News Center — In the history of Kurdish culture and art, some names remain as bright as light on the pages of history despite the passage of decades. "Dayikê Cemal" is considered one of the first women to leave their mark on the history of Kurdish music with their voice and singing art. She was not merely a woman with a powerful voice, but a symbol of the historical beginning of Kurdish women in the field of sound recording.

There are not many names of women who documented their voices in musical recordings throughout the history of Kurdish music, and "Dayikê Cemal" is one of these pioneers.

Dayikê Cemal—whose real name, according to some sources, was Shirin or Bahija or Farha Ibrahim Yaqub—was born in 1908 in the city of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region. Her family later moved to Halabja, where she grew up and was raised, and the city was the most prominent station in shaping her artistic personality.

At that time, Halabja was under the administration of Adila Khanum Jaf, a figure known for her culture, poetry, and interest in artists and intellectuals, as well as her stance toward women. In this environment, Dayikê Cemal found space that allowed her to showcase her talent and bring her voice to society, despite the social constraints surrounding women at the time.

The First Woman to Record Her Songs in Sorani

She entered the world of musical recording in 1926, becoming, according to sources, the first Kurdish woman to record her songs in the Sorani dialect.

The artistic name she chose for herself was "Dayikê Cemal" (Mother of Cemal). Between 1926 and 1930, she recorded her works on approximately 10 records for the famous recording companies Baidaphon and Odeon. These recordings hold unparalleled importance in the history of Kurdish music archives, as they allowed the voice of Kurdish women to reach future generations.

Among her songs that are still known today are "Hey Belar û Belar," "Xanimî Sulaymanî," "Hey înîn înîn," and "Aminê Amin." Some of her recordings were also preserved in the Baghdad Radio archives.

Dayikê Cemal lived in an era when women were not allowed, according to social standards, to emerge as artists. Some sources indicate that the circumstances and social norms of that period forced her to abandon singing after a while and continue her life away from the spotlight.

She suffered from breast cancer and passed away in 1979 at the Medical City Hospital in Baghdad, and was buried in the Sheikh Ma'rouf Cemetery in the same city.

A Living Memory

Although she abandoned art in the middle of her life, her works and voice remained preserved in the archives of music researchers and platforms dedicated to preserving Kurdish culture. To this day, her songs from the 1920s continue to be a subject of interest and appreciation as valuable documents in the history of Kurdish women's singing and music. She carved a place for herself in cultural memory as the authentic voice that paved the way for Kurdish female artists.

Today, nearly a century later, her name remains present in the history of Kurdish music. That woman whose voice was recorded on records has immortalized, in reality, the voice of Kurdish women in the history of music.