The Religion of the Kurds

Abstract

A Mongst the Kurds there is found a considerable variety of religions, which has caused unfavourable observers to regard them as idolatrous. Not only are the Christians of several dominations represented among them, but also the Muslims, who form the predominant millah or creed among the peoples of Kurdiâstan in addition to these there are several less important sects, of which by far the most important are the Qizilbâsh and the Yazîdî Kurds.

Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds

“…In the beginning of the 20th century, there was a vast group of Kurds living in the territory of the present-day Azerbaijan Republic, assimilated later among the Azerbaijanis during the Soviet period (see Müller, D. 2000). At present, in Armenia and Georgia, there live respectively 52,000 and 26,000 Yezidis, who are, in fact, a separate ethno-religious entity, with their own identity and ethnic characteristics, though they speak a dialect of Kurdish, the so-called Kurmanji or Northern Kurdish (see Egiazarov 1891;Driver 1922a;Asatrian/Poladian 1989;Asatrian 1999Asatrian -2000aAsatrian/Arakelova 2002: 17-21;Arakelova/Davtyan 2009;etc.). 6 in Atabaki/Dorlejn 1990;Entessar 1991;idem 1992: 2-10).…”

“…45 Actually, it is possible to assume that a considerable part of the Kurdish-speaking elements was concentrated at the frontier zones of Southern Armenia (Northern Iraq, Hakkari, southern shore of Lake Van, etc.) already in the 10th-12th centuries (for the dispersion of the ethnic elements labelled by the Arab geographers of the 10th-14th centuries as Kurds, see Driver 1921). Yet, the mass inundation of the territories to the north, including Armenia, by them took place later starting from the first decades of the 16th century, conditioned mainly by the specific policy of the Ottoman Government aimed at the creation of an anti-Safavid stronghold at the eastern borders of the Empire.…”