NEWROZ in Kurdistan

The story of Newroz is rooted in the eternal triumph of freedom over tyranny and light over darkness. According to Kurdish mythology and historical epics (chronicled in the Shahnama and ancient Kurdish folklore), the Zagros mountain lands were enslaved by an evil tyrant king named Zahhak (Dehak). Two voracious serpents grew from Zahhak's shoulders, and to appease them, the tyrant's guards sacrificed two young Kurdish men every day. A skilled blacksmith named Kawa had already lost several of his sons to the tyrant's brutality. When his last remaining child was sentenced to death, Kawa refused to surrender. He forged iron weapons, swords, and axes in secret. On the eve of March 20–21 in 612 BCE, Kawa raised his blacksmith's leather apron upon a spear as a banner of revolution (the historical Derafsh Kaviani) and led the young survivors in a daring assault upon Zahhak's castle. With a mighty strike of his blacksmith hammer, Kawa slew the tyrant. To signal the victory and liberation to all the distant mountain tribes, Kawa and his comrades climbed to the highest peak of Mount Zagros and lit a massive roaring bonfire. Seeing the sacred fire blazing across the horizons, millions of Kurds emerged from hiding, lit their own fires on every hillside, and danced hand-in-hand in grand circles. The arrival of spring, the blooming of the first yellow daffodils (Nêrgiz), and the birth of a free nation thus became forever united as Newroz (New Day).