History

This article examines the role of Sheikh Adi and other Kurdish‑regional Sufi saints in shaping Yazidi theology, ritual practice, and inter‑faith dynamics. Drawing on Persian, Arabic, and Kurdish sources, it traces historical links, oral traditions, scholarly debates, and contemporary misconceptions.

This article examines the core elements of Yazidi creation narratives and contrasts them with ancient Mesopotamian cosmogonic traditions. Drawing on oral qewl literature, sacred texts, and recent comparative scholarship, it highlights both shared motifs and distinctive theological frameworks.

The Heft Sirr (Seven Secrets) doctrine is a core Yazidi theological corpus that emerged in the medieval period and has been transmitted orally and in manuscripts for nine centuries. This article traces its development from the 12th‑century origins through Ottoman repression, modern reform, and 21st‑century digital preservation.

British consular dispatches of the 19th century provide some of the earliest systematic Western records of Ottoman‑led persecution against the Yazidi community. By analysing reports from officials such as Capt. F. R. Maunsell and Lt.‑Col. Herbert Chermside, scholars have reconstructed the scale of massacres, forced conversions and displacement that shaped Yazidi collective memory.

The Yazidi Mîr, the hereditary political and religious leader of the Yazidi community, is chosen through a blend of lineage, council approval, and community consensus. This article examines the traditional mechanisms of succession, recent disputes following the 2019 death of Mir Tahsin Beg, and the evolving challenges facing the institution today.

In August 2014, Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a coordinated ground and air campaign that broke the Islamic State’s siege of Mount Sinjar, enabling the rescue of tens of thousands of Yazidis. Their rapid mobilization, air‑drop assistance, and the opening of a humanitarian corridor were pivotal in averting a large‑scale genocide.

The forced Arabization policies of Iraq’s Ba’ath regime created a legacy of contested land ownership that exploded after 2003. Post‑invasion return, legal gaps, and ongoing seizures continue to fuel disputes, especially in Kurdish‑majority areas such as Kirkuk and Yazidi homelands.

The Ottoman, Safavid, and European colonial powers pursued a series of policies aimed at converting the Yazidi minority from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. These efforts combined military conscription, legal pressure, and missionary activity, often framed as attempts to tame ‘heretical’ communities.

This encyclopedia entry traces the development of the Yazidi tradition from the 12th‑century reforms of Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir to the codification of the 72 divine emanations, or fermans, that structure contemporary Yazidi theology. It combines textual sources, oral tradition, and modern scholarship to present a nuanced historical narrative.

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.