Yazidi ruler Mir Ali-Beg the First

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Read: 5201     12:30     15 ЯНВАРЬ 2021    

One of the most famous Yazidi rulers was Ali Bey I son of Hasan Bey, Emir of Sheikhan and all Yezidis, who ruled in the early 19th century. He was born in the family of the Yazidi ruler Mir Hasan Bey, whose domain was the principality of Sheikhan, whose lands by that time were reduced and covered only a few areas inhabited by Yazidis - from Dahok to Harir, and from Mosul to the Shangal Mountains (Sinjar Mountains). The administrative center of the principality and the residence of the Emir was the village of Baadr. After inheriting the throne, Ali Beg began to establish close ties with neighboring Kurdish princes and showed excessive activity in the region. Although the Yezidi princedom was semi-independent, still had a vassal relationship with the Emir Amedee (Image, Bodiansky Emirate).

The Yazidis were forced to have a patron who would protect them from the neighboring Kurdish tribe’s hostile to the Yazidis, who, under the guise of religion, staged frequent pogroms. The Emir of Amedia patronized the Yazidis, and their relations were allied, which discouraged attacks on them. And this is even though the Kurdish emirates themselves were subordinated to the Turks and were part of a powerful power – the Ottoman Empire.

For centuries, the eastern fringes of the Ottoman Empire remained uneasy. Kurdish rulers often rebelled against the sultan and declared themselves independent rulers, minted their own coin, and ignored the center. In addition, the Kurdish emirs themselves were at war with each other and often, this led to a protracted feud between the ashirats.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a feud broke out between the Kurdish Mzuri tribe and the Emirs of Bahdinan, which in 1804 resulted in a clash. Representatives of the Mzuri tribe broke into Amedia, seized the family of the Emir-Kubad Pasha and together with his brother imprisoned, after which they plundered the city and remained there until, at the request of Emir Bahdinan Ahmed Pasha, the Yazidis of the Dnan tribe came to the rescue (1, 99). The Mzuri tribe was expelled from Amedia, and order was restored (2, 148).

In the time between the head of the tribe of mzuri Ali Agha Balata and Yezidi Emir Mir Ali Bey, too, was a strained relationship. The ruler of Acre, Ismail Pasha (also one of the Bahdinan princes), tried to put an end to tribal strife and reconcile the neighbors. Mir Ali Bey went to reconciliation to Ali Agha Balata and waited for a return visit. Prince Bahdinan Said Pasha persuaded the Yazidi leader Mir Ali Bek to kill Ali agha Balatai and rid everyone of him, and in his place they wanted to put another head of the tribe. Some sources indicate that the Emir of Bahdinan threatened the Yazidi emir to kill his entire family if he refused to do so. The instigation of the Bahdinan Emir and the mistake of Mir Ali Bey subsequently cost the Yazidis dearly.

Mir Ali-Bek killed Ali-Aga Balata and his son Sngan-asu. This murder is contrary to the Yazidi canons and tribal customs, which was condemned by the Yazidi clergy and the heads of the Yazidi ashirats. This act was fatal for the Yazidis and caused the worst massacre in their history. Ali agha's nephew Balatai, Mullah Yahya (3), was an authoritative cleric who, upon learning of his uncle's murder, appealed to Said Pasha and his brother Ismail Pasha, the ruler of Acre, to avenge Ali agha. But they did not listen to him, and more than that, they killed the son of Mullah Yahya, who began to seek help from the powerful ruler of the Emirate of Soran, Emir Muhammad Rawanduzi. (4, 148)

Muhammad Pasha of Ravanduz at that time became the most powerful and independent ruler in Kurdistan, he began to mint his own coin and declared independence from the Ottoman Empire. At that time, the Ottoman sultan was preoccupied with the revolt of Muhammad Ali Pasha in Egypt, who declared independence from the Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, Muhammad Pasha had already annexed several neighboring Kurdish principalities to his possessions and intended to seize the Bahdinan Emirate and the Yazidi lands.

In addition, to strengthen his young state, he needed trophies. In 1815. for the sake of power, he executed his relatives-his two uncles Timur Khan and Wahbi Bey and their sons, to get rid of the pretenders to the throne.

