Chronological account of Yazidi peoples from origins to present
The Yazidi calendar, rooted in ancient solar worship and oral tradition, has been transmitted through manuscripts, seasonal rites, and community memory. This article traces its historical sources, explains its solar‑lunar structure, and examines how Yazidis today observe the calendar amid diaspora and reconstruction.
The Bedirxan family, heirs of the Bohtan emirate, forged a series of strategic alliances in the Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions during the 19th century. Their collaborations ranged from Ottoman central authorities to Kurdish tribal coalitions and the Young Turk movement, shaping early Kurdish nationalism.
This article analyses the structure, mandate, and impact of three United Nations‑linked investigative bodies—the UN International Investigation Team for Iraq (UNITAD), the International Criminal Court‑supported inquiry in Mali, and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIIM). It highlights their quasi‑prosecutorial character, procedural innovations, and challenges in delivering accountability for international crimes.
The Ziarat Sultan Ezid in Aknalich, Armenia, opened in 2019 as the world’s largest Yazidi sanctuary. Its construction was a community‑driven effort financed by Yazidi diaspora donations, local Armenian support, and private benefactors, culminating in a 25‑meter‑tall temple that symbolizes renewal after decades of persecution.
Yazidi sacred literature, once an exclusively oral tradition preserved by hereditary reciters, began to be committed to writing in the 1970s and has since undergone systematic canonisation and printing. This article traces the historical, linguistic, and scholarly dimensions of that transition.
Ottoman tax registers (tahrir defters) and mid‑nineteenth‑century population lists provide the most systematic evidence of Yazidi settlements across the empire before the 1915‑1918 genocide. Scholars have combined these archival sources with historic maps to reconstruct village locations, demographics, and clan structures.
Qewls are the sacred hymns that form the core of Yazidi religious knowledge. While their core theological content is shared, the texts differ in language, melodic structure, and performance practice across Iraqi, Turkish, and diaspora communities. These differences reflect historical migration, local linguistic influences, and modern media adoption.
European consular dispatches from the 1800s, especially those of British diplomats like James Brant, reshaped how Yazidis were perceived by the Ottoman state and by neighboring communities. These reports supplied external categories that Yazidis later incorporated into their own narratives of communal solidarity and legal status.
Since the early 2010s Yazidi communities in the diaspora have increasingly replaced the traditional Arabic script with a Latin orthography. The change, driven by education reforms, migration patterns, and cultural renewal, reflects broader aspirations toward Europe and the preservation of Kurdish identity.
This article compares the Arabization campaigns directed at Yazidis and Kurds in Iraq from the 1960s onward, outlining state policies, demographic and cultural outcomes, and the varied forms of resistance each community mounted.