Salih Qaftan And The Process Of Kurdish Historiography In The Middle Centuries

Abstract


INTRODUCTION
This research is an attempt to present the path of Salih Qaftan in the process of writing Kurdish history in the Middle Centuries. Qaftan appeared as a historian of the first group of Kurdish historians in the first half of the 20th century. Taking into account the eventful situation of the Kurdish country and its challenges, he has tried to write a brief history about the Kurds throughout the historical periods, including the history of the Kurds in the Middle Centuries.
The study consists of three parts. In the first part, in addition to discussing the biography of Salih Qaftan, we have tried to find the relationship that connects Salih Qaftan to the Kurdish historians. In the second part, as an analytical method, we have discussed the method of writing Kurdish history in the Middle Ages by Salih Qaftan, while we have reached some unchangeable facts in the way of writing Kurdish history by Salih Qaftan. In the final section, we have discussed the reflection of Saleh Qaftan's new vision in a provocative and critical manner. We have also presented the objective and non-objective views on which Qaftan relies.
In this research, we have relied on original, recent and contemporary historical sources. We hope that this research will be another window to clarify the historiographical process of Kurdish history.

Salih Qaftan
Salih Qaftan was born in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, Iraq. He finished his elementary education in his hometown and continued his education in Baghdad, and then he left for Istanbul to continue his education. He studied at the military college of this city and graduated with the rank of an officer, and then he was employed in the Ottoman army (Baban, 2006, p. 406). His employment in the Ottoman army coincided with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The political and social situation of that time had significant effects on Qaftan's thoughts, especially his nationalist thoughts (Qaftan, 2008, p. 22).
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Qaftan returned to his hometown of Sulaymaniyah and became a candidate for Sulaymaniyah Governorship Assembly when Majorson, the British ruler of Sulaymaniyah, sought to elect the members of Sulaymaniyah Governorship Assembly in 1921. Qaftan also announced his candidacy but was not elected because its members were chosen by the choice and determination of the British. (Hilmi, 2005, p. 150).
After failure in the Sulaymaniyah Assembly, Qaftan along with some intellectuals of that period, established the Kurdistan Community in 1922, which was led by Mustafa Pasha Yamulki and centered in Sulaymaniyah. This group and the Bang-e Haq newspaper as the spokesperson of this group were against any tribal aristocracy authority and most importantly, the founders of this group claimed to prepare the constitution and organize and manage the society (Al-Talebani, 1970, p. 59).
In addition to these activities, Qaftan was active in organizing protests. As the confidential reports of British agents in Kurdistan mentioned Qaftan as a scout and leader of the August 11, 1930 protests (Mazhar, 2009, p. 164). Moreover, he participated in the protests of September 6th, 1930, which happened in Bar Darki Sara (Sara Gate Square) Soleimanieh (Shwani, 2002, p. 243).
Qaftan's activities were not limited to political affairs and choosing a teaching job and journalism were part of his cultural activities, and in this regard, he started working as a teacher in Sulaymaniyah schools (Qaftan, 2008, p. 20). In the 1930s, he turned to journalism, and in 1937, he started working as the editor of Zaban newspaper, which belonged to Sulaymaniyah municipality (Jabari, 1975, p. 39). His presence as the editor of this newspaper made his name immortal in the history of Kurdish journalism (Baram, 2000, p. 120). In 1938, Qaftan published a monthly magazine in the Kurdish language under the title "Zansti" (Sajadi, 1952,p. 555). Apart from these activities, in general, Qaftan is known as a historian, writer and translator (Al-Mutbai, 1995, vol. 1, p. 101). His most famous work is the National History of the Kurds (Baban, 2006, p. 406).

Kurdish historiography from Salih Qaftan's point of view
The geographical location of Kurdistan and the life constraints and the nomadic and seminomadic way of life, along with several other factors, made the Kurds to start reading and writing later than other ethnic groups, and this factor also caused the Kurdish historiography to begin with a delay. Thus, the sources of Kurdish historiography were also limited to stories, legends, folk literature, ancient works and stone inscriptions.
With the spread of Islam in Kurdistan, reading and writing became popular, and Kurdish historians also created rare masterpieces by imitating Islamic historiography in Arabic (Mazhar, 1983, p. 106) However, considerable similarities can be seen here in terms of the hardships of the people living in the East and especially the lands that have become an influential part of Islamic history, but some of them faced these problems and challenges wisely.
From Salih Qaftan's point of view, Kurds were unable to rewrite and record their history due to being deprived of an independent government, so that they can describe and analyze it; historiography and event writing require motivation. Every nation and every ethnic group and its historians only care about themselves and their own interests and do not have the feeling they have for their own people and nation for others (Qaftan, 1969, p. 106). In other words, if a historian does not write for his own country and nation, the feeling of freedom and conscience will finally make him or her ashamed and embarrassed (Brodeel, 1987, p. 8). Moreover, when a historian writes about his own homeland, he is the only one who can understand its positive and negative aspects, as well as its weak and strong points, and if he writes about others, he cannot feel this pleasure (Brodeel, 2011,p. 9). In this regard, Salih Qaftan writes: "We only think and care about our own interests. In this world, every nation, in their land, in line with its future glory, is busy building palaces and civilizational manifestations, while we have not even been able to build a nest. In the field of science, we have done very little to ignite the light of awareness in human thought. I wish we were not the only ones in this world who were so advanced in carelessness and being carefree" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 5).
Kurdish history is a scattered history that has been mentioned in every corner and in numerous sources of pre-Islamic history and later periods. The history of the Kurds in the Islamic era, like the history of other nations and other lands, has been studied in historical sources such as Baladhuri, Tabari, Ibn Miskawayh and Ibn al-Athīr and several other sources of the Abbasid era and post-Abbasid era (Al-Azzawi, 2000, p. 50), (Ali, 2021), (Ali and Ahmad, 2021), (Faraj and Arif, 2022) (Rahim, 2020).
Of course, it goes without saying that Kurdish history in the Islamic era, since the first-hand sources of Islamic history are close to the people in power and have mentioned Kurds in a limited way and in a few specific sources, it has many challenges and problems (Tawfiq, 2010, p. 12) and at the same time, the Kurdish role in historical events has been somehow ignored or underestimated (Qaftan, 1969, p. 39). Therefore, it is not possible to access all the information about the Kurds as a single nation, and the collection of information and reports have referred to Kurds as a tribe and having a tribal livelihood. (Miran, 2000, p. 12). For this very reason, Salih Qaftan tried to write a brief and useful history about the Kurds for those who seek to know the Kurds (Qaftan, 1969, p. 6).
Historiography, whether local or general, does not hide the fact that the unwritten and the marginalized are always more than the written central ones. The considerations regarding the shortcomings that are identified when writing history are due to the fact that antiquities and scientific explorations are still crude historical tools (Mustafa and Othman, 2021) .

