Cibal

Cibal (Irak-ı Acem) is one of the names used for the same region in western Iran before the name "Kürdistan" became widespread in Islamic history and geography sources. The name Cibal is the Arabized form of the name in the source language (Cilt 2, s. 55).

Borders and Geography

According to information provided by Safiyyuddin el-Bağdâdî from Mamluk era sources, the western part of the region was smaller and directly recognized as "Kürdistan"; this region generally encompasses today's Kirmanşah, Bahteran, Kürdistan (Senendec) provinces in Iran, as well as the western parts of Hemedan province and the southern part of West Azerbaijan province (Cilt 2, s. 55). Ebü'l-Fidâ, in his work titled Taḳvîmu'l-Buldân, recorded the region as "Cibal or Irak-ı Acem" and drew its borders as Azerbaijan to the west, and Iraq and a part of Huzistan to the south (Cilt 2, s. 56).

Kurdish Population and Settlements

Cibal was a region with a dense Kurdish population. The city of Dinever, where Dîneverî, famous for his botanical encyclopedia, was born in approximately 820, was a place with a dense Kurdish population in the Cibal region (Cilt 1, s. 90). Yâkūt el-Hamevî lists Cezîre, Cibal, Ermeniyye, and Azerbaijan among the regions densely populated by Kurds (Cilt 2, s. 26).

Şehrezor, one of the important settlement areas of the region, was a large settlement located in the Cibal region between Erbil and Hemedan, and all of its inhabitants were Kurdish (Cilt 2, s. 37). Şeyh er-Rabve ed-Dımaşkî stated that the land of the Kurds was the Şehrezor mountains in the Cibal region (Cilt 2, s. 57). The town of Lor, previously considered part of Huzistan, was later connected to the Cibal region, and its population mostly consisted of Kurds (Cilt 2, s. 18). Umerî records that the Dunbulîs also resided in the Cibal region (Cilt 2, s. 41).

Kurdish Dynasties

Dynasties founded by Kurds also ruled in the Cibal region. The Annâzîs were a Kurdish dynasty that ruled in the Cibal region of western Iran between 381-511/990-1171 (Cilt 1, s. 141).