# Ahmed Barzani

Ahmed Mohammad Barzani (1896 – 11 January 1969) (Kurdish: ئه‌حمه‌د محه‌ممه‌د بارزانی, romanized: Ehmed Mihemed Barzanî), also known as Khudan (Kurdish: خودان, romanized: Xodan), was a Kurdish leader of the Barzani tribe. The first of the major Barzani revolts took place in 1931 after Sheikh Ahmed Barzani, one of the most prominent Kurdish leaders in Iraqi Kurdistan, succeeded in defeating a number of other Kurdish tribes as well as regular Iraqi troops. He was the head of the Barzani tribe in Kurdistan. Sheikh Ahmed is considered to be the architect of Barzani rule in Iraqi Kurdistan. He was a Kurdish nationalist who brought many different Kurdish tribes under his command and expanded the Barzan region. Along with his younger brother Mustafa Barzani, he fought against the Iraqi government in the 1920s and 1930s.

## Religious views

As the Barzanis were traditionally led by an Islamic cleric, Ahmed Barzani was educated in Islam from a young age and was a qualified Sheikh. He was described as eccentric, "young and unstable", and "half mad", when he first became leader of the Barzanis, and his growing religious authority led to conflict, as controversies about his divinity quickly spread. By 1927, he created his own syncretic religion. He fused Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, as well as Kurdish mythology. He officially proclaimed divinity and was nicknamed "the God of Barzan". Nationalism may have had a role in his creation of a new religion. He allowed his disciples to proclaim him as the human incarnation of God, and he also allowed his followers to pray to him. Mustafa Barzani disassociated himself from the deification of Ahmed Barzani. In 1931, amid his revolt, some Western sources misinterpreted the Christian influence on his religion as him having converted to Christianity. By 1958, when Abdul-Karim Qasim came to power, Ahmed Barzani had reverted to Islam. He was given an Islamic funeral after his death in 1969, and was remembered as being a religious figure like Sheikh Said, Sheikh Ubeydullah, and Abdulsalam Barzani. His syncretic religion had never been popular among Kurds, and the Barzani family attempted to exclude it from the legacy of Ahmed Barzani.

## Battle with Assyrians

When Assyrians were returning to Hakkari, Ahmed Barzani and his Zibari allies tried to prevent the Assyrians from passing through their territory. The Assyrians led by Petros Elia defeated them and inflicted heavy losses.

## Barzani revolts

The first of the major Barzani revolts took place in 1931 after Mustafa Barzani, one of the most prominent Kurdish leaders in Iraqi Kurdistan and the brother of Ahmed, succeeded in defeating a number of other Kurdish tribes who questioned their dominance.
He was later forced to flee to Turkey, where he was held in detention and then sent to exile in the south of Iraq. He headed Barzan's largest revolution from 1931 to 1937 and gained the respect of many Iraqi Army generals who were fighting him, such as General Abdul-Jabar Barznji the commander of Iraqi Army in Barzan region.
Barzani was the center of focus of the British, Iraqi and Turkish discontent. He was very sympathetic to Xoybûn, a Kurdish separatist movement that started the Ararat rebellion in Turkey. He received many Kurds who were seeking sanctuary in Barzan, including Kor Hussein Pasha. In September 1930, a Turkish military attaché in Baghdad told Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri Said, "the Turkish military operations in Ararat were very successful. The army will carry similar operations to the west of the Lake of Wan. We expect these operations to come to an end soon. The Turkish army will mobilize along the Iraq-Turkey border if the Iraqi Army moves against the Sheikh Barzan. In fact, Ismet Inonu complained to Nuri Said in Ankara that Sheikh Ahmed was supporting the insurrection in Ararat (see Archive E4976/1932/93, dated 4SEP1930)

## Environmental protection

Barzani was the first known Kurdish environmentalist and conservationist leader. He enforced regulations to maintain a clean and sustainable environment. He prohibited, among other things:
* Cutting down trees, especially those which provide shade and prevent erosion
* Overharvesting honey
* Killing non-poisonous snakes.
* Fishing with dynamite and other explosives
* Hunting during breeding season.

## Barzani's legacy

Barzani rejected the traditional way of maintaining leadership within the same family. He emphasized that whoever takes the lead must be qualified for such a job. He condemned the corruption which was beginning to take part within the Kurdish Movement and was highly critical of ignoring the oppressed masses who were the victims of the movement's failures. He is also credited with emphasizing that marriage should be voluntary: such freedom he considered a basic civil right and stressed it publicly.