Iraq’s most rebellious city celebrates 231 years of defiance
This week, on November 14, the people of the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, will be celebrating the founding of their hometown. They will also be celebrating a long history of rebellion and political defiance. The modern city of Sulaymaniyah began as the capital of a historic Kurdish principality known as Baban in 1784. And the […]Kawa Sheikh-Abdulla writes for Niqash:
This week, on November 14, the people of the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, will be celebrating the founding of their hometown. They will also be celebrating a long history of rebellion and political defiance. The modern city of Sulaymaniyah began as the capital of a historic Kurdish principality known as Baban in 1784. And the map of modern Iraq had not yet been drawn when, in 1918, Sheikh Mahmoud al-Hafid Barzanji began a revolution against the British who were supposed to control the country.
In his memoirs, Swedish diplomat Einar Thure af Wirsén, wrote that, “staying in Sulaymaniyah was very interesting because one can clearly see the new Kurdish mindset. We noticed there are many attempts at creating Kurdish culture in the city and we expect Sulaymaniyah will have a very prosperous future”.
