In the 14th century,
Timur devastated the urban centers of Mesopotamia. His conquest of Baghdad and especially the destruction of
Tikrit affected the Syrian Orthodox Church, which sheltered near Nineveh at
Mar Mattai Monastery. Following the destruction of Christians in the region, the Ismailis and Sunni and Shi'a Muslims were attacked indiscriminately by
Timur during the second part of the 14th century. The few survivors sought refuge among the Assyrians of Hakkari and the surrounding region. This region also produced many bishops and patriarchs as hereditary succession was used to prevent a full ecclesiastical collapse of the church. By the 16th century, the Assyrians disappeared from many cities where they previously thrived, such as in
Tabriz and
Nisibis. The head of the
Church of the East moved from
Baghdad to
Maragheh by 1553.
Ottoman control Although the region was nominally under
Ottoman control since the 16th century, it was administered as
Emirate of Hakkâri by its Kurdish inhabitants. Kurds also settled
Armenian farmers in the region. The situation changed after the Badr Khan rule and the
Tanzimat reforms as the Ottomans were now able to extend their full control unopposed. The region was part of
Van Vilayet during the Ottoman era as
Hakkari sanjak with
Başkale serving as capital, except from 1880 to 1888 where it was elevated to
vilayet status.
Massacres of Badr Khan In the 19th century, several competing Kurdish centers began emerging in the region. Mir Muhammed, the Kurdish Emir of the
Soran Emirate, situated around
Rawandiz was able to depose his rivals and control a region stretching from
Mardin to
Persian Azerbaijan. The Ottomans, seeking to consolidate their control of the region, engaged him in a costly war which eventually led to the dissolution of his Emirate. After the fall of his main rival,
Bedir Khan Beg of
Bohtan sought to extend his dominion by annexing the Assyrian regions in Hakkari. He took advantage of a rift between the patriarch
Shimun XVII Abraham and Nur Allah, the Emir of Hakkari. Bedir Khan allied with Nur Allah and attacked the Assyrians of Hakkari in the summer of 1843, massacring them and taking those who survived as slaves. Another massacre was inflicted in 1846 on the Tyari tribe, also residing in Hakkari. The western powers, alarmed by the massacres pressured the Ottomans to intervene and the Emir of Bohtan was ultimately defeated and exiled to
Crete in 1847.
Genocide and exodus On the eve of the First World War, patriarch
Shimun XIX Benyamin was promised preferential treatment in anticipation of the war. Shortly after the war began, however, Assyrian and Armenian settlements to the north of Hakkari were attacked and sacked by Kurdish irregulars allied with the Ottoman Army in the
Assyrian genocide. Others were forced into
labour battalions and later executed. The turning point was when the patriarch's brother was taken prisoner as he was studying in
Constantinople. The Ottomans demanded Assyrian neutrality and executed him as a warning. In return, the patriarch declared war on the Ottomans on 10 April 1915.
In Turkey In order to
Turkify the local population, in June 1927 the Law 1164 was passed which allowed the creation of Inspectorates-General (
Umumi Müffetişlik, UM). The province therefore was included in the so-called
First Inspectorate General, which span over the provinces of Hakkâri,
Siirt, Van,
Mardin,
Bitlis,
Sanlıurfa,
Elaziğ, and
Diyarbakır. The first UM was created on the 1 January 1928 and centered in Diyarbakır. The UM was governed by an
Inspector General, who governed with a wide-ranging authority over civilian, juridical and military matters. Hakkari though was still banned for foreign citizens until 1965. It was Governed by a so-called Supergovernor, who was invested with additional powers than a normal Governor. He was given authority over all the other provincial Governors in the OHAL area and also the power to permanently relocate and resettle the village's population. == Historical population ==