Political and Military Movements of the Baban Dynasty in Iran's Kurdistan and the Consequences (1694-1779 AD, 1105-1193 AH)

The local governments of Ardalan and Baban were contemporary with the encounter of their respective empires of Iran and Ottoman in the 18th century. Unlike the BaniArdalans who were political dependents of the central government of Iran, the Baban rulers were the followers of the Ottoman Empire. These two local governments had many things in common since they were neighbors with the same ethnic, religious, and ideological backgrounds. However, there was intense rivalry between these two representatives of their respective central governments in the western borders of Iran. The rivalry stemmed in part from the border disputes, and in part, from their political dependency. Given the rivalry, and given that they had different goals, there were always tensions between the Baban and Ardalan rulers during their political sovereignty, and their territories were often attacked by the other side. The present study deals with the military and political movements of the Baban rulers against Iran's Kurdistan, and it explains, using a descriptive-analytical method, the consequences of these movements and the reactions of the central government of Iran to these events. Findings show that the relations between Ardalan and Baban did not always follow the interests of their respective central governments, and that sometimes the internal differences among the local rulers, in addition to the differences between the local rulers and the central government, could affect the relations between the two dynasties. Also, the central governments sometimes interfered in their internal affairs in line with their foreign policies.