Here we talk about a very old form of Kurdish singing that is considered as oral literature and it is called "Hora". Hora is an ancient and meaningful singing; it is the oldest way of singing in our land having a long history that has been transferred from one generation to another to this very day. These kinds of singing can rarely be found in the written literature and they are known to be oral literature.
Hora has a distinct style of Maqam generally. It is known that the history of Hora goes back to 4000 years ago to the Zarathustrianism era and it is one of the oldest singing methods in Kurdish.
The history of Hora goes back to the Zarathustrianism religion; there is a text in Avesta called "Gata" that is a form of singing to plead and pray to "Ahura Mazda" and "Yazdan" (Zarathustra God). It is known that Hora originated from the word "Ahura Mazda". According to historians, Hora was also popular during the "Mithra" religious era; some other researchers think that Hora is older than 5 thousand years. As we cannot say that Hora is the first Kurdish melody or poem, we also cannot determine its exact origin but what is clear is that Hora is an old, original Kurdish singing and it is the base of Kurdish music in the South and East parts of Kurdistan. Perhaps, when the humans gained a language and settled down in Zagros, Hora appeared and developed among them to indicate their sadness and happiness. Hora is clearly our ancestor's heritage.
In the East part of Kurdistan regions such as Lorestan, Ilam, Kermashan, and Sna, and in the South part of Kurdistan cities such as Khanaqin and Garmian districts and some other places Hora is popular. However, since Hora is sung in a different dialect and is a particular melody within Kurdistan regions, it could not expand its geographical territory like other forms of Kurdish songs.
Hora was originally sung for religious purposes, Zarathustrianism particularly; later, it gained a different style and Maqam. Among Hora styles, we can mention "Saroukhani", "Sahri", "Sarkowachar", "Qatar", "Swar Swar", "Dou Dangi", and …. The content of Hora is love and romance and sometimes it is sung to express suffering or an epic story. There is another singing style like Hora which is called "Mour". This singing style is sung for the dead, most of the time for well-known people who have died.
The Hora singers are not always old men, but Kurdish women also sing Hora (in Hawraman and Kermashan in the East part of Kurdistan, those who sing Siyachamana and Hora are not considered to be singers but they are called Horachir or Siyachamanashir). Women like "Aho", "Nigar", "Reyhan" and "Asrin" (Hora singer women from Kermashan in the East part of Kurdistan) are among those Kurdish women who do not let this ancient Kurdish folklore fade away.
Hora has transferred Kurdish history to the new generation orally. If we have any evidence of history in those areas where Hora is popular, it is because of those tireless people who sang Hora in the past and they transferred it to the next generations to reach researchers and historians. Hora is like a river of symbols, feelings, and words that are flowing in the hearts of the new generation. Hora is the beating heart of the Kurdish nation. The written literature is in debt to Hora benefiting from it greatly. In the past, Kurdish people did not use to keep written documents, those who sang Hora have protected the original Kurdish words professionally so that they could transfer them to the writers.
In fact, one can say that if our language is still alive today, it is due to the oral literature and culture like "Bayt, Shiyachamana, Lavk, and Hora" that have been sung generation after generation.
Nowadays, in society, most of the folklore Kurdish songs have faced a decline and they may get even weaker than this. Unfortunately, the new generation does not pay enough attention to the folklore songs.
It can be said that despite the technological developments have both positive and negative aspects, sometimes these technologies have caused cultural sicknesses for third world countries because today we see that if the Kurdish youth are at home with their family they do not listen to Hora and instead they listen to Turkish and Persian music. Perhaps Kurdish children know the foreign singers very well but in fact, they do not know the name of most of the famous Kurdish singers. Preserving our original culture is every Kurd's duty.
