People Who Influenced The Region

Historical Figures with Impact on the Region

The region that is known as Soran today, in general, has had a prominent and significant status in the history of the Kurds. It has had many influential figures who had impact political, social and cultural aspects of Kurds These figures created many great experiences. Among the most important figures, we can refer to following characters:

Khanzad Soran:

Khanzad Soran or the Khanzad Lady, is one an influential woman with authority in the history of the Kurds, who took over the leadership of Soran Emirate in the late sixteenth to the seventeenth century after her brother was killed Baghdad. She took the position of queen of the Emirate of Soran, the castle of Khanzad was the main place of her stay. This place is 22 kilometers from the center of the current city of Erbil. This lady, who was the queen of a famous emirate in the region, was known for many great special manners, including: bravery and courage, supervising the military operations, punishment of criminals, wandering at night to be aware of her people's situation.

The scholar Ibnu Adam

The scholar Ibnu Adam Rusutayi Balak, whose full name is Muhammad Adam Abdullah, was born in the village of Rust of the Balakayti area (1164 AH , 1750 CE). His father was a famous scholar of his time. After that he was granted scholar license by Muhammad Abdullah Bayazidi, who was a student of the scholar Sibgatullah Haidari. And at the request of the king Mustafa Bag Ughz Bag, king of the Soran Emirate, he went to Rwanduz with the intention of teaching Muhammad, son of king Mustafa, known as the Blind King (Pashai Kora). He taught Mawlana Khalid Naqshbandi and many famous scholars of his time.

He wrote many books on (Eloquence, Logic, Astronomy, Engineering, Grammar, Morphology, Rhetoric, Inheritance, History, Religious Laws, Faith, Explication, and Advices). He was also a poet who left books in Kurdish and Farsi. He died in Konakhan near Dlezay village of Choman District in 1822 CE,

King Muhammad, king of Rawandz 1775-1838:

He was born on March 4, 1775 in the city of Rwanduz. He became the king of the Emirate of Soran between 1813-1816 after his father resigned from the position of king of the Emirate of Soran and lived in the castle of Akoyan. King Muhammad took power and in the period between 1822-1832 he controlled many areas of the regions of Erbil, Badinan, Gezira and Botan, Mosul, Koya, Kirkuk, and Sulaymaniyah. After the year 1836, his kingdom was defeated by the army of the Ottoman Empire, and in the end king Muhammad went to negotiate about establishing peace and agreeing with the Ottoman in a trip to Istanbul, but his fate remained unknown until the publication of the Ottoman documents which states that he was mentioned dead on December 26, 1838. King Muhammad's works include many achievements such as,  printing money in various sizes, establishing the military factories that produced 220 medium and long-range canons, mostly made by a noticeable person in this field Wasta Rajab, providing security and peace and punishing criminals and unifying the regions of Soran, Badinan, Erbil, Pishdar and Koya Kirkuk, Botan, Jazira, and Mosul.

Barzan and the Barzanis

One of the most influential characters in Kurdish political and social history in the twentieth century is the Barzan family. A considerable number of the Kurdish uprisings and resistances in southern Kurdistan (and even in eastern Kurdistan during the founding of the Republic of Kurdistan) is associated with the name of the Barzanis and the characters with great impact, we can refer to some of the most influential among them below:

Sheikh Abd Al-Salam Barzani II (1882-1915) who was leading the Barzani tribe, was a patriotic and influential figure. But at the beginning of the First World War and due to his refusal to join the army of the Ottomans, he was killed by hanging to death.

Sheikh Ahmad Barzani (1884 - 1969) was the younger brother of Sheikh Abd al-Salam Barzani II, but older brother of Mulla Mustafa Barzani. He was a distinguished spiritual figure who brought many different norms to social life. For example, he was concerned with protecting the environment; this norm has remained as a habit in the Barzan area to this day. This care for the nature has given a beautiful feature to the area.

Mulla Mustafa Barzani (1903 - 1979) was the most influential Kurdish leader in the twentieth century. And at the beginning of his life, while he was still a baby, he was imprisoned with his mother. His elder brother, Sheikh Abd Al-Salam, was executed to death for not joining the Ottoman Empire. He had a great role with his elder brother, Shekh Ahmed, in the Kurdish political and cultural movement. Then, in the 1940s, he stood against the central government. Despite making some victories, but in the end, he was forced to go to eastern Kurdistan and from there to the city of Mihabad. He was warmly welcomed there. He participated in establishing the Republic of Kurdistan. He became one of the four people who got the title of General by the President of the Republic. On 16th August, 1946, he founded the Kurdistan Democratic Party. After the collapse of the republic, and the famous defense of the Barzanis of it, they were forced to go to Russia. They crossed the Arras River, remained there (Russia) until the 1958 revolution, after which they returned to Iraq. After the rise of several problems between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdish leadership and rejection of the demands of the people of Kurdistan, he stated the famous September  revolution which was the largest political revolution of the twentieth century. On 11th March 1970, and for the first time in history of the Kurdistan revolution, the Iraqi central government recognized the rights of the Kurds. But after that due to an agreement between the Iraqi government and the Iranian government, known as Algerian agreement, the Iraqi government backed out on its promises and attacked Kurdistan. It marked the end of the September revolution in 1975. Mullah Mustafa Barzani died of illness in 1979 in the United States of America.

-In addition to the above historical figures, there were several other people, who were from foreign countries but who had political and social impact on the region, we can refer to them below:

Hamilton 1989-1972:

Archibald Milne Hamilton: Born on October 18th 1898 in New Zealand. He worked as a civil engineer in Iran, Britain, Singapore, Iraq and Kurdistan. He was the engineer and founder of the Hamilton Road between 1928-1932 from Kore to Haji Omaran. This project was for the purpose of connecting Kurdistan with the Caspian Sea, and after that he published a book in the year 1937 entitled (A Road in Kurdistan). He died in 1972.

 

http://www.saradistribution.com/roadthroughkurdistan.htm

http://previous.cabinet.gov.krd/a/d.aspx?l=12&s=02010200&r=73&a=36102&s=010000

Husein Hozni Mukriyanni 1893-1947

He is Husein Saeid Abd Al-Latif Sheikh Ismail Sheikh  Latif Khazani. His nicknames are: Huzni, Khdok, and Bezhan. Born in Mahabad.

He was a prominent name in the Kurdish cultural and political and social life. His works in the field of language, literature, journalism and history are of great importance. In the years 1925 to 1932 he founded the printing house in Rawandz. He printed a journal called the Zari Kurmanji, and published 24 issues.