Persler

The Persians are a people centered on the Iranian plateau, closely associated with the geography and peoples of Kurdish history in sources spanning from antiquity to the Islamic period. In both Greco-Latin and Islamic period sources, the Persians hold a decisive position in the political and ethnic map of the regions inhabited by Kurds.

Ancient Sources

Ancient Greco-Latin sources frequently mention the Persians alongside other peoples of the region. Early Greek sources, in sections directly dealing with the Persians, do not neglect to mention other Iranian peoples in Persia/Iran; while sources covering Alexander the Great's Eastern campaigns, the Hellenistic period, and the Roman-Persian struggle mostly refer to military conflicts and political contacts, and among this information, details that can be associated with the Kurds are found (Vol 1, p. 81).

Army and Allies

Among the Persian army and its allies were the indigenous peoples of the region. Polybios mentions a people called Κυρτίων/Kürti, who were good slingers, and also a group called Καρδακες/Kardakes in the army of Antiochus III; the Persian equivalent of this group is given as Kurtaš and they are described as a class performing specific duties in the Persian empire (Vol 1, p. 28). Diodorus states that in the conflicts between the Persians and the Macedonians/Alexander the Great's army, the Mardians and Cossaeians, who stood out for their courage and combativeness compared to other indigenous elements, gained superiority in a battle, and he refers to the Mardi units serving in the army of Darius III (Vol 1, p. 29). Arrianus, like Diodorus, reports that the Mardians lived close to the Persians and states that the Medes, as allies of the Persians, acted together with the Persians against Alexander the Great (Vol 1, p. 34). Curtius mentions that in the Persian army, besides Persians, Mardians, and Sogdians, the inhabitants of the Cossea mountains were also present in the army of Darius III, and he describes the Mardians as having a completely different culture from the Persians (Vol 1, p. 46). Strabo, on the other hand, refers to the Mardians/Amardians as a Persian tribe, and also records that the Eretrians were expelled by the Persians and settled in Gordyene (Vol 1, p. 31).

Roman-Persian Struggle

The Roman-Persian struggle directly shaped the border geography inhabited by the Kurds. With the peace treaty concluded between Shapur II and Rome in 363, the Roman Empire was forced to agree to cede the regions of Zabdicena, Carduena, Rhemena, and Zelena, and 15 castles in these regions, to the Persians, and also consented to the Persians possessing a large part of Armenia (Vol 1, p. 37). Agathias reports on groups fighting against Rome under Persian command or as allies, for example, the Deylamites and their duties in the Persian army (Vol 1, p. 38). In this constantly changing geography, regions like Corduene bore the brunt of the Persian-Roman conflicts (Vol 1, p. 56). Since Greek and Latin sources are mostly concerned with political events, these sources should be consulted not only for historical information but also for historical geography; in this context, the relations between Rome and the Persians directly concern ancient Kurdish historiography (Vol 1, p. 21).

Islamic Period and Kurdish Origin

In Islamic period sources, on the other hand, the Persians are placed at the center of the discussion on the origin of the Kurds. Maqrizi, relying on Persian sources, includes a narration suggesting that the Kurds are of Persian origin and that their ancestors belonged to Kurd, son of Esfandam, son of Manuchehr; the same view was also expressed by Mas'udi (Vol 2, p. 51). In Tabari's history, a letter between Pahlavi Ardavan and Sasanian Ardashir, in which Ardavan disparaged Ardashir as a "Kurd raised in tents," and similarly an event between Sasanian king Hormuz's son Parviz and Bahram are recounted; Tabari quotes the saying, "The Bedouins of the Persians are the Kurds" (Vol 2, p. 52). Ibn Khaldun, on the other hand, always treated the Kurds within the category of Ajam, and assessed that the confusion of the Kurds with the Persians in sources stemmed from a lack of knowledge about the peoples present in the region before the advent of Islam (Vol 2, p. 53).