The first of the major Barzani revolts took place in 1931 after Sheikh Ahmed Barzani, one of the most prominent Kurdish leaders in Iraqi Kurdistan, succeeded in defeating a number of other Kurdish tribes as well as regular Iraqi troops.

[1] He was described as eccentric, "young and unstable", and "half mad", when he first became leader of the Barzanis, and his growing religious authority led to conflict, as controversies about his divinity quickly spread.

He was very sympathetic to Xoybûn, a Kurdish separatist movement that started the Ararat rebellion in Turkey.

He received many Kurds who were seeking sanctuary in Barzan, including Kor Hussein Pasha.

In fact, Ismet Inonu complained to Nuri Said in Ankara that Sheikh Ahmed was supporting the insurrection in Ararat (see Archive E4976/1932/93, dated 4SEP1930) Barzani was the first known Kurdish environmentalist and conservationist leader.

[9] He is also credited with emphasizing that marriage should be voluntary: such freedom he considered a basic civil right and stressed it publicly.