had of Turkey.
A Kurdish rebellion in Iraq started on the eve of the Gulf War in 1991, but was quickly suppressed by the Iraqi army, forcing one million Kurds to flee to Turkey.
From 1992 to 1996, a zone in northern Iraq was controlled by the United Nations, and this area was as close as the Kurds ever have been to achieving their own state. However, the region was once again secured by Saddam Hussein and afterwards some Kurdish chiefs actually allied themselves with the Iraqi president.
The explanation of the United Nation’s reluctance to support the establishment of a Kurdistan must be seen from the background of the existing regional instability, the importance of the area and the fact that it would affect too many states. If a Kurdistan was established in one country, neighboring countries would regard this as a hostile act. In 1991, the United Nations could have taken the necessary steps to form a Kurdistan in northern Iraq, but actions of this kind would never have been accepted by NATO allied Turkey.
Today, the Kurds are a people without a politically recognized homeland. They are a people with an urgent sense of common ethnic identity overriding long established patterns of diversity in tribal affiliation, ways of life and religious practice. An essentially Muslim people, although locally adhering to different sects and orders, they are widely distributed throughout central Southwest Asia. However, no where do they dominate or even reflect their numbers in a national political system.
The large majority of Kurds are Sunni of the Shafi school of law, except in Iran and parts of Iraq where many are Shi‘a.
Presently, the Sunni Kurds of Iraq are committed to a protracted struggle for local autonomy or independence. The immediate origins of this effort lie in the nationalist movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With the division of Kurdistan within the Ottoman empire between Anglo-French spheres of influence in 1918, Kurdish nationalist agitation became more militant and better organized. In Iran, Kurdish uprisings occurred from 1920 to 1925, in part coordinated with nationalist efforts in Iraq. By 1930, Reza Shah was able to pacify the region around Lake Urmiyah, partly by organizing local Turkish resistance to Kurdish rule. Kurdish tribal leaders were exiled and their land confiscated. However, in 1945, following the collapse of Iranian authority in the area, the Kurdish republic of Mahabad was established, only to fall in 1946 with the withdrawal of Soviet support. In 1979, most of the Kurdish population of Iran boycotted the national referendum establishing the Islamic Republic. Shortly thereafter a series of uprisings, notably in 1979 and 1981, were met by strong resistance.
In Turkey, shortly after that country became a republic in 1924, the Kurdish populations of Diyarbakir and Elazig provinces revolted but were rapidly subdued. Armed conflict between Kurdish units and the Turkish army persisted sporadically until 1946. Local Kurdish unrest and political resistance have continued, but on a small scale, and have been effectively countered by the Turkish government. Kurdish participation in the national party system in Turkey has given high priority to the economic and educational development of the eastern provinces.
In addition to the Kurds living in the Middle East, there are over millions of Kurds who make up a Kurdish diaspora placing Kurds in significant numbers in Western Europe and the Americas.
Kurds. A linguistic-cultural group concentrated in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and parts of Syria. The Kurds are an Iranian people who live mainly at the junction of more or less laicized Turkey, Shi‘a Iran, Arab Sunni Iraq and North Syria, and the former Soviet Transcaucasia. The name “Land of the Kurds” seems to date from the time of the Saljuq Sultan Sanjar. The Kurds played an important part in the history of the Middle East. Several dynasties, such as the Marwanids of Diyarbakr, the Ayyubids, the Shaddadids and probably the Safavids, as well as prominent personalities, were of Kurdish origin. The Treaty of Sevres (1920) had foreseen an independent Kurdistan, but the idea was suppressed by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923).
Kurds are a people of the highlands of eastern Anatolia and the northwestern section of the Zagros Mountains. In their current disparate state, Kurds can be found over five international borders, from Iran and Iraq to Turkey, Syria, and the Soviet Union. The land of Kurdistan is predominantly mountainous but is interrupted frequently by fertile and well-watered valleys, some of which are, like the plains of Mahi Dasht, of unusual fertility and expanse. Many of the major rivers of Southwest Asia have their source in Kurdistan, such as the Tigris, Euphrates, Araks, Kura, Kizil Irmak, Safid Rud, and Karkheh. The heartland of Kurdistan is the area bordered on the southeast by two tributaries of the Tigris, the Little and the Great Zab, and on the northwest by Lake Urmia. This area has been known successively as Gutium, Kardush, and Ardalan.
