The Kurdish Community from the Abbasids to Safavids; Sharafkhan Bedlisi’s Perspective

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Sharafkhan Bedlisi began writing Kurdish historiography in the late sixteenth century by writing Sharafnama. Sharafnama includes the history of the Kurdish emirates from the Abbasid caliphates to the end of the years (1596-1597), i.e. until the Safavid era. Sharafnama is basically a continuation of the same method of traditional Islamic historiography, i.e. political, military and family event writing. However, the introduction of Sharafnama regarding the characteristics of Kurdish people and the Kurdish society from the Abbasid to Safavid eras can differentiate this historical work from the contemporary and earlier historical works. In this regard, Sharafnama can be considered as a work different from the tradition of Islamic historiography. Sharafkhan Bedlisi maintains that religionism, irrationality, chaos (lack of concentration), lack of unity thoughts, fratricidal desires, lack of foresight, importance of warrior-ship and unwillingness to establish a local government are the most important characteristics of Kurdish people and Kurdish society from the Abbasid to Safavid eras. The present study attempts to discuss the aforementioned characteristics in a descriptive-analytical manner.