Conclusion regarding Kurdish representation in the Mamluk sultanate

The following examples illustrate the presence of Kurds within the Mamluk Sultanate:

The Mamluk historian Al Maqrizi describes a ritual that took place in the Mamluk Sultanate in the fifteenth century. As was customary in the ceremony of appointment to a public post, a number of personalities received the robe of honor. Lower Egypt's governor, Hasan al Kurdi, was given a new term.

When Mamluk historians discuss military leaders of 10, 30, 100, or 1000 (and various versions), what does that mean? The number of mamluks (the minimum) that the holder of that rank was entitled to is shown by the numbers next to the title. Size really does matter, as always.

More: 

The Mamluk historian Ibn Taghribirdi tells an epic tale of the Kurdish military leader of Aleppo in the fourteenth century. One of the merchants caught him. For what purpose? since he stole a slave. Regretfully, our hero spent a few days behind bars. Fortunately, he emerged stronger.

Jamal al Din al Kurdi was a dignitary from the Mamluk era. The wealth (approximately) of the wealthiest members of Islamic dynasties is mentioned in this Mamluk-era tale. The narrative also discusses how stealing from someone too close to the sultan might have fatal consequences. The main reason Kurds would relocate to the cities of the Muslim-ruled world would be wealth. Depending on the place that the premodern Kurdish migrants held at the center of these dynasties, there were two possible outcomes: either the top 1% or the top 20%. First place went to Jamal al-Din. The first group would rank among the wealthiest 1%. Generally speaking, Kurds who succeeded in becoming writers, well-known religious figures, military leaders, and administrators fall under this category.

What, then, can be concluded about Kurdish representation in the Mamluk Sultanate? The examples presented above are intended to illustrate a broader pattern. Whenever ethnic designations are explicitly recorded in Mamluk sources, Kurds emerge as one of the five most represented groups when both military-administrative figures and members of the learned elite are considered together. My research on this question is not limited to the handful of examples presented here. Numerous additional cases are discussed in other posts, while many more have been omitted altogether. Simply listing isolated biographical details about individual figures is often of limited value on its own. The examples selected here are intended to illustrate broader historical patterns rather than serve as an exhaustive catalogue of Kurdish personalities in the Mamluk period.

A common assumption is that Kurdish influence and representation declined sharply after the fall of the Ayyubids. The evidence, however, does not support such a narrative. While the Ayyubid era undoubtedly marked the height of Kurdish political power, Kurds continued to maintain a substantial presence within the elite circles of the Mamluk sultanate. Indeed, the fact that they remained among the most prominently represented ethnic groups in both administrative and intellectual life long after the end of Ayyubid rule is, in itself, remarkable.

The importance of fortresses in Kurdish history

The Ottoman explorer Evliya Celebi tells the story of how the Badlis fortress in Kurdistan came to be. The Ottomans feared Kurdistan's fortifications. To equal the dread, legends were created to explain why they are so strong. When the Ottoman sultans referred to Kurdistan as a wall against the Safavids, they were referring to the worth of the fortifications especially. Even before the Ottoman period, these fortifications played a crucial role in determining the result of key events. 

Evliya Celebi (17th-century): 

Let us recount the first builder of this ancient fortress and the reason for its being named thus.

According to the true reports of, first of all, the chroniclers of Rum and the Arabs and the Persians; and the true historian Mıkdisi son of Bey Haki-i Yarmeni; and his excellency Sultan Sherefeddin Abbasi, author of the Sheref-name, of the Abbasid dynasty, and forefather of the noble Khan: Iskender was called Zulkarneyn ("two-horned") because he had two horns of firm flesh on his forehead. In one tradition, "thirty-two years" is called a karn, since the sphere of the universe revolves once in thirty-two years; and because Iskender experienced two such karns or global revolutions, they called him Zulkarneyn. But karn also means "horn" in Arabic, and the most correct tradition is that he was called Zulkarneyn because of his horns. Iskender could not get one hour's restful sleep because of the pain from these horns, and none of his physicians could find a cure for it. Finally, while he was searching for a cure according to the suggestion of the physicians and the ulema, Iskender received this revelation from God (Koran, 18:94): "O Zulkarneyn, verily Gog and Magog are committing corruption in the earth (etc.)." Following this noble command he went with all his doctors and physicians to the Land of Darkness seeking the Water of Life. Having passed the Sea of Dark and built the Wall of Gog, on his return he expended much effort seeking the Water of Life for the pain of his horns and for eternal life; but when he found no trace of it he despaired of the cure of life and washed his hands of it.