Salih Qaftan's approach to history
Qaftan's approach to history is a scientific and modern one. Apart from the fact that he considers history as a valuable and practical science, at the same time, he distinguishes between the legendary and mythological approach to history and the scientific approach; he divides these approaches to mythical and contemporary. The application of rationality and the level of understanding of historical events is the distinguishing line between these two approaches, and he writes about this: "The science of history in the past was like an immature child and lacked any kind of scientific understanding. Historical data was nothing but a number of stories and anecdotes. Thus, history lacked the least effort to understand the lives of the people living in the past" (Qaftan, 1942, p. 31).
In fact, this differentiation and in other words the division of Salih Qaftan is based on a vague historical time, because in the present era, which is the era (rationality and science), we are provided with a large number of legendary materials related to previous periods. We write and analyze based on these materials, and this is the challenge of analyzing and interpreting the past history, which is used in line with human issues, being confusing to a great extent (Strauss, 1986, pp. 62-63).
Salih Qaftan has been indifferent to legendary materials in his historical research and uncovering historical periods as well as history-making periods. However, this does not mean his ignorance of the legends, but it means that in his research about the race, especially the Kurdish race, he has relied on the analytical and scientific style. Despite the numerous and different approaches of the historians of the Islamic period in relation to the descent and racial foundation of the Kurds, he believed that the reports of the historians of the Islamic period are far from the historical facts (Qaftan, 1942, p. 31). In this regard, Qaftan writes: "The genealogy of the racial origin of a nation is not an easy task, and until today, no nation has been able to refer its descent and the origin of its race to the beginning of creation and claim that our nation goes back to a certain tribe and a certain place. They have failed to know and learn about all their events and rewrite and report them. It is better to be aware that the historical origin of any ethnic group is not completely clear and determined" (Qaftan, 1940, p. 9).
The most famous narrative that the historians of the middle centuries have reported regarding the racial origin of the Kurds is the narrative of Masudi, whose source of narration is the statements of ordinary people. In addition to referring the Kurdish race to Arab clans and tribes, he has also referred to imaginary and legendary issues (Al-Masudi, 2005, vol. 2,p. 96). From a historical point of view, this narrative expresses another worldview to define the Kurds as a nation outside the axis of power, and at the same time, it is an attempt to create a vague construct and marginalize and make the Kurds look ugly, being an illogical approach. This definition of the Kurds is very unreliable and illogical. According to Qaftan, "explaining the origin and racial descent of a nation is not an easy task" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 34). Of course, it is possible to evaluate the narratives before Masudi, but even today, with the intention of portraying the Kurds in a negative manner, this Masudi's narrative is used as a cultural weapon.
In this way, Salih Qaftan expresses his approach to history and historiography and writes about this: "We are all well-informed, historiography is not an easy task and it is free from useless and expedient words. The reading of past events is not the least useful if it is not based on a realistic foundation and lacks literary awareness and scientific application" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 5). These propositions are actually Ibn Khaldun's approach to history and especially refer to the basis of reality and rationality in historical research; when we claim that using reason means that reason it has the ability to overcome and interpret within its limits (Al-Malah, 2007, p. 150).
Literary awareness in history is obtained by tying history to art, because relying solely on science in historiography and historical research leads to nothing but a body lacking a soul. It is actually the the author's imagination, literary language, and the power of initiative that displays this body into its proper cover (Hearnshaw, 1937, p. 4).
Qaftan considers history as a science, a science that displays the elements that make up human beings, especially rationality and the effort to understand (Qaftan, 1942, p. 30). In this way, we come to the fact that history is not only one science, but a combination of different sciences. The correct foundation of historical interpretation is obtained from these subjects, something that is not found in history books (Lubon, 1954, p. 13).
In this regard, Salih Qaftan has explained the purpose of historiography and reading history, and he maintains: "The purpose of reading history is to clarify thoughts and use the experience of the past for the present in order to prepare oneself intelligently and firmly for the future" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 5).
In these two lines, Qaftan has mentioned four pillars, each of which is important as a pillar for understanding history, and without them, the study of history will not have any results. Enlightenment of thought, experience of the past, understanding of the present and hope for the future are the main pillars of this understanding, and these four axes also refer to human and time, which are actually the two basic elements of the creation of history and the foundation of civilization. Human and place are the other two axes of these basic axes (Al-Malah, 2007, p. 23).
The noteworthy point is that Qaftan's historiography, like Sharafnameh in writing the history of the family of the Kurdistan emirs, and even the books of Amin Zaki Beg, did not go beyond the report of the lives of the emirs and rulers of Kurdistan and did not focus on marginalized characters. This is despite the fact that the scope of historiography among historians of the Islamic period is wider, and nature and things related to humans have become the subject of their historiography (Ibn Khaldun, 1981, vol 10,p. 1). In other words, "giving a historical role to a hero or a commander and limiting the scene of events around one character and ignoring the role of other people is actually nothing but the history of a few of the people" (Mohamed, 2010, p. 87).

