Boris James

1169 yılında, fethedilen Mısır’da, Suriye ordusunun bir Kürt emiri, Selahaddin, amcasının ardından vezirliğe yükselir. Kudüs’ün Franklardan geri alınmasıyla İslam dünyasının en ünlü sultanı haline gelen Selahaddin artık, Yemen’den Mısır’a ve Suriye’den yukarı Mezopotamya’ya kadar yayılmış bir hanedanlığın sürekliliğini sağlayacaktır. Mısır vezirliğinden, 1193’da ölümüne dek Türk, Arap, Kürt, İranlı gibi birçok halktan önemli şahsiyetlerle çalışan Selahaddin’in kadrosunda, özellikle Eyyubi Devleti kurumlarında ve Suriye-Filistin ve  Cezire’nin tüm toplumsal katmanlarında Kürt devlet adamları çok önemli aktörler olmuşlardır.
Selahaddin dönemi Kürtleri kimlerdi?
Arap-Müslüman araştırmacılar tarafından nasıl değerlendirilmişlerdi?
Selahaddin’in egemenliğindeki rolleri neydi?
Diğer topluluklarla nasıl ilişkilenmişlerdi?
Nereden geliyorlardı?
Orijin bölgeleriyle olan bağları neydi?

Les Kurdes
Ecrire l’histoire d’un peuple aux temps pré-moderne.
L'Harmattan Paris, Etudes Kurdes, N° 10, 2009.

Qu’y a-t-il de commun entre la Bagdad du XIe siècle et l’Anatolie de l’Est à la période ottomane ? C’est la présence d’un mot : « Kurd ». Pour désigner un groupe ? un peuple en devenir ? un territoire ? Les études que nous proposons ici sont représentatives du regain d’intérêt pour les études kurdes. Toutes portent sur les Kurdes à des périodes et dans des régions diverses. Elles s’appuient sur des sources de natures et de langues (arabe, persan, turc ottoman…) variées. Elles présentent les deux contextes et les deux types d’insertions sociales des Kurdes dans le Moyen-Orient pré-moderne : 1) Le contexte rural et tribal, celui qui est le plus présent dans les esprits. Kurdes pastoraux transhumants, paysans, montagnards et guerriers tribaux ont longtemps peuplé l’imaginaire orientaliste. 2) Mais des Kurdes étaient aussi présents dans les grandes métropoles de l’Orient dès le Xe siècle. Kurdes artisans, commerçants, ulémas, soldats des armées régulières sont les oubliés d’une certaine historiographie. Ces quelques articles leur rendent justice. Ce numéro propose une série de points de vue, un florilège des possibles pour les études kurdes à la période pré-moderne.

Saladin et les Kurdes : perception d’un groupe au temps des Croisades, hors-série Études Kurdes, L’Harmattan, mai 2006.
En 1169 un émir kurde de l’armée de Syrie, Saladin, succéda à son oncle à la tête du vizirat d’Egypte qu’il venait juste de conquérir. Il est assisté par des personnages d’origines diverses, dont les Kurdes constituent un important groupe. Qui étaient les kurdes du temps de Saladin ? Comment étaient-ils perçus par les auteurs arabo-musulmans ? Quel fut leur rôle sous le règne de Saladin ? Comment replacer leur engagement auprès de Saladin dans une histoire médiévale des Kurdes ?

Far away from the often too global approaches that abandoned the Syrian space, and far also from the studies that focused exclusively on the humanitarian dimension of the question, the author of this monograph, Jordi Tejel, equipped with a strong theoretical background in anthropology and political science, traces the course of an unknown history. This way he ceases the modality of emergence of the Kurdish nationalist mobilization in Syria. The multiplicity of views and approaches allows the author to present complex and sometimes paradoxical historical moments and evolutions, avoiding any rash judgment or essentialism.

