DIMDIM (Pers. Demdem or Domdom), name of a mountain and a fortress where an important battle between the Kurds and the Safavid army took place in the early 17th century.

Mount Dimdim (elev. ca. 2,000 m) is located between the Ba@ra@ndu@z river and the tributary Qa@semlu@ near the shore of Lake Urmia, a few kilometers west of the Urmia-Maha@ba@d road; the nearby village of Ba@la@n^j is about 18 km south of Urmia. According to Kurdish oral tradition (reported by Eskandar Beg, I, p. 792), the fortress on top of the mountain dates from the pre-Islamic period. In about 1609 the ruined structure was rebuilt by Amir Khan Lapze@@®^n, ruler of Bara@du@st, who sought to maintain the independence of his expanding principality in the face of both Ottoman and Safavid penetration into the region. In 1609 Eskandar Beg described it as a formidable stronghold consisting of five separate forts with well-protected cisterns and pits for storing ice and snow (pp. 796-97). Today portions of the walls and heaps of building stones and bricks are still visible (Pedra@m).

The battle of Dimdim occupies a prominent place in Safavid historiography. Shah ¿Abba@s I (q.v.; 996-1038/1588-1626) had recognized Amir Khan's hereditary right to rule over Bara@du@st and Urmia, but the rebuilding of Dimdim was considered a move toward independence that could threaten Safavid power in the northwest; in fact, neither the Safavids nor the Ottomans had yet gained firm control of Kurdistan, Azarbaijan, and Armenia. Many Kurds, including the rulers of Mokr^ (west and south of Lake Urmia), rallied around Amir Khan. After a long and bloody siege led by the Safavid grand vizier H®a@tem Beg, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, Dimdim was captured; all the defenders were massacred. Shah ¿Abba@s ordered a general massacre in Bara@du@st and Mokr^ (Eskandar Beg, pp. 809-14; Falsaf^, pp. 190-94) and resettled the Turkish Afæa@r tribe in the region (Ad^b-al-ˆo¿ara@÷, pp. 11-73) while deporting many Kurdish tribes to Khorasan. The two principalities did survive, though much weakened, and the amirs of Bara@du@st fought two more battles against the Safavids at Dimdim (Eskandar Beg, pp. 889-91; Ad^b-al-ˆo¿ara@÷, pp. 52-55). In 1142/1729 T®ahma@sbqol^ Sepahsa@la@r (the future Na@der Shah, 1148-60/1736-47) defeated Yu@sof Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Urmia, at Dimdim and ordered the fortress destroyed (Ad^b-al-ˆo¿ara@÷, pp. 76-77).

Although Persian historians (e.g. Eskandar Beg and Ad^b-al-ˆo¿ara@÷) depicted the first battle of Dimdim as a result of Kurdish mutiny or treason, in Kurdish oral traditions (e.g., Bayt^ dimdim; see BAYT), literary works (Dzhalilov, pp. 67-72), and histories it was treated as a struggle of the Kurdish people against foreign domination; in fact, Bayt^ dimdim is considered a national epic second only to Mam u@ Z^n by Ahámad^ K¨a@n^ (q.v.). It is known in both the Ku@rma@nj^ and Sora@n^ dialects of Kurdish and in Armenian. Most of the collected ballads portray the defenders of Dimdim as martyrs (æah^d) in a holy war (xeza; see, e.g., Dzhalilov, pp. 81, 97, 98). The earliest literary account is attributed to the poet Faqe@ T®ayra@n (ca. 1590-1660), and a number of modern writers, poets, playwrights, and historians have devoted works to the revolt.

Bibliography: M^rza@ Raæ^d Ad^b-al-ˆo¿ara@÷, Ta@r^kò-e Afæa@r, ed. P. ˆahr^a@r Afæa@r and M. Ra@m^a@n, Tabr^z, 1346 ˆ./1967. M.-T. Da@neæpa‘u@h, ed., "Seh sanad-e ta@r^kò^ wa jo@g@ra@f^a@÷^-e dawra@n-e sáafaw^," Wahá^d 8/2 1349 ˆ./1971, pp. 207-20 (includes two letters on Dimdim). "Dimdim," in Kurdskie epicheskie Pesni-Skazy, Moscow, 1962, pp. 210-30. O. Dzh. Dzhalilov, Kurdski¥ geroicheski¥ epos "Zlatoruki¥ Khan" (The Kurdish heroic epic "Gold-hand Khan"), Moscow, 1967, pp. 5-26, 37-39, 206 (including ballads with musical notation, short stories, and a facsimile of the work by Faqe@ T®ayra@n). N. Falsaf^, Zendaga@n^-e ˆa@h ¿Abba@s-e Awwal III, Tehran, 1339 ˆ./1960, pp. 190-94. M.-M. H®amabor, "Kòa@n^ Lapze@®^n u@ qala@y Dimdim," Roæinb^r^ nö 103-04, 1984, pp. 168-227, 105, 1984, pp. 206-42. ¿A.-H. H®osayn^, Bayt^ Dimdim, n.p. (Europe), 1981. J. Jalil, "Dim-dim," in Q. Mrad and J. Jalil, A'fra@nd'ine@d Nv^sk'a@re@d K'orde@d Armanista@ne@ya Sove@t^e, Yerevan, 1961, pp. 55-72. Idem, "Amar-e@ jala@l^," in J. Jalil, K'ila@me@ ±'ya@, Yerevan, 1970, pp. 25-62. Idem, Amar-e@ jala@l^, Baghdad, 1982 (includes a bibliography of Soviet and Iraqi literature on Dimdim). H®. Jind^, "The Armenian Variants of the Kurdish Epic Dim-dim," in "Countries and People of the Near and Middle East" (in Armenian), pp. 174-82. M.-S®. Kar^m, ˆah^da@n^ qala@y Dimdim (story), So-laym@a@n^ya, Iraq, 1958; 2nd ed., Baghdad, 1982. O. Mann, Die Mundart der Mukri-Kurden I, Berlin, 1906, pp. 12-24; pt. 1 tr. as Toháfa-ye mozáaffar^ya be zima@n^ kurd^ mukr^, Baghdad, 1975, pp. 20-69, 201-21. ¿A. Mardu@kò, "Re@pa®^n^ Dimdim u@ qala@±oy Ku@rda@n^ Mokr^," H^wa@/Hêvî (Paris) 1, 1983, pp. 27-44. M. Pedra@m, "Bar fara@z-e Demdem," Honar o mardom 151, 1354 ˆ./1975, pp. 44-48 (with photographs). A. ˆa@m^lov, Dimdim. (Roman), Yerevan, 1966; in Roman characters, Stockholm, 1983. Idem, Dimdim, Baghdad, 1975. M. Tawf^q-verd^, Qala@y Dimdim, Baghdad, 1961. M.-A. Zak^, "Am^r K¨a@n^ Bra@dost u@ qala@y Dimdim," Gala@we@‘ 1/3, 1940, Baghdad, pp. 23-30; 4, pp. 33-42. J. A. Z^®o, ˆo®iæa@ Dimdim, 1983, Baghdad. Taped recitations of Bayt^ dimdim are preserved in the ethnomusicological archive at the University of Illinois, Urbana; York University, Toronto, Canada; and the Iraqi Academy-Kurdish Corporation, Baghdad.

(AMIR HASSANPOUR)