In The Meadows of Gold by Muslim historian Masudi [10], and Shahnameh, a poetic opus written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi around 1000 AD, and Sharafnameh of medieval Kurdish historian Sherefxan Bidlisi, Zahhak is an evil king who conquers Iran and who has serpents growing out of his shoulders.[11] Zahak's rule lasts for a thousand years during which two young men are sacrificed daily to provide their brains to the serpents to alleviate the pain that Zahak felt.[11] The man who was charged with slaughtering two young people each day would instead kill one person a day and would mix their brains with that of a sheep, thus saving one young man a day. As discontent grows against Zahhak's rule, the nobleman plan a revolt, being led by Kaveh, a blacksmith (cf. Ossetian Kurdalægon), who has lost six sons to Zahhak.[11] Therefor, the saved young children (who according to the legend were ancestors of the Kurds [10] [12]) are then trained by Kawa into an army marches to Zahhak's castle where Kawa kills the king with a hammer; eventually Kawa instates Fereydun as king.[11] The root of this story goes back to ancient Iranian legends. According to Evliya Çelebi, the district (sancak) of Merkawe in Shahrazur (Sharazur) is named after the blacksmith Kawe(Kaveh), who overthrew Zahhak[13]. The 12th century geographer Yaqoot Hamawi, mentions Zor son of Zahhak (Aji Dahak) as founder of the famous city of Sharazor[14].
It is a tradition to jump across a fire at Newroz
[edit] Death of Dehak and spring
According to Kurdish myth, Kawa lived for 2,500 years under the tyranny of Zahhak, an Assyrian who is named Zuhak or Dehak by the Kurds.[1] [15] Dehak's evil reign caused spring to no longer come to Kurdistan.[1]March 20th is traditionally marked as the day that Kawa defeated Dehak. He is then said to have set fires on the hillsides to celebrate the victory and summon his supporters; subsequently spring returned to Kurdistan the next day.[1]
In some of the present Kurdish versions of the story of Zahhak and Kawe, there is no mention of Fereydun[13]. Although in the Ahl-e Haqq (Yarsan) Kurdish tradition, Kawa rebelled against Zahak and helped Fereydun bound Zahak in Damavand[16].
This legend is now used by the Kurds to remind themselves that they are a different, strong people, and the lighting of the fires has since become a symbol of freedom.[1]
In the 1930s, the Kurdish poet Taufik Abdullah, wanting to instil a new Kurdish cultural revival, used a previously known modified form of the story of Kaveh, (written as Kawa in Kurdish).[1] He connected the myths where people felt oppressed with Newroz, thus reviving a dying holiday and made it a symbol of Kurdish national struggle.[1] However it should be noted that Kurds celebrated Newroz long before this, and the word Newroz has been mentioned in the Kurdish poetry of 16th century. Indeed the arrival of spring was celebrated in Asia Minor since neolithic times, a good example is the Indo-European Phrygians who mourned the death of Attis, and rejoiced over his resurrection during the fourth week of March.
[edit] Divergent views
According to the Kurdish writer, Musa Anter, Newruz was originally celebrated on August 31, not March 21. However, after the introduction of the Arab calendar, the celebration was shifted to March [17]. Some scholars associate Dehak or Zehhak with Astyages, the last Emperor of the Medes. During the reign of Astyages, the native religion of Cult of Angels had a strong influence on Zoroastrianism, through introduction of Magi priests into that faith. It was during the Achaemenian period that the honorific royal title of Azhi Dahak was given a demonic character by the Zoroastrians as an attempt to reverse the Magi influence.
[edit] Newruz customs and celebration
Newruz is considered the most important festival in Kurdish culture, and is a time for entertainments such as games, dancing, family gathering, preparation of special foods and the reading of poetry[18]. The celebration of Newruz has its local peculiarities in different regions of Kurdistan[18]. On the eve of Newruz, in southern and eastern Kurdistan, bonfires are lit. These fires symbolize the passing of the dark season, winter, and the arrival of spring, the season of light[18].