At that time, by God's wisdom, the prophet Khızır was a saintly individual in Iskender's army. He used to wander off far from other people. At one point he was overcome with the heat and drank from a clear stream. This turned out to the Water of Life. The prophet Khızır is alive to this day, and is charged with serving the islands in the sea and elsewhere. Some dispute his prophethood, but the majority maintain it.

Finally, unable to find the Water of Life and therefore a life cure, and instructed by his physicians that it might be found in the navel of the earth, the mountain of Bingöl, he headed in that direction. Coming to the River Tigris before Basra, he drank from it, and the pain of his horns subsided. So he proceeded along the bank of the Tigris, drinking of the pure water as he covered the stages of the march, until he arrived at the point where the Batman and the Tigris flow together. Drinking from both rivers, and observing that the water of the Tigris was more beneficial, he went on to Diyarbekir. It was recorded above in the description of the Tigris, in connection with the eulogy of Diyarbekir, that that river arises above that city from the confluence of four tributaries. Now Iskender drank from each of the four sources, and his horn pain subsided, though the horns remained. When he returned to the point of confluence of the Batman and the Tigris, and drank again from the Batman, he found substantial relief. So he went along the Batman until he came below Kefender fortress. He drank from the springs flowing from the direction of Bitlis, and Iskender's eye was brightened.

Still seeking relief, he entered the town of Bitlis. Here the river splits in two branches. He noticed no beneficial effect drinking from the springs that flow from Avikh valley; but when he drank from those flowing to the right side of the cliff of Bitlis castle, he immediately fell into a restful and pleasant sleep at the foot of that cliff.

After waking, he spent seven entire days drinking at the point of issue of those springs, and thought that he had found eternal life. Miraculously, one of his horns fell off through the effect of that pure water, although the other one remained. "Well!" (cried Iskender) "so the Water of Life is here, and the pure water that we have been drinking and whose benefit we have witnessed all the way from Basra is this Water of Paradise which flows into the Tigris.

"Summon my treasurer named Bedlis," he commanded. When Bedlis came he said: "Oh privileged slave, if you would be the choicest of the choice, expend a fortune from my treasury and construct at this point a fortress, to be complete by the time we return from the country of Cemapur, such that if I, with my majestic force, lay siege to it, I will have difficulty conquering it." "Your wish is my command," replied the treasurer Bedlis. He set out to build such an impenetrable citadel and invincible rampart; and Iskender went on his way with one horn to the country of Cemapur.

Meanwhile Bedlis gathered all the sages and engineers and master builders, and all the wizards (and astrologers) who possessed the Arabian and the Persian sciences, and he determined the auspicious hour for the rising star of this fortress.

Bitlis castle was built 872 years before the birth of the Prophet; Iskender died in the year 882 [sic]. The treasurer Bitlis [sic] constructed this fortress with strong walls that he had all the astrologers perform talismanic astronomical observations, strengthened all four sides and adorned it with devilish machinations, and in every way prepared for battle.

When Iskender the Great heard that Bedlis had completed the castle, and having conquered the land of Cemapur, he traversed the stages as far as the plain of Mush, where he made his camp. Thence he proceeded to the fortress of Bedlis with his innumerable troops. From within the fortress, Bedlis bombarded Iskender with catapults and ballistas and slings and arrows and stones, so much that Iskender felt faint. But recalling the zeal of world conquest, he gathered his strength, and exclaiming that "this infidel slave Bedlis has rebelled against me" he mounted raids and forays and night attacks on all sides with his sea-like army. But after seven days he was still unable to conquer it.

To Bedlis, fortified within the castle, Iskender sent letters of reprieve via envoys, stating: "I grant safe conduct and forgive your crime. Come out, O slave!" But Bedlis rejected the envoys, and once again bombarded with slings and catapults, killing several thousand of Iskender's troops.

The battle raged for forty days and nights. On the forty-first day a swarm of bees appeared out of the opening of a cave at the skirt of the fortress cliff -- yellow bees the size of sparrows. They invaded Iskender's army and turned the tails of all the animals into yak-tail crests, so that all the camels and mules and horses, as though "fleeing from the succession of hornets," and men and beasts crying "Help O steppe of Heyhat!"3 all began to flee. Poor Iskender Zulkarneyn while seeking a remedy for his horn nearly lost his nose and ears. Finally he too despaired and moved off toward Mush plain. --

At once from within the fortress the treasurer Bedlis put the keys of the castle in a jewelled pouch and (coming) with countless treasures and gifts, rubbed his face at the foot of Iskender's steed and kissed the ground while presenting him the keys.

"Wretch!" cried Iskender, "why did you rebel against me and kill so many of my soldiers?" "My Padishah," answered Bedlis, "when you ordered me to construct such a mighty fortress that even you would have trouble conquering it if you lay siege with your majestic force, I accepted the command and built such a fortress, like the Wall of Iskender. It is my Padishah's to command." Iskender acted justly and granted Bedlis the government of the fortress.