Knowing this, Mullah Yahya called on Muhammad Pasha to take revenge on the Emirs of Bahdinan and their allies, the "godless" Yazidis. Mullah Yahya announced a fatwa and blessed the killing of Yazidis. The Emir of Soran, Muhammad Pasha, equipped a punitive expedition and marched on Sheikhan. Along the way, his troops plundered and ravaged the villages of the Yezidis, Assyrians (Christians) and Kurds of Bahdinan.

The brother of the Bahdinan Emir Said-bek Musa-bek, who was hungry for power, joined the Emir of Soran and revolted against his brother. In 1832, the troops of Emir Soran, numbering 50,000, went on the offensive.

The Emir of Bahdinan, Sayyid beg, tried to stop the troops of Muhammad Pasha and sent an army led by Yunus agha and Ismail Pasha, but their forces were negligible, and they retreated.

Yazidis gathered in squads and resisted the troops of the Soran emir, but the forces were not equal. The Yazidis fled. Emir Soran's troops ravaged everything along the way, stealing women and children, and killing men or forcing them to accept their faith. Yazidi villages around Al-Kush, Sheikhan, Dohuk, Bashiqa and Bahzan, Hatar, Kalak, etc. were destroyed. According to Abd al-Fatah Al-Botani, Muhammad Pasha lost an eye during a clash with the Yazidis and therefore went down in history as Mir Kora, i.e. the Blind Emir.

The Yazidis, who had fled, headed for Mosul, but the ruler of the city, Muhammad Said Pasha, was afraid of Emir Soran, and burned the bridge so that he could not cross it. The fleeing Yazidis were also unable to cross, and the Kurdish emir's troops caught up with them and massacred them. (5, 464) The troops of Muhammad Pasha reached Shangal and Dahok, slaughtered people and stole some of them. When they came to Sheikhan, they seized the Yazidi temple of Lalish and looted it. A group of Yazidi women with children hid in a cave under the temple, but the soldiers of the Kurdish emir guarded them. They heard the voices and cries of children, and when they learned about the cave, they built a fire at its entrance. Those who were there suffocated. The remains of the Yezidis immured in the cave are still there and are evidence of the massacre of the Emirs of Rawanduz.

In Sheikhan, the troops captured the Yazidi ruler Mir Ali Beg, tied him up and took him to Muhammad Pasha. The latter demanded that the Yazidis convert to their faith, but Mir Ali Beg refused. The Yazidi emir and those who did not accept another faith were executed near Erbil in the gorge, which is then called Gali Ali-bagh, i.e. the gorge of Ali Beg.

After the massacre, many Yazidis fled high into the mountains of Turabdin and Hakkari, some to Syria, and some scattered to other areas. The Emir of Soran had other goals. On the one hand, he wanted to destroy the Yazidis and rid the country of them, on the other hand, to expand his possessions and become a sole and powerful sovereign. In the same year, the Ottoman Sultan sent a large army to punish the rebellious Kurdish emir and his independence was ended. The Yazidi ruler Mir Ali Bey is a rather controversial figure in Yazidi history. His act was the occasion for this terrible massacre, but on the other hand, he is considered a martyr who did not renounce his faith.

 

1. عدنان زیان، الكرد الایزیدیون فیاقلیم كوردستان، مركز للدراسات الاستراتیجیة، سلیمانیة،2004

2. عبد الفتاح علی البوطانی، ملا یاحیا المزوری، سقط امارة بھدینان مجلة كروان، عدد 43، اربیل

