Jaff (tribe)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jaff (Kurdish: جاف; also Jahf, Jaaf, Jaf, Caf) is the largest Kurdish tribe also known as clan, living in the borderlands of Iran and Iraq. Their heartland is between Sulaymaniyah to Sanandaj.[1][2] The tribe predominantly adheres to the Shafi'i school with many Naqshbandi and Qadiriyya followers.[2] It originated in the year 1114 by Zaher Beg Jaff,[3][4] other important leaders were Mohamed Pasha Jaff, Lady Adela, Osman Pasha Jaff and Mahmud Pasha Jaff, their ancestral home is Sherwana Castle.[5][6][7] The Ottoman Empire bestowed on them the name Pasha, a noble title, in the 1700s.[8][9] They are the biggest Kurdish tribe in the Middle East with approximately 4 million people[10] and they speak Babani Sorani.[11][12] They ruled the Ardalan Principality until the 1860s.[2]
