Ardalan also known as Ardalanids, house of Ardalan, Ardalind dynasty, () was a hereditary Kurdish

Emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalent ...

in western

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with

Sanandaj Sanandaj (; ) is a city in the Central District of Sanandaj County, in the Kurdistan province of Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. With a population of 414,069, it is the second largest Kurdish city a ...

as capital. The Ardalan state was completely independent until 1617, when it was incorporated into the

Safavid Empire The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

as a semi-independent frontier province by the name of Ardalan. The territory corresponded roughly to present-day Kurdistan province of

and its rulers were loyal to

Qajar Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...

Baban Baban () was a Kurdish emirate existing from the 16th century to 1850, centered on Sulaymaniyah. The Baban Principality played an active role in the Ottoman-Safavid conflict and gave significant military support to the Ottomans. They were in c ...

was its main rival. Gorani was its

literary language Literary language is the Register (sociolinguistics), register of a language used when writing in a formal, academic writing, academic, or particularly polite tone; when speaking or writing in such a tone, it can also be known as formal language. ...

and

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

. When the Ardalan emirate fell, literary work in Gorani ceased.

History

Origins

The ruling family of Ardalan belonged to the Ardalan tribe, also known as Bani Ardalan tribe, whose name may has been suggested to have been acquired from a Turkic rank. The ruling family considered themselves to be descended from

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

(), the founder of the

Ayyubid dynasty The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

(1171–1260/1341). Some Ardalan monarchs claimed descent from

Ardashir I Ardashir I (), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire, the last empire of ancient Iran. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new empire. After defeating the last Par ...

, the founder of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

. Other tribal folklore traced their foundation to the early

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

(750–1258). According to Sharafkhan Bidlisi, the renowned Kurdish historian, the earliest known leader of the tribe, Bani Ardalan, was a descendant of Nasr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Marwan, who was the ruler of Marwanid Emirate in 1011–1061 centered in Diyar Bakr. He settled down among the Goran Kurds in

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

and toward the end of the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

era took over the Sharazor, where he established himself as an absolute ruler.

Ardalan emirate

The Ardalan emirate was independent from its foundation by Baba Ardalan until it became Semi-independent in 1617, when Ahmad khan took the throne. From the Beginning of Ahmad Khan's reign till Amanoallah Khan, the Ardalan emirate was mostly a Semi-independent acountry. They recognized

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

or Ottoman hegemony according to the requirements of each period. During the Safavid hegemony, the Ardalans were deeply involved in the conflicts between the Iranian and Ottoman empires, they shifted their Allegiance to the Ottomans whenever it suited them. By 1736,

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar (; 6 August 1698 or 22 October 1688 – 20 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was a ...

had overthrown the

Safavid dynasty The Safavid dynasty (; , ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from Safavid Iran, 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of History of Iran, modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder em ...

and started expanding the borders of Iran both to the east and west. He fought numerous wars against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

from the start of his reign until his death in June 1747. Some of the lands controlled by the Kurdish rulers were repeatedly transferred during these battles. The Ottomans and Nader Shah occupied Ardalan more than any other of those regions. In addition to these states, Ardalan was also invaded by the principalities of Mukriyan,

, and

Shahrizor Shahrizor or Shahrezur () is a fertile plain in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, situated in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Silêmanî Governorate and west of Avroman, Hewraman. Shahrizor plain is watered by the Tributary, tributaries of Tandjaro r ...

. Soon after Nader Shah's assassination,

Karim Khan Zand Mohammad Karim Khan Zand (; ) was the founder of the Zand dynasty, ruling all of Iran (Name of Iran, Persia) except for Khorasan province, Khorasan from 1751 to 1779. He also ruled over some of the Caucasus, Caucasian lands and occupied Basra f ...

became the new ruler of Iran. He gained control over most of the country, and before the winter of 1749, had launched a military operation against Ardalan. Its ruler, Hasan Ali, attempted to diffuse the conflict despite his lack of preparation, but failed. The Zand army destroyed his capital, Sanandaj. Kurdish rulers were never awarded important posts in the Zand dynasty's administrative hierarchy, such as the office of ''

beglerbegi ''Beylerbey'' (, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords’, sometimes rendered governor-general) was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the I ...

'' (governor-general). Hereditary positions required royal approval, and Karim Khan did not always acknowledge the rulers those who were in line to take over their inherited domains.

Literature

Under Halo Khan Ardalan and his successor Khan Ahmad Khan Ardalan, the towns of Ardalan were restored. They also supported writers and poets who wrote in Arabic, Persian, and especially Gorani, a language that was far more spoken than it is now.

References

Sources