In the conception of space that Arab geographers and chroniclers had of the Medieval East, some designations refered clearly to a Kurdish presence (Bilad al-Akrâd, Djibâl al-Akrâd, Zûzân al-Akrâd, Kurdestân...) in Upper Mesopotamia, whether it was important or not. The emergence and the permanence of such designations constitute one of the aspects to be studied in order to apprehend the birth of a properly geographical Kurdish area.
Paradoxically the establishment of an overtly Turkish regime in Egypt during the Mamlûk period (end of the 13th century), seems to have been a turning point in the consolidation of a Kurdish category in the army and in the reinforcement of the Kurdish complexion of certain territories.  Thus the question that will underlie my presentation is : Why did the egyptian Dîwân al-inshâ’ refered to “al-mamlaka al-hasîna al-akrâdiyya” (Inaccessible Realm of the Kurds) to officially designate a territory that was supposed to be under the sovereignty of the Sultan al-Malik al-Mansûr Qalâwûn at the end of the 13th century ?
In this paper I will try to consider the process that led to the implementation of that designation and what it meant at that time. I will come back to the earlier designations and situations of the “tribal territory of the Kurds”. I will show how the latter slided westward because of the Turkmen infiltrations (11th and 12th centuries) and the counter-crusades led by the Zankid rulers, a phenomenon which ended up with the creation of the Ayyubid dynasty often described as a “Kurdish dynasty”(12th and 13th centuries). In abording the Mamlûk period I will present the territories inhabited or ruled by the Kurds according to the main official Mamlûk authors : Ibn ‘Abd al-Zâhir (m. 692/1293),  Ibn Fadlallah al-‘Umarî (m. 749/1348-9), Ibn Nâzir al-Djaysh (m. 786/1384), al-Qalaqashandî (m. 821/ 1418). I will then attract the attention to the fact that the sources implied that these territories were Mamlûk territories while in fact they were under the seasonal control of the Mongols and the Ilkhâns. I will then argue that the Mamlûk State reinforced the Kurdish difference and cohesion in order to undermine the Mongol’s rival power and to claim parts of its territory. I will also put forward the hypothesis that this was the birth of a frontier culture among the Kurds that lasted until now, an in-between situation that is shaped and exploited by the actors and that is shaping Kurdishness in return. Because, of the Kurds we can say the same thing that Gabriel Martinez-Gros wrote in his explanation of Ibn Khaldûn’s theory, about the Arabs : “ Arabness is a geoethnic fact (the intimate association of a people with an environnement)”. This intimacy does not imply exclusivness as I aim at describing one among many processes of utterance. Therefore I will adress the issue relating to the overlapping of Armîniyya and Bilâd al-Akrâd (Kurdistân) in the Arabic Medieval literary sources. Furthermore I will reflect the discussion that is taking place in the contemporary literature on these issues (Hakan Özoglu, Garnik Asatrian, Arshak Poladian...).

As well as the knowledge that historians have of other Islamic world edges peoples (Beduin, Turk, Berber), what is known about the Kurds during the medieval period suffers from a monolithic vision that sees the organisation of these remote populations as being “all the same”: tribalism, nomadism, castes... The economic and social organization of the land of the Kurds from the 9th to the 15th century is described. A paradigm of “in-betweenness” prevails geographically, socially, economically and politically. It has given rise to a still existing frontier culture specific to the Kurdish people. By asserting their sovereignty and differences, the tribes and emirs during the Middle Ages helped create a distinct Kurdish space.

À l’instar de la connaissance que les historiens ont de tous les peuples des confins de l’Islam (Arabes bédouins, Turcs, Berbères), la connaissance que l’on a des Kurdes médiévaux pâtit d’une vision monolithique où, dans un monde éloigné à la fois dans le temps et dans l’espace, tout se vaut : tribalisme, nomadisme, castes... Cet article esquisse l’organisation économique et sociale du territoire des Kurdes à cette époque (IXe-XVe siècle). On verra que dans tous les cas le paradigme de « l’entre-deux » s’impose. Cette situation intermédiaire du point de vue géographique, socioéconomique et politique a contribué à l’émergence d’une culture frontalière propre aux Kurdes, et ce jusqu’à aujourd’hui. En affirmant leur souveraineté et leur différence, les tribus et les émirs du Moyen Âge ont contribué à créer un espace kurde distinct.

