Kurdistan on the map in 1072

Kurdistan’s Name
Put on a World Map by a Turk in Arabic in Bagdad in 1072
A Political Cartography Approach
By Dr. M. Koohzad
Figure 1 is a world map drafted by Mahmud Ibn Hussein Ibn Muhammad alKashghari (1005-1102). He was approaching the age of centenarian when he died at 97.
More importantly, he was an elderly scholar, 67 years of age, when he went to Baghdad
in 1072 to write a book on the Turks for the Caliph Al-Qaim (1031-1075) of the Abbasids
Dynasty. He inserted a map to provide a spatial perspective on the content of his book. At
941 years of age, this map is the oldest surviving map that displays Kurdistan’s Name,
Ardh Al-Akrad or Land of the Kurds. Arrows on all of the maps point to Kurdistan.
Kashghari’s father, Hussein, was the mayor of Barskon, a town now in
the northeastern country of Kyrgyzstan. He was related to the Turkish Qara-Khanid
ruling dynasty. Mahmud was born and spent parts of his childhood and formative years
there. Mahmud’s mother, Bibi Rabiya, was formerly from the city of Basra in Iraq. She
was of an Arab in origin and a Shia-Muslim unlike the majority of the Turks. Therefore,
Mahmud Kashghari was not a full-blooded Turk. The family later moved to the larger
city of Kashghar. Both of these cities were on the famous Silk Road and were more
prosperous than they are today. Both of them went dormant economically as soon as
traffic on the roads declined due to poor environment, political unrest, diminishing
security, and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
Kashghari’s book that contained the map was stored away in libraries and ignored
until 1266 when a copy of it was discovered in Damascus. The book resurfaced again in
Diyarbakir in the Ottoman Empire. It was in 1908 that Ali Amiri Efendi purchased
Kashghari’s book. He established the Library of the Nation in Istanbul in 1916 and
donated all of his collection to his nation. The book is kept under the call number of
4189. Kashghari’s book had a major influence on the formation of the concept Turanism
of the young or old Turks.
Denial of the existence of the Kurds started only a year after the establishment of
Republic of Turkey in 1923 when Kurdish was banned. Turkish state terrorism against
the Kurds still is in full swing.
Figure 2 is the same as the first map only rotated to locate places at modern
cardinal directions. According to Ankara the map became 900 years old in 1972. For this
occasion, Kashghari’s map was used to issue a postage stamp. Ankara sees Kashghari as
on of the founding father of Turkish nationalism. Around this time, as shown on Figure
3, Kurdistan’s name was taken off the map and was replaced by “Land of the Turks. Yet,
nowhere on the original map one can find the word “Turk”. This is an obvious example
of “Carto-Propaganda”. Adulterating maps for propaganda was mainly used by the Nazi
Germany. Turks just followed suit.
Figure 4 is a restored and beautified version of the original map. Figure 5 shows
names from previous map in English. As a living document of their own, the map silently
rejects the failed Turkish claim of non-existence of the Kurds. Now, nearly 50 million
Kurds around the world can see Kurdistan on a Turkish map.
Figure 1
The Original 1072 Mahmud Kashghari’s World Map From his Diwan
(The Arrow Points to Kurdistan)
Figure 2
Kashghari’s World Map Rotated to Accurate Modern Orientation
(The Arrow Points to Kurdistan)
Figure 3
Kashghari 1072 World Map Rotated, Restored, and Adulterated
Kurdistan Removed—Replaced by Land of Turks
Figure 4
Kashghari’s 1072 World Map Rotated, With Restored Colors and Beautified
(The Arrow Points to Kurdistan)
Figure 5
Kashghari’s 1072 World Map Rotated, Restored, and Translated into English
(The Arrow Points to Kurdistan)