Periods of Kurdish history from Salih Qaftan's point of view
Academics have attempted to identify the fateful moments that define an era, which is actually the connecting point between two eras. The historical dissimilarity of the nations as well as biological, cultural and climatic differences have made the determination of historical periods face numerous challenges (Nuwayhid, 1998, p. 13).
There is a consensus among researchers regarding the determination of historical periods until today. From the point of view of historical time for Europeans, the period of paganism and the Christian era, which later became known as the era of the Middle Ages, it is customary to name this period as the Middle Ages. A series of fateful events related to human life has highlighted the contemporary period. This periodization is given priority to geographical periodization such as the history of the ancient East and the history of the Mediterranean are and the history of Europe (Barnes, 1934, p. 240).
The naming of historical periods as ancient, middle, new and contemporary has no other meaning than a naming with the European standard, because this naming is based on European events from the point of view of the beginning and end of each period; it is actually a type of Europe-centeredness (Shaker, 2000:p. 6). For this very reason, Salih Qaftan attempted to take a look at the prehistoric period in his historiography and in this period. In general, without racial, national and religious signs, he addresses the origin and creation of man and the world and at the same time refers to the life and livelihood of primitive man (Qaftan, 1969, p. 7). The era that was the depth of human history and embodied the most primitive lifestyle and was not familiar with any civilizational manifestations (Brastid, 1930,p. 2).
In re-interpreting the prehistoric era, Qaftan processes Brastid's data with a scientific approach and limits and summarizes the framework of his subject. Using the same approach Brastid used to define Europe, which is actually wider in Brastid's geography, Salih Qaftan uses geography of Kurdistan especially the past related to the Stone Age (Old and Middle Stone Ages, and Neolithic Age) (Brastid, 1930, pp. 9-18). At the same time, it also briefly deals with Paleolithic Era (Qaftan, 1969, p. 11). In this regard, he writes, "In fact, this beautiful region -northeast of today's Iraq -was the habitat of Paleolithic humans in prehistoric times, and later became a land of settlement and agriculture" (Rou, 1984, p. 31).
In general, the ancient history of the Kurds is limited to several hypotheses and theories in the field of historical research, the foundations of which become clearer every day thanks to the expansion of archeology, linguistics, and ethnology research (Ahmed and Rashid, 1990, p. 7). In Gelavezh monthly, Qaftan also relies on several theories and hypotheses in his articles about the historical human races (Qaftan, 1942, p. 14).
Basically, according to the researchers, the period of the ancient history of Kurdistan ends with the rise of Islam and a new period begins, known as the middle centuries. Here, a kind of similarity can be seen between this naming and the history of Europe, and the East is defined as a religious concept, which is the Islamic world, and Islam is viewed as an axis that is the beginning of a new era that is completely different from the previous one (Ahmad and Rashid, 1990, p. 7). For this reason, "It is clear to the people of science that history is not limited to one period only. Even to this day, historians have not yet defined it and some of them define a fateful event as the boundary between two eras, and some others define the new era from the nature of people and their internal connections" (Mazhar, 1983, p. 24).
Qaftan names the periods of the history of Kurdistan as follows. First, the ancient period (Qaftan, 1969, p. 38), the history of which dates back to the dawn of history. It has a thousand-year lineage with dozens of other nations. In this regard, the history of the Kurds has been told. Regarding the ancient history of Kurdistan, there is a kind of consensus that this period ends with the rise of Islam. The second period is the Islamic era, which is divided into two periods, the beginning of the emergence of the Islamic religion. According to him, the first century of the lunar Hijri is a historical period when the Kurds accepted Islam and entered a new phase of their lives (Qaftan, 1969, pp. 164-176). This period coincides with the arrival of the Islamic Army to Jalawla and the land of the Kurds (Al-Baladhuri, 1988, p. 260). The period of the Islamic caliphate's weakness, which means the gaining power of the Buyid Dynasty in the Abbasid caliphate between the years (330/941 CE to 447/1055 CE). This coincides with the formation of the Kurdish emirates, and Qaftan relates the era of weakness of the Islamic caliphate to the presence of a new non-Arab force in the Caliph's palace. In this period of weakness, the Kurds were also involved with a new force, the Seljuk Turks (Qaftan, 1969, pp. 181-325).
This period, being known as the history of the Islamic period, belongs to the family of the Prophet due to the identity of the Muslim caliphate and requires another interpretation. Neither the Turks nor the Buyid, as two Arab forces, sought the succession of the caliph, and this (given the religious point of view) strengthens the legitimacy of the caliphate in the hands of the caliph's family. In this specific case, Caliph Al-Qa'im bi-amri Allah (1075-1031) clearly says: "We, the family of Abbas, are the best family, and the Imamate and rulership -religious and worldly power -belong to us forever, and anyone who follows us is led to salvation, and anyone who opposes us is misguided and an infidel" (Ibn al-jawzi, 2013, vol. 19, p.118). That is why the identity of the Muslim caliph after the collapse of the Abbasids by non-Arab people, were divided among Several influential Muslim characters. Here, the role-playing families continue the history of Muslims and think that this roleplaying is reserved for the Kurds since they accepted Islam, compared to the period after the loss of the glory of the Medes, and is more valuable than the later periods. For this reason, the naming of the Middle Ages is nothing other than moving between the ancient, modern, and contemporary periods and has nothing in common with the Middle Ages of Europe, just as Christianity and Islam were determined as two criteria for the beginning of the Middle Ages (Ahmed and Rashid, 1990, p. 7) In the same way, the events of the sixteenth century, such as the Battle of Chaldiran (Ahmed and Rashid, 1990: 7) and the results and consequences in the Kurdish regions are defined as the basic events of Kurdistan (Kord Ali, 1983, vol. 2, p. 207). In Europe, the events of the 15th and 16th centuries are the end of the middle centuries (Yosef, 1984, p. 7).
These seemingly close similarities highlight the different content of a historical century and the commonness of the middle centuries in the East and the West. The concept of the middle centuries in the Kurdish historiography of Orientalists has been used abundantly and it has been observed that it meant the era of Islamic rule when the Kurdish governments and emirates had power in the Kurdish regions (Edmons, 2012, p. 51).
The application of this concept instead of the concept of the Islamic period, except for the role of orientalists, cab be clearly seen in the contemporary period with the role of oriental students in Europe; as they returned to their countries, they had a western education (Shaker, 2000, p. 6). The Kurds in the middle centuries benefited from the changes that happened, as the age of Salah al-Din Ayyubi was the golden age of the Kurds (Shirkouh, 1930, p. 7).
One of the researchers has forged the concept of middle Islamic history to define the middle period of classical Islamic history and the history of the middle centuries (Hayedari, 2009, p. 7); this has a historical characteristic and Islamic identity, and is largely a balanced concept because it actually is a kind of moving away from the negative concept of the middle centuries of Europe and at the same time, as an identity concept, it perpetuates the right of Muslim leadership after the collapse of the Abbasids by non-Arabs. The history of the Kurds from the middle of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century is the fourth period for the Kurds in the 20th century (Qaftan, 1969, pp. 369-386). Naming of these periods is very close to the new and contemporary period.
Naming the periods of Kurdish history into historical society and primitive society is based on the criteria of change and progress (Mohamed, 2020, p. 73). If Kurdistan is a historical society, then its historical progress is also inevitable. However, in fact, compared to other societies surrounding it, it has been in a long-term static situation, and in other words, "If we examine this situation in the course of history until today, there is no need to separate historical periods because Kurdistan society has not undergone any significant changes from the perspective of social structure and social relations. In fact, it is a kind of repetition of a situation that does not require determining the dimensions of the past, present and future" (Mohamed, 2020, p. 74).
What is worthy of consideration is the point of separation between the two historical periods that Salih Qaftan used in all the historical periods of the Kurds, and most of them are connected to events that were beyond the will of the Kurds, and in other words, they were the outcome of an external will and power. The development that has occurred in the meantime has had an external reflection, and the Kurdish society has been marginalized to these developments and its drivers, and according to Qaradakhi, "the characteristics of the Kurdish society show themselves more as the margin of the Orient" (Qaradakhi, 2004, p. 37).

