Historical Record of Kurdistan Province:
Kurdistan has got a vast geographical territory including Kurdish regions in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. All of which were a part of Iran in the past. Now, Kurdistan province is a small region of this geographical area.
Normally while speaking about the history of Kurdistan Province, the history of all Kurdish regions are discussed since the long history of Kurdistan has one origin.
There are several ancient works and historical places from pre-history to Islamic era. All of which show the long history of Kurdistan, especially owing to the fact that the ancestors of Kurds called “the Mads” were the founders of the first powerful Iranian government, but unfortunately due to different natural and social reasons such as climate, annual atmospheric conditions, heavy rain falls, relatively high humid and cold winters, the old places and works have been eroded and damaged. On the hand, due to the various attacks from ancient nations, especially the Assyrians’ attack, many places were damaged since they burnt and destructed the defeated lands. They damaged Kurdistan a lot. Nevertheless, there are still a lot of old works and places that could be visited and they show the glory of this region in Iran. One of these historical masterpieces id Qam Choqay castle in the northwest of Bijar goes back to 800-900 BC., as well as ancient hill of Ziwiyeh, Karaftu cave, Uraman stone carving and other historical works and places which are considered as the prominent and historical attractions of the province.
The most important part of the history and the works remained in Kurdistan is related to the time of powerful ruling family of “Ardalan” in Safavid dynasty. At the time of Iran-Ottoman war, they transferred the capital of their government to Sanandaj in 1046 (Islamic calendar), about 400 years ago. In this year, Soleiman Khan Ardalan transferred his government and family to Sanandaj and they ruled until Nasereddin Shah Qajar came to power, thus a lot of historical works remained in Kurdistan especially in Sanandaj are related to Ardalan ruling. They had a good relation with Safavid, Zand and Qajar kings. Some of their rulers have done proper and effective civil works and they created many works such as: bridges, mansions, baths, castles, etc. Amanollah Khan Ardalan could be considered as the most prominent ruler of Ardalan Family.
Cultural characteristics are one of the most important attractions of Kurdistan province which unique throughout the country. These characteristics are prominent in language, clothes, music, dance, special ceremonies and celebrations and handicrafts. These cultural characteristics are still active and they could be seen in Kurds lives. Regarding the development of communications and consequently cultural transformation, fortunately, Kurdish culture is more active than before because of its strong and deep roots in music and dance and it has affected the cultures of adjacent regions throughout the country.