The origins of the Kurds are still somewhat uncertain. Variations of the word "Kurd" appear regularly in ancient sources. Of the invaders from the mountainous region of “Gutium,” Naram-Sin (2291-2255 B.C.T.), king of Agade (Akkadia), said, “in the mist of the mountains they grew up, they became virile, they acquired stature ....” The Gutis set up a dynasty in Sumeria (c.2250-2120 B.C.T.). Akkadian sources mention a mountain kingdom of Gutium to the east and north of Assyria as one of the regions annexed by the Kassite rulers of Akkadia around 1400 B.C.T. Assyrian sources of the late second millenium also mention Gutium, the country of the “Gutis” to the east and north of Assyria. Babylonian tablets of the sixth century B.C.T. enumerate the “Kardakas” among the Babylonian royal guards. The “Carduchis,” “Cardaces,” or “Kurtioi” are credited by Greek and Roman writers with playing a considerable role in the latter history of the Persian Achaemenid empire. In post-Achaemenid times, the form Gordyene was more commonly employed by historians. It remained the dominant form until the beginning of the Islamic age, when the term Kurdistan was finally established for the country.
The Islamic conquests of the seventh century of the Christian calendar opened a much clearer chapter in the history of the Kurds. Kurds set up various dynasties, both within Kurdistan and beyond, and some of these acquired great distinction: the Shaddadids of Arran and eastern Armenia (c. 951-1174); the Rawwadids of Azerbaijan (early tenth century to 1071); the Marwanids of central and eastern Anatolia (983-1085); and the Ayyubids of Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, and the Yemen (1169 to the end of the fifteenth century), of whom Saladin, famous for his defeat of the Crusaders, is the most celebrated. The illustrious Safavids of Persia (1501-1722), although a Turkic-speaking dynasty, were quite probably of Kurdish origin as well. The Zands of Persia (1750-1794) were the last Kurds to found a ruling dynasty before the eclipse of Kurdish fortunes in modern times.
From 1514 to the middle of the sixteenth century the western parts of Kurdistan passed into Ottoman hands, while the smaller eastern portion stayed under the jurisdiction of various dynasties of Persia. This situation continued until the end of World War I, when the Ottoman portion was divided into Syrian, Iraqi, and Turkish sections. The Kurdish regions of the Caucasus had already passed into Russian hands by the early nineteenth century.
The twentieth century has brought Kurdistan a degree of fragmentation never before experienced by the Kurds. With the advent of modern states and well-guarded national boundaries in the Southwest Asia, the movement of Kurds and the exchange of ideas and culture among the five fragments of Kurdistan has become exceedingly difficult. This situation was worsened by the reserved or hostile relations among the countries under whose jurisdiction the Kurds live. Faced with this fragmentation and the outright denial of their national rights the Kurds became a very politicized and embattled people, usually at odds with the governments under which they live. Kurdish history in the twentieth century was marked by frustration: deportations, wars, popular uprisings, and the formation and liquidation of many Kurdish political parties and declarations of independence. More than once have the Kurds been caught in political and physical crossfire because of their tenuous existence on the border regions of these states. A major force in Southwest Asia for millenia, the Kurds, despite their fragmentation, remain a vital people steadfastly resisting assimilation and elimination.
The linguistic, cultural, and racial “aryanization” of the aboriginal Caucasoid Kurds seems to have begun by the beginning of the second millennium B.C.T. with the continuous immigration and settlement of the Indo-European tribes such as the Kassites, Mitannis, Armenians, Medes, Sakas (Scythians), and Persians. This process probably was completed by the middle of the first millennium B.C.T. at the latest, by which time the Kurds had formed the basis of their contemporary ethnic identity.
The Islamic era brought with it yet another wave of immigrations and settlements in Kurdistan: first the Arabs and later the much more numerous Turkic and Mongol tribes. In Kurdistan today, there are a few Arabic but many more Turkic and Mongol place and tribal names. Except for the Christian and Jewish populations, and a few Turkmen enclaves in Iraqi Kurdistan, the settlers generally have been assimilated into the Kurdish nation.
