First time named Kurdistan

1. The straightforward claim: an 11th‑century appearance in Seljuk records

Standard reference works report that the compound Kurd + -stan ("land of") appears in Seljuk-era chronicles of the 11th century, and many encyclopedic entries cite that attestation as the first clear use of "Kurdistan" in surviving written sources ^{[1] [4]}. That reading frames the name as a Persianate toponym — Kord/Kurd (ethnic name) plus the Persian suffix -stān — used by medieval state chroniclers to describe a region where Kurdish communities lived ^[4].

2. Complicating the timeline: earlier mentions and parallel names

Despite the 11th‑century marker, several sources point to older or alternative labels that scholars have linked to the Kurdish ethnonym: ancient authors wrote of the Carduchi/Corduene (sometimes equated with later Kurds), and the term Cyrtii or Kurti appears in classical accounts as early as the 2nd century BCE for mountain slingers, prompting some historians to argue for a deeper linguistic continuity ^[2]. An Assyrian Christian document of late antiquity contains a phrase translated as "land of the Kurds," suggesting the idea of a Kurdish homeland may have older documentary echoes, even if the precise wording and continuity remain disputed ^[1].

3. From medieval usages to a common regional label by the 13th century

By the high Middle Ages the term and variants became more common: some accounts place "Kurdistan" into wider circulation from the 12th–13th centuries, with chroniclers, travelers and regional rulers using versions of the name to describe a mosaic of Kurdish principalities and fiefs on the Zagros and Anatolian margins ^{[5] [6]}. One influential narrative credits Seljuk and later Turkic rulers with formalizing administrative or descriptive usages of Kurdistan, such as a provincial designation linked to Kurdish principalities under regional suzerainty ^[6].

4. Historiographical disagreement: name vs. nation

Historians and reference sources emphasize an important distinction: the appearance of the toponym does not straightforwardly equal the emergence of a unified Kurdish nation-state; rather, "Kurdistan" often signified a geographical-cultural zone of Kurdish settlement and a patchwork of principalities and tribes whose boundaries and self‑identifications shifted over centuries ^{[7] [8]}. Modern scholars caution against retrojecting modern nationalism onto medieval labels; the term's meaning varied by time, author and political interest ^[2].

5. Maps, politics and contested recognition

Modern maps and national claims further complicate the historical record: 19th‑ and 20th‑century cartographers and diplomats expanded or contracted "Kurdistan" to suit political narratives, and contemporary states differ in recognition — Iran uses Kordestān province and Iraq recognizes a Kurdish autonomous region, while Turkey disputes a Kurdistan territorial identity — underscoring how the name's usage has been as much political as descriptive ^{[8] [7] [5]}. Minority-rights and regional studies emphasize that any cartographic claim to Kurdistan is inherently contested and reflects demographic, political and historical debates ^[5].

6. What can be concluded from the sources provided

The best-supported, conservative claim from the assembled reporting is that the explicit compound "Kurdistan" appears in medieval Seljuk-era chronicles in the 11th century and becomes more common in later medieval sources, while earlier ethnonyms and scattered references (Carduchi/Corduene, Cyrtii, late-antique mentions) offer plausible antecedents but do not provide an uncontested, continuous documentary chain equating them directly with the later toponym ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Where evidence is ambiguous or contested, historians explicitly debate continuity and meaning rather than presenting a single origin story ^[2].