Hoshyar Karim - Kurdish Journalism: A History and Union Catalogue, 1898-1958

KURDISH JOURNALISM
A HISTORY AND UNION CATALOGUE,

1898 1958

Hoshyar Karim, MPhil. UCL

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Published by AuthorHouse 09/25/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4152-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4151-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4153-2 (e)

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Contents

This work, in its present form as a book is based on a thesis originally submitted by the author in 1977 for the degree of Master of Philosophy, at the University College London, Department of Library, Archive and Information Studies. The title then was A History And Union Catalogue of Kurdish Periodical Publications, 1898-1958.

In its present form, the presentation, sources I relied on, the titles of the Kurdish newspapers and other periodical publications included in this work and the libraries holding issues of these publications and also my findings represent the era up to the submission of the thesis in 1977.

I would like to dedicate this work first to my wife, Ilham Habeb Shbeb, without her support and patience the original thesis wouldnt have been accomplished. I would like to dedicate it also to my beloved son and daughter, Swar and Jwan.

Hoshyar Karim,

March 2015

This study is divided into three chapters. Chapter one deals with the Kurds and their country Kurdistan. It covers a short account on the geography of the area, the population of the people, situation of the Kurds in the countries where they live, their origin and their language and literature.

In chapter two the following two points are discussed:

1. The appearance of the first Kurdish newspaper.
2. A general survey of the previous works on the Kurdish newspapers and periodicals.

Chapter three covers in chronological order, the Kurdish newspapers and other periodical publications from 22 nd April 1898, the date of the first Kurdish newspaper KURDISTAN until 14 th July 1958. Each entry where possible, is given a full bibliographical description, followed by the locations of the surviving issues in all libraries in Kurdistan and abroad. There follows a detailed discussion on the political and historical circumstances, the editor(s), owner, manager(s), contributors, contents, frequency, number of issues published, the income and financial position and the printing press(es) used.

This chapter also reveals the following facts:

1. Most of these publications had short lives.
2. All these publications were subsidised by their owners and editors.
3. During this period (1898 1958) there were no daily Kurdish newspapers.
4. Their contents were mostly political and literary.

To register as a research student at the University College London (UCL) and to continue my studies in this university, made me indebted to many individuals in the UK and Iraq.

My sincere gratitude goes first to Professor J.D. Pearson under whose supervision and guidance this thesis was prepared.

My gratitude also goes to the late C.J. Edmonds, whose personal collection of Kurdish newspapers and other periodical publications deposited at the SOAS library was my core first hand source of information.

My thanks also are due to the authorities and staff of the libraries of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Senate House Library and University College London Library.

Im also very much indebted to the authorities and staff of the following libraries in Iraq and Kurdistan: the Iraqi Academy, Kurdish Section (Kori Zaniyari Kurd) in Baghdad, Kurdish Culture and publishing House, the Iraqi National Library, Iraqi Museum, Sulaimani Museum and Sulaimani Public Library.

Finally, my gratitude also goes to the Central Research Fund, University of London, for covering a part of my visit to Iraq during summer1976.

Kurdish newspapers and other periodical publications, apart from their literary and other aspects, possess also a special historical importance, deserving of closer investigation. For scholars and students of Kurdish history, politics, sociology, literature and language these first hand documents undoubtedly are the most reliable and at times the only surviving sources.

Little has hitherto appeared on the history of these publications and what is available is mostly incomplete, full of mistakes and fails to give references. Once a faulty account was made in one of these sources, it was repeated in all the others. On surviving issues there does not exist a union catalogue.

The present study is the history and union catalogue of Kurdish newspapers and other periodicals published in modified Arabic and Latin alphabets, from 22 nd April 1898, the date of the publication of the first Kurdish newspaper Kurdistan until 14 th July 1958, the date of the 14 th July Revolution in Iraq and the beginning of a new political era.

The arrangement is chronological by date of publication. The study is not confined to those published in any parts of Kurdistan but covers also those published anywhere in the world. It was not found necessary to continue the list to the present date; firstly because the two accounts of Jabari (1970) and Xaznadar, J. (1973), apart from bibliographical information, concerning the period after 14 July 1958 are reliable and of merit. Meanwhile, the authoritative guide to Iraqi newspapers and other periodicals by the Iraqi Ministry of Information (1972), covering the period from 14 July 1958 Revolution, and based on the official files, is accurate on all accounts.

At the present time, Kurdish newspapers and other periodicals are published only in Iraq with the exception of one newspaper in the USSR; whereas apart from very few underground newspapers, there is not a single periodical published to serve the needs of the Kurdish people in Turkey, Iran and Syria.

For the compilation of the information on these newspapers and other periodicals, their editing, printing, publishing etc. and also the history and development of the printing presses used, a detailed survey was made of all surviving issues that could be found. For this purpose, apart from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) library, where C. J. Edmonds collection of Kurdish newspapers and other periodicals are deposited, BL (British Library) and few other libraries in the UK, visits were made to other libraries outside the UK. I made a visit to Iraq during summer 1976, where I was always given assistance by librarians and other officials of the libraries. However, searching through the holdings of these libraries was not an easy job as all of them were lacking a complete catalogue of their holdings of Kurdish newspapers and periodicals. In some libraries, even these publications were interspersed among piles of newspapers and other periodicals in other languages. Another visit was made by the author to Paris during summer 1975 to the personal library of Kameran Ali Badirxan.