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Museum |
Moshir divan building |
Vakilolmolk Building |
Congretional Mosque |
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Sanandaj - Capital of Kurdistan province, Iran
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The capital of the craggy mountainous province of Kurdistan at an elevation of 4,990 feet (1,521 m), was built on the site of the old Sinneh which was the capital of Kurdistan Province in the Middle Ages. It was also the site of a fortress built by the Abbasid Caliph Amin, but there does not appear to be anything left of old Sanandaj. A strongly tradition conscious people, the Kurds are fierce fighters and have bravely guarded Iran's western borders throughout its long history. In typical fashion they resisted the advance of Alexander, and centuries later, the Arabs. The Mongols proved to be a far more tenacious enemy but the Kurds nevertheless managed to inflict heavy casualties on Hulagu Khan's forces. Today, Sanandaj is a busy town of mainly Kurdish inhabitants and a center for the region's trade in agricultural produce as well as local crafts including the famous Senneh klims. Sites of interest include the Masjid-e- Jame, dating back from 1813, with attractive Qajar tilework, the Sanandaj Musuem, displaying artifacts found in the province's excavation Sites, and a very colorful bazaar -selling the glittering cloths and tribal costumes of the `Kurdish people.
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Sanandaj, Sena Dezh or Sena - brief history:
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About 300 years ago, there was a small village in western Persia named Seneh where the government built a fortress. In Persian 'fortress' is called 'dej'. Around this fortress, people came and built homes and the little village grew into a town. The fortress today is located in the middle of the town, which became known as Sanandaj (from the combination of Seneh and dej). At the turn of the century, people writing about carpets and analyzing their techniques, distinguished Persian carpets from Turkish carpets by their knots, and named the type of knot most commonly used in Iran the Seneh knot, also known as the Persian knot (as opposed to the Turkish or Ghiordes knot).
Also it was called Sisar, meaning "thirty heads," in the itineraries of Ibn Khurdazib and Qudameh. The population is mostly Kurds.Industries produce carpets, processed hides and skins, milled rice, and sugar. Woodworking, cotton weaving, and the making of metalware and cutlery constitute the handicrafts. Roads link Sanandaj with Marivan, Saqqez, Baneh, and Bijar. The city has a fortress built during 'Abbasid rule (AD 750-1258) and a government telegraph station.
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Kurds :
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Kurds , a non-Arab Middle Eastern minority population that inhabits the region known as Kurdistan, an extensive plateau and mountain area in SW Asia (c.74,000 sq mi/191,660 sq km), including parts of E Turkey, NE Iraq, and NW Iran and smaller sections of NE Syria and Armenia. The region lies astride the Zagros Mts. (Iran) and the eastern extension of the Taurus Mts. (Turkey) and extends in the south across the Mesopotamian plain and includes the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
As of the late 1990s, there were estimated to be more than 20 million Kurds, about half of them in Turkey, where, making up more than 20% of the population, they dwell near the Iranian frontier around Lake Van, as well as in the vicinity of Diyarbakir and Erzurum. The Kurds in Iran, who constitute some 10% of its people, live principally in Azerbaijan and Khorasan, with some in Fars. The Iraqi Kurds, about 23% of its population, live mostly in the vicinity of Dahuk (Dohuk), Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, and Sulaimaniyah.
Ethnically close to the Iranians, the Kurds were traditionally nomadic herders but are now mostly seminomadic or sedentary. The majority of Kurds are devout Sunni Muslims. Kurdish dialects belong to the northwestern branch of the Iranian languages. The Kurds have traditionally resisted subjugation by other nations. Despite their lack of political unity throughout history, the Kurds, as individuals and in small groups, have had a lasting impact on developments in SW Asia. Saladin, who gained fame during the Crusades, is perhaps the most famous of all Kurds. ref
Kurdish language is a Indo-European family of languages and has several dialects. The two Goorani (southern Kurdish) and Zaza (western Kurdish) dialects are vastly different from Kormanji (pure Kurdish). The dialects spoken in Sanandaj, Kermanshahan, and Suleimania (Iraq) are variations of Kormanji.
There are several Kurdish clans. The significant ones are Mokri in the north of Kurdistan, Bani-Ardalan to their south (with
Sanandaj as their center), Jaaf in southern and Kalhor in southernmost Kurdistan at the border with Kermanshahan.
Most Kurds are Sunnis of the Shafe'I sect, and some are followers of Yazidi and Ahle-e Haq sects, but Qaderi and
Naqshbandi brands of Sufism are also common in some parts of the Iranian Kurdistan, particularly in its southern regions.
The Kurdish population stands at about 20-25 million. It is concentrated in the parts of eastern Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq that make up the region known as Kurdistan. About 12 million Kurds live in the southeast region of Turkey alone.
Twenty percent of Turkey's population is Kurdish. Iraq is 23 percent Kurdish; Syria, less than 10 percent; and Iran, 10 percent.
Ethnicity and Race of Iran
Persian 40%, Azerbaijani 29%, ,Kurdish 10%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Arab 4%, Lur 3%, Baloch 3%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%
Turkey Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%
Iraq Arab 70%–80%, Kurdish 30%–20%,
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The Kurds and Kurdistan
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Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East, after the Arabs, Persians and Turks.
Kurds live where Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the former Soviet Union meet
Kurdish population is estimated at more than 25 million divided among Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria.
Kurdistan, 230,000 square miles, is equal to Germany and Britain combined, or France or Texas.
At the end of WW I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the 1920 Treaty of Sevres anticipated an independent Kurdish state. But France and Britain divided Ottoman Kurdistan between Turkey, Syria and Iraq. This division was formalized by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.
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