Büyük İskender

Büyük İskender (Makedonyalı İskender) was the ruler of Antikçağ Makedonya, known for his Doğu Seferleri and the invasion of İran. His importance for Kürt history comes from the fact that ancient Grekçe and Latince sources, while narrating his campaigns, recorded his encounters with tribes associated with the geography of Kürt history.

His Place in Kürt History

Sources referring to Büyük İskender's İran campaigns sometimes provide superficial and repetitive information, and sometimes more detailed information about the peoples living in this geography; analyses exist in the literature that associate these tribes with the ancestors of ancient Kürtler (Cilt 1, s. 20). Sources that address Büyük İskender's Doğu Seferleri, the Hellenistic period, and the Roma-Pers struggle mostly refer to military conflicts and political contacts; among this information, many details that can be associated with Kürtler are included (Cilt 1, s. 81).

Tribes in Ancient Sources

Sicilyalı Diodorus, in his work titled Bibliotheke Historike, refers to the hostilities of the Mardiler and Cossaeiler with the Makedonlar, that is, Büyük İskender's army; he states that these two tribes, distinguished by their courage and warrior spirit compared to other local elements, gained superiority in a battle against the Makedonlar (17.59.1-5). Diodorus also recounts that İskender's army, encountering Mardi units serving in Pers king III. Darius's army, drove them towards the remote parts of the mountains (Cilt 1, s. 29).

Arrianus also, mentioning the Cossaealılar, writes that Büyük İskender launched a campaign against them, that they were a warrior tribe, lived on the borders of Uxi, stayed in fortified villages, and when a war danger exceeding their strength appeared, they managed to surprise the enemy by taking refuge in the mountains in masses (7.15.1-3). Arrianus, like Diodorus, recounts that the Mardiler lived near the Persler, the Uxiler near the Susianalılara, and the Cossaeiler near the Medlere, and after the danger passed, they returned to their normal lives and subsisted by banditry (Ind. 40.5). His work also mentions that the Medler, as allies of the Persler, acted together with the Persler against Büyük İskender (Cilt 1, s. 33, 34).

Quintus Curtius Rufus is also one of the main sources of this period. Curtius mentions that inhabitants of the Cossea mountains were present in III. Darius's army (4.12.10-11) and writes that İskender attacked the Mardlar after advancing into İran. In addition, he conveys important information about the daily life of the Mardlar: The Mardlar had a completely different culture from the Persler, they lived in artificial caves in the mountains for shelter, fed mostly on meat, and their women walked with their hair uncovered (Cilt 1, s. 46).

Plutarkhos and Pliny

Plutarkhos, in his most famous work Bioi Paralelloi (Paralel Yaşamlar), in the section where he compares Alexander and Caesar, refers to Büyük İskender by including his Pers campaign (Cilt 1, s. 32). Pliny, like historians before him, mentions the name of the Arbelitis/Gaugamela war, which occurred between Büyük İskender and Pers king III. Darius and is identified with a village bearing the same name near Erbil today (6.16) (Cilt 1, s. 47).