Mahabad

Mahabad (Persian: مهاباد, Kurdish: مەھاباد; also Romanized as Mahābād and Mehābād; formerly known as Sāūjbulāgh)^[2] is a city in and the capital of Mahabad County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 133,324, in 31,000 families.^[3]

The city's population is predominantly Kurdish, with the city lying south of Lake Urmia in a narrow valley 1,300 metres above sea level in Iranian Kurdistan, a part northwestern Iran.^[4][5]

Mahabad is the centre of a rich agricultural region, but the city itself is little developed by Iranian standards. Mahabad is connected by road with Tabriz 300 km north, Piranshahr 85 km west, Urmia 150 km north and Irbil in Iraq. The city is also home of the Islamic Azad University of Mahabad.^[6]

Etymology

The town was founded in Safavid period and its first name was Savoujbolagh, Savoujbolagh is a Turkic word meaning cold spring, later in Qajarid period, the town was called Savoujbolagh Mokri, meaning Savoujbolagh of the Mukri tribe, due to the residence of the Mukri tribe in the town and this was the name of the town until 1936, when the town was named Mahabad by the Academic of Persian Language and Literature. ^{[7] [8]}

History

Ancient history

The region of Mahabad was the centre of the Mannaeans, who flourished in the early 1st millennium BC.^[9]

During the Safavid dynasty, the region of Mukriyan experienced political turmoil. In 1609-1610, during the battle of "DimDim", the Mukriyan tribes of the region supported "Amir Khan Lepzerin" (Golden Hand Khan), the Kurdish ruler of Bradost. For further detail see "Iranian Kurdistan" section in Kurdistan article. (Also see [1], [2]).

Local traditions hold that there was an older Mahabad in what is today known as plain of Sharwêran (ruined city), in neighbourhood of modern Mahabad but was destroyed by the invading armies in medieval era.

Expansion of Mahabad

Mahabad remained a small town in Deryaz, until it was named the capital of the Mukriyan Emirate under the Safavid dynasty. The Kurdish prince, Budaq Sultan, ordered the construction of many noteworthy buildings in Mahabad.^[10] The Mukri rule lasted until the Qajar dynasty dissolved the emirate in the middle of 19th century.

Modern Kurdish State in Mahabad

Mahabad was briefly the capital of the short-lived Republic of Mahabad, which was declared independent on January 1, 1946 under the leadership of Kurdish nationalist Qazi Muhammad. The republic received strong support from the Soviet Union, which occupied Iran during the same era and included the Kurdish towns of Piranshahr, Sardasht, Bukan, Naqada and Ushnaviya.^[11]

After an agreement brokered by the United States, the Soviets agreed to leave Iran in which sovereignty would be restored to the Shah in 1947. The Shah ordered an invasion of the Republic of Mahabad shortly afterwards under which the leaders of the republic including Qazi Muhammad were arrested and executed.^[12]

Climate

Culture

Muhammad Qazi translated more than 70 important literary works into Persian. Other writers and poets have hailed from Mahabad in the 19th and 20th century including Wafaei (1844-1902), Hejar (Abdurrahman Sharfkandi) (1920-1990), Hêmin (Sayyed Moháammad Amini Shaykho-al-Eslam Mokri) (1920-1986), Abdorrahamn Zabihi (1920-1980) and Giw Mukriyani. The first Kurdish-Kurdish-Persian Dictionary in Iran was written by Hejar. Kurdistan's national poet was the title given to Hejar(along with Hêmin) during the short lived reign of the Republic of Mahabad in recognition of his poetry's service to the cause[3].

After the fall of the Pahlavi monarchy in Iran in 1979, "Hêmin" set up the Salaha-al-Din Ayyubi Kurdish publishing house in Urmia, which published Sirwe (from spring 1985), a quarterly cultural magazine that Hêmin ran until his death in 1986.^[14]

Present-day Mahabad and human rights

During the 1979 Islamic Revolution people who did not support the revolution clashed with its backers in Mahabad on the 3rd of September. Other cities in the region were also involved in heavy clashes in the political turmoil of the revolution. Many Mahabadis saw the opportunity to advance their political positions with the fall of Shah's government.

The most recent unrest in the town of Mahabad began in early July 2005, following the shooting of Shivan Qaderi. Shivan Qaderi also known as Sayed Kamal Astam, was the leader of a Kurdish youth movement in Iranian Kurdistan who organized mass protests in the region against the Iranian government.^[15] Security forces ordered the arrest of Qaderi along with two other Kurdish men. Qaderi was shot and killed by security forces and his body was mutilated. Photos of Qaderi's body began appearing across the Internet and several thousands of residents in Mahabad, and later in other cities in Iranian Kurdistan, began massive protests in the streets.^[16]

References

• Hêmin(Hemin) Mokriani in Encyclopaedia Iranica
• Short Biography and works of Zabihi
• Zabihi, Abdal Rahman, Qamusi zimanî Kurdî (Dictionary of Kurdish Language),Korî Zaniyarî Kurd Press, Baghdad Vol. I 1977.244 p. Vol. II 1979. 230 + 7 p (through letter b).
• Mukriyani, Giw, Ferhengî mehabad (Mahabad Dictionary),Kurdish-Arabic dictionary, Kurdistan Press, Hawlir (Arbil), 1961,795 p.
• Sharafkandi, Abdurrahman (Hejar or Hajar), Henbane Borîne, Ferhengî Kurdî-Kurdî-Farsî (Kurdish-Kurdish-Persian Dictionary) Tehran : Sorush Press, 1991, 1032 p.,[4]
• Article of the Monde Diplo on Mahabad (in French)

Mahabad

External links

• Mahabad City