The usage of Kurdistan as territorial unit in the 14th-century

Hamdallah Mustawfi, the 14th-century Ilkhanate historian, gives some interesting facts about the Buyids' internal affairs. Majd al-Dawla attempted to seize the throne from his mother, Sayyida Shirin. Shirin escapes to Kurdistan and returns later to surprise her son: 

In A. H. 388 Qábús b. Washmgír returned from Khurásán and recaptured Gurgán and Tabaristán. After protracted fighting he makes peace with Majdu'd-Dawla on condition that these two provinces and Mázandarán shall be ceded to him. Qábús subsequently takes Gílán, and gives it to his son Minúchihr. Qábús reigned 15 years after his return. Then his army mutinied, made his son Minúchihr king, and put him in prison, where he shortly afterwards died. Minú-chihr makes peace with Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna (who gives him his daughter in marriage), and recognizes him as his overlord and suzerain. He puts to death his father's murderers. Majdu'd-Dawla, having reached years of discretion, desires to recover the powers assumed by his mother. She flees to Badr b. Hasanawayh the Amír of Kurdistán. He helps her to defeat Majdu'd-Dawla, captures Ray, takes prisoner Majdu'd-Dawla and his wazir Abú ‘Alí, and restores Sayyida, who richly rewards him and sends him back to Kurdistán.

Mustawfi was a bureaucrat. The use of "Kurdistan" as a territorial unit must be understood in terms of its bureaucratic purpose. This type of categorization was ultimately disastrous. Boris James' map illustrates the restriction it created. 

It is analogous to the repercussions of the division of provinces in modern-day Iran. The establishment of a province called "Kurdistan" in modern-day Iran is not without implications, which are inherent in the division. Historically and currently, it signified the demise of the kurd label. The Mongol and Turkish invasions played a key role in the fall of the Kurd-label throughout wide territory over time, both in terms of its existence and growth. 

Saul in Suhraward

Ibn Hawqal, a geographer from the tenth century, offers a rare literary creation concerning the Kurdish town of Suhraward. According to this mythical account, Saul, the biblical figure, was from Suhraward:

Shahrazur is a small town, which the Kurds have seized on; also the town Suhraward are in the hands of the Kurds. 

Suhraward is a place of which the inhabitants are mostly Kurds and notorious robbers and plunderers. Saul the king of the Children of Israel, was of this place.

An Italian in early 19th-century Kurdistan

Campanile was an Italian who traveled through the Kurdish principalities and authored a book about the region, which included notes on the customs and traditions prevalent in the region. In 1810, he traveled through Baban country, and described the Babans as follows:

The most extensive, most powerful and beautiful emirate located in Kurdistan is Babà. Its prince, who bears the title of pasha, is the sovereign of two states: of Babà, where he lives, and of Karacciolan, where he keeps his lieutenant. The lands are the best and the most cultivated, if compared to the rest of Kurdistan. Every business flourishes, and a great number of foreign merchants gather there.

 The inhabitants are healthy, vigorous and happy. Their habit is to eat four times a day. They are the strongest and most warlike people that Kurdistan can boast.

Campanile's depictions of Kurdish clothes are among the most detailed of the 19th century. The publication includes hand-colored etched plates depicting Kurdish clothes based on Campanile's descriptions. Although additional types existed, these three were common. 

In Zakho, Campanile witnessed a scenario that moved him to tears. The scenario illustrates the attendant observances of Kurdish funerals; in this example, it's a Kurdish woman mourning her deceased husband and following the traditional practice of sacrificing her braids:

During these forty days of mourning, women go to the tomb with flowers and fragrant herbs to decorate the tomb. There are some Kurds who dig holes in the tomb and fill them with water so that birds and other thirsty animals can drink.

The tears of a Kurd do too much honor to sensitively characterize her nation. I do not think it right to leave them in silence; and since I myself was a spectator of them, I believe it will interest the reader.

It had been a few hours since I left Zacco, crossing many and very difficult mountains. As I was passing over an alpine rock I heard from afar a faint voice that had never been interrupted, which indicated to me that a man was in some misfortune. Follow me, I said to my pack, and I spurred my horse towards where the laments of that unfortunate man were coming from. I entangle myself among bronchi; I enter among stony rocks; I descend into a small valley. This was almost entirely strewn with silent, but unfortunately all too talkative cenotaphs. It hung from each of them a flower, a worn dress, and some cut hair. What touching monuments! A humble tomb of recent construction could be distinguished

among them. At its side was seated a young girl. This unhappy creature turned with her mournful laments to that cold stone, thus deafening the concave opaque valley.