The tribal territory of the Kurds through Arabic medieval historiography

Boris James 1

(19/11/2007)


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Since the very early stages of Arabic historiography in the ninth century, the Kurds have been mentioned by several authors. According to the texts, these populations, described as being fierce and rough, lived in the mountainous regions of the Middle East from Fârs to the Taurus. The area or field of action crossed by the Kurdish tribes is an always shifting tribal and political space, not an area over which military domination or political sovereignty is necessarily applied.
During the twelfth century, Arabic literary sources seem to describe a reduction of what might be called the “tribal territory of the Kurds”. This phenomenon follows a political reshuffling born of Turkmen infiltrations and the counter-crusades led by the Zankid rulers resulting in the emergence of the Ayyubid dynasty. During the Mamluk era, Mongols and Mamluks battled with each other, with the “tribal territory of the Kurds” lying at the boundary of these two entities.
This paper will address the problems posed by the textual approach. I will recall the polysemy implied by the word “Kurd” and discuss the question of Kurdish “ethnicity” during the Middle Ages, the criteria for it, and the manifestation of the sense of group belonging.
The use made of the words bilâd al-akrâd and zûzân al-akrâd in Arabic medieval literary sources will be analysed. Which space do they designate? What do they imply? I will argue that these designations are not an administrative or a literary abstraction. I will also address another problem: the separation between Zagrosian and Ciszagrosian Kurdish tribal territory that appears in the texts.
I will then describe the territorial dynamics and the spatial reorderings of the regions inhabited by the Kurds from the 11th to the 14th century, drawing a map of the Kurdish settlements or nomadic spaces and showing the changes inside a broader social and political configuration. Thanks to al-‘Umarî’s Masâlik al-Absar which lists many Kurdish tribes, I will discuss the anchoring of these populations and the rebirth of a tribal political anchoring in these regions during the Mamluk period.
Lastly, I will try to embrace the subjective dimension of the attachment of the Kurds to a specific territory. Is there evidence of a sense of belonging to this territory? What is the link between the latter and the Kurds in Syria and Egypt?

In the study of the Kurdish group in Arabic medieval sources one is easily confused in considering the use made of the word “Kurd” (Kurd, pl. Akrâd). Most of the time it doesn’t fit into our comtemporary social and “ethnical” categories. Both this and the incoherence of establishing a continuity between the medieval period and the 21st century regarding the use of the term “Kurd”, led some scholars to consider that this word had an “ethnographic value” (Aubin, Van Bruinessen) and that only the life-style of the populations considered (nomadism and pastoralism) determined the way in which the term was used.
Is this approach useful when interpreting the value of the term Kurd in the Medieval literature ? Could the notion of “representation” be a more valid and dynamic tool ? Is this incongruity, percieved by the readers of medieval sources, a result of a modulated use of this term which has been conditioned by several types of representations widely used when talking about this group ? During this presentation I am going to share with you my research questions vis à vis some occurences of the word “Kurd”. Why in my point of view are some of these uses confusing ? We will then discuss the solutions. I will ask for your input. We will try to take into account the representations of the Kurds that are established in opposition to the “ideal” norms of the urban and well-read muslim society and that reveal a prospective from the center towards the periphery. Finally we will discuss the question of kurdish “ ethnicity” during the Middle Ages, its criteria and the manifestation of the sense of belonging beyond the usual stereotyped representations of the Kurds.

