Erbil, also called Hawler (Kurdish: ھەولێر ,Hewlêr[3] Arabic: أربيل, romanized: Arbīl,[4] Syriac: ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ,[5] or Arbel)[6] and known in ancient history as Arbela, is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.[7] There is no current census of the city and official population statistics are not available, its population is estimated to be around 1,200,000.[2] Erbil ھەولێر         Clockwise, from top: Downtown, Mudhafaria …

The Kelashin Stele (also Kelishin or Keli-Shin; from Kurdish Language: Blue Stone) found in Kelashin, Iraq, bears an important Urartian–Assyrian bilingual text dating to c. 800 BC, first described by Friedrich Eduard Schulz in 1827. Part of Schulz’s notes were lost when he was killed by Kurdish “bandits”, and later expeditions were either prevented by weather conditions or Kurdish brigands, so that a copy (latex squeeze) …

Abdullah Beg Benari was a Kurdish tribal leader, who lived from 1880 to 1939. He was the son of Sheikh Jahangir, who was the son of Sultan Beg, and a descendant of Bradostian Kurdish princes who fought in the battle of Dimdim Castle against the Iranian invasion by the Shah Abbas in 1609. Abdullah lived in the …

Simko Shikak (born Ismail Agha Shikak 1887 – 1930, Kurdish: سمکۆی شکاک, romanized: Simko Şikak) was a Kurdish chieftain of the Shekak tribe. He was born into a prominent Kurdish feudal family based in Chihriq castle located near the Baranduz river in the Urmia region of northwestern Iran. By 1920, parts of Iranian Azerbaijan located west of Lake Urmia were under his control.[1] He led Kurdish farmers into battle and defeated the Iranian army on …

Bradost or Chia-y Bradost (Nawakhin), a mountain range over 5,000 feet above sea level and about 25 miles long, stretches northwest from the Rawanduz river opposite the town of Rawanduz in Erbil Governorate, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, to Rubari kuchuk, a tributary of the Great Zab.[1] Bradost mountain range The Shanidar Cave,a Neandertalian archaeological site, lies about 15 …