The Kurds themselves proved to be at least as mobile as these immigrants. The early migrations of the Kurds are, however, quite difficult to trace. As early as the time of Strabo, the word Kurd, or kurtioi as he wrote it, was a very general term loosely applied to all those mountain pastoralists living a way of life similar to that of the Kurds. This general usage of the term continued until about the fifteenth century of the Christian calendar, when all of the semi-sedentary and tribal peoples of the Zagros range, from the Strait of Hormuz to central Anatolia, were still referred to as Kurds. The valor and energy of the Kurdish mountaineers often marked them for military service in the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Arabian, Turkish, and even Russian armies (a Kurdish regiment played a crucial role in the Battle of Minsk in World War II). Large segments of the Kurdish population were sometimes transferred to the far borders of one or another empire to man garrisons against outside intrusions. Thus, Kurdish communities can be found in places as far apart as Ferghana, on the Chinese border; the shores of the Aegean Sea; and the shores of the Indian Ocean.
The more general migrations of the Kurds and their colonization of new territories are less enigmatic but as poorly documented. Many of their movements resulted in the assimilation of the Kurds into the indigenous population. Such was the fate of many populous Kurdish tribes, such as the Shaqaqi, who settled in Azerbaijan, Arran, and Shirvan in the last millennium. The Kurdish immigration into Armenia, on the other hand, resulted in the gradual colonization of the region by the Kurds. The Kurdish settlement in Armenia proper must have begun before the advent of Islam. By the tenth century of the Christian calendar, they were already living in the environs of Lake Van, the heartland of historic Armenia. The annihilation of the Armenians, the last indigenous people of eastern Anatolia, at the end of World War I left the area predominantly Kurdish. This act effectively converted the Armenian Plateau into a de facto component of contemporary Kurdistan.
It is safe to assume that the Kurds’ adoption of an Indo-European, Iranian language and culture in the course of the first millennium B.C.T. entailed the worship of Aryan deities as well. Zoroastrianism seems to have made inroads in Kurdistan by the end of the Sasanid era (224-640) and the introduction of Christianity and Islam only added to the religious diversity of Kurdistan. At present, the Kurdish-speaking Kurds are nominally Sunni Muslims of the Shafi’i rite, but the bonds of the Kurds to different Sufi orders (tariqas), such as the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, and Bektashi, some holding heterodox views, brings the Kurds’ “orthodoxy” into question.
The Gurani speakers of southeastern Kurdistan were overwhelmingly of the Ahi-i Haq sect, commonly identified as an extremist sect. In fact, the Kurds were termed ghulat (“extremists”) by medieval Muslim observers such as Nizam al-Mulk. The Zaza speakers of Anatolia adhere to the more conventional Alawite branch of the Shi‘a. A large number of Kurdish Muslims, particularly in the major Kurdish cities, do, however, adhere to the conventionally recognized Islamic denominations.
The Yazidis, predominantly of the Sanjar region of Iraq and Syria, but also living in eastern Anatolia and the Soviet Caucasus, practice a religion, admittedly non-Islamic, that exhibits many Zoroastrian or even early Aryan cult features. Kurdistan is also home to adherents of Judaism and of many established Christian sects, but their numbers, never large, are presently shrinking.
Kurds have been living under foreign rulers for centuries, and have never, up through history, formed larger states or dynasties. In this century, there have been several serious attempts on creating a Kurdistan. Kurds were promised their own state by the Allied forces after World War I. Kurdistan was promised to be established on Turkish territory, but this promise was never kept.
Iraqi Kurds have fought against the Iraqi governments on numerous occasions including 1962 to 1970 and 1974 to 1975. The Kurds were promised autonomy in 1970 to end their struggle then, and they had to give up fighting after a normalization of relations between Iran and Iraq in 1975.
A Kurdish rebellion in Turkey began in 1984. This rebellion continued throughout the end of the twentieth century, even though nothing was gained. The struggle of the Kurds in Turkey cast dark shadows over the image that the international community had of Turkey.
A Kurdish rebellion in Iraq started on the eve of the Gulf War in 1991, but was quickly suppressed by the Iraqi army, forcing one million Kurds to flee to Turkey.
From 1992 to 1996, a zone in northern Iraq was controlled by the United Nations, and this area was as close as the Kurds ever have been to achieving their own state. However, the region was once again secured by Saddam Hussein and afterwards some Kurdish chiefs actually allied themselves with the Iraqi president.
