Gorani Kurds in the Arabic sources

The Ilkhanate's dominance over Iran appears to be closely related to the growing use of the Kurani (Gorani) attribution in Arabic sources, which is connected to specific individuals in the arabic sources. A portion of the warrior/literati class moved to the Mamluk sultanate. As demonstrated by Husayn ibn al Kurani, the governor of Cairo, they carried on with their careers in the Mamluk sultanate: 

ثم طلب بطا حسين بن الكوراني في الإسطبل، فلما طلع أراد المماليك الظاهرية قتله لقبح ما فعل فيهم، فشفع فيه سودون النائب. ثم خلع عليه بطا وأعاده إلى ولاية القاهرة وأمره بتحصيل المنطاشية، فنزل في الحال ونادى من قبض على مملوك منطاشي أو أشرفي فله كذا وكذا

792 AH, after 04/02 Buță then summoned Husayn ibn al-Kūrānī to the Stables; when the latter arrived the mamlūks zāhirīya wished to kill him because of his illtreatment of them. Sūdūn the viceroy, however, interceded for him, and Butā investing him with a robe reappointed him wālī of Cairo with orders to round up the adherents of Mințāsh...

It is also fascinating to trace new patterns emerging in the primary sources. What explains the growing prevalence of the nisba al-Kūrānī during and after the Mamluk period? One possible conclusion is that it reflects a relatively new development. Prior to the Mamluk era, notable figures identified as "Goranis" are exceedingly difficult to locate in the historical record.

This interpretation is strengthened by the urban scholarly networks with which these "Gorani" figures were associated. Moreover, the alternative attributions attached to these individuals, typically references to prominent cities, regions, or other established identifiers, were precisely the kinds of nisbas that predominated before the Mamluk period for many prominent figures without the usage of "al Kurani". What changes is that the range of attributions appearing in the sources becomes increasingly restricted, allowing al-Kūrānī to emerge as a more prominent marker of identity.

The designations al-ʿAjamī and al-Ardabīlī, for example, illustrate what would likely have been the conventional attributions for two Mamluk-era figures otherwise known by the Gorani marker. In other words, many communities that later appear in the sources as Kurdish were often not classified as such in earlier periods. Rather than representing a timeless and unchanging category, Kurdish identification in the historical record frequently reflects evolving patterns of classification and self-representation that became more visible only in later centuries.

Two examples from the premodern arabic biographies:  

1. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī ibn Khaḍir al-Kurdī, al-Kūrānī, better known as al-ʿAjamī.

2. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan ibn Khaḍir al-Ardabīlī al-Kūrānī al-Shāfiʿī, known as Jamāl al-Dīn, was one of the distinguished scholars of the rational sciences. He held the position of shaykh of the Saʿīd al-Suʿadāʾ Khānqāh and taught Qurʾānic exegesis at the Muẓhariyya. He died in the year 894 AH (1489 CE).