Recently I reviewed a documentary by Jeremy Marre called The Romany Trail, part one. I had seen it before but this time my ears perked up when, as Yousef Mazin, patriarch of the Benat Mazin, recounting the history of his family, told the interviewer that originally the Benat Mazin were Kurds from Kurdistan.

Kurdistan, known as Ostan, or province of Kurdistan, lies in Western Iran. Here is a brief history of the people.

The Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East. Traditionally nomadic, many have settled in cities throughout central Asia.and Europe. Archaeologists speculate the Kurds were in Iran before the Indo European invasion and had maintained their culture due to the inaccessability of their mountain homeland. Around 2,000 B.C. Kurds evolved an Indo-European language. With the creation of Media, (c.727-569 B.C.) an ancient country in southern Asia, they developed sense of their own ethnic identity.

Kurds are Sunni moslems who were converted to Islam in the 7th century. After the decline of the Abbasid dynasty, and repeated Turkish invasions, the Kurds were able to establish separate dynasties whose powers were reduced when they were subjugated by the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to the 19th century.

Given the promise of the creation of a Kurdish state in 1920, the Kurds are still rebelling since Europe repeatedly withdraws its support.

The family history of the Benat Mazin has been handed down from father to son for generations. Yousef Mazin recalls his ancestors telling him how they were banished from Kurdistan and that the founder of their tribe was Nawar El Hamamshah, hence the name they call their people, Nawar. It seems many generations ago they were driven out of Kurdistan because they were, among other things, highway robbers. Their exodus took them to Egypt where they settled in Luxor. When the Benat Mazin first came to Egypt, they continued to speak the Kurdish language and still practiced their old customs. They were shunned by the Egyptians and persecuted as foreigners until they adopted the language and ways of their new homeland. Long story short, in order to survive, the daughters were encouraged to become dancers called Ghawazee, and the sons to become musicians.

Now what has this got to do with Suhaila? Well, let me give you a brief history of Suhaila,s background. Suhaila's paternal grandmother, Nosrat Zangeneh, would, on many occasions, share the many details about their family history in Persia. She described in detail the fear for the safety of her family when the Shah's army would attack their village and arrest anyone they suspected of being a rebel. Ardeshir, Suhaila's father, was a Kurd from a family of Kurds from Kurdistan, village of Kermanshah. The Kurds wanted, and still want, freedom in the land they consider theirs. The Shah wanted to separate them from their roots and relocate them to the cities so as to disperse them and have more control over their land.

Nosrat described how, while eight months pregnant with Suhaila's father, she rode on horseback away from the village with Lotfallah, her husband, trying to escape the soldiers who came to arrest him. They were overtaken and Lotfallah was thrown to the ground. As the soldiers poised to shoot him, Nosrat threw herself over his body in an attempt to save him. They spared his life on the condition that they leave Kurdistan. Soon after they moved to Terhan.

In a time when the population was sparse, people usually celebrated seasons, harvests, religious celebrations and marriages. It was a time when tribes from the villages met and exchanged goods, marriages were arranged, and people bonded. Both the Benat Mazin and Suhaila's ancestors were uprooted from Ostan, province of Kurdistan. The Mazins ended up in Egypt, Suhaila's relatives ended up in America.

At a time long ago, before the banishment to Egypt and the immigration to America, could it have been possible that the Mazins and the Salimpours might have met at one of the festivals, hung out together, and may have become distant relatives or maybe cousins?