History of The Kurdish People - Medieval Kurdish Dynasties

Medieval Kurdish Dynasties

In 837, the Kurdish lord Rozeguite, founded the town of Akhlat on the banks of Lake Van and made it the capital of his principality, theoretically vassal of the caliph, but in fact virtually independent. The Principality of Ake ruled a Carduchian land which lay between the upper valley of the Centritis and the Zabus. It was situated between Arzanene and Adiabene. At the beginning of 10th century, it became a vassal of the Artsrunis of Vaspurakan. Andzewatsi was another principality located in southeast of Lake Van and northwest of Ake and its princes were a branch of Medo-Carduchians of Mahkert. In 780, its chief prince Tachat Andzewatsi was in Caliph's obedience. After him, the dynasty declined and it was reduced to vassalage of the Artsrunis in 860.

In the first half of the 10th century, the Aishanid dynasty (912–961) ruled over a vast area in the central and northern Zagros. In the second half of the 10th century, Kurdistan was shared amongst five big Kurdish principalities. In the North the Shaddadid (951–1174) (in parts of Armenia and Arran) and Rawadid (955–1221) in Tabriz and Maragheh, in the East the Hasanwayhids (959–1015), the Annazid (990–1117) (in Kermanshah, Dinawar and Khanaqin) and in the West the Marwanid (990–1096) of Diyarbakır. Remnants of the Shaddadid Kurds are found nowadays in the Kalbajar and Lachin regions of Azerbaijan.

Later in 12th century, Kurdish dynasty of Hazaraspid established its rule in southern Zagros and Luristan and conquered territories of Kuhgiluya, Khuzestan and Golpayegan in 13th century and annexed Shushtar, Hoveizeh and Basra in 14th century.

One of these dynasties would have been able, during the decades, to impose its supremacy on the others and build a state incorporating the whole Kurdish country if the course of history had not been disrupted by the massive invasions of tribes surging out of the steppes of Central Asia. Having conquered Iran and imposed their yoke on the caliph of Baghdad, the Seljuq Turks annexed the Kurdish principalities one by one. Around 1150, Ahmad Sanjar, the last of the great Seljuq monarchs, created a province out of these lands and called it Kurdistan. The province of Kurdistan, formed by Sanjar, had as its capital the village Bahar (which means "spring"), near ancient Ecbatana (Hamadan), capital of the Medes. It included the vilayets of Sinjar and Shahrazur to the west of the Zagros mountain range and those of Hamadan, Dinawar and Kermanshah to the east of this range. A brilliant autochthonous civilization developed around the town of Dinawar (today ruined), located 75 km North-East of Kermanshah, whose radiance was later on partially replaced by that of Senna, 90 km further North.

Marco Polo (1254–1324), famous for the first "world trip", met Kurds in Mosul on his way to China, and he wrote what he had learned about Kurdistan and the Kurds to enlighten his European contemporaries. The Italian Kurdologist Mirella Galetti, sorted these writings which were translated into Kurdish.