Ehmedê Xanî

He was born in the Hakkâri region in 1650 and died in Bayazid in 1707.

Ehmedê Xanî ئەحمەدێ خانی
A bust of Ehmedê Xanî in Kurdistan Region
Born	1650 Hakkari
Died	1707 (Bayazid)
Occupation(s)	Intellectual, scholar, poet, writer
Years active	17th century
Academic background
Influences	Melayê Cizîrî, Ali Hariri, Feqiyê Teyran
Academic work
Influenced	Abdurrahman Sharafkandi, Haji Qadir Koyi, Hemin Mukriyani

The most important work of Xanî is Mem and Zin which is considered the national epic of Kurds. Other important works include Nûbiharan Biçûkan and Eqîdeya Îmanê. These works were studied in Kurdish schools from the time of Kani towards the 1930s.

Xanî admired Melayê Cizîrî and Feqiyê Teyran. Joyce Blau called him the spiritual son of Cizîrî, Teyran and Ali Hariri.

Xanî was born in the village of Khan near Hakkari in 1650 and is buried in the Ehmed Xani türbe in Bayazid/Doğubayazıt.

Xanî is considered the founder of Kurdish nationalism and supported an independent Kurdistan. In a mathnawi from 1694, he chose not to devote parts of the introduction to praise the rulers of his time, which was typical in classical Oriental literature. Instead, the preface of the mathnawi was dedicated to his opinions on Kurdish nationalism. He explained the subjugation of Kurds by the Ottomans and the Safavids, and their occupation of Kurdistan which he argued had become a reality because of the lack of a Kurdish monarch who could rule Kurdistan. Such a ruler could liberate Kurds from the 'vile'. He also believed that an independent Kurdistan could safeguard the Kurdish language for scientific and intellectual purposes.

In the epic Mem and Zin, he wrote:

If we had unity amongst ourselves,
If we all, together, obeyed one another,
The Turks, the Arabs and the Persians,
Would one and all be in our servitude,
We would complete religion and state
We would earn knowledge and wisdom

• Mem û Zîn (Mem and Zin)
• Eqîdeya Îmanê (The Path of Faith)
• Eqîdeya Îslamê (Basics of Islam)
• Nûbihara Biçûkan (The Spring of Children)
• Erdê Xweda (The Earth of God)
• Dîwana Helbestan (Diwan of poems)