The Kurdish chiefdoms or principalities (Sorani Kurdish: میرنشینە کوردیەکان) were several semi-independent entities which existed during the 16th to 19th centuries during the state of continuous warfare between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran.[1] The Kurdish principalities were almost always divided and entered into rivalries against each other.[1] The demarcation of borders between the Safavid Shah Safi and the Ottoman caliph Sultan Murad IV in 1639 effectively divided Kurdistan between the two empires.[1]
The eyalet of Diyarbakir was the center of the major and minor Kurdish chiefdoms. However, other Kurdish emirates existed outside of Diyarbakir.[2][3]
Policy during the Ottoman-Persian Wars
The Ottomans gave the Kurds self-rule during the Ottoman-Persian wars, to ensure that the Kurds remain on the Ottoman side. After the Treaty of Erzurum in 1823 the Persian threat was reduced & the Ottomans brought the Kurdish chiefdoms under direct control.[4]