Kurdistan (Koordistan) the land of our Ancestors

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Kurdistan (Koordistan) the land of our Ancestors

Postby Jaff Sassani » Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:20 am

Kurdistan (Koordistan) the land of our Ancestors

Kurdistan (Koordistan) the land of our Ancestors and home of Aryan Kurds (Koords)
Below is the information published by western missionary about our people we hope?
Will help Kurds and non Kurds to understand our heritage better. As we said many time
Before we are the same blood with Persian and other Aryan (Iranian) people in the region

We call upon all Aryan people to work harder so we can form Aryan Economic Union
We are not lesser intelligent than the Europeans people. Let get unite and form our union
One more time like what we did have during the Sassanian era.
The Encyclopædia of Missions
edited by Edwin Munsell Bliss

Google Book

Koordistan
Koordistan, generally speaking, includes those sections of Turkey and Persia
In which Koords form a large part of the population. They abound in the regions extending
From the Russian border at Erivan on the North to the fig-producing hills of the Sinjar in upper
Mesopotamia and the flower gardens of shiraz on the south, and from the plains of Oroomiah
And Ispahan on the east to the Tigers, the Euphrates at Samosata, the Taurus at Marash, and
The Anti-Taurus in Cappadocia and Pontus on the West.

In the Koordish sense the historical Koordistan of the “Shereef Na’ameh” (a collection of
Koordish historical traditions) lay within boundaries somewhat more contracted. Beginning
at Kars, in the northeast, the eastern boundary extended to the Araxes, near Mount Ararat, to
the western shore of Lake Oroomiah, and the eastern slopes of the Zagros to the boundary of
old Persia, a little southwest of Ispahan. The southern boundary ran west through Dizful to
the Choaspes mountains, along these to the Hamreen Hills, by these to the Tigris, up the Tigris
to the Sinjar Hills, along the south side of these to the Kahboor River, up the Kahboor River
to Ras el ‘Ain, thence northwest to Birijik on the Euphrates. The western boundary ran north
from Birijik to Albistan in the Anti-Taurus, and uo to the edge of the Sivas Plain on the river
Halys. The northern boundary ran thence to Kars by the Passin Plane.

Geographically, the Koordistan of today includes the Turkish provinces of Erzroom, Van,
Bashkallah, Mosul (Eastern Portion), Bitlis, Diarbekir, and Mamooriet el Aziz (Harpoot,
eastern portion), and in Persia the western portion of Azerbijan, Ardilan, and Luristan. In short Koordistan is situated between Lat. 32 degree and 40 degree north, and Log. 36 degree and
48 degree east. The mass of the Koords dwell to this day within these limits.

Physical Features
Physical Features,- Any map will reveal within these limits mountain chains running in all
Directions; and indeed, the region may properly be regarded as the Switzerland of western
Asia. The body of this spider like system of mountains is in the region south of Lake Van
And North of Nineveh, west of Lake Oroomiah and east of Tigris. About the size of Palestine
In its palmist days, it is a perfect sea of mountains, with mountain peaks that vie with one
Another in their efforts to pierce the regions of the upper air, and rise from 10,000 feet to
15,000 feet above the level of the sea.
The antiquity of the region as the abode of man is attested by the absence of forests.
Out from this system flow the Arases and Haiys on the North, the one to the Caspian and
The other to the Black Sea; and the south the Euphrates, and the Tigris, with its ten tributaries,
Into the Persian Gulf.
Such endless combinations of mountains and valleys, lakes and gorges, rivers and plateaus,
snow clad peaks and grassy plains, render the scenery beautiful, grand, weird, and wild by
turns.
Population

