Ardalan - Gorani Culture in Ardalan

Gorani Culture in Ardalan

Because the official religion of Ardalan principality was Yarsan (Kakayi or Ahl-e Haqq, or 'People of the Spirit'), and because this religion was tied to the Gorani (Hewrami) dialect, it came to be used for poetry, next to Persian, in Ardalan principality.

Via the Yarsan religious teachings, the Gorani language was spread intensively, especially among the poor segments of the population. ln addition, many of the intellectual Kurds living outside the Gorani dialect territories adopted next to Persian, also Gorani for their poetry. The most famous poets of the Yarsan down through the centuries wrote solely in Gorani language. These include Baba Yadegar(born in Sharazour in the eighth century), Yal-Bagi Jaff (1493–1554), and Khan Almas Khani Kandoolei (1662–1728). Many other famous Kurdish-Muslim poets have, down the centuries, written in Gorani, such as Mala Pareshani Dinawari (still living in 1398/99). He was a Shiite Muslim who was much opposed to the Yarsan beliefs and the Dervishes. Other poets such as Saidi Hawrami (1784–1842), and Mala Abdul-Rahimi Mawlawi Tavgozi (1806–1882) are also worthy of mention.

The blossoming of literature in the Ardalan principality was accompanied by an intense cultivation of music. Music is an essential element of the cultural tradition of the Yarsan religious community. In connection with this, it is interesting that the Kurds in East and South Kurdistan, where to the Gorani culture was spread, call songs 'Gorani'.