The emergence of Kurdish historiography in the middle centuries (leading Kurdish historians and the contemporaneity of Qaftan with some of them)
The origin of Kurdish historiography and the issue of its origin can be traced in two distinct groups: historians who are of Kurdish origin and historiographies that started in Kurdish language. All Kurdish historians who appeared in the third century A.H. and later imitated the style of Islamic historiography. One can mention many names. The historians were named as Kurd, Kurdi, Diyarbakri, Amedi, Emadi, Erbili, Dinawari, Galali, Dinuri, Balki and a number of Kurdish regions and cities. Dinawari, Ibn-Athir, Mostofi and Ibn Khallikan were among the most famous group of Kurdish historians. A realistic and intelligent historian maintains that this line of historians belongs to the land of Kurdistan (Mazhar, 1983, pp. 106-107) though they produced their works in Arabic language.
The origin of Kurdish historiography goes back to Sharafkhan Bidlisi (1543-1603) and the history of Sharafnameh, being considered as one of the most famous sources of the history of Kurdistan. As the title of this book suggests, it is dedicated to the history of Kurdish emirates. The main and different feature of Sharafnameh from other historical books is that this book is written only about the history of Kurds and it can be considered as the beginning of Kurdish historiography; in other words, it turned Kurdish history into a discourse, and Sharafkhan himself writes about this: "My whole effort is to ensure that the names of all the great Kurdish families are recorded in history and not lost" (Bidlisi, 2006, p. 11).
For the first time, Mullah Mohammad Bayazidi (1797-1867) translated Sharafnameh from Persian to Kurdish (Mazhar, 1983, p. 131), yet it was not published until the late nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, and Kurdistan newspaper named Kurdistan (1898Kurdistan ( -1902 published some parts of this book in Kurdish language. Later, Peshkawtn newspaper in Sulaymaniyah, after Bayzidi and Kurdistan newspaper, translated and published parts of Sharafnameh (Amin, 2013, p. 202). For this reason, three centuries of Kurdish history, that is, from the beginning of the writing of Sharafnameh in the 16th century to the 20th century, that is, the translation and publication of parts of this book, are obscure and in the margin. It is true that Sharafkhan is historically considered to be the leader of Kurdish historians, but knowing about this book and using it dates back to the 20th century and it is the product of the efforts and searches of contemporary Kurdish researchers and historians.
The tradition of continuity of news and reports is still common among a number of writers, such as Ibn Athir, being the continuation of Tabari (Al-Khaledi, 2009, p. 144). Mullah Mahmud also wrote the new history of Kurdistan as a continuation of the report of the events after the Sharafnameh (Bayzidi, 2010, p. 20). In writing the Kurdish National History book, Qaftan has also referred to the writings of Amin Zaki as the main source in several cases; he has even attempted to conduct a kind of rewriting and rereading of this book.
Considerable similarities can be seen among the Kurdish historians of the first half of the 20th century, for example Hassan Hozni Mukriani (1893-1947) and Amin Zaki though Hazni Makriani preceded Amin Zaki and his influence on Kurdish historiography is undeniable. Amin Zaki (1880-1948 was born in Goizha of Sulaymaniyah. He completed his primary education in Sulaymaniyah and later he was admitted to the military college in Baghdad and graduated after three years (Mazhar, 1983, pp. 154-166). Zaki was fluent in Turkish, English, Arabic, Farsi and Kurdish languages and had an influential position in the political and military affairs of the Iraqi government (Jafar, 2006, p. 135). This position helped him greatly to access historical sources and affected his views toward history.
Amin Zaki and Saleh Qaftan were both born in the same neighborhood in Sulaymaniyah, and belonged to the same decade (Ghafour, 2008, p. 9). However, Amin Zaki's historiographical method has influenced Salih Qaftan.
Qaftan was attempting to write a well-considered and summarized history about the Kurds, and with the publication of Amin Zaki Beg's history book, Qaftan's work was also facilitated (Qaftan, 1969, p. 6). The most important thing Amin Zaki and Salih Qaftan had in common is Kurdistan-orientedness and the descent of this Kurdistan-orientedness returns to Sharafkhan Bidlisi. In other words, "Amin Zaki has played a fundamental role in the history of Kurdistan from two sides. If Sharafkhan Bidlisi is considered as the father of Kurdish historiography, Amin Zaki is known as the father of modern Kurdish historiography, and his historiography in Kurdish is actually considered a kind of break with tradition and with his writings he revived the spirit of Kurdism. In a world where the dust of Ottomanism and Turanism and the union of Islam and Arabism had involved Kurdish intellectuals (Jaafar, 2006, p. 133), the issue of Kurd-centeredness, with Sharaf Khan Bidlisi and Amin Zaki, did not go beyond the scope of objectivity and considering the time of historical events. Both of them were fully aware of these concepts, but Qaftan crossed the borders of being a Kurd as a racial-ethnic identity and is concerned about the thinking of nationalism in the Abbasid era (Qaftan, 1969, p. 181); this is actually an attitude to the history of all periods with a modern perspective.
Here, there is no boundary between the ancient historical period and the historic era. That's why Qaftan's retelling of the history of Kurdistan in the middle centuries forces the reader to look at the middle centuries with European standards, yet this approach is a kind of prejudice and error.
The era of Kurdish historiography in the Kurdish language was started by Salih Qaftan and a number of historians of this period, and they were pioneers in this regard (Ashna, 1998, p. 6). Like Amin Zaki, Hassan Hozni Mukriani, Anwar Maei and Jamil Rozhbiani, Qafrani started to study Kurdish peoples and history in order to clarify the past and the Kurds' way of life in the past.