The explanation of the United Nation’s reluctance to support the establishment of a Kurdistan must be seen from the background of the existing regional instability, the importance of the area and the fact that it would affect too many states. If a Kurdistan was established in one country, neighboring countries would regard this as a hostile act. In 1991, the United Nations could have taken the necessary steps to form a Kurdistan in northern Iraq, but actions of this kind would never have been accepted by NATO allied Turkey.
Today, the Kurds are a people without a politically recognized homeland. They are a people with an urgent sense of common ethnic identity overriding long established patterns of diversity in tribal affiliation, ways of life and religious practice. An essentially Muslim people, although locally adhering to different sects and orders, they are widely distributed throughout central Southwest Asia. However, no where do they dominate or even reflect their numbers in a national political system.
The large majority of Kurds are Sunni of the Shafi school of law, except in Iran and parts of Iraq where many are Shi‘a.
Presently, the Sunni Kurds of Iraq are committed to a protracted struggle for local autonomy or independence. The immediate origins of this effort lie in the nationalist movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With the division of Kurdistan within the Ottoman empire between Anglo-French spheres of influence in 1918, Kurdish nationalist agitation became more militant and better organized. In Iran, Kurdish uprisings occurred from 1920 to 1925, in part coordinated with nationalist efforts in Iraq. By 1930, Reza Shah was able to pacify the region around Lake Urmiyah, partly by organizing local Turkish resistance to Kurdish rule. Kurdish tribal leaders were exiled and their land confiscated. However, in 1945, following the collapse of Iranian authority in the area, the Kurdish republic of Mahabad was established, only to fall in 1946 with the withdrawal of Soviet support. In 1979, most of the Kurdish population of Iran boycotted the national referendum establishing the Islamic Republic. Shortly thereafter a series of uprisings, notably in 1979 and 1981, were met by strong resistance.
In Turkey, shortly after that country became a republic in 1924, the Kurdish populations of Diyarbakir and Elazig provinces revolted but were rapidly subdued. Armed conflict between Kurdish units and the Turkish army persisted sporadically until 1946. Local Kurdish unrest and political resistance have continued, but on a small scale, and have been effectively countered by the Turkish government. Kurdish participation in the national party system in Turkey has given high priority to the economic and educational development of the eastern provinces.
In addition to the Kurds living in the Middle East, there are over millions of Kurds who make up a Kurdish diaspora placing Kurds in significant numbers in Western Europe and the Americas.
Kuri
Kuri. A small, dynamic, insular people living on and around Lake Chad, their future appears to be one of immersion and disappearance within the neighboring Buduma.
The word “Kuri” means “the ones who live on islands,” as opposed to the meaning of “Buduma”, “the ones who live in grass.” Old Kuris tell this story of their origin:
"During a halt in the village of Sulu, near Rig Rig, a Kanembu chief’s daughter died. Like all Kanembu women, she was wearing silver rings about her ankles. Unable to remove them, the father buried his daughter with the rings. During the night, his son, Diledim, exhumed her body, broke her ankles and took the rings. In the morning, the father discovered the act and expelled his son, who fled to the islands, where eventually he married a Buduma girl. His descendants were called Kuri and populated the eastern islands."
According to legend, Diledim’s five sons, Kura, Kalia, Medi, Yakudi, and Ngadji, left home. Medi took the road to Bornu (he had been accused of being a kindra, or sorcerer. The others settled near Isseiron and fought among themselves: Kalia, Yakudi and Ngadji opposing Kura, who was joined by Medi.
In 1956, an exceptional rise in Lake Chad decimated the herds and reduced the number of islands. Many Kuri withdrew to dry land to await subsidence and became interested in the polders when, at the end of the last century, they blocked the arm of the lake with two dams and, when the water subsided, farmed the fertile lake bottom. Polders are now a prime economic asset around Lake Chad.
Since 1956, the Kuri have lived on both the main islands and on the edge of the lake around polders and in temporary villages where each family cultivates wheat and corn. Fishing has been of decreasing interest to them. Stockbreeding continues its importance, but cross-breeding has reduced the purity of the Kuri cattle.
"Ones Who Live on Islands" see Kuri.
Kuri. A small, dynamic, insular people living on and around Lake Chad, their future appears to be one of immersion and disappearance within the neighboring Buduma.
