The Clash of Empires and the Rise of Kurdish Separatism, 1905-1926

This book focuses on the rise of Kurdish nationalism in Iran in the context of the emergence of the Kurdish leader, Ismail Agha Simko, who organised a movement to establish an independent Kurdish state in Northwestern Iran between 1918 and 1922. The emergence of Simko and his movement is analysed in the historical framework of the collapse of the Russian and Ottoman Empires during and after the First World War. The book also investigates the impact of Iranian, Turkish, Armenian, and Assyrian nationalism on Kurdish political leaders and intellectuals, some of whom played a prominent role in support of Simko. Drawing upon original documents, the author provides the first in-depth analysis of the political, ideological, and socio-economic causes of Kurdish nationalism in Iran during and after the First World War.