We Were Here First: A Journey Through the Ancient Kurdish Soul

By Mehrdad Halavi

 

When people ask, "Who are the Kurds?" they usually get an answer pulled from a textbook: an ethnic group of 40–50 million people spread across Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria, with no country of their own. That’s not wrong—but it’s far from the full truth.

 The Kurdish people are not a recent phenomenon. We are not a border-created identity. We are older than most of the states that try to divide us. Our roots stretch back thousands of years—deep into the stone and soil of the Zagros Mountains and the Mesopotamian plains. Our real history lives beyond the pages of Western academia. It lives in song, myth, and memory. And it deserves to be told in full.

 

Ancient Bloodlines

 Long before we were called Kurds, we were the Guti, the Lullubi, the Carduchi, and the Medes. These were the fierce mountain peoples who challenged empires and ruled kingdoms.

- The Guti toppled the Akkadian Empire in 2150 BCE and ruled Sumer for a generation. 

- The Lullubi left behind carvings in the rocks of Kermanshah showing their kings and victories—clear echoes of Kurdish strength still seen today. 

- The Carduchi, mentioned by Xenophon in 401 BCE, fought the Greek army in the Zagros. Many scholars believe they were early Kurds.

- The Medes, an Indo-Iranian people who founded a major empire, are considered by many Kurds as our most direct ancient ancestors.

These weren’t random tribes. They were the beginning of a people who would never bow easily—who would rather live hard in the mountains than kneel in the cities.

 

The Sumerian Question

Some Kurds believe the Sumerians were Kurdish ancestors—not just neighbors or early contacts. While mainstream historians disagree, calling Sumerian a linguistic isolate, this doesn’t erase the sense many Kurds have that we share something spiritual with that ancient civilization. After all, we’ve lived on the same land. We’ve told the same flood stories. We’ve kept fire and myth alive. Whether by blood or by memory, the soul of Sumer lives in Kurdistan.

 

The Mountain People

 Even when later empires like the Sasanians or Caliphates tried to categorize us, they always came back to the same image: Kurds as free mountain dwellers, stubbornly holding to their tribes, languages, and ways of life. In the early Islamic period, "Kurd" began to appear as a recognized ethnic term—one that couldn’t be erased, despite centuries of assimilation and suppression.

 We are the people who lived through the rise and fall of kingdoms, who stood on the same soil while the world changed around us. We’re not guests in these lands. We were here before the borders, and we’ll be here after they’re gone.

 

Memory is Resistance

This isn’t just about archaeology or ancient names. This is about truth. The Bakhtiaris and Lors—often separated from Kurdish identity—are Kurds in blood and culture. Many Turkic-speaking Iranians may have Kurdish ancestry, lost through forced assimilation and forgotten over generations. These stories matter.

To be Kurdish is to remember. To sing the old songs. To speak our language even when it’s banned. To pass on myths, even when they are outlawed. Our very existence is defiance.

 

A Final Word

 We are not a people without a country—we are a country without recognition. Our history is not something we are trying to reclaim. It’s something we’ve never forgotten.

Let the world know: the Kurds are not a minority. We are an ancient nation.

 

And we were here first.

If you’re Kurdish and reading this, know that your blood carries thousands of years of memory. If you’re not, but you care about truth—help share it. Let the mountains speak again.