Mahmud Bayazidi facts for kids

Mahmud Bayazidi (Kurdish: مەحموودی بایەزیدی, romanized: Mehmûdê Bazîdî, 1797 Doğubeyazıt – 1859 Erzurum) was a very smart Kurdish philosopher and polymath. A polymath is someone who knows a lot about many different subjects. He came from Bayazid, a town in the Ottoman Empire.

Mahmud Bayazidi's Early Life

Mahmud Bayazidi was born in 1797 in Bayazid. Today, this place is called Doğubeyazıt and is in Ağrı Province, Turkey. He began his studies by reading the Quran, which is the holy book of Islam. After that, he learned several languages. These included Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Kurdish.

To continue his education, he moved to Tabriz. This city is in north-western Iran. Once he finished his studies, he returned to his hometown. There, he became a teacher. Later, when the Kurdish leaders in Bayazid lost their power, he moved to Erzurum.

What Were Mahmud Bayazidi's Works?

Mahmud Bayazidi was very important for preserving Kurdish language and history. In 1856, a Russian scholar named A. Dorne needed help. He asked A.D. Jaba, who was the new Russian consul in Erzurum, to find someone. This person needed to help understand documents written in the Kurdish language.

Working with A.D. Jaba

A.D. Jaba then hired Mahmud Bayazidi. Bayazidi helped with Kurdish language, history, and culture. With his help, many Kurdish documents were sent to the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. Some of these documents were Bayazidi's own writings.

Books and Translations

From 1858 to 1859, Bayazidi worked on a grammar book. This book was for Kurdish, Arabic, and Persian languages. It was originally written by Ali Taramokhi, a Kurdish writer from the 15th or 16th century.

Bayazidi also wrote a book with 3,000 Kurdish phrases. This book gives us a lot of information about how Kurds lived in the 1800s. A.D. Jaba translated this book into French in 1880.

Another important book by Bayazidi was called Habits and Customs of Kurds. A famous Russian expert on Kurds, Margarita Rudenko, published this book in 1963.

Lost History and Preserved Literature

Letters between A.D. Jaba and Saint Petersburg show something interesting. Bayazidi had written a book about the modern history of the Kurds. This book covered the years from 1785 to 1858. Sadly, this history book seems to be lost. Only a French translation of its introduction still exists.

Bayazidi and Jaba also did a great job saving old Kurdish literature. They collected more than 50 handwritten books of classic Kurdish texts. They sent these valuable books to the Library of Saint Petersburg. These texts are still kept safe today. They include epic poems from famous writers like Faqi Tayran, Malaye Bate, Malaye Jaziri, and Mem û Zîn by Ahmad Khani. This collection was finally published in 1961. It was titled About the hand-written Kurdish texts in Leningrad.

Dictionaries and History Books

Between 1858 and 1859, Mahmud Bayazidi and A.D. Jaba created the first Kurdish-French and French-Kurdish dictionary. This important dictionary was published in 1879.

During the same time, Mahmud Bayazidi translated the Sharafnama. This book is a history of the Kurdish nation. He translated it from Persian into Kurdish. Many people consider this to be the first modern Kurdish history book. The original handwritten copy is kept in the Russian National Library. It was first published in 1986.