Ehmedê Xanî (Kurdish: ئەحمەدێ خانی, romanized: Ehmedê Xanî; Turkish Ahmed Hani), was a Kurdish intellectual, scholar, mystic and poet who is considered the founder of Kurdish nationalism. He was born in the Hakkâri region in 1650 and died in Bayazid in 1707.[1]
The most important work of Xanî is Mem and Zin which is considered the national epic of Kurds. Other important works include Nûbiharan Biçûkan and Eqîdeya Îmanê. These works were studied in Kurdish schools from the time of Kani towards the 1930s.[1]
Xanî was born in the village of Khan near Hakkari in 1650 and is buried in the Ehmed Xani türbe in Bayazid/Doğubayazıt.[4]
Nationalism
Xanî is considered the founder of Kurdish nationalism and supported an independent Kurdistan.[5] In a mathnawi from 1694, he chose not to devote parts of the introduction to praise the rulers of his time, which was typical in classical Oriental literature. Instead, the preface of the mathnawi was dedicated to his opinions on Kurdish nationalism. He explained the subjugation of Kurds by the Ottomans and the Safavids, and their occupation of Kurdistan which he argued had become a reality because of the lack of a Kurdish monarch who could rule Kurdistan. Such a ruler could liberate Kurds from the 'vile'.[1] He also believed that an independent Kurdistan could safeguard the Kurdish language for scientific and intellectual purposes.[5]
If we had unity amongst ourselves, If we all, together, obeyed one another, The Turks, the Arabs and the Persians, Would one and all be in our servitude, We would complete religion and state We would earn knowledge and wisdom[a]
^Kurdish: Ger dê hebûya me ittifaqek Vêk ra bikira me inqiyadek Rûm û ereb û ecem temamî Hemiyan ji me ra dikir xulamî Tekmîl dikir me dîn û dewlet Tehsîl dikir me ilm û hikmet
^Ahmadzadeh, Hashem (2018). Gunter, Michael M. (ed.). Classical and modern Kurdish literature. Routledge. p. 92. ISBN9781317237983.
^Blau, Joyce (1995). Malmîsanij (ed.). "Jiyan û berhemên Ehmedê Xanî (1650-1707)". Çira (in Kurdish): 7.
^Korangy, Alireza (2020). Kurdish Art and Identity: Verbal Art, Self-definition and Recent History. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 41. ISBN9783110599626.
^ abcOlson, Robert. "Kurds". The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
External links
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