Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji

Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji was born in 1878 in Sulayimaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. During the British occupation of Iraq following the First World War, Sheikh Mahmud was appointed governor of Sulaymaniyah. The Kurds, however, were afraid of Britain ruling them indirectly by Arabs in Baghdad, and Sheikh Mahmud used his position to promote Kurdish independence and rebelled against the British in 1920. The uprising ended when Sheikh Mahmud was injured and he was arrested and sent to India. Britain took direct control over the Kurdish region after the rebellion, which became hostile for Britain. Turkish threats had Britain worried about the security of the north and in an effort to stabilize the region, they brought Sheikh Mahmud back to rule Kurdistan region. Sheikh Mahmud declared himself the king of Kurdistan, rejecting Britain’s Anglo-Iraqi arrangement. In 1923, Britain withdrew the offer of an independent Kurdish state and any say in Iraqi government. Sheikh Mahmud was king until 1924, when he was once again arrested and exiled, this time to Baghdad.  He died October 9, 1956, remembered by Kurds as a leader to who resisted the British Mandate in Iraq.