Kurdshop- Dim Dim castle is a historical monument that possesses ever-lasting value and has become a sacred place for Kurds.

Dim Dim castle is located 18 kilometers in the northwest part of Urmia in East Kurdistan and it still is a sacred place for the Kurds. The resistance this castle showed against the Safavid invasion is even considered a war between Muslims and non-believers. However, this resistance is not a fictional story but rather an important history. It also is regarded as a page of Kurdistan’s political history in which the oppressor and the oppressed had faced each other but the Kurds did not surrender.

Dim Dim castle was built over a hill with the same name. Some sources believe that the castle was built during the Sassanid reign and Kurdish princes had settled there once again.

In the 17th century in 1609 in the Urmia region in East Kurdistan, the Kurdish Mir (Lord) named Mirkhan Lapzerin (Biradosti) revolted against the Safavid oppressions who wanted to change Kurdistan demography. The leaders and heroes of this battle included Mirkhan Biradosti, Shah Abbas Safavid I, Khan Abdalkhan Mokri, Khatoon Khanm, and Mahmud Alakani.

From the Safavid and Ottoman eras up to now, Kurdistan has been the battlefield for the harshest wars but Kurds have always protected themselves and despite all the hardships they have faced they have stayed as a known nation with their own identity.

Mirkhan Biradosti is one of the well-known characters who followed the same path. That is why he is known in all four parts of Kurdistan and Kurdish artists, poets and singers have praised the national hero, Khani Lapzerin Biradosti. Mirkhan was once Shah Abbas’s stable boy and he started by working as a shepherd first. Later he became a gallant warrior and his nation’s leader for gaining their true demand.

Mirkhan was from the Biradosti tribe in East Kurdistan. At the time of the war between him and the Iranians, he was about 45 to 50 years old. After being occupied with various tasks he showed his bravery in a battle between the Safavid and the Russians and he lost one of his hands during this battle. In order to show his gratitude for his service in the war, Shah Abbas let him fabricate an artificial hand with red gold and this is the reason for the title of “Khan Lapzerin or Chingzerin” (Lap means hand and zerin means golden). He is still a well-known leader among Kurds. He also had a superior rank among his contemporary fellows.

What Khani Lapzerin decided to do was a great menace for the Safavid government and the reports that arrived in Isfahan from Tabriz and Urmia for Shah Abbas contained bad news, the Kurdish Lord was plotting a ploy.

  This is the reason why the issue of Dim Dim castle is the identity of Kurds against the savagery of the Safavid to preserve Kurdish honor and greatness and the national identity and sensibility of a realm called Kurdistan.

One can say that Kurdish heroes’ and Lords’ cries to claim the land and keep their honor and attempts have still remained in history’s memory. The happy screams of all those Kurdish women and newlywed girls who voluntarily fell down from the castle to preserve their honor are still echoing in our ears.