Adila Khanum, wife of Wasman Pasha Jaf, was the daughter of Abdul Qadir Beg Sahebqiran. Her family moved to Ardalan from Sulaymaniyah in 1851 after the collapse of the Baban Empire. Adila Khanum was born in 1859 in Sina, the capital of Ardalan.
She received the basics of studying the Qur'an from a private teacher until she became a conscious intellectual.
She married Wasman Pasha Jaf in Halabja in 1895 and was the mother of the famous Kurdish poet Ahmad Mukhtar Jaf. After Mahmud Pasha of Jaf, the leadership of this great Kurdish tribe fell to Wasman Pasha, the husband of Adila Khanum.
As Wasman Pasha grew older, Adila Khanum successfully managed all the affairs of the Jaf tribe and her reputation spread throughout Sharazoor, Hawraman and other parts of South Kurdistan, as well as other tribes in Eastern Kurdistan. She solved all administrative and social problems after the death of Wasman Pasha and built a special prison to imprison the criminals she sentenced.
This great woman loved prosperity and the advancement of science and literacy. She built a school, a market and several large buildings in Halabja, turning it from a small village into a prosperous city with many beautiful gardens and beaches. Adila Khanum built a civilized life in the beautiful city as a powerful woman and ruler of the area and lived among her tribe.
She lived to the age of 65, until she passed away in May of 1924 in the city of Halabja, and she was buried in Ababaileh cemetary near that same city.[2]