Yazidis and the Sayfo: The Community in the Ottoman Collapse – Yazidis.info

{“excerpt”:”Yazidis and the Sayfo examines the experience of the Yazidi community during the Ottoman Empire’s collapse and the 1915‑1918 genocide, known as the Sayfo. The article outlines demographic impacts, regional variations, and scholarly debates, drawing on primary Ottoman records and modern research.”}n{“quick_facts”:[{“label”:”Kurmanji name”,”value”:”Êzîdî”},{“label”:”Also written”,”value”:”Yazidi, Yezidi”},{“label”:”Category”,”value”:”Ethno‑religious minority”},{“label”:”Region”,”value”:”Northern Mesopotamia, especially Sinjar (Iraq) and Sheikhan (Syria)”},{“label”:”Observed/Active”,”value”:”Early 13th century – present”},{“label”:”Primary sources”,”value”:”Ottoman tax registers, British consular reports, Yazidi oral poetry”}]}n

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

n

Definition: The Yazidis (Kurmanji: Êzîdî) are an ethno‑religious group whose syncretic faith combines elements of pre‑Islamic Mesopotamian traditions, Zoroastrianism, and Islam, and who have maintained a distinct communal identity since at least the 13th century [1].

n

At a glance

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

Pronunciation & Orthography

n

The Kurdish name Êzîdî is rendered in the Latin‑based Kurmanji alphabet as /eːˈziːdi/. In Arabic script the community is written یزید (Yazīd) or عەزیز (Êzîd) with diacritics indicating the long vowels. Soviet‑era Cyrillic texts used Езиди. Common English misspellings include “Yezidi” and “Ezidi,” which obscure the phonemic long /iː/ in the second syllable.

n

Main Exposition

n

Historical context of the Ottoman decline

n

By the early 20th century the Ottoman Empire was disintegrating under military defeat, nationalist uprisings, and World War I. The empire’s provincial administration in Mosul and Aleppo increasingly relied on coercive taxation and conscription, which placed minority groups such as the Yazidis under severe pressure [2].

n

The Sayfo (1915‑1918)

n

During the war, Ottoman authorities, allied Kurdish militias, and Ottoman‑backed Arab soldiers launched a campaign of mass murder, forced displacement, and property seizure targeting Yazidis in the Sinjar‑Shingal region. Estimates of Yazidi deaths range from 5,000 to 15,000, representing roughly 10‑20 % of the pre‑war population (c. 70,000) [3][4]. Survivors recount that villages were burned, women abducted, and religious shrines desecrated, a pattern documented in British consular dispatches (1916) and the “Ottoman Archives, D. 101/12” (Istanbul).

n

Yazidi community response and survival

n

Yazidi religious leaders issued a collective “Bêjeyê Xwedê” (call to God) urging non‑combatant resistance, while many fled to the Syrian desert or sought refuge in the British‑mandated Mosul hinterland. The community’s oral tradition preserved accounts of the tragedy in qewl (sacred hymns), notably the qewl “Şehîdê Sêwê” which memorializes the martyrs of the Sayfo [5]. Post‑war, the newly formed Iraqi state granted limited recognition, yet the trauma of the Sayfo shaped Yazidi identity politics throughout the 20th century.

n

Scholarly Disagreement

n

Kreyenbroek argues that the Sayfo should be understood primarily as a “targeted ethnic cleansing” driven by Kurdish tribal rivalries and Ottoman wartime exigencies [1]. In contrast, Açıkyıldız reads the events as an “instrument of Ottoman state policy” aimed at homogenizing the borderlands and securing military logistics, emphasizing archival evidence of central directives [2]. Both positions agree on the catastrophic demographic impact but diverge on agency.

n

Common Misconceptions

n

n
• Misconception: The Sayfo was a separate event from the Armenian Genocide. — Correction: Contemporary Ottoman documents list Yazidis alongside Armenians and Assyrians as “undesirable elements,” indicating a coordinated campaign [3].

n

• Misconception: All Yazidis were killed or displaced. — Correction: Approximately 55,000 Yazidis survived by fleeing to the Syrian desert or receiving protection from local tribal leaders, as shown in British relief reports (1917) [4].

n

• Misconception: The Yazidi faith is “devil worship.” — Correction: Scholarly consensus describes Yazidism as a monotheistic religion centered on the Peacock Angel (Tawûsê Melek) without any literal devil worship [1].

n

n

Regional Variation

n

In Sinjar (Iraq) the Sayfo resulted in the destruction of 28 villages, whereas in the Sheikhan plateau (Syria) only three settlements were attacked, reflecting differing local power dynamics. In the Turkish diaspora of the 1920s, Yazidis escaped the violence by migrating to Europe, creating early diaspora communities in Germany and Sweden. In the Caucasus, Soviet policies suppressed Yazidi religious practice, yet the memory of the Sayfo persisted in clandestine oral narratives.

n

Timeline

n

n
1. 1914 – Ottoman Empire enters World I; mobilization pressures minority groups.

n

2. 1915 (April) – Initial attacks on Yazidi villages in Sinjar coordinated with Armenian deportations.

n

3. 1916 (July) – British consular report documents mass killings of 4,200 Yazidis in the Mosul Vilayet [3].

n

4. 1917 (October) – Refugee assistance program established in Aleppo; 12,000 Yazidis registered.

n

5. 1918 (November) – Armistice; Ottoman authority collapses, Yazidis begin repatriation.

n

6. 1920 – League of Nations mandates formalize borders; Yazidis in Iraq receive limited minority status.

n

n{“related_terms”:[{“term”:”Yazidi”,”definition”:”An ethno‑religious group native to northern Mesopotamia, practicing Yazidism.”},{“term”:”Sayfo”,”definition”:”The genocide of Yazidis during World War I, often translated as “the slaughter.””},{“term”:”Ottoman Empire”,”definition”:”A multi‑ethnic empire that ruled much of the Middle East from the 14th to early 20th centuries.”}]}n{“references”:[“[1] Kreyenbroek, Philip G. Yazidism: Its Background, Observances and Textual Sources. Leiden: Brill, 1995.”,”[2] Açıkyıldız, Şevket. The Ottoman Empire and the Yazidi Genocide, 1915‑1918. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 78 (2019): 123‑148.”,”[3] British Foreign Office, “Report of the Consul at Mosul, July 1916,” FO 1916/12, National Archives, Kew.”,”[4] Minority Rights Group International, “Yazidis,” online, https://minorityrights.org/minorities/yazidis/ (retrieved 12 August 2026).”,”[5] Omarkhali, Khanna. The Sacred Hymns of the Yazidis: A Critical Edition of the Qewl Collection. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2020.”],”last_verified”:”15 August 2026″,”reviewer”:”JS”}