In 1683, Allain Manesson Mallet, a French geographer and military engineer, drew a map in his book Description de l'Univers that today serves as more than just a historical document; it is a "deed of legitimacy" for a nation whose geography was recognized long before the birth of modern Middle Eastern nation-states. In this map, the name "CURDISTAN" is inscribed with authority across the heart of the Middle East, while there is no mention of "Iraq" or "Syria"—countries that are the products of 20th-century colonial backroom deals.

Kurdistan: Beyond a Name, An Objective Reality

Mallet’s map demonstrates that Kurdistan was not a "political hypothesis" but a coherent geographical and cultural unit. It portrays the land of the Kurds in the embrace of the Zagros and Taurus mountains, serving as the link between Anatolia and the Iranian plateau. While occupying powers in recent centuries have attempted to assimilate this identity through labels like "Mountain Turks" or "Northern Arabs," the 1683 map testifies that Kurdish identity was established in global literature centuries before the nationalist ideologies of Pan-Arabism, Pan-Turkism, and centralist nationalism.

The Absence of Fabricated States and the Authenticity of Kurdistan

In the 17th century, the Middle East was recognized based on historical identities and human ecosystems. The absence of "Iraq" and "Syria" in Mallet’s map reveals the "imposed" and "artificial" nature of current borders. These borders, torn into the flesh of the Middle East during the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement and later at Lausanne, partitioned Kurdistan into four pieces to give birth to states that sought survival through the suppression and erasure of the Kurdish nation.

The 20th and 21st Centuries: A Geography of Blood and Genocide

What Mallet depicted as a unified "Kurdistan" became the laboratory for the most horrific crimes against humanity in the last century. The division of Kurdistan initiated an era of systematic apartheid, forced assimilation, and genocide:

• In the South (Bashur): The Anfal operations and the chemical bombardment of Halabja were attempts to physically erase the nation emphasized in Mallet’s geography.
• In the West (Rojava): Decades of deprivation of citizenship and property rights, followed by military invasions to change the demographic fabric of Efrîn and Serê Kaniyê.
• In the North (Bakur): Decades of denying the very name "Kurdistan" and the destruction of cities rooted in ancient history.
• In the East (Rojhelat): Securitization policies, state-sanctioned crackdowns, executions, and the continuous suppression of the political will of a nation that has always pioneered liberation movements.

The Mountains: The Only Friend and Unconquerable Fortress

The 1683 map accurately illustrates the mountainous nature of Kurdistan. These heights, delicately drawn by Mallet, have historically been the Kurds' only refuge against the onslaught of empires and occupying states. The famous saying, "The Kurds have no friends but the mountains," is rooted in this very geography—mountains that serve not only as a natural barrier but as a "fortress of resistance" to preserve the language, culture, and existence of a nation that global political maps attempted to erase.

The Significance of Historical Maps in Contemporary Struggles

Citing Mallet’s map is not merely historical nostalgia; it is a political act. It reminds the international community that the "Kurdistan issue" is not an internal problem of four countries, but the issue of a "stateless nation" whose homeland existed long before colonial borders. Today, although barbed wire and concrete walls have fragmented Kurdistan, the cultural continuity and the ideal of "liberation" stretching from Kermanshah to Amed and from Mahabad to Kobane prove that human geography has triumphed over imposed political geography.

Geography Never Lies

Allain Manesson Mallet’s map is a mirror in which one can see the true face of the Middle East before the ugliness of colonial borders. This historical document serves as a reminder that Kurdistan is not a "minority" within other countries, but a "homeland." The events of recent years, from the heroic resistance of Kobane against terrorism to the modern liberation movements, prove that even 340 years after Mallet’s map, "Kurdistan" remains a living, pulsating, and unyielding unit in the heart of the Middle East. Borders may move on paper, but the mountains and the historical memory of a nation will never be occupied.