ABSTRACT
The existing documentary material concerning Kurdistan and the Kurds is somewhat meagre in quality. Concerning the Rowanduz area itself there are only two books generally accessible. A.M.Hamilton’s Road through Kurdistan which is a light hearted though highly interesting account of the construction of the strategic motor road up to Rowanduz and on to the frontier, and W.R.Hay’s Two Tears in Kurdistan. The title Sayyid implies a descendant of the Prophet and carries with it the right to wear a green turban. As is clear from what has already been said, the tribal organisation of the various groups throughout the area under review have all to a greater or less degree been effected by contact with, and interference by the external administrative authority. The precise form of the external administration has no very direct bearing on the Kurdish social system as described in this monograph.
