Ottoman Kurdistan

Ottoman Kurdistan refers to areas of Kurdistan which were part of the Ottoman Empire. During the Ottoman Empire's peak they controlled all of modern-day Turkish Kurdistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Syrian Kurdistan, as well as a small part of Iranian Kurdistan. The term "Kurdistan" was used regularly by Ottoman officials to refer to its regions where Kurds made up a majority, and was included on many maps.

Pre-Ottoman era
Most of Ottoman Kurdistan was previously controlled by the Safavids. The Kurds were an oppressed minority in the Safavid Empire and had a long conflict with them. The Kurds, unlike Persians and Azerbaijanis, did not use firearms often and only used swords. Many of the Kurdish population in the Safavid Empire that ok the borders of the Ottoman Empire was forcefully deported to other parts of Iran or killed. As the Ottomans advanced deeper into the Safavid regions, all Kurdish regions of Safavid Southeastern Anatolia were subjected to terrible plunder and deportation actions due to the fear of Kurdish cooperation with the Ottomans. These are began under Tahmasb I's reign. Between 1534 and 1535, Tahmasp began the systematic destruction of old Kurdish cities and their countryside using its scroasted land policy against its Ottoman arch rivals. Tahmasp ordered the destruction of crops and settlements of all sizes while withdrawing from the Ottoman army. The Safavid and Kurdish conflicts continued until the Kurds under Idris Bitlisî managed to help the Ottomans capture Eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq and a small part of Western Iran.

Ottoman era
In 1514, during the Battle of Chaldiran, the Kurds collaborated with the Ottoman invaders against the Safavids. The Ottomans won the battle and annexed the Kurdish-majority regions of Eastern Anatolia and Northern Iraq into their empire, and those regions were considered Ottoman Kurdistan.

Kurdistan was cherished as a barrier protecting the Ottoman Empire from the Safavids, with Murad IV saying "Allah created Kurdistan to protect my empire like a strong barrier and an iron castle against the mischief of evil Iran. Kurdish commanders are loyal and true friends of the Ottoman state, and they have given various services that are commendable to the throne from the supreme times of our great ancestors, and they have made incalculable efforts; therefore, the effort to protect the empire requires them to be treated with respect and care."

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, various small autonomous Kurdish emirates formed within Ottoman Kurdistan. Kurdish emirates were tribal and almost always had rivalries with emirates led by other tribes. Most Kurdish emirates were established and dissolved in the areas of the Diyarbekir Eyalet. However, there were other Kurdish emirates outside Diyarbakır. Among the emirates were Ardalan, Bahdinan, Baban, Bitlis, Bohtan, Bradost, Dimli, Hakkari, Hasankeyf, Kilis, Mukriyan, Pazuki, and Soran. The Ottomans allowed the Kurdish emirates to exist due to them not posing a threat to the Ottomans. In the 1820s, the Ottomans had put the Kurdish emirates, as well as other autonomous entities all across the empire, under direct control.

In the Ottoman Empire, the word "Kurdistan" was always used to refer to the geographical area where the Kurds made up a majority, whether in or out of the Ottoman Empire's territory. In a letter sent by Suleiman the Magnificent to Henry II of France, Suleiman included the name of various lands under Ottoman control, and he listed Kurdistan as one of them.

The Kurdistan Eyalet was formed in 1846 and became the first political entity to hold the name Kurdistan.

In the 1882 edition of "Lugât-ı Tarihiyye ve Coğrafiyye", it stated that "Ottoman Kurdistan" (کردستان عثمانی) was the lands "between Armenia, Jazira, Iraq-i Arab, and Ajamistan. It is three hundred and eighty kilometers in length, four hundred kilometers in length, it includes high mountains and fertile valleys." According to the same source, the Safavid Kurdistan was referred to as "located west of Azerbaijan, northwest of Iraq-i Ajam, north of Khuzistan, and east of Ottoman Kurdistan. Its length is three hundred and seventy kilometers wide, two hundred and twenty-five kilometers wide and four hundred thousand people, and its center is Kermanshah."

In Kâmûsü'l-A'lâm (قاموس الاعلام), which is considered the first Turkish encyclopedic dictionary, publishes in 1896, Kurdistan is described as follows:"'Kurdistan extends from the shores of Lake Urmia and Lake Van to the sources of the Karkheh River and Diyala River and the flow bed of the Tigris, and its borders towards the northwest, following the flow bed of the Tigris, reaching the Karasu bed that forms the Euphrates and from there to the north, to the water separation line separating the Aras basin separates from the Euphrates and Tigris basin. In the Ottoman Empire, most of the Mosul Eyalet, that is, the places on the left of the Tigris, and the Van Eyalet and Bitlis and Diyarbekir vilayet and Elaziz and the Dersim vilayet are considered from Kurdistan. In Iran, the province known as Kurdistan and half of the province of Azerbaijan, that is, the southwestern part if it, is Kurdistan. Thus, Kurdistan is bordered by Azerbaijan to the northeast, Iraq-i Ajam to the east, Luristan and Iraq-i Arab to the south, Mesopotamia to the southwest and Anatolia to the northwest.'"It is also written in Evliya Çelebi's Travelogue as follows (17th century):"'Kurdistan is a big area. Seventy parts are considered it and they are distanced from Erzurum, Van, Hakkari, Cizre, İmadiye, Mosul, Şehrizor, Harir, Ardelan, Derne, and Derteng. If those six thousand Kurdish tribes were not a strong barrier in these high mountains between Iraq-i Arab and the Ottoman Empire, it would be very easy for the people of Persia to invade Anatolia.'"

Post-Ottoman era
Although the word Kurdistan was used normally in the Ottoman period, after the Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the modern Republic of Turkey by Kemal Atatürk and the Turkish National Movement, the word "Kurdistan" was removed from official use and became a taboo. The use of the word "Kurdistan" in general became restricted. The Turkish nationalist policies led to the increase of Kurdish nationalism which led to various uprisings like the Sheikh Said rebellion, Dersim rebellion, Koçgiri rebellion, and later the Kurdish Hezbollah insurgency and the Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency.

Before his hardcore nationalist turn, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proposed a revival of the Kurdistan Eyalet in 2013, claiming that Southeastern Anatolia was always known as Kurdistan before the Republic of Turkey was established in 1923. His remarks referring to the provincial administration of the Ottoman Empire was criticised by many who interpreted them as signs of Erdoğan’s desire to implement a federal system. As a challenge to the Turkish nationalists, Erdogan recalled that during the Ottoman era there were eyalets called Kurdistan and Lazistan. He stated that autonomous self-governance within the state of Turkey should be possible and would even be a source of strength for Turkey.