During the First World War, in the city of Urmia of West Iran, the Russian consul Basile Nikitine recruited the Kurdish Mullah Sa'id of Shamdinan to assist him in the study of the Kurdish language and history. Their collaboration resulted in a rich corpus of cultural and historical texts. Despite several attempts by 20th century Kurdology, the texts remained unuplished. For the first time this volume presents all of the Kurdish texts of the corpus with parallel English translations, accompanied by an introduction that outlines the historical and literary context, a Kurdish-English glossary and a map of locations. A rich compilation of primary sources documenting the cultural and political life of late 19th and early 20th century Kurdistan, the volume is a significant contribution to the study of the Kurdish language, literature, society and history.
Funded by the European Union (ERC, ALHOME, 101021183).