3. Mullah Yahya Khalid Mzuri was born in 1772. He studied in Amedia, Mosul and Baghdad.

4. انور المائی، الاكراد فی بھدینان، جلد 2. دھوك، 1999

5. صدیق الدملوجی، الیزیدیة، مطبعة الاتحاد، موسل،1949

The article is given with abbreviations D. Pirbari

Source-yezidi.ge

Translated by David Babev





Tags: #yazidisinfo   #historyyezidi   #aboutyazidi   #yazidi  



Yazidi ruler Mir Ali-Beg the First

2021/01/120-1610696265.jpg
Read: 5202     12:30     15 ЯНВАРЬ 2021    

One of the most famous Yazidi rulers was Ali Bey I son of Hasan Bey, Emir of Sheikhan and all Yezidis, who ruled in the early 19th century. He was born in the family of the Yazidi ruler Mir Hasan Bey, whose domain was the principality of Sheikhan, whose lands by that time were reduced and covered only a few areas inhabited by Yazidis - from Dahok to Harir, and from Mosul to the Shangal Mountains (Sinjar Mountains). The administrative center of the principality and the residence of the Emir was the village of Baadr. After inheriting the throne, Ali Beg began to establish close ties with neighboring Kurdish princes and showed excessive activity in the region. Although the Yezidi princedom was semi-independent, still had a vassal relationship with the Emir Amedee (Image, Bodiansky Emirate).

The Yazidis were forced to have a patron who would protect them from the neighboring Kurdish tribe’s hostile to the Yazidis, who, under the guise of religion, staged frequent pogroms. The Emir of Amedia patronized the Yazidis, and their relations were allied, which discouraged attacks on them. And this is even though the Kurdish emirates themselves were subordinated to the Turks and were part of a powerful power – the Ottoman Empire.

For centuries, the eastern fringes of the Ottoman Empire remained uneasy. Kurdish rulers often rebelled against the sultan and declared themselves independent rulers, minted their own coin, and ignored the center. In addition, the Kurdish emirs themselves were at war with each other and often, this led to a protracted feud between the ashirats.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a feud broke out between the Kurdish Mzuri tribe and the Emirs of Bahdinan, which in 1804 resulted in a clash. Representatives of the Mzuri tribe broke into Amedia, seized the family of the Emir-Kubad Pasha and together with his brother imprisoned, after which they plundered the city and remained there until, at the request of Emir Bahdinan Ahmed Pasha, the Yazidis of the Dnan tribe came to the rescue (1, 99). The Mzuri tribe was expelled from Amedia, and order was restored (2, 148).

In the time between the head of the tribe of mzuri Ali Agha Balata and Yezidi Emir Mir Ali Bey, too, was a strained relationship. The ruler of Acre, Ismail Pasha (also one of the Bahdinan princes), tried to put an end to tribal strife and reconcile the neighbors. Mir Ali Bey went to reconciliation to Ali Agha Balata and waited for a return visit. Prince Bahdinan Said Pasha persuaded the Yazidi leader Mir Ali Bek to kill Ali agha Balatai and rid everyone of him, and in his place they wanted to put another head of the tribe. Some sources indicate that the Emir of Bahdinan threatened the Yazidi emir to kill his entire family if he refused to do so. The instigation of the Bahdinan Emir and the mistake of Mir Ali Bey subsequently cost the Yazidis dearly.

Mir Ali-Bek killed Ali-Aga Balata and his son Sngan-asu. This murder is contrary to the Yazidi canons and tribal customs, which was condemned by the Yazidi clergy and the heads of the Yazidi ashirats. This act was fatal for the Yazidis and caused the worst massacre in their history. Ali agha's nephew Balatai, Mullah Yahya (3), was an authoritative cleric who, upon learning of his uncle's murder, appealed to Said Pasha and his brother Ismail Pasha, the ruler of Acre, to avenge Ali agha. But they did not listen to him, and more than that, they killed the son of Mullah Yahya, who began to seek help from the powerful ruler of the Emirate of Soran, Emir Muhammad Rawanduzi. (4, 148)

Muhammad Pasha of Ravanduz at that time became the most powerful and independent ruler in Kurdistan, he began to mint his own coin and declared independence from the Ottoman Empire. At that time, the Ottoman sultan was preoccupied with the revolt of Muhammad Ali Pasha in Egypt, who declared independence from the Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, Muhammad Pasha had already annexed several neighboring Kurdish principalities to his possessions and intended to seize the Bahdinan Emirate and the Yazidi lands.

