The Sharafnama, Or, The History of the Kurdish Nation, 1597, Book 1"In the pages of the Sharafnama are present the Kurdish nation, already unified 400 years ago within a common culture, national ethos, a defined homeland and an integrated history stretching into antiquity. In the text of this unique history the empires of the Kurds parallel those of the Arabs, Persians and Turks, some, according to Bitlisi, reaching back over 4,000 years. As the Kurds continue their arduous journey to regain their proper position as the fourth largest ethnic group in the greater Middle East, it is clear why the Sharafnama has gained the status of a national document and the locus classicus of Kurdish authenticity. The great prestige of the Sharafnama as a national history among the Kurdish literati and rulers has lasted for centuries. To gain the honor of being mentioned in the Sharafnama enticed later Kurdish dynasties to shuffle their own dynastic history into the pages of the book long after Bitlisi's death. Meanwhile, due to the pristine condition of its surviving manuscripts, the Sharafnama has and continues to serve as a primary resource to compare and correct the scribal errors found in other histories written in Persian language before 1597. The Sharafnama also contains invaluable information on the Kurds' neighboring peoples and dynasties who interacted with the Kurds, as well as the empires that emerged and weathered in the area." |
