Belazurî

Belazurî (d. 279/892-93), who lived in the 3rd Hijri / 9th Gregorian century, is one of the greatest Islamic historians of his era. His full name is Ebü'l-Hasen Ahmed b. Yahyâ b. Câbir (Vol. 1, p. 89; Vol. 2, p. 11).

Origin and Education

Belazurî, whose place and date of birth are unknown, is considered to be of İranian origin, evidenced by his translation of his work titled Kitâbü ʿAhdi Erdeşîr, which he wrote in Persian, into Arabic. His grandfather served as a scribe in Mısır during the time of Hârûnürreşîd. After completing his traditional education in Dımaşk and Humus due to his father's duty in Suriye, he went to Bağdad (Vol. 1, p. 89; Vol. 2, p. 11). He benefited academically from many muhaddis, historians, and genealogy scholars such as el-Medâinî, İbn Sa'd, Ebu Ubeyd el-Kasım b. Sellam, and İbn Ebi Şeybe; and through his travels to Hicaz, Şam, and İran, he had the opportunity to closely know the regions where the historical events he narrated took place (Vol. 2, p. 11).

Importance for Kurdish History

Its importance for Kurdish history comes from his work titled Fütûhu'l-büldân. In this work, while speaking of the Muslim conquest of Kürtler settlements, he used the word "Ekrad" (Kürtler) in eight different places (Vol. 1, p. 90). During this period of intense Islamic conquests, the fact that Kürtler were one of the nations encountered by Muslim Arabs during their Irak campaign, led to the appearance of records concerning Kürtler in the works of early Islamic historians like Belazurî (Vol. 1, p. 87).