'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎199v] (403/706)

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KURDISTAN
Geography.
The region occupied has no natural or political boundaries ; it includes
both Persian and Turkish territory and contains many other elements be
sides Kurds. During the years 1905-12 the Turks encroached considerably
on Persian Kurdistan and incited the Kurds to create trouble (see Azar-
baijan). The district may be said to extend from Turkish Armenia on the
north to the plains of the middle Tigris and the Luristan mountains on the
south and through the greater part of this length to overlap the Persian
frontier. The above is broadly speaking the whole country inhabited by
Kurds, but it is with Persian Kurdistan that we are concerned here, which is
one of the provinces of northern Persia and is bounded on the north by the
Persian Province of Azarbaijan ; on the west by Sulaimanieh and other
Turkish territories ; on the south by Kirmanshah ; and on the east by Hama-
dan and Khamseh.
Kurdistan will be seen, therefore, to occupy the mountain system which
starting from the range of Anti-Taurus, sweeps east in a crescent to become
the Zagros, which bounds Persia upon the west, and which the Kurds divide
with the Lurish tribes south of their limit line.
From the river Saruq, which separates it from Azarbaijan, to Sinneh,
the face of the country is everywhere the same. It presents to the view either
progressive clusters of hills, heaped as it were upon each other, or great table
lands covered with flocks and the tents of the Illats. The valleys are narrow
strips at the foot of the mountains, where the villages are commonly built in
situations which protect the few inhabitants that remain in them from the
inclemency of the weather. The soil is good and would yield abundance, but
the Kurds prefer a pastoral life. The oil plant is everywhere common, and
tobacco is cultivated in small quantities. Wooded mountains separated by
narrow valleys and occasional plains, producing excellent pasture, cover the
north portion of Ardalan. The woods yield excellent oak and fine gal
apples.
Between Kaleh Shah Khanl and Khizr Elias in Kirmanshah the nature of
the country entirely changes, and instt a 1 of a succession of verdant hills,
intermixed with deep glens, there are here extensive cultivated plains,
bounded by break and barren mountains.
For details of the rivers and mountains of Kurdistan see Rabino’s c ‘ Report
on Kurdistan ” or under the individual names in this Gazetteer.
The Persian section of Kurdistan comprises : —
(i) part of the district of Avroman.
(ii) Merivan.
(Hi) Sardasht and Baneh.
The first is a sub-province of Ardalan, and is ruled by the hereditary chief,
Shah ’AH, who possesses a large part of the power exercised by his predeces
sors who were semi-independent rulers under the old Ardalan Valis of Sinneh,
To all purposes he is, at present, independent, having paid no taxes for
some years (1912).
Merivan fort is the centre of a district of that name where formerly a few
Persian soldiers were stationed, but at present the Merivanis are in a state of
independence. They are connected with the Avromanl tribe, and are a
separate section under the administrative scheme of Ardalan.