Ardalan
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Ardalan or (Erdelan) (1169-1867) is the name of a semi-independent state in north-western Iran which ruled an area encompassing present day Iranian province of Kurdistan from medieval period up to mid 19th century. Ardalan is also the name of the ruling family of that state. Their capital was in the city of Sinne (or Sanandaj or Senna). Ardalan state was mainly composed of the Kurdish tribe of Bani Ardalan of present day north-western Iran, now dispersed in and around the city of Sinne. The ruling family of this tribe claimed descent from Saladin.
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[edit] History
According to Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi, the renowned Kurdish historian, the earliest known leader of the tribe, Bawa Ardalan, was a descendant of "Ahmad b. Marwan", who ruled in Diyarbakir. He settled down among the Gorans in Kurdistan and toward the end of the Mongol period took over the "Şare Zur "(Sharazur, modern Silémaní) region, where he established himself as an absolute ruler. It is not known when the Ardalans established themselves in Sinne, but it was probably in the 14th century. The territories of Zardiawa (Karadagh), Khanaqin, Kirkuk, and Kifri, which were already the homelands of the Goran-Kurds, all belonged to this principality. The capital city of the principality was first in Sharezur, but was moved to Sinne later on. The Ardalan state was completely independent until it was incorporated into Safavid Empire as a semi-autonomos frontier province. During the Safavid period, the Ardalans were deeply involved in the struggles between the Iranian and Ottoman empires and, whenever it suited them, they shifted their allegiance to the Ottoman state. Ardalans reigned from Safavid period to mid nineteenth century. The Qajar monarch Nasser-al-Din Shah(1848-1896) was determined to undermine the power and influence of Ardalans. He first interfered in the affairs of the province in 1851. Then in 1867, he terminated Ardalan's special status as a semi-autonomos frontier province and named his own uncle, Farhad Mirza Mo'tamad-al-Dawla, as the governor of what has become simply the province of Kurdistan, thus putting an end to the Ardalan Dynasty. In 1941, the Ardalans participated in the first Kurdish revolt in Iran during the World War II. However, they were not involved in the establishment of the Republic of Mahabad in 1946, and the territory of that short-lived autonomist state did not include Sinne.
[edit] Kurdish Culture in Ardalan State
Because the official religion of Ardalan principality was Yarsan (Kakayi or Ahl-e Haqq, or 'People of Truth') not Islam, and because this religion was tied to the Gorani(Hewrami) dialect, Gorani became the official language of the Kurds throughout a rather large region in Kurdistan. Via the Yarsan religious teachings, the Gorani dialect was spread intensively, especially among the poor segments of the population. ln addition, many of the intellectual Kurds living outside the Gorani dialect territories adopted Gorani for their written language. The most famous poets of the Yarsan down through the centuries wrote solely in Gorani dialect. These include Bawa Yadigar (born in Sharazour in the eighth century), Yal-Bagi Jaff (1493-1554), and Khan Almas Khani Luristani (1662-1728). Many other famous Kurdish-Muslim poets have, down the centuries, written in Gorani, such as Mala Pareshani Kurd (still living in 1398/99). He was a Shiite Muslim who was much opposed to the Yarsan beliefs and the Dervishes. Other poets such as Saidi Hawrami (1784-1842), and Mala Abdul-Rahimi Mawlawi Tavgozi (1806-1882) are also worthy of mention.
The blossoming of literature in the Ardalan principality was accompanied by an intense cultivation of music. Music is an essential element of the cultural tradition of the Yarsan religious community. ln connection with this, it is interesting that the Kurds in East and South Kurdistan, where to the Gorani culture was spread, call songs 'Gorani'.
[edit] List of Rulers of Ardalan State
- Bawa Ardalan (14th century)
- Timur Khan Ardalan (During the reign of Shah Tahmasp I).
- Khan Ahmad Khan (During the reign of Shah Abbas I)
- Soleiman Khan (During the reign of Shah Safi 1629-1642) (He rebuilt the Senna(Sinne) Dij or "the Castle of Senna")[1]
- Sobhanverdi Khan (During the reign of Nader Shah)
- Ahmad Khan (Son of Sobhanverdi Khan) (He was made governor of a region stretching all the way from Hamadan to Mosul)
- Khosrow Khan Bozorgi (1754-1788)
- Aman-Allah Khan Bozorgi (1799-1825), was the last important Ardalan ruler (wali).
[edit] References and External Links
- Sharaf-al-Din Khan Bedlisi, Sharafnama, translated by F.B. Charmoy, St. Petesburg, 1868-75, vol. II, pp.106-107. Also see [2]
- Eskandar Bek Monshi, Tarikh-e Alam ara Abbasi, translated by Savory
- Nikitine, Basil, Les Kurdes, Paris, 1956.
- Nikitin, Les valis
- W. Eagleton, The Kurdish Republic of 1946, London, 1963
- M. Mardokh Kodestani, Tarikh-e kord wa Kodestan (The history of Kurds and Kurdistan), Tehran, 1979
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, under "Ardalan" entry, pp.693-694
- Nebez, Jamal, The Kurdish Language from Oral Tradition to Written Language, 2000
- A brief History of the Kurds and Kurdistan
