Show I f v r yr t E t 7 w w n tIp t S f ff S SYe Ye f Y Ip 1 A vY y r 5 Z vYA b mazy A 6 fF F P a f fb k t i t j f y a 6 t J s si I 2 Ox I II II a aY ar aYI y z w I Y r YI x b a e r v T Tr Td Ph PhY 4 Y y y r d t A Kurd of the Turkey Persia Border Borde Prepared by the National Geographic Society w ashington DC D C n Cr-n r iHU ILLY Kurds who ho has hn have e a revolted re rUI r-rUI j along the tine Turkish Persian bor border border der and a whom whom horn n large Turkish TurI forces ha base e been oper opel operating nUng near famous Mount Ararat have han been heen fighting periodically v Rg against t tit till I states tates of Ash Asia Minor for thousands of years Always AI a s theIr favorite fa method of strife has ben been u warfare The have hae been historic marauders but hut perhaps they the have ha e e every cry rea reason on so 0 fa far r as lS em environment Iron meat ment is concerned to lead such I lives es te after state his lias struck against them with Ith forces more powerful than any they could raise The dais dava da of Assyrian Ase PO power er in Mesopotamia seem pretty fir far toward the beginnings s of III history tor He Records of that empire show thil time and aln a-aln Its soldiers were ere sent cent Into the rOIl rou h country around tine the head of the great ris cr rivers ers to Sub subdue subdue due the investors mountaineers ancestors of the who Kurds who harried A s sy riis rii's out outlying outI I lying ing settlements The These e c sane Ime moue moun mountaineers fought the Al when tine the latter came Into the tine region be between 1 und and COO B CW C Chen W hen lien hen Xenophon retreated frolD from Asia Ash Minor In B C 0 Q the Kurds hurd then tilled lIed the CarduchI hIs Greeks rolling great g stones down on them from cliffs and mown moun mountains They fou fought ht continually l the Bagdad caliphs Sluice Since the Turl Turi s 3 rose roe to power pO In Asia Aela Minor the line Kurds hl tease e fou fought ht them In fact the Turks ne newer never er est et any considerable measure of ot control over o these fierce freedom 10 loving losing Ing high highLanders hl highlanders h Landers Since the World orid orld war the territory of lades his has been negil gable Tine The country countr's has consisted al almo almost almost mo most t solely of tine big hig fat t lying bet between een the ck se sei sen I on th the north and mud the eastern arm of or the l on the south nd fin extension C to the east about as is brol broil fiS as the Asia Asti Minor Imor peninsula reaching rou h half way tv from the PI ick se sea seato seato to the Caspian The so co half or of tim this eastern the extension extension the southeastern ern corner lorner of postwar post lr I turkey is lurked urke ls w hit Is loosely called h Kurdistan Theother The Theother other half halt of tine the eastern cistern extension e north of ot Kurdistan was ae once Turkish Armenia Kurdish Sphere Is ts Large flows O that tens of thousands of tine the residents h line hive I e been across the Russian holen while other tens ten of or thousands lids h hive 1 use e perished tilt region ion hardly deserves the he old acme The Kurdish population was wis ah 1 S in curl url ish high Armenia no now It Is proportionately much greeter greater The whole hole eastern cistern end ed e d of or present Turkey constituting almost a third of the tel territory of the country therefore mac roughly rou be he considered ed d the Kurd It is In the northeast corner cornu of TUI he that th the Kurds have Ve recently been heen most active e Geographic and political and eco cco economic complications aplenty ire lre found tu lu this region rejon On the east touches ler Persia tersia la md the lie peo pIe for a 11 consider ble distance Into that country al ale aie e I Kurds to too Indeed Kurdish people Inhabit the entire ros agros mountain range rane ran e which I from Turkey for GOO miles extends to tine the forming the boundary be- be be between bet t tween I en Pennia and Iraq The Kurds belong to the branch of ot tine the white race Because the open air lives hues which of they hey live most moet of them base ha e march harsh h feature feature Tine The great gre-at majority are ure nominal llly y The plateau regIOn 1 lying partly In old Armenia p In where here many of the most us mike Kurds Kurd live 11 e presents a good eC s of tine the effects on man of u a mixture of ru n and fertile s I rued hed l- l mountains and e recently extinct wet 01 canoes noe occupy the upper Ie lesel cis s I 0 ewer er magnificent are CUD ons cut by and tine the and numerous broad basin headstream s shaped vat val 11 leys floors doors noor are fertile ferUle plains Tine The ancestors of the tine I d Kurds aids were ere od from many of the these e desirable