Kurdistan
Definition of Kurdistan
The country of Kurds, Land of the Kurds
Etymology
Kurdistan: Kurd-i-stan
Kurd: The Kurds
Kurdi: Belong to the Kurds
Kurdi+stan: The lands (country) belong to the Kurds
The Kurdish people are believed to combining a number of earlier tribal or ethnic groups including Mitanni, Lullubi, Guti, Cyrtians and Carduchi.
The term Kurd is related to the Sumerian “Karda” which was found from Sumerian clay tablets of the third millennium B.C. and academic sources consider Corduene as proto-Kurdish and following names were used when referring the Kurds and Kurdistan in history: Cordyaei, Gordyaei, Karduchoi, Cordueni, Gordyeni, Guti, Kordyoui, Karduchi, Kardueni, Qardu, Kardaye, Qardawaye, Cyrtians, Kyrtians, Cyrtii, Cadusii, Amardi (or "Mardi"), Mardastan, Mardpetakan, Mardian, Mards, Tapyri, Medes, Mādāya, Medoi, Medi, Krak, Ekrad, Ard Al Akrad, Arz ul Akrad, Ekradiyyun, Akradiyyun, Al Kurdi, Kord, Koord, Koerd, Curd, Curdistan, Koordistan.
The Persian theory that the name “Kurd” (𐭪𐭥𐭫𐭲, kwrt-) derives from a term meaning “nomad” or “tent-dweller” can be viewed either as an attempt to diminish Kurdish identity or, more broadly, as a claim advanced by outsiders who fail to recognise the distinctions between Kurds and Persians. By contrast, Kurds have likewise associated the name “Pers/Pars” with the verb “to beg,” using forms such as “Parsek” (“beggar”) and “Pars” (“begging”) in a similarly derogatory manner toward Persians. Historical records also indicate a recurring tendency among some Persian writers and authorities to portray neighbouring Iranian peoples in disparaging terms.
Therefore, Persian theories about the origins of ethnonyms that belittle neighbouring Indo-Iranian-speaking peoples – such as Azeris, Balochis, and Kurds – should be treated with caution, particularly when they concern historical rivals such as the Kurds, whom some traditions associate with the ancient Medes.
-stan from Avestan stāna “to stand”,
*stā-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning ”to stand, set down, make or be firm" with derivatives meaning "place or thing that is standing”,
Sanskrit sthā́na,
Russian стан “stan”,
Proto-Slavic *stanъ,
English stay, stand, state, estate,
Persian estān.