Kurdish literature (Kurdish:وێژەی کوردی,romanized: Wêjeya kurdî orئەدەبی کوردی) isliterature written in theKurdish languages. Literary Kurdish works have been written in each of the six main Kurdish languages:Zaza,Gorani,Kurmanji,Sorani,Laki andSouthern Kurdish.Balül, a 9th-century poet and religious scholar of theYarsani faith, is the first well-known poet who wrote in Gorani Kurdish.[1]Ehmedê Xanî (1650–1707) is probably the most renowned of the old Kurdish poets. He wrote the romanticepicMem û Zîn in Kurmanji, sometimes considered the Kurdishnational epic. Sorani poetry developed mainly after the late 18th century.
Most written Kurdish literature was poetry until the 20th century, when prose genres began to be developed.[2]
Zaza andGorani (also known as Hewrami) are twoNorthwestern Iranian languages which are linguistically distinct from the Kurdish languages, although most of their speakers consider themselves Kurds.[3] Gorani was once a literary language, although its literary variety differs in many ways from the local language called Hewrami. It was particularly in use at the court of theArdalan emirate based inSanandaj. The religious texts of theYarsanis are written in Gorani.[3] Some of the well-known Gorani-language poets and writers areMele Perîşan (1356–1431),Shaykh Mustafa Takhtayi,Mistefa Bêsaranî (1642–1701), Muhammad Kandulayi (late 17th century),Khana Qubadi (1700–1759), Shayda Awrami (1784–1852) andMastoureh Ardalan (1805–1848).
A small amount of literature in the Zaza language has been published. Some writers, mainly Sweden-based authors likeMehemed Malmîsanij andEbubekir Pamukçu, write in Zaza.[3]
The earliest "proper 'text'" written in Kurdish[4] is a Kurmanji translation of a Christian prayer inArmenian letters, copied between 1430 and 1446 and preserved in an Armenian manuscript. Besides this, the earliest written works in Kurdish are from the 16th and 17th centuries.[5] Information about the earliest Kurdish poets is incomplete. The dates for authors given byMahmud Bayazidi, once the sole source for the subject, are not considered reliable. Little information survives aboutAli Hariri,[2] whom Bayazidi dated to the 15th century but who, according to Thomas Blois, should be placed later.[6]Melayê Cizîrî (1570–1640) is said to have been the founder of a school of Kurmanji poets who wrote in the sub-dialect ofJazira/Bohtan. Cizîrî left behind a large number of poems, includingqasidas (odes) andghazals (lyrics), some of which are still popular.Feqiyê Teyran (1590–1660) was supposedly Cizîrî's student. He also wroteqasidas andghazals, and he was the first known Kurdish poet to write narrative poems using themathnawi (couplet) form.[2] HisHikayeta Şêxê Sen'an (The story of Sheikh Sen'an) is a well-knownepic poem.[7]
Ehmedê Xanî (1650–1707) is probably the most renowned of the old Kurdish poets. His long romantic epicMem û Zîn (Mem and Zin) tells the story of two lovers from rival noble houses whose families prevent them from marrying. It is sometimes viewed as the Kurdishnational epic. It may have drawn from the Kurdish popular epicMemî Alan and perhaps also fromNizami Ganjavi'sLayla and Majnun.[2] Khani followed classical literary conventions when composing the work.[6] He also wrote a versified Arabic-Kurdish vocabulary for students titledNûbihara Biçûkan (New spring for children) and a religious poem calledEqîda Îmanê (Faith in the religion).[2] His student was Ismaîlê Bayazidî (1654–1709), author of many Kurdish poems and a Kurmanci-Arabic-Persian glossary titledGulzar (Rose garden).[6]
Mela Huseynê Bateyî, who was born sometime in the 17th and died in the mid-18th century,[8] wrote amawlud (i.e., a poem about the Prophet Muhammad's birth) and a poem about morality and manners, which was apparently so popular that theYazidis adopted it as part of their oral religious literature.[2] In the 18th century, Şerif Xan (1682–1748), a member of the ruling family ofHakkari, wrote many poems in Kurmanji and Persian, and Mûrad Xan from Bayazid (1736–1778) authored many lyrical poems.[6]
TheYazidis are a Kurmanji-speaking ethno-religious group whose religious texts have been passed down mostly orally. In 1911 and 1913, two Kurmanji texts called theMeshefa Reş and theKitêba Cilvê, were published. These were purported to be the sacred books of the Yazidis, but they were really written in modern times by non-Yazidis. The oldest versions of the books were found in the 1880s and were written in Arabic, not Kurdish.[9] Nevertheless, at least some part of the books corresponds to actual Yazidi religious tradition.[10]
A manuscript of Ahmadi dictionary by Shex Marof Nodê (1753-1838) from the archive of legacy committee of Vejin. This manuscript is written in 1928.
In contrast to Kurmanji, literary works inSorani were not abundant before the late 18th and early 19th century. Although many poets beforeNalî have written in Sorani,[11] it was only after him that Sorani became an important dialect in writing.[12] Nalî was the first poet to write adiwan (collection of poems) in this dialect. Others, such asSalim and Kurdi, wrote in Sorani in the early 19th century as well.[13]Haji Qadir Koyi ofKoy Sanjaq in central Kurdistan (1817–1897), andSheikh Reza Talabani (1835–1909) also wrote in Sorani dialect afterNalî. The closeness of the two dialects of Sorani and Kurmanji is cited as one of the reasons for the late start in Sorani literature, as well as the fact that during 15th to 19th century, there was a rich literary tradition in the Kurmanji dialect. Furthermore, the presence of the Gorani dialect as a literary language and its connection toYarsanism andArdalan dynasty was another reason that people did not produce texts in Sorani.[11][14]
Faqi Tayran (Feqiyê Teyran) (1590–1660) Student of Melayê Cezîrî. He is credited for contributing the earliest literary account of the Battle of Dimdim in 1609–1610 betweenKurds andSafavid Empire.
Ahmad Khani (Ehmedê Xanî) (1651–1707) (The epic drama of Mem û Zîn) (Born in Hakkari, Turkey)
Mahmud Bayazidi (Mahmud Bayazidi), (1797–1859) Kurdish writer.
^abcAllison, Christine (2007). "'The Kurds are Alive': Kurdish in Iraq". In Postgate, J. N. (ed.).Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern. British School of Archaeology in Iraq. pp. 138–139.ISBN978-0-903472-21-0.
^Ghaderi, Farangis (2021). "A History of Kurdish Poetry". In Bozarslan, H.; Gunes, C.; Yadirgi, V. (eds.).The Cambridge History of the Kurds. Cambridge University Press. p. 712.doi:10.1017/9781108623711.029.ISBN9781108623711.
Blau, Joyce (2010). "Written Kurdish literature". In Kreyenbroek, P. G.; Marzolph, U. (eds.).Oral Literature of Iranian Languages. Vol. II. London:I.B. Tauris. pp. 1–32.
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