The Kurds’ Intelligence and Consciousness in the View of British Travelers (1900-1932)

Abstract

This study focuses on the cultural aspects of Kurds from the perspective of British travellers in the first third of the twentieth century. British explorers revealed a lot of information about Kurds and Kurdistan during that period and their works became original sources. Therefore, when they talk about the cultural aspects and intelligence of the Kurds, they also show the backwardness and illiteracy of the Kurds. we are investigating whether this is deliberately attributed to the Kurds or whether it is the nature of the Kurds, and what are the reasons for that. In terms of methods and how to collect information and drafting, in this study, we first analyse the records and memoirs of the travellers and compare them with the history of Kurds and Kurdistan based on other sources at that time to reach a correct conclusion. The summary of the results is that although there are signs of illiteracy, backwardness and weakness of intelligence in Kurdish society, but there were reasons for it. The travellers have evaluated it at the European level, or linked it to a regional tradition, while it has been proven that the Kurds, if given the opportunity, would civilize faster than the surrounding nations.