'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎202r] (408/706)

KURD—KURK
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By far the greater number of Persian Kurds are sedentary and pastoral,
a great many farm and till the hill slopes, whilst many more are shepherds.
Their habits are nomadic in moving during the summer months into camps
on the higher acclivities of the hills above the settled villages. Nomad
Kurds are largely Turkish subjects or live on the Turkish border and per
haps the wealthiest members of the tribe belong to this class, the cultivators
and shepherds being as a rule deplorably ignorant and poor.
As to what their numbers may be, it seems pure guess work. Some say
one million, some two, some a half. Dissensions and clan feuds weaken
them, as they did the Scottish Highlanders, and they do not attempt resis
tance to the Persians, whose present army is far from formidable, but in
the event of any invasion the great fact would be that the invaders would
find auxiliaries rather than enemies in them, which, considering the nature
of the country, is of enormous importance. Persian-born Governors are
now beginning to replace the Kurdish chiefs, who up to now (1903) were
always Governors of their own districts.
In December 1880 there occurred an abortive Kurdish rebellion in Persia
under a certain Shaikh Obaid Ullah which, though a fiasco, was from a
political point of view of groat importance as it showed the utter impractic
ability, owing to family and clan dissensions, of a united Kurdish organisa
tion, which will probably not be heard of again during our time. For further
particulars see Lord Curzon’s Persia, and articles Azarbaijan and Kirman-
shah of this Gazetteer.
Whatever the Turkish Kurds may be, the Persian ones are celebrated
for their hospitality and are not at all unfriendly towards Europeans. They
8re great dandies in dress, and the richer ones are always well dressed in
clean and good clothes. The national clothing is a short coat and very
baggy trousers with an enormous sash round the waist in which are placed
knife and pipe, and some sort of coloured silk (generally dark) handkerchief
wound round the head ; the Kurd invariably carries arms of some sort. Nature
has well endowed him, as he is a fine, large, handsome man.— {Gerard ;
Curzon ; Harris.)
KUREHVAZ (KURAVAZ).— ’
A bvluk of Kurdistan about 10 farsakhs west of Sinandij. The produce
of the buluk barely suffices for its population which does not exceed 3,000,
chiefly composed of members of the KumasI tribe, all Sunnis, and notorious
robbers. The hills are wooded with oak, ash, and banch, a Persian turpen
tine tree, Pastac a nutica. The annual taxes amounted to 2,500 krdns a
short time ago (1900).— {Schindler, 1902).
KURIA—
A stream flowing westward below Chashmeh into the Rud-i-Talar west
of the Khing plateau.— {Lovett.)
KURKRUD—
A village in Mazandaran, 22 miles east of ’Abbasabad. It is divided into
two parts, and contains some fifty houses and pays a revenue of 60 tu-
meins per annum.
The name of the stream which flows past it is Kurkehrudsar or Kurkrusar*
r—{Holmes.)
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