The word “Kuri” means “the ones who live on islands,” as opposed to the meaning of “Buduma”, “the ones who live in grass.” Old Kuris tell this story of their origin:
"During a halt in the village of Sulu, near Rig Rig, a Kanembu chief’s daughter died. Like all Kanembu women, she was wearing silver rings about her ankles. Unable to remove them, the father buried his daughter with the rings. During the night, his son, Diledim, exhumed her body, broke her ankles and took the rings. In the morning, the father discovered the act and expelled his son, who fled to the islands, where eventually he married a Buduma girl. His descendants were called Kuri and populated the eastern islands."
According to legend, Diledim’s five sons, Kura, Kalia, Medi, Yakudi, and Ngadji, left home. Medi took the road to Bornu (he had been accused of being a kindra, or sorcerer. The others settled near Isseiron and fought among themselves: Kalia, Yakudi and Ngadji opposing Kura, who was joined by Medi.
In 1956, an exceptional rise in Lake Chad decimated the herds and reduced the number of islands. Many Kuri withdrew to dry land to await subsidence and became interested in the polders when, at the end of the last century, they blocked the arm of the lake with two dams and, when the water subsided, farmed the fertile lake bottom. Polders are now a prime economic asset around Lake Chad.
Since 1956, the Kuri have lived on both the main islands and on the edge of the lake around polders and in temporary villages where each family cultivates wheat and corn. Fishing has been of decreasing interest to them. Stockbreeding continues its importance, but cross-breeding has reduced the purity of the Kuri cattle.
"Ones Who Live on Islands" see Kuri.
Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Kusayla ibn Lamzam (Kasila ibn Lamzam) (Kusaila) (Kosaila) (Koceila) (Kasila) (d. 690). One of the most eminent figures in the struggle of the Berbers to preserve their independence during the Arab conquest in the seventh century.
Kusayla was a chief of the Awraba tribe.of the Berber people and head of the Sanhaja confederation. He is known for prosecuting an effective Romano-Berber resistance to the Muslim Arab expansion into North Africa in the 680s.
Kusayla grew up during the time of the Byzantine exarchate in North Africa and was probably educated in Romano-Byzantine ways. Kusayla led a Christian-Berber force of 50,000 that defeated the Arabs and felled Uqba ibn Nafi at Tahudha near Biskra in 683. In 688, Arab reinforcements arrived under Zuhair ibn Kays. Kusayla met them in 690 at the Battle of Mamma. Vastly outnumbered, the Awraba were defeated and Kusayla was killed.
The religious affiliation of Kusayla is of some historical debate. According to late accounts, around 678, the amir of the invading Arabs, who was then the freed slave named Abu al-Muhajir Dinar invited Kusayla to meet with him in his camp. Abu al-Muhajir Dinar persuaded Kusayla to convert to Islam and to join his army with a promise of full equality with Arabs. The reason why Abu al-Muhajir Dinar was successful in converting Kusayla to Islam is that Abu was not an Arab but rather a convert to the religion, thereby dissolving any apprehensions that Kusayla might have had that Islam is only an Arab religion.
Abu al-Muhajir thoroughly impressed Kusayla with not only piety but with his high sense of respect and eitquette. Kusayla incorporated the Awraba-Sanhaja into the conquering Arab force and participated in their uniformly successful campaigns under Abu al-Muhajir.
Abu al-Muhajir was forcibly replaced by Uqba ibn Nafi who treated Kusayla with contempt. Eventually Uqba's disrespect enraged Kusayla and provoked a plot of revenge. On the army's return from Morocco, Uqba allowed his troops to break up and go home. The remainder, about 5,000 men, was vulnerable and exhausted. On the return march to Kaiouran, Kusayla joined with the Byzantine forces and organized an ambush.
The Christian-Berber force, 50,000 strong, defeated the Arabs and killed Uqba at Tahudha near Biskra in 683.
It should be noted that the above account is disputed by some historians. According to these historians, Abu al-Muhajir had no connection to Kusayla, nor did Uqba ibn Nafi until the time of the ambush at Tahudha. These historians also describe Kusayla as a Christian. These historians do agree, however, that Kusayla led a combined Byzantine-Berber force when he defeated Uqba and that, for a time, he was the undisputed master of North Africa.
