John S. Gest, Survival Among the Kurds. A History of the Yazidis
We present you a translation of another book about the Yazidis, this time by the English orientalist John S. Gest, "Yazidis - The Doctrine of Survival" or "Survival among Kurds". Gesta "Yazidis - The Doctrine of Survival" or "Survival among the Kurds. History of the Yazidis", as the book is called in later editions.
The 150,000 members of the Yazidi religious group are scattered across Iraq, Turkey, Syria and the USSR
- and despite persecution and discrimination, have maintained their identity for more than 500 years.
The author of this first true history of the Yazidis traces the origins of their religion, describes the discovery of the Yazidis by Western travelers in the early 19th century, and details the traumatic recent history of the Yazidi community and its current status.
The discovery of the Yazidis by Western travellers and missionaries led to a close friendship in the 1840s between Yazidi leaders and the British archaeologist Sir Henry Layard. The British ambassador Stratford Canning helped them gain civil rights: a hitherto unpublished letter of thanks from Yazidi leaders is presented as an appendix.
The teaching also recounts Sultan Abdul Hamid's violent but futile efforts to force the Yazidis to embrace Islam, which led to the rise of Maya Khatun, the strong-willed Yazidi princess who ruled the community from 1913 to 1958. This is a vivid account, based in part on interviews with living witnesses, which describes her rivalry with her brother Ismail.
The narrative ends in 1958 and the appendix provides an overview of the current status of the Yazidi community. The last chapter describes the Yazidi community in Soviet Armenia and Georgia, which survived the Bolshevik Revolution and its aftermath.
The book is written with an engaging style that makes it accessible to a wide range of readers, regardless of their previous experience in studying the region or ethnic groups. Gest combines academic rigour with human stories and vivid descriptions, making "Survival Among the Kurds. A History of the Yazidis" not only useful for specialists in regional studies, but also fascinating for anyone interested in the history and culture of the Middle East.
Tags: #yazidisinfo #newsyazidis #aboutyazidis #historyyazidis
John S. Gest, Survival Among the Kurds. A History of the Yazidis
We present you a translation of another book about the Yazidis, this time by the English orientalist John S. Gest, "Yazidis - The Doctrine of Survival" or "Survival among Kurds". Gesta "Yazidis - The Doctrine of Survival" or "Survival among the Kurds. History of the Yazidis", as the book is called in later editions.
The 150,000 members of the Yazidi religious group are scattered across Iraq, Turkey, Syria and the USSR
- and despite persecution and discrimination, have maintained their identity for more than 500 years.
The author of this first true history of the Yazidis traces the origins of their religion, describes the discovery of the Yazidis by Western travelers in the early 19th century, and details the traumatic recent history of the Yazidi community and its current status.
The discovery of the Yazidis by Western travellers and missionaries led to a close friendship in the 1840s between Yazidi leaders and the British archaeologist Sir Henry Layard. The British ambassador Stratford Canning helped them gain civil rights: a hitherto unpublished letter of thanks from Yazidi leaders is presented as an appendix.
The teaching also recounts Sultan Abdul Hamid's violent but futile efforts to force the Yazidis to embrace Islam, which led to the rise of Maya Khatun, the strong-willed Yazidi princess who ruled the community from 1913 to 1958. This is a vivid account, based in part on interviews with living witnesses, which describes her rivalry with her brother Ismail.
The narrative ends in 1958 and the appendix provides an overview of the current status of the Yazidi community. The last chapter describes the Yazidi community in Soviet Armenia and Georgia, which survived the Bolshevik Revolution and its aftermath.
The book is written with an engaging style that makes it accessible to a wide range of readers, regardless of their previous experience in studying the region or ethnic groups. Gest combines academic rigour with human stories and vivid descriptions, making "Survival Among the Kurds. A History of the Yazidis" not only useful for specialists in regional studies, but also fascinating for anyone interested in the history and culture of the Middle East.
Tags: #yazidisinfo #newsyazidis #aboutyazidis #historyyazidis