The method of Kurdish historiography in the middle centuries from Salih Qaftan's point of view Kurdish language and orthography
In writing the history of Kurdistan in the middle centuries, the Kurdish language refers to the efforts made by Kurdish speakers in the first decade of the 20th century to reveal the history of this period, as all previous sources had been in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and other languages, and almost no sources were available in Kurdish. It goes without saying that regardless of the religious legitimacy of the Arabic language and the influence of religious schools, the mixing of Arabs and Kurds due to economic and social commonalities were two factors of the spread of the Arabic language in Kurdistan. In this regard and in relation to the influence and spread of the Arabic language among the Kurds, Yaqut al-Hamavi, writes about the people of Erbil: "Most of the people of Kurdistan have become Arabs" (Al-Hamawi, 1995, p. 138). He means that the Arabic language was common among most of the Kurdish people and Arabic was spoken by people.
From Qaftan's point of view, the language of any nation is considered the identity of that nation, and in order to remove any nation, its language is weakened and destroyed in the first place. The destruction of the language means the destruction of that nation; "when the language dies, in fact, that nation is already destroyed, and their goal is thus achieved" (Qaftan, 1936, p. 3). In this regard, for a long time, the Kurdish language had been defined in historical sources as an ethnic language different from Persians and Arabs. Giving their mixture and neighborhood and even political power, Persian and Arabic languages used to create numerous limitations for the Kurdish language and along with the hard livelihood and migration of the Kurds, the aforementioned factors had significant effects on the Kurdish language (Al-Masudi, 2005, vol. 2, p. 96).
The German language school, which had its roots in the thought of people like Fichte, considered language as the basis of the formation of a nation (Al-Hasri, 1985, p. 40). This school had influenced Qaftan's thinking (Mazhar, 1983, p. 176). Although the Kurdish language had a long history in poetry writing and even writing religious texts, in this language had a history of a century of writing in its record, this language was a conversational language and had never been used for writing and administration (Amin, 2013, p. 190).
In the first half of the 20th century, the Kurdish language and the special orthography of this language underwent significant changes, and a number of newspapers, magazines and books were published in this language. Moreover, the publication of a collection of materials in this language by Kurdish and English speakers had already entered a new phase (Amin, 2013: 479). At the same time, the political power of Iraq had helped the development of the Kurdish language in some ways (Al-Talebani, 1970, p. 62).
Factors and reasons such as Qaftan's history of journalism in Kurdish language, Kurdish language teaching in Kurdistan schools, as well as efforts to create a clean and pure language, were among the factors involved in writing the history of Kurdistan in Kurdish by Salih Qaftan (Karim, 1985, p. 42). However, it is required to be noted that the effort to invent a different and distinct orthography for Kurdish language was the outcome of the intellectual school of Sulaymaniyah, and the efforts of the British rulers working in Sulaymaniyah through the publication of a newspaper in the Kurdish language and also encouraging writing in the Kurdish language (Aaziz, 2005, p. 307). It goes without saying that from Salih Qaftan's point of view, the use of foreign words in writing the history of Kurdistan did not mean moving away from the essence of the Kurdish language, because there were no equivalents in the Kurdish language for foreign words, and the intellectuals of that period had already accepted the fact that the use of these words did not mean non-Kurdish identity; as the official and administrative language of Afghanistan, Tajikistan and a part of India was Farsi, but each of these nations had a special and distinct identity from Iran (Amin, 2013, p. 135).
In the field of historiography, Salih Qaftan's writings can be considered as a historical-linguistic tool because historical texts, apart from reporting a historical situation, are also considered as a research in order to evaluate and strengthen the geographical language of the author, namely the Sorani Kurdish. In this regard, the words used by Qaftan clarifies Sulaymaniyah's way of speaking, and it is clear that he did not want to write in a vague and difficult language, but did his best to write the national history of the Kurds in a clean and fluent language (Qaftan, 1969, p. 5). In other words, because of this, Qaftan wrote his history in a clean and fluent language that could be easily understood by the Kurdish-speaking readers. Regarding Qaftan's writing style in historiography, Kamal Mazhar believes: "Master Qaftan was among those who tried to write his works in pure and fluent Kurdish language" (Mazhar, 1983, p. 176). The softness and beauty of Sulaymaniyah's accent, having a significant political history, later started a growing trend in literature and historiography. Regardless of the legitimacy of the Arabic language as the language of religion and the co-root of the Kurdish language with the Persian language, the Kurdish language, as an independent and different language in Kurdistan, regenerated itself and started significant progresses (Qaftan, 1969, p. 146).

Borrowing and reconstruction
Salih Qaftan attempted to rewrite and revise all the materials related to the history of Kurdistan in his book, the National History of the Kurds, with a new approach, and in this regard, he made references to the way of borrowing materials, especially from Amin Zaki. (Mazhar, 1983, pp. 177-178). This borrowing in historiography and especially Islamic historiography is traditional, as Ibn Athir borrowed from Tabari, and of course, in this case, Qaftan is quite distinct; he has explicitly mentioned the sources from he used.

Compact writing
Compact writing and summarizing the history of the Kurds in a booklet, as well as dealing with long-term events in an article, though it is a kind of collection of necessary reports and also a measure of historical knowledge, it provides the readers with a kind of limitation and poverty of content in these writings, which is difficult to understand. This cannot provide the audience with a logical and scientific answer to the questions and expectations. In this case, Salih Qaftan deals very intensively with examples from the history of Kurdistan such as the small Kurdish emirates, each of which requires an independent and separate discussion (Qaftan, 1969, p. 264).

The prominence of the historian's feeling
Over time, all events lose some of their characteristics, and at the same time, they open the way for new interpretations and analyses. Sometimes, a written history is not worth a rich oral history (Al-Arvi, 2005, p. 108).
This attitude toward history provides a way to express the feelings and relationships of the narrator and the historian while reporting the events. Salih Qaftan's characteristic in rewriting the history of the Kurds in the middle centuries is actually a kind of re-reading of issues related to this historical period in such a way that the reader thinks that the author is rewriting oral history instead of rewriting and collecting historical texts. This is expressed as an empathy and appreciation one has with the subject.

Use of resources
Historiography without relying on historical documents is not the least valuable, because collecting sources and documents are one of the most important tasks of a historian, and without relying on documents and sources, the historian's work is considered defective and incomplete. In this regard (Zaidi, 2019, p.100). Qaftan refers to the least historical sources, and even the sources used by him are not very reliable. This method, i.e. lack of giving due attention to sources, has been one of the most important characteristics of the historians of this period, that is, the historians of the first half of the 20th century of Kurdistan.

Salih Qaftan as a historian and journalist
Just as the British played an essential role in establishing the press and publications in Sulaymaniyah, they also played the same role in erasing the history of the Kurds for thousands of years, and from here, the simultaneous attention of the British to the press and historiography, the connection between historiography and journalism is strengthened. Orientalists appeared in different ways, and most of their movements and activities in the Orient were motivated, and these activities secretly and openly served Orientalist projects. Since Qaftan was a journalist, he was aware of the activities of Kurdish journalism at the end of the First World War, especially the newspaper Tegayshtni Rasti (Understanding the Truth) published by Majorson, the English ruler of Sulaymaniyah (Gunter, 2011, p. 277) and an expert in the Kurdish language (Al-Davudi, 1928, vol. 6, p. 438).
Two decades after Majorson, in the 30s and 40s of the 20th centur, among the newspapers and periodicals, you can see newspapers and periodicals that pay special attention to history. Among them, Zaban newspaper, which belongs to Sulaymaniyah Municipality and was published under the supervision of Qaftan, assumed the identity of a historical newspaper (Mazhar, 1983, p. 150). Apart from Zaban newspaper, Galavezh monthly also became a center for publishing historical materials in the field of the history of the middle centuries of Kurdistan and the impact of this period on the Kurdish society. Also, this magazine, in another action, published a series of historical materials entitled as "Famous Kurds" in Kurdish written by Amin Zaki Beg, a famous historian of that period. Along with Amin Zaki Beg, Qaftan also started publishing and releasing materials on the history of the Kurds in the middle centuries in this magazine. In this way, mixing the work of historiography with journalism became one of the characteristics of historians interested in the history of the middle centuries of Kurdistan.