Kasila ibn Lamzam see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Kusaila see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Kosaila see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Koceila see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Kasila see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Kusayla ibn Lamzam (Kasila ibn Lamzam) (Kusaila) (Kosaila) (Koceila) (Kasila) (d. 690). One of the most eminent figures in the struggle of the Berbers to preserve their independence during the Arab conquest in the seventh century.
Kusayla was a chief of the Awraba tribe.of the Berber people and head of the Sanhaja confederation. He is known for prosecuting an effective Romano-Berber resistance to the Muslim Arab expansion into North Africa in the 680s.
Kusayla grew up during the time of the Byzantine exarchate in North Africa and was probably educated in Romano-Byzantine ways. Kusayla led a Christian-Berber force of 50,000 that defeated the Arabs and felled Uqba ibn Nafi at Tahudha near Biskra in 683. In 688, Arab reinforcements arrived under Zuhair ibn Kays. Kusayla met them in 690 at the Battle of Mamma. Vastly outnumbered, the Awraba were defeated and Kusayla was killed.
The religious affiliation of Kusayla is of some historical debate. According to late accounts, around 678, the amir of the invading Arabs, who was then the freed slave named Abu al-Muhajir Dinar invited Kusayla to meet with him in his camp. Abu al-Muhajir Dinar persuaded Kusayla to convert to Islam and to join his army with a promise of full equality with Arabs. The reason why Abu al-Muhajir Dinar was successful in converting Kusayla to Islam is that Abu was not an Arab but rather a convert to the religion, thereby dissolving any apprehensions that Kusayla might have had that Islam is only an Arab religion.
Abu al-Muhajir thoroughly impressed Kusayla with not only piety but with his high sense of respect and eitquette. Kusayla incorporated the Awraba-Sanhaja into the conquering Arab force and participated in their uniformly successful campaigns under Abu al-Muhajir.
Abu al-Muhajir was forcibly replaced by Uqba ibn Nafi who treated Kusayla with contempt. Eventually Uqba's disrespect enraged Kusayla and provoked a plot of revenge. On the army's return from Morocco, Uqba allowed his troops to break up and go home. The remainder, about 5,000 men, was vulnerable and exhausted. On the return march to Kaiouran, Kusayla joined with the Byzantine forces and organized an ambush.
The Christian-Berber force, 50,000 strong, defeated the Arabs and killed Uqba at Tahudha near Biskra in 683.
It should be noted that the above account is disputed by some historians. According to these historians, Abu al-Muhajir had no connection to Kusayla, nor did Uqba ibn Nafi until the time of the ambush at Tahudha. These historians also describe Kusayla as a Christian. These historians do agree, however, that Kusayla led a combined Byzantine-Berber force when he defeated Uqba and that, for a time, he was the undisputed master of North Africa.
Kasila ibn Lamzam see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Kusaila see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Kosaila see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Koceila see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Kasila see Kusayla ibn Lamzam
Kush
Kush (Cush). The Biblical personage is not named in the Qur’an. Islamic tradition knows his name but supplies pieces of evidence which do not agree totally with one another or with the evidence of the Bible. From this name, the word Cushitic/Kushitic is derived, under which are grouped a body of Hamitic languages spoken by about fifteen million people, the majority of them Muslims. The area in which they live is constituted basically by the Horn of Africa and spreads in the north into Sudanese and Egyptian territory and in the south into Tanzania.
Cush (Kush) was the eldest son of Ham, brother of Canaan and the father of Nimrod, and Raamah, mentioned in the "Table of Nations" in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis 10:6, I Chronicles 1:8). The name is usually considered to be the eponym of the people of Kush. According to Genesis, Cush's other sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtecah, names identified by modern scholars with Arabian tribes.
The Persian historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (c. 915) recounts a tradition that the wife of Cush was named Qarnabil, daughter of Batawil, son of Tiras, and that she bore him the "Abyssinians, Sindis and Indians".
Cush see Kush
Kush (Cush). The Biblical personage is not named in the Qur’an. Islamic tradition knows his name but supplies pieces of evidence which do not agree totally with one another or with the evidence of the Bible. From this name, the word Cushitic/Kushitic is derived, under which are grouped a body of Hamitic languages spoken by about fifteen million people, the majority of them Muslims. The area in which they live is constituted basically by the Horn of Africa and spreads in the north into Sudanese and Egyptian territory and in the south into Tanzania.
