Kirkch01's List: Kurds

• Vast areas of Kurdistan in the southern Zagros, stretching from the Kirmânshâh region to Shirâz (in Fârs/Pârs/Persis country) and beyond, have been gradually and permanently lost to the combination of the heavy northwestward emigration of Kurds and the ethnic metamorphosis of many Kurds into Lurs and others since the beginning of the 9th century AD. The assimilation process continues today and can, for example, be observed among the Laks, who, although they still speak a Kurdish dialect (see Laki  ) and practice a native Kurdish religion (see Yârsânism  ), have been more strongly associated with the neighboring Lurs than with other Kurds
• An important factor accounting for the modern distribution of the Kurdish tribes, the religions they practice, the dialects they speak, and even the variations in their physical characteristics, has been the episodes of massive migrations within and from without Kurdistan proper. Mass deportations in the past and present have further diversified the tribal makeup of Kurdistan. They have also brought the Kurds into close contact with many other ethnic groups in the region, and fostered links of various kinds among them.

• he rural element consists for the most part of settled villagers; the nomads, once numerous, now form only a small proportion of the whole. Though not all villagers are in fact tribesmen, the organization of society outside the towns may be said, for all practical purposes, still to be essentially tribal, with groups of villages owing a kind of feudal allegiance to a landlord, a Shaykh of one of the dervish fraternities, or a tribal Agha who may have imposed himself on the village by force. With the progressive consolidation of the authority of the administration, and with the spread of education, the villagers have not unnaturally begun to refuse to submit to the impositions, sanctioned by ancient custom perhaps but not enforceable at law, by which these barons, especially the Aghas having no title to the land, were accustomed to maintain their position. In many parts of the country the old social organization is breaking down

• Barth, Fredrik . 
     Principles of social organization in southern Kurdistan 
• It seems probable that a fluid and complex situation of this type is characteristic of societies which lie in the shatter zone between larger culture areas -- in this case, between the Arab, Persian, and Turkish. Such a location produces familiarity with various competing normative systems, principles of organization, and power hierarchies. This familiarity on the part of the villager leads to attempts at   [Page 10]   manipulating these various systems and principles. Thus competing factions, manipulating the familiar (but in part mutually exclusive) systems, will establish different power hierarchies in different villages, resulting in the present variety of forms of social organization found in the area.
• Peoples have been and shall continue in the future naturally and organically to assimilate or be assimilated into other peoples at various stages of their collective lives. Kurds are no exception, and do not require a separate treatment. It is the forced assimilation of peoples by states that merits special attention here.
• A major example of voluntary assimilation of the Kurds is the ongoing case of the Laks. In the past few centuries a segment of the Kurdish nation, the Laks of southern Kurdistan, have been progressively assimilating into their neighboring ethnic group, the Lurs. The Laks still speak a Kurdish dialect, distinct from Luri, which is itself a dialect of Persian. The Laks practice the native Kurdish religion of Yârsânism, while the Lurs are Shi'ite Muslims (see Language   and Religion  ). Despite these differences, large numbers of Laks now prefer to be counted as Lurs, and are switching their religion and language as well. No state forced this conversion.
• Busby, Annette.
     Culture summary: Kurds
• One of the earliest and most important ethnic propagandists in the Turkish Republic, under Atatürk, was Sukru Mehmet Sekban, himself a Kurd. He fabricated a history of the Kurds, complete with linguistics, designed to embed the Kurds in the utterly alien Turkic family of peoples, seemingly to spare them the unpleasantness of remaining an ethno-linguistic minority in a hostile social environment.
• This history has profoundly affected almost every aspect of Kurdish life and culture. Rapid social change has been occuring in the countries that divide Kurdistan, which affects the Kurds as well. The policies of the various governments have also had quite different kinds of impact on the Kurds. Whereas the Turkish government outlaws the use of the Kurdish language in public and the publication or possession of Kurdish writings or audio recordings, the Iraqi government allowed the use of Kurdish as the language of instruction for Kurdish schoolchildren during the 1970s and 1980s. Thus, the development of Kurdish literature prospered in Iraq but was severely hampered in Turkey. In addition to dialectal differences, written communication is further complicated by the use of the Latin, Arabic, and Cyrillic alphabets in the different countries. These examples illustrate the complexity of the situation and serve as a caution against overgeneralization.
• Izady, Mehrdad .
     The Kurds: a concise handbook 
• The idea of a separate Kurdish identity, in the future, as in the past, will clash the most with the state ideology in Turkey. While the names Iran, Iraq  , and Syria   are not ethnicbased country names, Turkey   is. By definition, Turkey   means “the land of the Turks.” Yet for the Kurds from Turkey to refer to themselves as “Turkish Kurds” is a contradiction in terms. How can a Turk be a Kurd?
• A law passed in 1932 ordered the deportation, but particularly the dispersion, of the Kurds in Turkey, apparently to force their assimilation. The law provided that Four separate categories of inhabited zones will be recognized in Turkey, as will be indicated on a map established by the Minister of the Interior and approved by the other Ministers. 
• An important factor accounting for the modern distribution of the Kurdish tribes, the religions they practice, the dialects they speak, and even the variations in their physical characteristics, has been the episodes of massive migrations within and from without Kurdistan proper. Mass deportations in the past and present have further diversified the tribal makeup of Kurdistan. They have also brought the Kurds into close contact with many other ethnic groups in the region, and fostered links of various kinds among them.

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