Kurdish Christians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 25,000 | |
| Religions | |
| Christianity (Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy) | |
| Languages | |
| mainly Kurdish (Sorani, Kirmanji, Palewani) |
Kurdish Christians (Kurdish: Kurdên Mesîhî) are Kurds who follow Christianity.
The earliest proselytisation of Kurds to Christianity in Kurdish lands is dated to the first Century A.D by Apostle Andrew.
In the year 338 AD, a Kurdish ruler by the name Tirdad converted to Christianity. It has been speculated that he was from the Hawraman region of Kurdistan.
The early history of Christianity in Kurdistan closely parallels that of the rest of Anatolia and Mesopotamia. According to a legend, Mar Saba succeeded in converting some "sun-worshipping" Kurds to Christianity in the fifth century.
Majority of Kurds adopted Islam after the Arab conquest of the Sasanian Empire but their faith sat lightly on them, it was not until the Ottoman Turks, who, with considerable political acumen, saw the sole means by which they could attach the Kurds to themselves was through their religion, and did everything possible to promote Islam amongst them. However, there were Kurdish converts to Christianity even after the spread of Islam. In the ninth century, a Kurd named Nasr or Narseh converted to Christianity, and changed his name to Theophobos during the reign of Emperor Theophilus and was the emperor's intimate friend and commander for many years. During the same period, the Kurdish prince Ibn ad-Dahhak, who possessed the fortress of al-Jafary, abandoned Islam for Orthodox Christianity. In return, the Byzantines gave him land and a fortress. In 927, he and his family was executed during a raid by Thamal, the Arab governor of Tarsus.
In the late 11th and the early 12th century AD, Kurdish Christian soldiers comprised 2.7% of the army of fortress city of Shayzar in present-day Syria.
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Wikipedia