Cush (Kush) was the eldest son of Ham, brother of Canaan and the father of Nimrod, and Raamah, mentioned in the "Table of Nations" in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis 10:6, I Chronicles 1:8). The name is usually considered to be the eponym of the people of Kush. According to Genesis, Cush's other sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtecah, names identified by modern scholars with Arabian tribes.
The Persian historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (c. 915) recounts a tradition that the wife of Cush was named Qarnabil, daughter of Batawil, son of Tiras, and that she bore him the "Abyssinians, Sindis and Indians".
Cush see Kush
Kushiyar ibn Laban
Kushiyar ibn Laban (Abul-Hasan Kūshyār ibn Labbān ibn Bashahri Gilani) (Kushyar Gilani) (971 - 1029). Persian astronomer and mathematician from the tenth through the eleventh century. His fame rests on his Roots of the Indian System of Calculation, i.e., of the system of numeration by position, the value of the figures depending on their place in a number. This brought about a revolution in the ways of calculating as used in the Middle East.
Abul-Hasan Kūshyār ibn Labbān ibn Bashahri Gilani was a Persian mathematician, geographer, and astronomer from Jilan, south of the Caspian Sea, Iran.
His main work was probably done about the beginning of the eleventh century, and seems to have taken an important part in the elaboration of trigonometry. For example, he continued the investigations of Abul Wáfa, and devoted much space to this in his zij (or collection of tables) az-Zīj al-Jamī wal-Baligh ("the comprehensive and mature tables"), which incorporated the improved values of the planetary apogees observed by al-Battani. The tables were translated into Persian before the end of the century. He wrote also an astrological introduction and an arithmetic treatise (extant in Hebrew).
He was the teacher of Ahmad Nasawi. He is thought to have died in Baghdad.
Abul-Hasan Kūshyār ibn Labbān ibn Bashahri Gilani see Kushiyar ibn Laban
Gilani, Abul-Hasan Kūshyār ibn Labbān ibn Bashahri see Kushiyar ibn Laban
Kūshyār Gilani see Kushiyar ibn Laban
Gilani, Kūshyār see Kushiyar ibn Laban
Kushiyar ibn Laban (Abul-Hasan Kūshyār ibn Labbān ibn Bashahri Gilani) (Kushyar Gilani) (971 - 1029). Persian astronomer and mathematician from the tenth through the eleventh century. His fame rests on his Roots of the Indian System of Calculation, i.e., of the system of numeration by position, the value of the figures depending on their place in a number. This brought about a revolution in the ways of calculating as used in the Middle East.
Abul-Hasan Kūshyār ibn Labbān ibn Bashahri Gilani was a Persian mathematician, geographer, and astronomer from Jilan, south of the Caspian Sea, Iran.
His main work was probably done about the beginning of the eleventh century, and seems to have taken an important part in the elaboration of trigonometry. For example, he continued the investigations of Abul Wáfa, and devoted much space to this in his zij (or collection of tables) az-Zīj al-Jamī wal-Baligh ("the comprehensive and mature tables"), which incorporated the improved values of the planetary apogees observed by al-Battani. The tables were translated into Persian before the end of the century. He wrote also an astrological introduction and an arithmetic treatise (extant in Hebrew).
He was the teacher of Ahmad Nasawi. He is thought to have died in Baghdad.
Abul-Hasan Kūshyār ibn Labbān ibn Bashahri Gilani see Kushiyar ibn Laban
Gilani, Abul-Hasan Kūshyār ibn Labbān ibn Bashahri see Kushiyar ibn Laban
Kūshyār Gilani see Kushiyar ibn Laban
Gilani, Kūshyār see Kushiyar ibn Laban
Kutubi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Kutubi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al- (Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Kutubi) (c.1287-1363). Syrian historian. His two surviving works are a large history containing valuable observations on Syrian intellectual and religious life, and a biographical work, which contains a wealth of literary information, mainly on Syrian litterateurs.
Abu 'Abd Allah al-Kutubi see Kutubi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
Kutubi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al- (Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Kutubi) (c.1287-1363). Syrian historian. His two surviving works are a large history containing valuable observations on Syrian intellectual and religious life, and a biographical work, which contains a wealth of literary information, mainly on Syrian litterateurs.
Abu 'Abd Allah al-Kutubi see Kutubi, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-
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