Viewing history with a modern perspective
A number of researchers and historians look at other historical periods with a modern perspective and attempt to minimize a specific issue or problem so that it is consistent with their theory (Osman, 2000, p. 22). Given Qaftan's journalistic record, who had a journalistic approach to history, a historical theory without documents emerged due to the influence and consolidation of political beliefs. For example, Qaftan referred to nationalism in the middle centuries, despite the fact that this thinking has its roots in contemporary history and was completely alien to the past, yet Qaftan sought to prove this thinking in the middle centuries of Kurdistan's history (Qaftan, 1969, p. 181).

Reflection of new approaches in the historiography of Kurdistan in the middle centuries from Qaftan's perspective
The situation of the Kurdish land in the past until today has been adapted to a series of unchanging phenomena, most of which are the result of geographical, religious, political and social foundations, and their understanding is easy because in all eras, these phenomena have had a strong and continuous presence. The formation of these phenomena is very difficult and it is even more difficult to avoid them.

Salih Qaftan and the analysis of geographical basis in the interpretation of the history of Kurdistan
Salih Qaftan considers the natural location of the Kurdistan region as an influential factor in the life of the people of Kurdistan. According to him, the interpretation and analysis of Kurdish history based on geographical factors seems to necessary to the extent that history requires the help of geography and in this case there is no need for details (Qaftan, 1969, p. 28). In addition, geographical topics and subjects are the important elements of human sciences and useful tools for historical interpretation (Shokouei, 2009, p. 39).
This approach of Kaftan is very close to the approach of Fernand Braudel, who does not consider history exclusively as the science of man, but considers man and other things such as the earth, weather, etc. In other words, there are a set of other sciences that are regarded as the main tools of human knowledge (Braudel, 1987, p. 14).
The important tools for understanding the history of any nation are the climate and geography of that nation, as the history of any nation is the outcome of the interaction and transformation between two forces, the external force which is the natural habitat and the internal force which is the moving spirit of each nation (Al-Duri, 1971, p. 66). The geographical environment of the Kurdish lands has a direct impact on the behavior and mentality of the Kurds, and especially the way of life and the spirit of the mountains have been reflected in the Kurds (Al-Yaqubi, 2001, p. 20).
Geographers have divided the earth into seven regions, the land of the Kurds starts from the third region and is located between the fourth and fifth regions (Al-Moghadisi, 1899, pp. 50-54). The land of the Kurds is a vast land and its parts have different weather conditions (Qaftan, 1969, p. 33).
The people and residents of this land, the characteristic of social interaction and the geographical characteristics, have caused a balance in their behavior (Ibn-Khaldun, 1981, vol. 1, p. 105).
In general, the natural habitat has direct effects on human activities, and some are looking for rich and suitable land for livelihood, and for this reason, humans have been looking for the most suitable option for settlement (Al-Masudi, 2005, vol.2 p. 48). Also, the topography and multiplicity of different areas have had an undeniable role in dividing the population and their activities (Ahmadian, 2010: 36). Meanwhile, the Kurdish nation is one of the ethnic groups that have appeared and spread over the course of history in the vast mountainous arc of Southeast Asia (Hama Khorshid, 2020, p. 15).
From Qaftan's point of view, mountains and living in mountains are mentioned as the driving force of settlement, subsistence, military activities, as well as powerful protection and preservation of the Kurdish language. He maintains that the Kurds have lived in the mountains between the Iranian plateau and Arab and Anadol deserts since prehistoric times. The mountain force has played a role as a challenge for Kurds as well as an internal force to assume this land as their homeland (Qaftan, 1969, p. 29). Mountain has also been interpreted as the foundation of the Kurdish uprising (Al-Dinawari, 1960, p. 5). Therefore, he always emphasized the duality of Kurds and mountains (Al-Jahiz, 2002, vol. 1, p. 130). Kurdish houses have been identified with mountains (Al-Yaqubi, 2001, p. 20). Even this approach penetrated into the heart of literature and was reflected in the poetry of Abbasid era poets (Ben Bird, 2007, p. 166).
According to Qaftan, the harsh mountainous location of Kurdistan is not only limited to geography, but "has imposed duties on the people of this region" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 31). In other words, it poses a question to us: have the Kurds become subject to geography? (Mohamed, 2012, p. 214) and in this way "they have become the owner of a hard land with little sustenance in such a way that its inhabitants have always remained poor" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 31).
According to Sharafkhan Bidlisi, the answer to this question is clear. Sharafkhan believes that despite the poverty and scarcity due to the chaotic situation and low income compared to their neighbors, the Kurds are still patient and have self-esteem (Bidlisi, 2006, p. 27). However, they have not yet succeeded in reducing the effects of geographical factors on their livelihoods (Qaftan, 1969, p. 32).
In this way, the influence of geographical factors has been highlighted by Qaftan, and at the same time, the human ability of Kurds has been overshadowed by the role of their habitat (Abu Razi and Ebrahim, 2010, p. 186). "Man is a collector between suitable and unsuitable, as well as an innovator of different places and times" (Mohamed, 2010, p. 106). That's why there is no such thing as certainty. It goes without saying that, throughout the past history of the Kurds, what is observed is intransigence and resilience against certainty. In other words, "in the research of the ancient and modern history of the Kurds, it is clear that the geographical location of the Kurds has played an influential role in the past and present fate of the Kurds" (Amin, 2005, p. 5).
This geographical location is the result of the self-awareness and effort of the Persian government (Midi), which has a mountainous geographical location, being different from the Indian mountainous location. Among the Persians, the high-ranking and sublime race refers to the inhabitants of the highlands, while among the Indians, the people of the plains are regarded as a high-ranking and sublime race (Hijel, 2007, pp. 147-148). This is an important indicator of the difference between human ability and the force of geography, which shows the two options of liberation and slavery in two different images. After the collapse of the Median state, the Kurds as inhabitants of mountainous areas during the middle centuries, and also as a nation under the subjugation of forces outside the geography of the region, appeared at a lower level and played a role. For this reason, the dialectic of place and Kurds is different from the dialectic of place and other ethnic groups. In this regard, Qaftan refers to the weather conditions of Kurdistan with the degree of heat and rain in two seasons of the year. "In winter, mid-autumn and spring, it rains, and summer is dry and rainless" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 34). These two rainy conditions have been the reason for the Kurds' summer transhumance (Ibn Hawqal, 1938, vol. 2, p. 358). This has led to the rural life style and a pastoral and semi-nomadic society, and according to Estakhari, most of the people were engaged in animal husbandry (Al-Estakhari, 1961, p. 120). For this reason, it was easier to introduce the Kurdish community and relate it to the mountain life and animal husbandry than associating them with an urban life; they were neither rural residents, and at the same time, they were unfamiliar with the urban life.
In general, the Kurds formed a closed and limited rural society (Qaftan, 1969, p. 31). For this reason, poverty became an inseparable part of the life of the Kurds (Al-Ansari, 1963, p. 271). In this regard, in the first half of the 4th century A.H., a tourist points to the existence of a number of villages and several cities in the region of Sharauzr (Al-Naqshbandi, 2012, p. 27).
According to Salih Qaftan, the effect of the type of food, climate and soil on the biological structure of the Kurdish man, in terms of his constitution, color, style and character, is of high significance in the evaluation and formation process of the Kurdish society. He believes that the Kurdish man has not undergone any debatable changes and even today's Kurds are very similar to the previous Kurds (Qaftan, 1969, p. 126).
This view was important to Ibn-Khaldun and he paid due attention to it. He related the color and face of man as well as his behavior to his natural living environment, which ultimately resulted in a different social environment (Ibn-Khaldun, 1981, pp. 103-108).
Since the Kurds and the mountains are defined as inseparable dualities in Islamic culture, being mountain-settlers has become a part of the social identity of the Kurds. In this regard, Qaftan writes: "The people of the mountains are ill-tempered and if they are still living in a tribe, in addition to their ill temper, they are also prone to violence. The Kurds, who have always been in this situation, have not stopped violence and remained in this biological situation and have not succeeded in uniting, and therefore they are still weak and vulnerable" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 126). Even in the matters of revenge within the family, at the level of Kurdish emirs and ordinary people, they use all the measures of violence and killing against one another. They break traditions even in war and hostility against each other, as they eliminate everyone. They have made it their profession to kill and loot during revenge and internal enmity (Bidlisi, 2006, p. 537).
Sometimes, Salih Qaftan considers the natural position of Kurdistan as a determinant factor in the political and military situation. For example, he refers to the events in 1225, when the Shiite Turks attacked and invaded Kurdistan due to famine and earthquakes and caused destruction and killing of Kurds (Ibn al-Athir, 1997, vol. 1, p. 132). Hence, sometimes nature, along with the human factor, plays an influential role in the course of events.
On the one hand, the geographical location of Kurdistan has made life difficult for the Kurds, on the other hand, according to Qaftan, if seen from another perspective, the geography of the region has played a key role in preserving the Kurdish language and its dialects. He writes, "Although no efforts have been made by institutions or people to protect the Kurdish language, the geographical location of the Kurdish land and its mountains saved this language, in other words, the mountains saved the Kurdish language and ethnicity" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 145). Therefore, after Islam arrived in Kurdistan, the Zagros Mountain range prevented Arab tribes from flowing into the lands of Kurds, Persians, Armenians, and even Romans (Emin, 2005, p. 7). An important point to be considered in this case is that the tribes dominating Kurdistan neither had the ability to stay in the region (Qaftan, 1969, p. 32) nor were they able to dominate the entire territory of Kurdistan (Bronsen, 2003, p. 206).
This condition was to the benefit of the Kurdish language and resulted in its preservation. The mountainous structure of the region characterizing the appearance of the Kurdish land became a natural barrier, which not only preserved the dialects of the Kurdish language (Ibn Hauqal, 1938, vol. 2, p. 370) but also led to the emergence of a variety of dialects and languages in Kurdistan (Al-Masoudi, 2005, vol. 2, p. 96). In other words, along with the negative effects of the absence of a unified political power after the Medes' government, the geographical factor has led to the emergence of a plurality of Kurdish dialects (Aziz, 2005, p. 35). Put it tersely, the harsh mountainous location of Kurdistan made it impossible for foreign forces to stay in Kurdistan, which contributed to the preservation and survival of the Kurdish language.

