Herki (tribe)

According to oral lore, the common ancestor of Herki chieftains was a certain Abū Bakr, a fierce rival of Zayn al-Dīn of Shamdinan. He is said to have had four sons, the prominent ones being Mendō, Sīdō, and Serhāt. Nomadic Herki clans belong to three divisions said to be named after these eponymous ancestors: Mendān, Sīdān, and Serhātī. Zirar S. Tewfiq asserts that the Herki are attested in the high medieval period through an individual named Bāw al-Arjī, a deputy of Abu'l-Hayjā’ al-Hakkārī. Al-Azzawi states that it was affirmed to him by Fattah Agha, a Herki chieftain, that the Herki are a Millî tribe. == History ==

British Indian officer Rupert Hay mentions the Herki as one of three remaining migratory tribes in the region (present-day Iraqi Kurdistan) in the 1910s, the others being the Kheilani and the Boli, with the Herkis being the most important. A section of the tribe was sedentary and lived in the mountains. He states that the Herkis were known for their bravery and that they were armed with modern rifles. Apparently in dispute with Layard, Hay states that they were remarkably well-behaved during his stay in the region. He notes that the nomadic Herkis were led by multiple chieftains and that it was customary for the Ottomans to appoint one annually as a spokesman for the whole tribe. Some Herki families, particularly from the Salaranî branch, migrated around 200 years ago from Şemzinan (Şemdinli) and settled on the slopes of Mount Halgurd, where they founded the village of Shora (Şore) in the Choman District of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The community maintains strong cultural and ancestral ties to the Herki tribe of Hakkâri. == References ==