Population.- Today, with Xenophon, that the Koords are the Carduchi, does not answer
the question of their origin. The following may contribute something to this interesting
ethnological question:
(a) The region described above was inhabited, in the times of the Assyrian Empire,
By a warrior race named “Gutu” i.e., warrior. The Assyrians called them Gardu
And Kardu; the Greeks later called them Kardokas(KapSakes).
They were Scythians or Turanians.
(b) After the subjugations of Assyria the Gardu were absorbed by a still more energetic
Tribal race. The southern Koormanj. Of whom Keffee Effendi, in his brochure upon
The Koords. Says:
“They are reckoned as the origin of the Koormanj (Koord), and are lineal descendent
Of Media, the son of Japheth. “ This absorption transferred the Gardu from the
Turanian to the Aryan family. These occupied Northern Koordistan.
( c ) In southern Koordistan there dwelt, according to tradition. One Gudarz, Son of
Gio, and chief of the “Gutu.” Of him came the tribe of Kalhure, as well as a son
Named Roham, who was sent by Bahman Keiani to destroy Jerusalem and lead
the Jews into captivity, Roham, then, was Bokht-i-nasser (Nebuchadnezzar of Scripture), who
succeeded to throne of Babylon. His descendant are the Koorans or Gurans (Gorans).
They are Semitic. (See “Encyclopedia Britannica, “article “Koordistan”)
( d ) The next step in the racial process seems to be furnished by Keffee Effendi, who
Intimates that the southern Koormanj coalesced with a part of the Koorans, and
Thus formed not only the powerful Jaff tribe, but, by a union of their speech, a
New dialect also, which is still called the Jaff. Thus a prominent branch of the Semitic
Family, by its union with the vigorous southern Koormanj, was transferred into the Aryan.
( e ) Latter, the Aryan element is strengthened by an infusion of Iranian stock, which, crowded
Out of Persia by a great ethnic movement from the banks of the Indus, brings in the Lurs,
Who are welcomed by the Jaffs and given settlement along the Karun River and its
effluents, Two results followed from this contact also:
Jaff blood coursed through the Lur tribe and made it Koordish, and the Iranic element
Of the Lur language percolated through the agglutinated and coarser fiber of the Jaff
Tongue, and shaped it to Iranian moulds; much as the Saxon element prevailed in our
English tongue, while the racial preponderance remained to the angles.
( F ) Still another Indo-Persian ethnic movement occurred and from its center of rest in
Afghanistan a Wend migration was projected westward across Persia and up into
Luristan and Ardilian. It fused with what it touched, and out of the new admixture
Was evolved a more compact union of the nomad portion of the Kooran Jaffs and of the Lurs
With the Wend element, under the tribal name of wend.
These steps of ethnologic evolution may best be indicated by the accompanying tables.
1.- The constitution of the Jaff Tribe.
(a) Guto or Gardu (Turanian), -
Absorbed by the - and forming the Koormanj (Aryan) - and
( b ) Koormanj-Southern ---(Aryan) - which later absorbs a part of the -constites the
( c ) Koorans (Gurans), who are Semitic, - Jaff (ary
An); and this also receives the ( d ) Lurs who yet retain
Their tribal unity and names.
2-the constitution of the wend tribe—the Guelhore of the Sheroef Na’ameh.
Still later the wend (Iranian) draw off.
(a ) the Kocher Kooran, or Nomadic Jaffs, and also - thus forming the wend tribe (Iranian),
(b ) The Jaff Lurs,
Tribal Division and Dispersion, as they are today, This is briefly and best presented in a
tabulated form.

1-Jaff Tribe
Koormanj- Northern Koormanj-Southern Koorans
Turkey Persia Turkey Persia
Ashair (sub-tribes)of
Northern Ashair of Ashair of
Koordistan in Turkey-in Rowandiz, Mikri Kerkook, Zohan—east
Bashkaloh-Van, Arbeel, Shenoo Suleimanieh, Kermanshah
Bitlis, Kohi Sanjak,Serdesht Jaff Shehr Zore,Hamadan,
Diarbekir, Ranieh, Kelo Dersim Mts. Ardilan
Erzroom, Suleimanieh Koordek Anatolia,
Mamoorite el Aziz Bookan
Jaff—Nomads,
--Settled,
Baba Meeva,
Baba Umri,


2-Wend Tribe
Wend, Kocher (Nomadic)Kooran, Lur
Afghanista Turkey Persia Luristan-Persia.
Ashair of
Bakhtiar Wend, Hama Wend,
Jaff Jowazood



Number,--For various reasons exactness is simply impossible; the following tabulation gives
Only approximate estimates:
Koormanj -- Northern—Turkey -----------2,000,000
 Southern – Turkey----------150,000
o -- Persia-----------200,000
Kooran, Turkish provinces-----------200,000
Persian “ -----------150,000
Wend Turkish provinces----------110,000
Persian “ -----------90,000
Afghanistan (southwest Portion), 500,000
-------------------
Total 3,400,000

Mode of life
Mode of life,--(a) Those purely pastoral are nomadic (called Kochers), and oscillate between
The mountains and plains, occupying the former in summer and later in winter.

( b ) Those partly pastoral and partly agricultural occupy fixed abodes in winter, but in
Summer dwell in tents among pastures not remote from their harvest fields.

( c ) Those purely agricultural remain throughout the year in fixed abodes. Some Koords dewll
In towns and cities as merchants and mechanics.
Generally speaking, one half, perhaps more, belong to class a, while the remainder are distributed between classes b and c in the proportion of 2 to 1.

General Characteristics’
General Characteristics’,-The Koords are of two distinct types---the northern and southern. The
northern Koord is bold but not courageous, hospitable but full of theft and treachery, loud-voiced
and brutal, lazy and Ignorant, fond of intrigue, feudatory. He is thriftless and likewise shiftless in
regard to his person, dress, and manners. He has black eyes and hair, is of fine physique and
athletic, is temperate, and of sturdier morals than his Turkish ruler. As a rule he is monogamous,
and treats his wife more after the manner of Europeans than of the Turk. He is intellectually dull,
and dogged in his commercial dealings; ready to owe and acknowledge a debt, but slow to cancel it.

