2 - Kurdish Nationalism: From Emergence to Politicisation

Summary

This chapter has been structured around the question of the periodisation of the emergence of Kurdish nationalism and the Kurdish question in Iran. Raising the question of periodisation of the Kurdish question and politicisation of Kurdish national sentiment has been a precondition for understanding the background and reasons for the emergence of the Kurdish national movement. Identifying the root causes of the ongoing Iranian Kurdish question has required reflection on the contribution and impact of political and historical events with relevance to the emergence of Kurdish nationalism in earlier centuries (e.g. seventeenth and eighteenth centuries). In order to respond to and meet this requirement, studying the role of Kurdish intellectuals such as Ahmad Khani and Haji Qader Koyi in awaking Kurdish national sentiment and how this national self-understanding and self-image have been reflected through printed media have been the core elements of this chapter.