1946: Mahabad

Between 1925 and 1941, under the rule of Reza Shah and later his son Mohammed Reza Shah of the Pahlavi Dynasty, Kurds in Iran continued their long history of conflict with successive regimes in Tehran. In 1946, under the leadership of Qazi Mohammad, the Kurds declared autonomy and established the Republic of Kurdistan in the city of Mahabad. Known as the Republic of Mahabad, this state represented a historic attempt at Kurdish self-governance but lasted only about a year before collapsing. Lacking international support, the fledgling republic was crushed by the Iranian army, which executed Qazi Mohammad and his cabinet publicly in Mahabad’s town square. The fall of Mahabad highlighted the vulnerability of Kurdish autonomy movements and the geopolitical challenges they faced in sustaining independence.

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Out of this struggle emerged one of the most significant institutions of modern Kurdish politics: the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP). Founded by Mustafa Barzani, widely regarded as the father of Kurdish nationalism, the KDP became the leading political vehicle for Kurdish aspirations in Iraq. Barzani, who had served as defense minister of the Republic of Mahabad, was forced into exile in the Soviet Union after its collapse, but his leadership and vision shaped the trajectory of Kurdish political identity. For decades, the KDP remained the only Kurdish party in Iraq until the emergence of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the 1970s. Today, the KDP continues to be the most dominant Kurdish political party, carrying forward Barzani’s legacy of nationalism and the struggle for Kurdish rights.

 

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