Kurdistan
Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges.
Kingdom of Corduene in 60 B.C
Medieval period
Kurdistan in the Middle Ages was a collection of semi-independent and independent states called "emirates". It was nominally under indirect political or religious influence of Khalifs or Shahs.In the 16th century, after prolonged wars, Kurdish-inhabited areas were split between the Safavid and Ottoman empires. After the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 up until the aftermath of World War I, most Kurdish areas were generally under Ottoman rule.
Kurdish Independent Kingdoms and Autonomous Principalities circa 1835.
World War I and the Treaty of Sèvres
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Allies contrived to split Kurdistan among several countries, including Kurdistan, Armenia and others (as detailed in the ultimately unratified Treaty of Sèvres). However, the reconquest of these areas by the forces of Kemal Atatürk caused the Allies to accept the renegotiated Treaty of Lausanne and the borders of the modern Republic of Turkey, leaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region. Other Kurdish areas were assigned to the new British and French mandated states of Iraq and Syria.