Being Kurdish and Kurdishness, identity, and racism from Salih Qaftan's point of view
Kurdish historiography suffered a break after Sharaf Khan, and after reviving, local historiography with the support of the local political power, whose main feature was the attention to the history of governance, emerged again. However, this time it was a reduced image of Sharafnama, e.g., Mastoureh Ardalan's history of Ardalan. Meanwhile, in this period, national historiography emerged among the Arabs, Turks, and Persians, and when Qaftan also started writing the history of Kurds, two dominant discourses among Third World nations in the third decade of the 20th century, i.e., the communist discourse and nationalism, were developing. Of course, these two discourses had significant effects on Kurdish society as well as historical approaches. In this case, if a renowned researcher such as Bandali Jawzi studied the Arab world and Islamic culture and sought to find an element of the communist discourse as well as economic and social foundations, in the Kurdish society, Salih Qaftan with the same method of identification in the same history of Islamic ethnic groups sought to revive the Kurds' national identity (Jawzi, 1981, pp. 18-237).
In this regard, i.e., the issue of Kurdish national identity and the idea of nationalism in Qaftan's thinking, we can argue that it has been reflected as extreme nationalism. As a very sympathetic Kurdish figure and under the influence of the dominant contemporary discourse, but in pursuit of the revival of Kurdish identity, he has dealt with history and especially the history of the middle centuries of Kurdistan with an extremist approach (Qaftan, 1969, p. 182).
In spite of the novelty of nationalist thinking and especially Kurdish nationalist thinking (Ali, 2004, p. 77), there have been references to the characteristics of Kurdish identity in the history of the middle centuries, for example, the language of the Kurds (Al-Masoudi, 2005, vol. 2, p. 96), the land of Kurdistan (Al-Ansari, 1963, p. 183), and Kurdish human personality 193,p. 136), Kurdish nomads and tribes, and even its nomadic power structure have been discussed in Islamic history (Ibn al-Athir, 1997, vol. 7, p. 153).
In fact, Islam, as a monotheistic and universal religion, accepted the communities of the region in the framework of a broad society, and many of them appeared with the identity of the Islamic Ummah (Jarozbi, 2015, p. 98). Therefore, in the Islamic world, there cannot be nationalism, but the global and extensive Islamic perspective defines the identity traits of different races based on merit and ability, not like the unrealistic view of Qaftan, who believes, "the policy of eradicating the identity of Kurds, Persians, and Turks were followed by Muslim Arabs' (Qaftan, 1969, p. 175).
The Kurdish nation: being implemented or being used by others From Salih Qaftan's point of view, the Kurdish nation has always been beneficial to the dominant nations, dominant powers, and empires in the region, especially when the Median state was destroyed by the Persians; thereafter the Kurds have been defeated and held captive as a nation (Qaftan, 1969, p. 145) and they no longer have had a powerful, comprehensive, and integrated state (Qaradaghi, 2005, p. 14) but appeared more as a force used by the ruling powers and empires. Nevertheless, the Kurdish tribal community played an important role in the formation of the new life of the post-state era. In other words, "in their history, the Kurds settled for the emirate instead of the state after the Median state" (Qaradaghi, 2004, p. 36). Therefore, the Kurdish emirates in the history of the Islamic era were a local government and at the same time had a background as long as Kurdish history (Qaradaghi, 2005: 14-15) and this withdrawal from the government to the emirate indicated the decrease in the power and ability of the Kurds in the region. Thus, the Kurds lost the ability to pass through historical periods in order to gain better and higher achievements which in itself caused them to bear suffering for a long time. Qaftan does not consider this situation in the history of nations as normal, because after the fall, they reappeared, and in the meantime, what is important to Qaftan is the continuous modernist rise of the neighbors with new forms and figures, which always adapted themselves to the new situation. However, the Kurdish nation was still in the service of the superior powers of the region and did not hesitate to help these foreign forces, therefore they were always beneficial to the ruling powers (Qaftan, 1969, pp. 282-283).
Accordingly, the concept of the usefulness of the Kurds has completely suited to this situation of not changing but serving the foreign governments in the region. This usefulness has made a fateful history for Kurds in interaction with neighbors and foreign forces, and in the basis of politics and governance, it is defined as implementing and using. Therefore, the concept of Kurds being useful from Salih Qaftan's point of view is a clear indication of Kurds' adherence to behavioral principles in the game of politics, prioritizing the principle of "giving" over "taking" and has introduced Kurds as "giving". In Political terms, Kurds are defined as a society that has played a marginal role in historical events.
At the beginning of the rise and spread of Islam, a relationship was established between Arabs and Kurdish tribes, known as Kurti, Karda, and Zagorti. Iranians have also used the title "Gord" for their warriors and warriors, and the Kurds themselves have been introduced as a brave and courageous nation, and in the struggles and heroic wars of the nations, "Gords" have always been prominent in historical reports (Pasha, 1998, p. 99).
This image, that is, the image of courage, has become a part of the Kurds' trait, and in this regard, Al-Nawiri writes, "Courage is divided into ten parts, and Kurds have nine parts of it, and only one part belongs to others." (Al-Nuiri, 2002, vol. 1, p. 293).
Based on the division of historical periods, Qaftan points to several examples of Kurdish support for non-Kurdish peoples gaining power: "when Islam appeared, the Kurds again sided with the Iranians until the last moment of the collapse of the Iranian government. They resisted alongside them and a large number of them were killed" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 383).
In fact, those Kurds who faced the Muslim army and fought with the Muslims protected the Sasanian government. After the period of conquests, a number of commanders were still fighting against and resisting the Muslim Arabs (Qaradaghi, 2005, pp. 259-260), but after the establishment of Islam in the region, the position of the Kurds also changed completely, and "after being defeated by the Arabs, the Arabs' proper behavior and livelihood caused the Kurds to accept Islam, and later they became the Arabs' supporters" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 383).
This point indicated the following of the Kurds under the influence of their own mentality, and the most important distinction of this nation's superiority is reaching selfawareness, which has strengthened the superstructure and infrastructure of society 200,p. 8). Of course, later and during the Umayyad era, this method changed, but "the Kurds were dissatisfied with the livelihood and politics of the Umayyads" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 383) because a fundamental transformation took place in the core of power and the fundamental principles of the behavior of political power were criticized. In this regard, the face of the monarchy was revealed thirty years after the death of the Prophet (Ibn Kathir, 1997, vol. 9, p. 153) and it was clear that the royal life of the Caliph in the palace was in complete contradiction with religious values (Ibn Khaldun, 1981, vol. 1, p. 25). Support for and obedience to the ruling powers in Kurdistan, especially after the arrival of Islam and under the influence of the feeling of religious brotherhood, has highlighted their superiority over the Kurds. Although religious brotherhood is a concept that in its essence is defined by justice in duties and rights, Kurds have been used as a tool to achieve the goals of the foreign forces ruling Kurdistan and at the same time have used these goals.
The land of the Kurds and its spiritual capabilities have made them turn to the most effective methods of division. No nation has faced as much friendship and enmity from its opponents and neighboring nations as the Kurds. As Qaftan writes, "the Kurds became the supporters and friends of the Abbasids. Even the commander of the Ottoman army, namely Abu Muslim, was of Kurdish origin, and the most important part of the army was also of Kurdish descent" (Qaftan, 1969, p. 383). Hence, Kurds have played an important role in the Islamic borders for several centuries, and the history of a number of Kurdish ruling families is evidence of this claim. The Ayyubid family is among the most famous of these families (Edmunds, 2012, p. 32).

