Social Structure

The Family

The family is all-important in Kurdish society. A household typically consists of a husband, a wife, and their children, like American households, but family influence extends far beyond. A girl marries into her husband's family and is very much under the thumb of her mother-in-law, who wields power considerably understated by her public behavior. To a traditional Kurdish man, his household and family are very private matters, not to be discussed in casual conversation and not a matter for public concern. It is this attitude from which most of the customs having to do with women devolve: The women in a man's family are part of his household, and his privacy and honor are violated if they are accosted or insulted by other men.

Most Kurdish marriages are still arranged, and it is often assumed that Kurds marry only Kurds. A boy or girl's mother engages in the research and negotiation involved in choosing a mate, and potential candidates are carefully looked over for their character, behavior, and family connections. Sometimes the boy or girl might have a say in the choice of mate, but frequently the chosen mate is a cousin, even a first cousin. This is usually the case with Kurdish men who have gone abroad to study or work; their mothers choose their brides, and they are summoned home to be married.

Weddings are important social occasions, and are hosted by the groom's family. The final event of a wedding takes place when a party from the groom's family travels with great pomp to the bride's parents' house and carries the bride from there to her new house.

Local Autonomy

Kurdish society is traditionally tribal. The dictionary definition of a tribe is the social and political unit of a group of people, usually associated with a particular geographical area, which professes genetic relationship through a single (real or mythical) ancestor. Kurdish tribes are united more by geographical area than by relationship to a common ancestor, but in other respects they fit the anthropologists' definition.

Traditionally, a Kurdish tribe or local political group at any given time had an acknowledged leader to whom absolute loyalty was expected (although the leader was often aided in decisions by a council). The leader's position was in some cases hereditary and in other cases elective, and his power was frequently perceived in terms of the wealth at his command. The leader made all decisions and could be counted on to keep foremost in mind the benefit to the tribe members and consequently to his own power as leader.

It is possible that all human societies were originally tribally oriented. Over the centuries and across the world, however, the operative social unit has expanded from the local tribe into ever-wider geographical or economic areas. In most areas, people's loyalty and self-perceptions of identity have correspondingly shifted from the tribe or locality to, ultimately, the nation.

Probably because of the inaccessibility of the area, Kurdish society has remained basically tribal or local, despite the fact that the area has been nominally controlled by larger political entities for centuries. It is also true that, since the 17th century at least, a Kurdish educated elite has existed that has been as susceptible to the concept of nationalism as were the Turks and Arabs and Persians in the 19th century. The conversion of the Kurds to Islam, which had the ultimate effect of uniting the Arabs beyond their tribal affiliations, did not perceptibly weaken the tribal nature of Kurdish society: Kurds are widely considered to hold their local political concerns above their religionto be Muslims only insofar as the religion does not counter the interests of the tribe.

A traditional Kurd does not think of him- or herself as one of millions of Kurds, but rather as a member of a tribe, a locality, or a political party. Even urban Kurds appear to identify themselves with a local group or party, rather than as members of a larger ethnic or national group.

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