Our Mission
The Kurdish people — numbering between 35 and 45 million across Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and the diaspora — represent one of the world's largest stateless nations. Despite their profound contributions to Islamic civilization, regional history, and contemporary geopolitics, accessible, scholarly, and multilingual resources on Kurdish history remain scarce.
History of Kurds aims to bridge this gap. We are an open-access digital encyclopedia committed to presenting Kurdish history from its earliest archaeological traces to the present day, drawing exclusively on peer-reviewed scholarship, primary sources, and documented historical records.
Every claim on this website is sourced. Every event in our timeline cites the academic work that documents it. We do not present political advocacy as history, and we strive to represent the diversity of scholarly perspectives — including competing interpretations — wherever they exist.
Editorial Principles
Academic Sourcing
All historical claims are drawn from peer-reviewed books, academic journals, and authoritative primary sources. Popular press, unsourced Wikipedia entries, and advocacy websites are not used as primary references. Key foundational texts include David McDowall's A Modern History of the Kurds (3rd ed., 2004), Wadie Jwaideh's The Kurdish National Movement (2006), and Martin van Bruinessen's Agha, Shaikh and State (1992).
Chronological Accuracy
Dates are given using the Gregorian calendar with BCE/CE notation. Where scholarly sources disagree on dates (common for pre-Islamic events), we note the range and cite the competing interpretations. We do not assign modern ethnic labels retroactively without noting that such identifications are scholarly constructs.
Political Neutrality
We present contested historical interpretations without endorsing a particular political position. The question of Kurdish origins, the nature of Kurdish identity across different regions, and interpretations of 20th-century events are areas where scholars genuinely disagree — we represent this complexity rather than flattening it.
Linguistic Integrity
Kurdish-language content is provided in both Kurmanji (ISO 639-3: kmr, Latin script) and Sorani (ISO 639-3: ckb, Arabic script). We follow standard academic transliteration norms for proper nouns. For Turkish content we follow Turkish Language Association (TDK) standards; for Persian, the Dehkhoda transliteration convention.
Image Attribution
All images are sourced from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons or public domain licenses. Every image includes its original uploader, license type (CC BY-SA, CC BY, or PD), and a link to the source file. We do not use AI-generated imagery for historical content.
How We Build the Data
1. Primary Source Review
We begin with foundational academic monographs covering each historical period. For ancient history, key sources include Xenophon's Anabasis (c. 401 BCE), the Assyrian annals, and modern archaeological scholarship. For the medieval period, we rely on primary chronicles supplemented by van Bruinessen, Minorsky, and Bosworth. For modern history, McDowall, Jwaideh, and Romano form the backbone.
2. Cross-Verification
Each event is cross-referenced against at least two independent scholarly sources before inclusion. For disputed or sensitive events (e.g., the Anfal campaign, the Treaty of Sèvres, the 1925 Sheikh Said rebellion), we cite multiple perspectives and note where historians disagree.
3. Translation & Localization
Translations into Kurdish, Turkish, and Persian are reviewed by native-speaking collaborators with academic backgrounds. We do not rely solely on automated translation tools. Cultural nuance — especially for Kurmanji and Sorani, which use different scripts and dialects — receives particular attention.
4. Geographic Data
GeoJSON boundary data is derived from published historical maps in peer-reviewed atlases, including the Historical Atlas of the Middle East (Roaf, 1990) and the PRIO-GRID conflict dataset for modern boundaries. All polygons are clearly labeled as approximations reflecting the limits of historical cartography.
5. Continuous Revision
This project is living scholarship. As new archaeological discoveries emerge, as political science literature on the Kurdish question evolves, and as community contributors identify errors, we update our data. All significant revisions are noted in the changelog.
Foundational Scholarly Works
The following works form the academic backbone of this encyclopedia. For a complete bibliography of all 45+ sources, see the Academic Library.
McDowall, David
A Modern History of the Kurds, 3rd ed. I.B. Tauris, 2004.
The definitive single-volume history in English. Covers 1800–2003.
Jwaideh, Wadie
The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development. Syracuse UP, 2006.
Foundational study of Kurdish nationalist politics.
van Bruinessen, Martin
Agha, Shaikh and State. Zed Books, 1992.
Anthropological study of Kurdish social structure and religion.
Marcus, Aliza
Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence. NYU Press, 2007.
Detailed account of the PKK insurgency and its context.
Human Rights Watch
Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds. HRW, 1993.
Documented investigation drawing on Iraqi state archives.
Xenophon
Anabasis (c. 401 BCE). Trans. Brownson. Loeb Classical Library, 1922.
First written record of the Karduchoi (proto-Kurdish people).
Technology Stack
This website is intentionally built without heavy frameworks or build pipelines. All JavaScript is loaded from pinned CDN versions for reproducibility and offline resilience. No user tracking, no advertising scripts, no proprietary analytics.
Privacy Policy
We do not track you. History of Kurds collects no personal data, uses no advertising networks, and installs no third-party cookies.
localStorage: We store two values in your browser's localStorage: your selected language preference (key: hok_lang) and your dark-mode toggle state (key: hok_dark). These never leave your device.
Contact form: If you use the contact form, your name, email address, and message are transmitted via PHP mail() to our inbox. We do not store form submissions in a database. We do not share your contact information with third parties.
CDN resources: Google Fonts and CDN-hosted JavaScript files (Leaflet, D3, Lunr, Alpine) are loaded from third-party servers. These services may log IP addresses per their own privacy policies. We use pinned versions to minimize requests.
Service Worker: We cache site assets in your browser to enable offline use. The cache stores only static site files — no personal data.
License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
All original written content on this website (event descriptions, biographies, regional profiles) is licensed under CC BY 4.0. You are free to share and adapt this content for any purpose, including commercially, provided you give appropriate credit to History of Kurds (historyofkurds.com).
Images: Each image retains its original Wikimedia Commons license (CC BY-SA, CC BY, or public domain). Check individual image attributions in the footer of each page.
Source code: The website's source code is available on GitHub under the MIT License.
View full license textChangelog
Found an Error? Have a Suggestion?
We welcome corrections, source additions, and community contributions. Scholars and students working on Kurdish history are especially encouraged to reach out.
Contact Us