The southern Koord is not less athletic, but of finer grain, more polite in his bearing, more
Quiet in his manners, and more careful of his person and dress. He has a more intellectual
Cast of features, and is brighter looking. This applies to the fixed southern Koord: his
Nomadic brother is more like the northern Koord. The organization of the southern Koords
Is more compact than that of the northern tribes, and there is among them the quiet consciousness
Of power. They obey Abdu l Hamid more as Caliph than as Sultan.
In general they are the highlanders of Turkey and Persia---fond of freedom, but lawless
In their use of it. Thereby occasioning great uneasiness to both those powers.
Clannishness and tribal feuds are powerful preventatives of their racial homogeneity
And political power. They hold in solution the elements of a state, but a gospel precipitate
Will crystallize them into a bulwark of freedom better than Switzerland.

Language
Language,--It is still disputed whether Koordish is a distinct language, That it is Iranian is
Clear; that is a dialect of the Persian is not so clear. Of the five stages through which the
Persian has passed, the Koordish most resembles the last, or neo-Persian. The Koordish,
How ever, is enough of a language to have its own dialects, of which the following are the chief:
( 1 ) The Koormanj, mainly used in northern Koordistan.
( 2 ) the Jaff, mainly used in southern Koordistan, and of which Keffee effendi says that recently
Very many of the Koorans forsook the Kooran dialect, and now speak “the original and
Beautiful Jaff language.
( 3 ) The Kooran, or Goran, and called also Zaza, used by the Kocher Jaffs, and Koorans of
the Dersim, around Harpoot, and in various parts of Anatolia.
( 4 ) The Lur, used in Luristan, but affecting, as well as connecting, the Kooran and Wend. Of
These dialects the Jaff is probably the purest and superior, and Koormanj the harshest
And least developed.
Generally speaking, the Koordish, in all its dialects, is simple, sententious, terse, direct,
Forceful; better adapted to express the feelings and the will than the more discursive and
Logical efforts, of the intellect. As the language of an unlettered race, its development has
Been in the direction of appeals to the emotions and passions of a people at once and chiefly
Pastoral and predatory. Its intellectual development will advance, pari passu , with that of the
Koordish race, and the capabilities of each are of no mean order.

Religions,--All Koords are Moslems, but the Sunnis, or followers of Mohammed, and the
Shiahs, or followers of Ali, share them about equally.
Again, the Sunnis are divided into the Shafai, Hanafi, and Hanbali sects. The southern
Koormanj and the Jaffs, the Bakhtiari Wend and the Jaff Jowazood are Shafais: the Northern
Koormanj of Jebel Toor, of the plain north of the Sinjar Hills and to the west of Sert, are
Hanafis; but Hanbali sect has little hold upons the Koords.
The Shiahs comprise the Lur and Wend tribes of Persia and Afghanistan, the Koormanj of
Bohtan, Sert, and Bitlis, and the Koorans of the Dersim Mountains and Anatolia in Turkey.
All Koords are bigoted, and are fanatically attached to their Sheikhs, if not to their religion.
Comparatively few of them have an intelligent grasp of Islam, which indeed is a foreign
Religion in a foreign tongue.


Relation to missionary Work
Relation to missionary Work.—At present they sustain none, because neither Turkey nor
Persia would tolerate organized work in their behalf;
And their contact with the evangelistic efforts of the Eastern Turkey and west Persia missions
For the nominal Christians residing in their midst is of the slightest.
The evangelical churches of Turkey support a “Koordish Mission” which is conducted from
Harpoot; but it is for Koordish-speaking Armenians in Koordistan, and not for the Koords.
In connection with this work a translation of the New Testament and also a small hymn-book
Have been published in Koormanji Koordish.
Some effort for koordish-speaking Syrians is now prosecuted by the Mardin station of the
Intention of Providence to use these evangelized Koordish-speaking Christians as an entering
Wedge for work among the Moslem Koords when “all things are ready “ for such a
Movement. The Persian Mission of the Presbyterian Board (North) is also making
Efforts to reach them.
All who know them believe in the Koords as a race, in their capabilities, and in their
Future religious and political progress, and not a few feel that in them may be founded
The solution of the “Eastern Questions”
Koordish Version.—The Koordish belongs to the Iranic branch of the Aryan family,
And is spoken in Koordistan, Turkey. For the Koords using the Armenian character,
Bishop Schevris, at Tabriz, translated the Gospels, which were printed at Shusha
In 1832 by the British and foreign Bible Society. A translation of the New
Testament was also prepared by an American student at Bebek for and published by
The American bible Society. Another translation into Armeno-Koordish, of which the
Gospel of Matthew was published by the Br. And for, Bible Soc. In 1856 and other
Parts since by the Am. Bible soc. Was undertaken by pastor Stepan of Heine, not far
From Diarbekir. “But” (says the “American Bible Society Record, “ march, 1880)
“In his desire to make it intelligible to the inhabitants of different sections, the translator
So combined idioms as to make it unintelligible to almost all. The use of the Armenian
Character proved a hindrance rather than a help. It is perhaps better adapted to the
Language, which has no character of its own; but being Christian, it was repugnant to
Moslem pride. The fact also that any Koords who learn to read learn Arabic, Turkish,
Or Persian, increased the prejudice against the Armenian letter. “ An entirely new translation
Is in course of preparation.
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Jaff Sassani
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