ENCYCLOPEDIA
Explore the topics of Kurdish history from A to Z; every entry is drawn from primary sources.
Zakho is a kaza (district) attached to the Mosul Vilayet during the Ottoman period. In the Ottoman administrative division, around the Mosul Sanjak, [it was] one of [the districts] like Akre, Zibar, Duhok, Sinjar, and Amadiya…
The Zab is the name given to two major tributaries of the Tigris River in Upper Mesopotamia: the Great (Upper) Zab and the Little (Lower) Zab. The rivers are central to the geography of Kurdish history…
The Zengis are an Athabet dynasty that ruled in the 12th century, centered in Mosul and Aleppo, and played a decisive role in the rise of the Ayyubid family; so…
Zilan is an ancient Kurdish tribe extending from Diyarbekir to the border region. In Ottoman archival documents, especially in the mühimme defters (registers of important affairs), mostly Bisyan (Besyan)…