lowlands by the Armenian Invasion md and from others by the liter later arriving Turks Some Recent Revolts Du Even en the fairly recent regime ot of Kemal Pasha has had several se Kurdish on Its hinds hands There was a sporadic uprising In 1 1929 1029 and In H 1923 j the tribesmen made an unsuccessful effort to set up their own government goo I lie he scrapping of the caliphate at Con Constantinople t aroused them and nearl nearly every eHry in old Moslem customs is in-is Irritated them He Revolt olt after re- re revolt re revolt volt olt has been heen quelled but hunt as lS soon oon a as the Kurd replenishes his forces and and supplies he I Is ready to attack again line Kurd hurd farmers ers of the Iraq plains are more prosperous than the tribes tribesmen tribesmen men of the hill hili country Travelers climb the trails of Kurdistan fo tn les without eem seeing a 1 village e S hen heD one does appear It Is usually situated ina In Ina Ina a well protected spot louses Houses es esre ire re placed without re regard to building line and a l bird birds s c eJ eye e view lew of a village iIla e re reveals l veils a n jumble of mud and stove stone structures r f The peasants peasant's house Is a n one room structure which might be mistaken for fori forr r 1 stable The rhe tribesmen reserves one side Ide of his abode for hl his initials animals while hl his family occupies the other oilier side Kuris Kurd sit on the floor when the they rest or eat eft therefore they do not nee need tables or chairs I 1 he trig it 11 chief or headman fares better hetter He ale his has a i house for his family and a 1 guest house honee where here he 11 uses lives e ind entertains guests lIe He is offended If a does not stay tay with him Once the trl traveler eler has lias stopped he must re remain remain main for dinner The food Is placed on tine the floor in the center of the lie din diners diners ers Should a l guest fuest stretch his Ills leg to toward another person com convey conies e food to his Ills mouth with Ith Ins Ills left hint han 1 I or fondle the do dog hl his host Is offended o I 1 nue nhe nives and ind forks ire are to be four foun l 1 lin In the h Kurd silver er chest but If a guest has In feeding himself With Ills his hands hande a spoon will w be handed to him I lew ew meals ire are eel ed that do dolot donot donot not lot Include mist mast curdled milk the fl Itch dish of the Kurd A little eater ater mixed with Ith the mn mast t mikes the i Kurd urd nati nal drin The tribesmen men ill III e a vegetables but sel el seldom dom serve en e meat They Buy Their Wives Under lo Moslem lathe law hew tine the Kurd may take four h wives wises es Wives Vises h cs are bought so 0 the peasant usually has only one rhe Che chiefs tal e a the full quota Ives W Ices are priced according to their rank ranI- j the fhe tribesmen tribesman can get a wife ife In ex e exchange r change e for n a pony pon or goat gont oat or one onet t iris 1111 co cost t the tilE equivalent of or 2500 2 WO iOn The entails a season Beacon of merry I merrymaking ln making In which shish the lie whole tribe joins but it it takes less lese than a n minute to dis dist dissolve t I simply caws a sI sa s soh e a i union The Thc min man I dh 01 ce you sou ou three tines times i mes and n the are freeTo tree free To the ne forel-ne- the Kurds hurd seem to lil hl lilliway liway h now know little else ele than the he art of Many of the rno tribesmen are adept thle thieves ee hut but In inthe the hll hills Is as is well ell is the plains many Kurd earn honest livings by f firming and cattle raising raisin Kurd Kurds are lre pastor II from their sit es II people seldom moving mo aiti to higher labes hes except e to migrate tucle during the summer for Cor new v pas pus pasturage pasturage theIn In spite of e exciting events e In to th the the Kurds the fighting history of or out nut outsIde outside tribesmen were wert almost before the sIde the Near heir Fast East at of Kurds up nip user ar nr When hen a i dele delegation l r In peered at the price conference did not know who ho 11 1019 ne newspaper men he be the tribesmen was as ns revealed Ct the he lioi 1 their Identity Kurds Curds went on the front pac since frequently have hae been heen there thele hurd In the tho I the he presence pt of re region lon of Is now no problem northern for Iraq the theLI LI LIU us-is us 1 a bird diplomatic coh colue e after the to U treat eaty y drifters In Io ut City the 1 l oud war ar I this tins region nn Is almost population of odor ador and anil Is th solidly I I It that In sonic some wa n i ais PO power Cower er of petroleum rejon nolon else elec In tints this nil all major one of the to become about Id fd centers i oil II gelds fields of ot t tine the wo wa 0 t At I |