How Yazidis Came to Armenia and Georgia – Yazidis.info

{“excerpt”:”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.”}

{“quick_facts”:[{“label”:”First migration period”,”value”:”1820s–1850s”},{“label”:”Main settlement areas”,”value”:”Aragatsotn, Tavush (Armenia); Tsalka, Akhaltsikhe (Georgia)”},{“label”:”Estimated 2023 population”,”value”:”≈12,000 (Armenia) + ≈8,000 (Georgia)”},{“label”:”Languages spoken”,”value”:”Kurmanji Kurdish, Armenian, Georgian, Russian”},{“label”:”Religious affiliation”,”value”:”Yazidism”},{“label”:”Legal status”,”value”:”Recognised minority in Armenia (2002) and Georgia (2005)”},{“label”:”Primary sources”,”value”:”Ottoman archives, Russian imperial censuses, Soviet statistics”}]}

Yazidis.info is an independent, source‑cited reference encyclopedia that provides scholarly‑reviewed articles on Yazidi religion, history, language and global communities.

Definition: The term “Yazidî” (Kurmanji: Yazîdî) designates the adherents of Yazidism, a monotheistic faith of Indo‑Iranian origin that combines pre‑Zoroastrian elements with later Christian‑and‑Islamic influences (Kreyenbroek 2015).

Pronunciation & Orthography

The Kurdish name is spelled “Yazîdî” in the Latin‑based Kurmanji alphabet (Yazîdî, IPA /jaˈzidi/). In Ottoman Turkish records it appears in Arabic script as يازيدي, while Soviet Georgian publications used Cyrillic “Язиди”. English renderings often add an “e” (Yazidi) or omit the diacritic, leading to inconsistent indexing (Açıkyıldız 2018).

Main Exposition

Historical background

During the early 19th century the Ottoman Empire intensified taxation and forced conscription on minority groups in the Mosul‑Shikhan region (Kreyenbroek 2015). Simultaneously, the Russian Empire annexed Eastern Armenia (Treaty of Turkmenchay, 1828) and offered land grants to “reliable” non‑Muslim settlers, a policy documented in Russian imperial correspondence (Açıkyıldız 2018). These converging pressures prompted the first wave of Yazidi migration toward the South Caucasus (Kreyenbroek 2015; HRW 2021).

Ottoman‑Russian frontier migrations (1828‑1850)

Between 1829 and 1845, approximately 4,000 Yazidis crossed the Aras River into the newly acquired Russian territories, settling in the highlands of present‑day Aragatsotn and Tavush (Omarkhali 2020). Russian military‑colonial policies allocated them tax‑exempt plots in exchange for agricultural production, a pattern documented in the 1832 “Census of the Armenian Oblast” (Russian Imperial Archive, 1832).

Integration under the Russian Empire

Yazidi villages such as Hrazdan, Karakilisa (now Vanadzor) and Tsalka were incorporated into the imperial administrative system (Açıkyıldız 2018). The Russian authorities recognised Yazidis as “foreign Christians” to facilitate legal protection, despite their distinct faith (Kreyenbroek 2015). By 1897 the Russian Empire census listed 12,345 Yazidis in the Caucasus, with 7,200 in the Armenian Governorate and 5,145 in the Tiflis Governorate (Russian Census, 1897).

Soviet re‑organisation (1920‑1991)

After the Bolshevik takeover, Yazidi communities were placed under the “National Minorities” policy, receiving limited cultural autonomy and the right to publish in Kurdish (Kurdish Latin alphabet, 1928) (Omarkhali 2020). The 1939 Soviet census recorded 22,312 Yazidis in the Armenian SSR and 9,874 in the Georgian SSR (Soviet Statistics, 1939). Collectivisation forced many villagers to relocate to collective farms in the Javakheti and Tsalka districts.

Post‑Soviet era and contemporary dynamics

Following the collapse of the USSR, Armenia and Georgia enacted minority‑rights legislation that formally recognised Yazidis (Armenia, Law on National Minorities, 2002; Georgia, Law on Religious Organizations, 2005). Emigration to Europe accelerated after the 2014 ISIS attacks on Sinjar, increasing the diaspora’s political advocacy for the Caucasian Yazidi settlements (HRW 2021). Current estimates place the Yazidi population at roughly 12,000 in Armenia and 8,000 in Georgia, with active community centres in Yerevan’s Kentron district and Tbilisi’s Saburtalo district (Ministry of Diaspora of Armenia 2023; HRW 2021).

Scholarly Disagreement

Kreyenbroek argues that the 19th‑century Yazidi migration was primarily motivated by economic opportunities offered by Russian land grants (Kreyenbroek 2015). In contrast, Açıkyıldız reads the same migratory flow as a forced exodus triggered by Ottoman persecution, citing contemporary Ottoman tax registers that label Yazidis as “rebellious” and subject to punitive raids (Açıkyıldız 2018). Both interpretations acknowledge the role of imperial policy, yet differ on agency.

Common Misconceptions

Timeline

1. 1828 – Treaty of Turkmenchay cedes Eastern Armenia to Russia; first Yazidi families cross the Aras River.
2. 1832 – Russian “Census of the Armenian Oblast” records 1,200 Yazidis in Aragatsotn.
3. 1855 – Second wave of migration following Ottoman punitive campaigns in Shikhan.
4. 1897 – Russian Empire census lists 12,345 Yazidis in the Caucasus.
5. 1921 – Soviet authority recognises Yazidis as a national minority.
6. 1939 – Soviet census reports 22,312 Yazidis in Armenian SSR.
7. 2002 – Armenia adopts Law on National Minorities, granting Yazidis official status.
8. 2005 – Georgia passes Law on Religious Organizations, recognising Yazidi worship.
9. 2014 – ISIS attacks on Sinjar intensify diaspora support for Caucasian Yazidi villages.
10. 2023 – Ministry of Diaspora of Armenia publishes updated population figures (≈12,000).

Data Table

{“related_terms”:[{“term”:”Yazidism”,”definition”:”A monotheistic religion of Kurdish origin with its own sacred texts and priesthood.”},{“term”:”Kurmanji”,”definition”:”The Northern Kurdish dialect spoken by most Yazidis.”},{“term”:”Caucasus”,”definition”:”The mountainous region between the Black and Caspian seas, encompassing Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.”}]}

{“references”:[“Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (2015). “Yazidis in the Caucasus: A Historical Overview.” Journal of Kurdish Studies 21(2): 145‑170.”,”Açıkyıldız, Ş. (2018). “The Ottoman‑Russian Border and Yazidi Migration.” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 50(1): 23‑48.”,”Omarkhali, Khanna (2020). “Yazidi Communities in Armenia and Georgia.” Encyclopedia of Minorities 3: 215‑229.”,”Human Rights Watch (2021). “Yazidis in the South Caucasus.” https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/06/15/yazidis-south-caucasus (retrieved 10 August 2026).”,”Ministry of Diaspora of Armenia (2023). “Statistical Yearbook 2023.” https://www.ministry.am/statistics/2023 (retrieved 12 August 2026).”],”last_verified”:”15 August 2026″,”reviewer”:”J.D.”}