Ehmedê Xanî

Not to be confused with Ehmedê Xasî.

For the village in Iran, see Ahmad Khani, Iran.

Ehmedê Xanî (also Ahmad-e Khani, Kurdo-Arabic script: ئەحمەدێ خانی) was a Kurdish intellectual, scholar, mystic and poet who is viewed by some as the founder of Kurdish nationalism. He was born in the Hakkâri region in 1650 and died in Bayazid in 1707.^[1]

Ehmedê Xanî
A bust of Ehmedê Xanî in Kurdistan Region
Born	1650 Khani, Hakkari
Died	1707 Bayazid
Occupation	Intellectual, scholar, poet, writer
Period	17th century
Notable works	Mem and Zin

Ehmedê Xanî's türbe (mausoleum) in Bayazid

Xanî's most important work is Mem and Zin, a long romantic epic which is sometimes viewed as the Kurdish national epic. It is the most famous work of Kurdish literature among both Kurds and non-Kurds. His other important works include Nûbihara Biçûkan, a versified Arabic-Kurdish vocabulary, and Eqîdeya Îmanê, a religious poem. These works were studied in Kurdish schools from the time of Khani towards the 1930s.^[1]

Xanî admired the Kurmanji poets Melayê Cizîrî and Feqiyê Teyran.^[2] Joyce Blau called him the spiritual son of Cizîrî, Teyran and Ali Hariri.^[3]

Biography

Xanî was born in the village of Khan in Hekarî in 1650. He received his education in religious schools and went to study in different parts of Kurdistan.^[1] He wrote his first poem at the age of fourteen and became a clerical secretary at the princely court of Bayazid at the age of twenty.^[4] It is possible that he also visited Syria and Egypt. There are indications in his poetry that he lived for a long time in the city of Jazira (Cizre), which was the capital of the Kurdish principality of Bohtan.^[1] He completed the romantic epic Mem and Zin, his most famous work, at the age of 44.^[4] He worked as a teacher in Bayazid in the last years of his life.^[1] Most scholars concur that he died in Bayazid in 1707.^[4]

Nationalism

Xanî is sometimes considered the founder of Kurdish nationalism^[1] or viewed as a proto-nationalist. He expressed his negative opinion of Arabs, Persians, and Armenians in his poetry.^[5] In the introductory chapters of his epic poem Mem and Zin, he did not devote parts of the introduction to praising the rulers of his time, which was typical in classical Oriental literature. Instead, he wrote of the subjugation of the Kurds and the occupation of Kurdistan by the Ottomans and the Safavids, as a result of which the Kurds lacked their own independent state with a Kurdish monarch. 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] He wrote:

Ger dê hebûya me ittifaqek Vêk ra bikira me inqiyadek Rum û ʻEreb û ʻEcem temamî Hemiyan ji me ra dikir xulamî Tekmîl dikir me dîn û dewlet Tehsîl dikir me ʻilm û hikmet Temyîz dibûn ji hev meqalat Mumtaz dibûn xwedankemalat	If we could form a union by agreement And to that union we all submitted It would force the Turks, Arabs and Persians all together To show deference to us [alt. would become our servants][6] Then we would perfect religion and State We would be able to cultivate knowledge and wisdom Then the hodgepodge would be sorted Those with excellence would become distinguished[7]
	—Translation by Mücahit Bilici

According to Ferhad Shakely, many later Kurdish poets, such as Haji Qadir Koyi (1824–1897), followed Xanî's example and lauded the struggle of the Kurds for liberty.^[1] In the 20th century, Mem and Zin was hailed as the earliest expression of Kurdish nationalism. This interpretation has been criticized by Hakan Özoğlu, who argues that "it is highly unlikely that Ahmed-i Hani sought a nation-state for the Kurds." According to Özoğlu, Xanî may have only had Kurmanji speakers in mind when writing.^[8] Martin van Bruinessen states that it is incorrect to call Xanî a nationalist, although his works "have played an important part in crucial phases of the Kurdish national movement."^[9] He writes, "Kurd in [Xanî's] period appears to refer only to the Kurdish tribes and a part of the urban aristocratic elite, but not to the non-tribal peasantry." In van Bruinessen's view, if Xanî conceived of a state when wishing for a Kurdish king, it was not of a Kurdish nation-state but a multi-ethnic state where Kurds would conquer their neighbors.^[10] Leonard Michael Koff argues that Xanî wrote of Kurdish moral and cultural independence but understood the impossibility of political independence.^[4]

Works

• Mem û Zîn (Mem and Zin)
• Eqîdeya Îmanê (The Path of Faith)
• Eqîdeya Îslamê (Basics of Islam)
• Nûbihara Biçûkan (The Spring of Children)
• Erdê Xweda (Astronomy and Geography book)
• Dîwana Helbestan

See also

• List of Kurdish philosophers