The use made of the word  “Kurd” (Kurd, pl. Akrâd) in Arabic medieval sources is confusing. Most of the time it doesn’t fit into our comtemporary social and “ethnic” categories. The Arab authors, wether they mention the Kurds in passing or insert them in a complex social and political theory, are transmitters and filters of specific conceptions of the difference. Through the centuries these conceptions evolved. Thus the image of the Kurds and the meaning of the term “Kurd” changed. The description of the historical stages and the analysis of the several contexts of meaning are at the very core of this study. Two stages seem to appear : the first from the 8th to the 11th century where the term « kurd » is systematically linked with the terms ‘arab, a‘rāb et ‘aǧam and where the alleged arab origin of the Kurds is always recalled; during the second stage from the 11th to the 14th century one can witness a diversification in the uttering of ethnic differences. We also undertake here the study of the second stage. Six main contexts of meaning : The two registers of iranity and arabity ; The “ḫaldūnian“ register of bedouinity ; The register of the hedges barbarians ; The geo-ethnic register of the Kurds attached to a specific territory (Bilād al-akrād, Zūzān) ; Lastly the ethnological register of the Kurd as the “Other” of the Turk within the military oligarchy.
Keywords : Kurds, Mamlūks, Ethnicity, Ibn Ḫaldūn, ‘arab, ‘aǧam, turk


L’usage qui est fait du terme « kurde » (kurd, pl. akrād) dans les sources arabes médiévales est déroutant. Très souvent il ne recoupe pas nos catégories sociales et « ethniques » actuelles. Qu’ils évoquent les Kurdes en passant ou qu’ils les insèrent dans une théorie politique et sociale complexe, les auteurs arabes sont à la fois les transmetteurs et les filtres de conceptions particulières de la différence. Au fil des siècles, ces conceptions ont évolué et en retour l’image des Kurdes et le sens du terme « kurd » ont changé. La description de la spécificité des phases historiques successives et l’analyse des contextes de sens sont au centre de cet exposé. Deux phases se dégagent : la première du VIIIe au XIe siècle, qui lie le terme « kurd » de manière systématique aux termes ‘arab, a‘rāb et ‘aǧam et où l’origine arabe des Kurdes est souvent rappelée ; la seconde du XIe au XIVe siècle, où l’on assiste à une diversification de l’énoncé de la différence. Nous nous attelons à l’étude de cette deuxième phase. Six contextes de sens ou registres dans lesquels s’inscrivait cette catégorie émergent : les registres de l’iranité et de l’arabité ; le registre ḫaldūnien de la bédouinité ; le registre civilisationnel du barbare des confins ; le registre géo-ethnique des Kurdes attachés à un territoire spécifique (Bilād al-akrād, Zūzān) ; enfin le registre ethnologique du Kurde comme « Autre » du Turc dans l’oligarchie militaire.
Mots-clés : Kurdes, Mamlouks, Ethnicité, Ibn Ḫaldūn, ‘arab, ‘aǧam, turk

Quelle meilleure manière de rendre hommage à un livre que de l’accueillir par un soupir de soulagement ? Enfin, voilà un ouvrage de référence sur les Kurdes de Syrie. Loin des approches trop globales sur la question kurde qui ont délaissé l’espace syrien, loin encore des études se focalisant uniquement sur sa dimension humanitaire, l’auteur de cette monographie, armé d’un solide bagage théorique d’anthropologue et de politiste, remonte le cours d’une histoire méconnue pour tenter de saisir les modalités d’émergence de la mobilisation nationaliste kurde en Syrie. La multiplicité des points de vue et des approches permettent à l’auteur de présenter des moments et des évolutions historiques complexes et parfois paradoxales en évitant tout jugement à l’emporte pièce et tout essentialisme. La démarche de Jordi Tejel part du double constat selon lequel la « question kurde » en Syrie est restée extrêmement marginale dans les études contemporaines et qu’elle n’en est pas moins fondamentale comme en témoigne les événements de cette dernière décennie. Les émeutes de Qamishli en 2004, en effet, ont rappellé dans la violence l’importance de cette question et ont marqué, comme l’indique l’auteur, le passage à la « visibilité » d’un mouvement kurde de Syrie jusqu’alors dissimulé. L’auteur se propose de comprendre ce passage à la « visibilité » à partir d’une perspective historique très longue et remonte jusqu’à la période du mandat français sur la Syrie, période qui fut l’objet d’un précédent ouvrage (Tejel, 2007). Cette étude n’est pas seulement une étude sur les Kurdes, elle présente aussi un pan méconnu de l’histoire de la Syrie et permet de revisiter les approches scientifiques de l’organisation sociale et politique de ce pays.