CONCLUSION
Salih Qaftan is a child of the modern age, whose knowledge requires a look at the developments of the era when despite the fundamental developments, although only a limited number of Kurdish historians emerged, these developments and events pushed them to pioneer the historiography of Kurdistan.
In this era, not only the methods of history writing among the Kurds had not been evaluated and developed, but also the foundations of education had not been formed in Kurdistan. Accordingly, Kurdish historiography suffered from scientific poverty, as historians like Qaftan had little and insignificant access to resources. Nevertheless, in order to know and rewrite the history of Kurdistan, especially the history of the middle centuries, they turned to historiography.
By looking carefully at the time when Salih Qaftan emerged as a historian of Kurdistan history and even other historians of his time, it becomes clear that these historians' attention to Kurdistan is the product of observing the efforts of neighboring nations in paying attention to historiography; in other words, it is the product of contacting with and imitating them. This group of Kurdish historians, by observing the actions of their neighbors and including their interest in historiography, came to the conclusion that writing the history of the Kurds in the Kurdish language is very vital in order to revive the national identity, so they defined and strengthened the Kurdish language as a tool for innovation, convergence and facilitating the spread of knowledge among people. At the same time, they were the initiators and pioneers of the efforts that sought to give a Kurdish identity to the history of Kurdistan and use the resources on the history of the middle centuries as a part of the history of Kurdistan.