In the early stages of the Kurdish economy, they were both merchants and agriculturists. Kurds were both nomadic and semi-nomadic as well as a part of tribal or non-tribal groups (Price, pg. 126). The Kurds that were not part of tribes were typically tenants, laborers, and sharecroppers with little land. However, non-tribal Kurds would rent land from land-owning tribal Kurds as well as rely on them for protection. In the wake of intertribal conflicts, nontribal Kurds would become mobile and move between tribes (Price, pg. 127-128).
The Kurds in Azerbaijan, northwestern Iran, did not have a strong economy. Relying entirely on grazing herds and illegal trade with Turkey, the Kurds were vulnerable to exploitation. With land under the control of tribes, tribal leaders would hand out pieces of land needed for herds to graze on for a fee (Price, pg. 178-179).

After the Constitutional Revolution in Iran, the Kurds were given an opportunity to strengthen their economy. Kermanshah, a primarily Kurdish inhabited city, became an important trading stop. It became a stop on an extensive trading route between Iran and Baghdad. There was also a religious stop in the Shi’ism pilgrimage. To profit from this popularity, the Kurds would charge road and protection fees. This led to an increase in banditry to solidify the Kurdish monopoly over the fees. The Kurds even attacked the government forces to protect this flow of income (Price, pg. 180).

At the beginning of the Pahlavi regime, Reza Shah enacted a land regulation scheme. By making tribal groups sedentary, he heightened the division between tribal members and tribal leaders (Price pg. 183). This division strengthened since the individuals, who were typically the tribal leaders, that registered the land holdings under their names put the peasants and nomads at an economic disadvantage since they used to use the land and now could not (Price, pg. 185). Today their economy still centers around agricul