<<<< Ah my eyes! My sweet heart! And where have those happy ones gone, in which you, playing like a loving turtledove, sat with your lovely joyful face of perfect luua close to me! I hear, oh my good, still alive in my ear the sweet sonorous voice of yours, which often repeated to me: I am your sacrifice (1); you are my sweetest comfort; my happiness; my complete tranquility is you. And I then, having become languid with love, kissed now your eyes, now your forehead; and now your rosy cheek.... Oh, how desperate I am! Ah! What has she become at this hour! You were my soul; I was your >> heart. You lived all for me; I was >> all in you..Ah my cruel friend! >> You why did you leave me like a goat->> read in the middle of the woods; among the dens >> of bears, and tigers! Ah my merciless >> good! You who hear the voice of my >> crying; why do you enjoy seeing me afflicted >> and do not rise for at least a moment .. my >>> to embrace your dear one?. Ah >> heart, show yourself, for that pity, >> of which your breast was rich; >> show yourself just one more time to my eyes; to the tears of those who adore you. Let me >> see you again for just one instant...>> And how! so many of my sighs cannot >> animate your body! Not even >> to warm it! And yet did they inspire you with other good >> times. You told me.....Oh my > things? ...My good? ... Arise, arise this time > only to gather these >> of mine, sorrowful, desperate tears. What good are these poor and sorrowful ones to me without >>> you who were my soul? These eyes of mine >> who were yours, now in tears undone to you I give them back. This hair, which I kept.

>> with so much care just to please you, they laugh at you. Without you, my dear >> lost wretched heart, it is of a

>> useless hateful weight.>>

Repeating this many times, she pressed her pale face into the moist dust that covered the frozen corpse of her husband. Then she cut off the most showy and blond hair that hung disheveled and flowing along her loins. At her feet she had a bunch of fresh narcissi, which she very delicately entwined with the cut hair, and hung on the stone that stood at the head of the corpse. One could see in her a woman abandoned to the most sensitive transport.

She saw me, and did not stop singing her plaintive epic. She was so immersed in her deep grief. I confess my weakness, her tears interested me so much that I do not know who shed more, she or I, who had no part in that misfortune. My companions informed me that the hour was passing. I returned to them; but for many days I retained a sad and afflicted heart.

An ancient philosophical puzzle has been the genuine character of Kurdish men: what is required to keep Kurdish men happy? Campanile fired his shot as a philosopher, aiming to solve this mystery through his observations of Kurdish men. Perhaps the highest good is reachable:

If one seriously wishes to consider the character of

the Kurds, they do not enjoy any other amusements

than smoking and women. They soon tire of any

other amusement and return to the former. From

these two it seems that they cannot detach

themselves for a single day. They never marry with

the object of having a regulator of domestic affairs,

but rather to have an illness that amuses them.

They have also become so accustomed from

childhood to smoking that if a few hours pass

without it they become almost mad.

When they are out of the Herem, or the seraglio of women, they love the conversation of their friends. Riding horses is also a sport among them. This consists in running one behind the other with a lance, unsheathed sabre, or pistol pretending to attack each other.

What would the Kurdish ladies find amusing? Unfortunately, only one example is provided in depth: the 'Seyran' of the royal women of the dynasties. Nonetheless, it is one of the first instances in which the Kurdish term is employed for this amusement: 

Women also have their amusements. The most amazing is this one, which they call Seran. This is nothing more than a country diversion. Mira usually has permission from Bascia to enjoy this amusement twice a year, that is, in spring and autumn. When Mira of Botan, Badinan, and Sciambo goes to Seran, all the Muslim women who are in that city must go with her. All Christian men are also obliged, not even excluding the priests. They must accompany Mira and the other ladies, who all go on horseback. Each one takes with her three Christians, one of whom carries the bridle in his hand, and the other two flank her. All the other women follow on foot. The departure is at dawn, and the return at dusk, so as not to be seen by the men.

The cavalcade is thus arranged. First goes the Malkoi, or prime minister of the Basha with a Mella, and ten or twelve servants. Behind these, at a good distance, rides the Mira. Three of the most distinguished Christians of the city are around her; one of them leads the horse's bridle by the hand, and two others at the sides support it. Next come the wives and daughters of the Beks; then the wives and daughters of the Agas, all covered, and each accompanied by three Christians. A large retinue of other women follows, who, having become singers on this occasion, shout as loud as they can.

When the Mira leaves the palace, the crowd of women who are walking begin to sing songs similar to the amusement, and never stop croaking and cawing until they return in the evening. When they reach the determined place, the Christians withdraw to a place where they cannot see them, so that they may be at liberty.

They spend the whole day in some garden or pleasant place, where they dedicate that day to singing, playing music, dancing, and revelry.