By Ferhad Pirbal, The Kurdish Globe, 27 June 2007
From the 17th century forward, publishing existed in some form. Ferhad Pirbal discusses the transformation of publishing over the centuries.
Assyrians and Ottomans in the 17th century, Europeans in the 18th century, and Armenians in the 19th century came and had the Kurdish language printed in textbooks. Kurds themselves did not have a printing machine until the late 19th century. The name of the print house first appeared in the writings of Haji Qdiree Koyiee in the 19th century.
By Ferhad Pirbal, The Kurdish Globe, 27 June 2007
From the 17th century forward, publishing existed in some form. Ferhad Pirbal discusses the transformation of publishing over the centuries.
Assyrians and Ottomans in the 17th century, Europeans in the 18th century, and Armenians in the 19th century came and had the Kurdish language printed in textbooks. Kurds themselves did not have a printing machine until the late 19th century. The name of the print house first appeared in the writings of Haji Qdiree Koyiee in the 19th century.
The debut of early Kurdish publishing houses is attributed to two reasons: first, the freedom and abilities Kurdish intellectuals enjoyed in exile away from Ottomans and Persian authorities in the late 19th century; second, the freedoms and rights granted to the Iraqi Kurds under the English colonialism in the 20th century that enabled the Kurds to have a publishing house of their own.
Until the early 20th century, Kurdish intellectuals and writers, including feudalists, were not allowed to have publishing houses to print textbooks, papers, or magazines in the Kurdish language. The following are pioneers in Kurdish publishing:
1. Miqdad Print House-Madhet Badirkhan:
The fourth and fifth releases of Kurdistan newspaper 1898/Cairo indicate that the papers were printed in a print house named Kurdistan. It seems that the Kurdish-renowned press personality who acted as the editor in chief of Kurdistan newspaper had purchased an independent printing machine to publish the first Kurdish newspaper named Kurdistan. Moreover, releases from Farajallah Zaki Al-Kurdi, an ethnic Kurdish journalist in Cairo, carried the name of Kurdistan Publishing House. It is not clear if the two print houses were the same. However, it is confirmed that there was a Kurdish publishing house in Egypt named Kurdistan Publishing House that printed textbooks and newspapers in the Kurdish language.
2. Ijtihad Print House 1904:
The famous Kurdish intellectual Dr. Abdullah Jawdet (1869-1932), who lived in exile in Geneva, bought a printing machine. On August 4, 1904, the first copy of Ijtihad Magazine was printed. Jawdet later printed a series of books in Ottoman (Turkish language in Arabic alphabet) and French languages. In 1905, Jawdet moved his printing machine to Cairo where it was confiscated by the new regime of young Turks in the summer of 1913. After Jawdet managed to retrieve his printing machine, he resumed publishing his magazine in addition to printing many other books. Jawdet’s print house had an active role in publishing the books of a number of Kurdish writers who wrote about Kurdish culture in the Ottoman language. Moreover, a large number of other newspapers and magazines were printed in Ijtihad Print House in both Kurdish and Turkish languages.
3. Kurdistan Print House 1915:
At the prime of his age, Hussein Huzni Mukriani (1883-1947) had been to many of the then distinguished and popular cultural centers, such as those of Tawriz, Yerevan, Moscow, Petersburg, and Istanbul. By the time he was only 20 years old, he had learned Indian, Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Russian, and French languages. His being multilingual and his experience acquired from traveling enabled him to appreciate the significance of printing and publishing. Thus, he left Russia for India via Afghanistan onward to Istanbul, then the center of publishing. There he learned the art of calligraphy and educated himself about printing and press. In 1915, Mukriani headed for Germany where he purchased a printing machine for 120 Turkish liras and shipped it to the Kurdish city of Halab in Syria the same year. Reading pioneer Kurdish newspapers and magazines such as Kurdistan, Roji Kurd, and Hatawi Kurd, he realized that pure Kurdish text couldn’t be produced using the Arabic alphabet. Mukriani decided that he needed to make some further molds to generate Kurdish letters/sounds, such as P, CH, ZH, G, and V. After he created the new molds, he headed back to Germany along with his printing machine to build in the new letters in the machine. Immediately after he had the job done, he returned to Halab where he resumed printing Kurdish books, the first of which was the love masterpiece Mam u Zeen by Ahmedi Khani in 1915.
Mukriani is also known as the owner of the first Kurdish printing house that lasted the longest. In its first 11 years, the machine printed more than 15 books and 6 newspapers, and by 1970, it had printed more that 80 publications. Among other unique features of Mukriani’s publishing was that the machine had fewer technical problems, such as typographical errors, and most of its publications were released in the Kurdish language.
In 1925, at the request of Sa’eed Taha Shamzini, the then mayor of Rawanduz of Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Mukriani moved his printing machine from Halab to Rawanduz where he started publishing Kurdish newspapers in the Kirmanji dialect (1926-1932). Later in 1947, Mukriani shipped his printing machine to Erbil (the current regional capital of Iraqi Kurdistan Region) where it operated under the supervision of Mukriani’s brother, Gyoui Mukriani, and under a new name, Kurdistan Print House.
4. Major SOAN Printers 1918:
When the British entered Iraq and colonized the country, including the Kurdistan Region in the north, they brought with them a number of secondhand printers; they installed one in Kirkuk and another in Suleimaniayh. Major SOAN started publishing Peshkawtin newspaper on April 29, 1920, and the newspaper continued to be printed until 1922
When the well-known Kurdish freedom fighter Sheikh Mahmoud liberated Suleimaniayh on April 30, 1922, British forces evacuated the city and left the printer behind. Followers of Sheikh Mahmoud began using the printer, with which they published both Bangi Kurdistan and Roji Kurdistan newspapers. When the British forces returned to Suleimaniay in May 1923, they took possession of the printer again. On June 17, 1923, the Kurds again drove the British forces out of Suleimaniay, re-seized the printer, and used it to publish Aumedi Istiqlal newspaper. In late April of 1924, British forces took the printer back, and on August 18, 1924, the printer released the first issue of Jianawa newspaper.
On May 6, 1932, the renowned and legendary Kurdish poet Piramerd was appointed the manager of Major SOAN printers in Suleimaniay. In August 1934, Piramerd rented the printer and used it for publications in his own name. Piramerd published a number of books and 538 issues of Jian newspaper with the printer.
We can conclude that, until 1937, there have been only two publishing houses in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region: Kurdistan Print House in Erbil and Major SOAN Printers in Suleimaniay. Thus, were it not for those two printers, there would have been no Kurdish writer or Kurdish publication between the years of 1920-1930. Moreover, were it not for the literature written in 1920-1930, the Kurdish literature of 1940-1970 would not have been as rich as it is. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that these two printers are the mother of us all, as Googol was the mother of realism in Russia.
Source: Farhad Pirbal, The Kurdish Globe, Thursday, 07 August 2008