A History of Russian Kurdology: With a Brief Literature Overview
Khanna Omarkhali، with Mossaki N.
2014
[1]
Despite a few published articles on some aspects of Russian Kurdology, it has never been the subject of any in-depth research. The history of Russian Kurdology may be divided into three distinct periods: tsarist, Soviet, and post-Soviet. After Russian Kurdology developed in the first half of the 19th century, it held a leading position in the world for a long time. As a separate branch of Oriental Studies, Kurdish Studies started to take shape in the Russian Empire around the mid-19th century. The discipline experienced its golden age in the early 1980s, when Kurdish Studies were established at three major centers for Soviet Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences: Leningrad, Moscow, and Yerevan. Although today's Kurdish Studies is still an active academic platform in Russia, the field is confronted with a big problem, namely the lack of trained scientific personnel. This paper presents a brief overview of the history of Russian Kurdology, particularly in the Soviet and post-Soviet period, and focuses on Russian Kurdish Studies literature. The first of this paper's three chapters provides an overview of the history of Kurdish Studies in tsarist Russia. The second part presents its development after the revolution and during the Soviet period, while the last covers the post-Soviet period and the current situation of Kurdish Studies in Russia.