The first official Ottoman annal was published in the mid-nineteenth century, following which provincial authorities began collecting and publishing data on districts.
The record of persons who acquired special titles from the Ottoman monarch is an intriguing piece of information in southern Kurdistan's Ottoman annals. This information will be collected for roughly 20 years. What explains the disparity? The disparity between Slemani and Hawler cannot be explained by population size, literacy rate, or any other fundamental factor. Even when Kirkuk and Hawler are included, the number of individuals who acquired titles from the Sultan, were born in Slemani, or lived there, is 8 vs 7. The explanation lies in the historic practice of service to imperial ideology and rule. Individuals who received Ottoman accolades were typically seen as both talented and dangerous.
The titles and posts were intended to integrate Kurdistan's dangerous elite, shifting its focus and goals to serve the Ottoman machinery rather than any other objectives. Slemani had more of these folks at the time than Hawler or Kirkuk. Claudius Rich, who visited Kurdistan in the early nineteenth century and encountered the Babans, recounts an interesting reply. Abdulrahman Babani was once offered the vilayet of Baghdad. Abdulrahman's reply is legendary:
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