 Until the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29, there had not been hostile feeling between the Kurds and the Armenians, and as late as 1877–1878, the mountaineers of both ethnic groups had lived fairly well together.After the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the Kurdish Sheikh Ubeydullah began his rebellion to create an independent Kurdistan in 1880, fearing that Armenians - with European support - would cave out an independent Armenia which would include Kurdish-populated areas.Despite tensions with the Armenians over the two competing nationalisms, Sheikh Ubeydullah ordered his men to not harm Armenians when they commenced their invasion of Iran in September 1880.