[edit] Political overtone
Newroz celebrated by Kurdish community in Germany.The Kurdish association with Newroz has become increasingly pronounced since the 1950s when the Kurds in the Middle East and those in the diaspora in Europe started adopting it as a tradition.[2] In combination with the persecution they suffered in Turkey, the revival of the Newroz celebration become more intense and politicized and became a symbol of their resurrection.[2] By the end of the 1980s Newroz was mainly associated with Kurdish identity and the attempts to express and resurrect it.[2]
While the Kurdish celebration has taken the form of a political expression in Turkey, most Kurdish celebrations in Iran are identical to the national festivals.[3] Izady states that the reason for this may be that the original tradition and folklore behind Newroz has been lost in the northern and western parts of Kurdistan (i.e. Turkey), where it was never as involving, as it was in the southern and eastern parts.[3] Izady further states that Newroz might have gained prominence in the northern and western parts because of the prominence of the celebrations that the staunchest Kurdish adherents of Newruz, the Iraqi and Iranian Kurds, have enjoyed through their more frequent popular uprisings.[3] Thus the western and northern Kurds seem to have resolved to the celebration of the new year as a unifying political expression.[3]
In 2000, Turkey legalized the celebration of the spring holiday, spelling it Nevruz and claiming it as a Turkish spring holiday.[2][19] Also using Newroz rathern than Nevruz i.e. using Kurdish spelling has been officially forbidden, [20] though it is still widely used by Kurds. In the Kurdish regions of the country, specifically in Eastern Anatolia, but also in Istanbul and Ankara where there is a large Kurdish population, people gather and jump over bonfires.[2] Previous to it being legalized, the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, had chosen Newroz to stage terrorist attacks to obtain publicity for its cause;[2] this had led to Turkish forces detaining thousands of people who were seen as supporters of the Kurdish rebel movements.[21] In Newroz 1992 more than 50 Kurdish participants were killed by Turks; also in Newroz 2008 two participants were killed. [22]
In Syria, the Kurds dress up in their national dress and celebrate the new year.[23] According to Human Rights Watch, the Kurds have had to struggle to celebrate Newroz, and in the past the celebration has led to violent oppression, leading to several deaths and mass arrests.[5][24] The government had stated that the Newroz celebrations will be tolerated as long as they do not become political demonstrations of the treatment of the Kurds.[5] During Newroz 2008, three Kurdish celebrators were shot dead by Syrian security forces. [25] [26]
Kurds in the diaspora also celebrate the new year; for example Kurds in Australia celebrate Newroz, not only as the beginning of the new year but also as the Kurdish National Day;[4] and the Kurds in Finland celebrate the new year as a way of demonstrating support for the Kurdish cause.[27] Also in London, organizers estimated that 25,000 people celebrated Newroz during March 2006.[28]
[edit] Newroz in Kurdish literature
Newroz has been mentioned in works of many Kurdish poets and writers as well as musicians.[29] One of the earliest records of Newroz in Kurdish literature is from Melayê Cizîrî (1570-1640): [30]
Whithout the light and the fire of Love,
Without the Designer and the power of Creator,
We are not able to reach Union.
(Light is for us and dark is the night)
This fire massing and washing the Heart,
My heart claim after it.
And here come Newroz and the New Year,
When a such light is rising.
Also the famous Kurdish writer and poet Piramerd (1867-1950) writes in his 1948 poem Newroz:[30]
The New Year’s day is today. Newroz is back.
An ancient Kurdish festival, with joy and verdure.
For many years, the flower of our hopes was downtrodden
The fresh rose of spring was the blood of the youth
It was that red colour on the high horizon of Kurd
Which was carrying the happy tidings of dawn to remote and near nations
It was Newroz which imbued the hearts with such a fire
That made the youth receive death with devoted love
Hooray! The sun is shining from the high mountains of homeland
It is the blood of our martyrs which the horizon reflects
It has never happened in the history of any nation
To have the breasts of girls as shields against bullets
Nay. It is not worth crying and mourning for the martyrs of homeland
They die not. They live on in the heart of the nation.
Newroz as celebrated by Kurds
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