This encyclopedia entry offers a detailed overview of Yazidi festivals, their theological significance, and the structure of the Yazidi religious calendar. It includes pronunciation, oral traditions, scholarly debates, regional variations, and statistical data.
The Yazidi community’s historic heartland spans the Sinjar mountains, the Sheikhan district, and adjacent regions across Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the Caucasus. This article surveys the demographic, cultural, and political dimensions of these areas, drawing on scholarly sources and oral tradition.
The Yazidi diaspora has grown dramatically since the early 20th century, concentrating in Germany, the Caucasus, and other regions after the 2014 ISIS genocide. This article surveys migration patterns, community structures, and cultural adaptation of Yazidis living outside Iraq.
Yazidis began settling in the South Caucasus during the 19th‑century upheavals that followed the Russo‑Ottoman wars. Over subsequent decades they established enduring communities in present‑day Armenia and Georgia, shaped by imperial policies, Soviet re‑organisation, and contemporary diaspora dynamics.
Yazidism, Yarsanism, and Alevism are three distinct yet often conflated religious traditions of the Near East. This article compares their origins, doctrines, rituals, and contemporary demographics, drawing on peer‑reviewed scholarship and primary sources.
During the Ba’athist era (1968‑2003), the Iraqi state pursued an Arabization programme that reshaped Yazidi settlement patterns by creating collective towns (komel). These towns altered traditional clan structures, land tenure, and cultural practices, leaving a contested legacy in Yazidi historiography.
During the Ottoman period (1516–1918) Yazidis faced a distinctive fiscal regime, sporadic forced conscription, and violent reprisals that culminated in 19th‑century massacres. Scholarly research draws on tax registers, missionary reports, and oral testimonies to reconstruct these experiences.
Çarşema Sor, also known as Red Wednesday, marks the Yazidi New Year and the commencement of the sacred spring season. Celebrated on the first Wednesday of the first month of the Yazidi calendar, the feast combines communal feasting, pilgrimage to Lalish, and distinctive rituals that reaffirm Yazidi identity. Yazidis.info provides a scholarly overview of its origins, liturgical texts, and contemporary practice.
The Yazidi caste system divides the community into three hereditary groups—Sheikh, Pîr, and Mirîd—each with distinct religious duties and social roles. This article, based on peer‑reviewed scholarship and primary sources, explains the structure, transmission, and contemporary variations of the system.
Cejna Cemayê, also known as the Seven‑Day Feast of the Assembly, is the most important Yazidi pilgrimage held annually at the holy shrine of Lalish. Over seven days, Yazidis gather for rituals, feasting, and communal renewal, reinforcing religious identity and social cohesion.