In addition, to strengthen his young state, he needed trophies. In 1815. for the sake of power, he executed his relatives-his two uncles Timur Khan and Wahbi Bey and their sons, to get rid of the pretenders to the throne.

Knowing this, Mullah Yahya called on Muhammad Pasha to take revenge on the Emirs of Bahdinan and their allies, the "godless" Yazidis. Mullah Yahya announced a fatwa and blessed the killing of Yazidis. The Emir of Soran, Muhammad Pasha, equipped a punitive expedition and marched on Sheikhan. Along the way, his troops plundered and ravaged the villages of the Yezidis, Assyrians (Christians) and Kurds of Bahdinan.

The brother of the Bahdinan Emir Said-bek Musa-bek, who was hungry for power, joined the Emir of Soran and revolted against his brother. In 1832, the troops of Emir Soran, numbering 50,000, went on the offensive.

The Emir of Bahdinan, Sayyid beg, tried to stop the troops of Muhammad Pasha and sent an army led by Yunus agha and Ismail Pasha, but their forces were negligible, and they retreated.

Yazidis gathered in squads and resisted the troops of the Soran emir, but the forces were not equal. The Yazidis fled. Emir Soran's troops ravaged everything along the way, stealing women and children, and killing men or forcing them to accept their faith. Yazidi villages around Al-Kush, Sheikhan, Dohuk, Bashiqa and Bahzan, Hatar, Kalak, etc. were destroyed. According to Abd al-Fatah Al-Botani, Muhammad Pasha lost an eye during a clash with the Yazidis and therefore went down in history as Mir Kora, i.e. the Blind Emir.

The Yazidis, who had fled, headed for Mosul, but the ruler of the city, Muhammad Said Pasha, was afraid of Emir Soran, and burned the bridge so that he could not cross it. The fleeing Yazidis were also unable to cross, and the Kurdish emir's troops caught up with them and massacred them. (5, 464) The troops of Muhammad Pasha reached Shangal and Dahok, slaughtered people and stole some of them. When they came to Sheikhan, they seized the Yazidi temple of Lalish and looted it. A group of Yazidi women with children hid in a cave under the temple, but the soldiers of the Kurdish emir guarded them. They heard the voices and cries of children, and when they learned about the cave, they built a fire at its entrance. Those who were there suffocated. The remains of the Yezidis immured in the cave are still there and are evidence of the massacre of the Emirs of Rawanduz.

In Sheikhan, the troops captured the Yazidi ruler Mir Ali Beg, tied him up and took him to Muhammad Pasha. The latter demanded that the Yazidis convert to their faith, but Mir Ali Beg refused. The Yazidi emir and those who did not accept another faith were executed near Erbil in the gorge, which is then called Gali Ali-bagh, i.e. the gorge of Ali Beg.

After the massacre, many Yazidis fled high into the mountains of Turabdin and Hakkari, some to Syria, and some scattered to other areas. The Emir of Soran had other goals. On the one hand, he wanted to destroy the Yazidis and rid the country of them, on the other hand, to expand his possessions and become a sole and powerful sovereign. In the same year, the Ottoman Sultan sent a large army to punish the rebellious Kurdish emir and his independence was ended. The Yazidi ruler Mir Ali Bey is a rather controversial figure in Yazidi history. His act was the occasion for this terrible massacre, but on the other hand, he is considered a martyr who did not renounce his faith.

 

1. عدنان زیان، الكرد الایزیدیون فیاقلیم كوردستان، مركز للدراسات الاستراتیجیة، سلیمانیة،2004

2. عبد الفتاح علی البوطانی، ملا یاحیا المزوری، سقط امارة بھدینان مجلة كروان، عدد 43، اربیل

3. Mullah Yahya Khalid Mzuri was born in 1772. He studied in Amedia, Mosul and Baghdad.

4. انور المائی، الاكراد فی بھدینان، جلد 2. دھوك، 1999

5. صدیق الدملوجی، الیزیدیة، مطبعة الاتحاد، موسل،1949

The article is given with abbreviations D. Pirbari

Source-yezidi.ge

Translated by David Babev





Tags: #yazidisinfo   #historyyezidi   #aboutyazidi   #yazidi