Mahmud Barzanji
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| Mahmmud Barzanji | |
| Sheikh | |
| Reign | 1922 - 1924 |
|---|---|
| Born | 1878 |
| Birthplace | Barzinjah, Iraqi Kurdistan Region |
| Died | October 9, 1956 |
| Place of death | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Buried | Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan Region |
| Predecessor | British Empire |
| Successor | Faisal I of Iraq |
Sheikh Mahmmud Barzanji (1878 - October 9, 1956) was the leader of several Kurdish uprisings against the British Mandate of Iraq. He was Sheikh of a Qadiriyah Sufi family from the town of Barzinjah, which is now in Iraq, and twice proclaimed himself king of an independent Kurdish state.
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[edit] Mamoud's Revolts
Barzanji led the first Kurdish revolt in British controlled Southern Kurdistan (Iraqi Kurdistan) in May 1919. Shortly before being appointed governor of Sulaimaniya, he ordered the arrest of all British political and military officials in the region. After seizing control of the region, Barzanji raised a military force from his Iranian tribal followers and proclaimed himself Ruler of all of Kurdistan. Among Mahmud’s many supporters was then 16-year-old Mustafa Barzani, the future leader of the Kurdish nationalist cause in Iraqi Kurdistan.
As the British became aware of the Sheikh’s growing political and military power, they were forced to respond militarily. Two British brigades were deployed to defeat Sheikh Mahmoud’s fighters at Darbandi Bazyan near Sulaimaniya in June 1919. Sheikh Mahmoud was eventually arrested and exiled to India in 1921.
Mahmoud's fighters continued to oppose British rule after his arrest. The success of the Kurdish fighters’ anti-British revolts forced the British to recognize Kurdish autonomy in 1923. Returning to the region in 1922, Sheikh Mahmoud continued to promote raids against British forces, and declared himself the King. On September 14, 1922, the British recognized Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji as the first King of Kurdistan under the British mandate[1]. The Kingdom of Kurdistan lasted from 1922 to 1924. After the British government finally defeated Sheikh Mamoud, they signed Iraq over to King Faisal I of Iraq and a new Arab-led government. Sheikh Mahmoud retreated into the mountains, and later signed a peace accord with the Iraqi government and settled in the new Iraq in 1932[2].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Ethnic Cleansing and the Kurds
- Kurds and the Formation of the State of Iraq 1917-1932, by M.R. Izady
- The Kurdish Warrior Tradition and the Importance of the Peshmerga, by Michael G. Lortz.
- The Kurdish National Movement, By Jaafar Hussein Khidir, Kurdistan Studies Journal, No.11, March 2004.
