Early history and origins Yazidism developed through a complex historical process involving a pre-Islamic
Kurdish religious substratum and the teachings of
Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir. Scholars generally regard it as an independent religious tradition with deep roots in
ancient Iranian beliefs, shaped by later
Sufi influences. The political history of the Yazidis begins after the consolidation of the Yazidi community in the 12th-14th centuries. Yazidism was embraced by many Kurdish
tribes and
emirates, reaching as far west as
Antioch and as far east as
Sulaymaniyah. Yezidi manuscripts, called mişûrs which were written down in the 13th century, contain lists of Kurdish tribes who were affiliated to Yezidi
Pir saints. Only two of the total of 40 manuscripts have been published so far, namely the Mişûr of Pîr Sini Daranî and the Mişûr of Pîr Xetîb Pisî, the list in the Mişûr of Pîr Sini Daranî include some large tribes that have been mostly, or fully
islamized today, including but not limited to the large
Shikak,
Reşan,
Dumilî/Dumbuli, Memkan, Kîkan, and Musareşan tribes. In addition,
Sherefkhan Bidlisi writes in
Şerefname that seven of the most important Kurdish tribes were Yezidi. Yezidism was the official religion of numerous Kurdish emirates and principalities, including the principalities of
Bohtan,
Mahmudi,
Donboli and the
Emirate of Kilis.
Territory and religious administrative structure , 2020 From the 14th century onward, Yazidis developed their own religious and political institutions in the regions where they lived. The Yezidi territory was divided into seven administrative centres, each having its own
Sincaq (banner, flag, province, region), more commonly known as
Tawis among the Yezidis. Sincaqs are sacred bronze effigies bearing the image of a bird or peacock to symbolize
Tawûsî Melek. They serve as symbols of power for each administrative centre, namely: •
Tawisa Enzel: Welatşêx (
Şêxan) -
Lalish •
Tawisa Şingalê:
Shingal District •
Tawisa Hekkarê: sometimes also called
Tawisa Zozana:
Historical region of Hakkari (
Hakkari,
Şırnak,
Van and
Duhok). •
Tawisa Welatê Xalta: Region around
Siirt,
Batman,
Diyarbakir,
Mardin, etc. •
Tawisa Helebê:
Aleppo and
Afrin. •
Tawisa Tewrêzê: the city of
Tabriz, located in today's Iran (Yazidis lived in the western hinterland in the
Khoy region). •
Tawisa Misqofa (Moscow): Renamed from
Tawisa Serhedê after the exodus of the Yazidis from Serhed to the Russian Empire. Serhed is a region covering the cities of
Kars,
Ardahan,
Erzurum,
Ağri,
Van,
Bitlis and
Muş. Every six months, the Yezidi Qewals, who are trained reciters of
Qewls and other forms of sacred oral Yezidi tradition, were sent out to other Yezidi-inhabited areas with military protection from the central administrative region of Shekhan and the spiritual centre of
Lalish. This tradition served to preserve the Yazidi faith and doctrine. The Qewals, supported by voluntary alms, led a Sincaq through Yazidi villages to maintain spiritual legitimacy and symbolize the authority of Lalish and the Mîr. During these conflicts, many important Yezidi chiefs were forcibly converted to Islam, leading to a gradual decline of the Yezidi power from the 15th century. However, Yezidis were also able to establish alliances with the authorities and neighbouring powers at various times, some Yezidi tribes allied with
Qara Yusuf of
Kara Qoyunlu, while others allied with
Uzun Hasan of the rival
Aq Qoyunlu against the
Timurids. During
Saladin's reign, Yezidis served as troops, ambassadors and they were given lands to govern.
Ottoman period 16th century Yezidis came into contact with the
Ottomans for the first time in the early 16th century and lived as semi-independent entities under the
Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans had conquered Kurdish regions and installed their own governors in
Diyarbekir,
Urfa,
Shingal and
Mosul. In 1516 AD,
Sultan Selim the Grim launched an
invasion into
Syria, capturing Aleppo and
Damascus from the
Mamluks of Egypt. The chief of the Kurds in Aleppo was Qasim Beg, he had long been at odds with the Mamluks who wished to install Sheikh Izz ed-Din, a Yezidi, in his stead. Despite Qasim Beg paying homage to the Sultan, Sheikh Izz ed-Din was still able to have himself named the Emir of the Kurds after persuading the local Ottoman governors to execute Qasim Beg for treason. However, due to Sheikh Izz ed-Din leaving no heirs after his death, the title was returned to the family of Qasim Beg. Yezidis were a large and numerous group living in many places, namely, based on
Evliya Çelebi's reports, in
Bingöl,
Bitlis,
Van,
Hazo,
Amedi,
Diyarbekir,
Hasankeyf,
Cizir and
Duhok. Yezidi leaders occupied important positions within the provincial Ottoman system and were appointed as governors as far as
Tikrit and Kerek. Yezidis were also participants in
commerce and river transportation of their territory through contact with other ethnicities and religions.
Evliya Çelebi describes the quality of Yezidi products in the following manner: As the relations were deteriorating with the Ottomans and strained with the Sunni Kurds, the Ottomans exploited from these tensions and used religious differences to control both groups. In 1566, Abu al-S'ud al-'Amadi al-Kurdi, who was the
Mufti of the Ottoman Empire and
Sheikh al-Islam, cooperated with the Ottoman Sultans and issued
fatwas that legitimized the Sultan's killing of Yezidis, enslavement of Yezidi women and the sale of Yezidi slaves in the markets. This resulted in Yezidis being subject to constant Ottoman military pressure and their territories being considered
Dar Al-Harb from a religious standpoint. In later periods, Sunni Kurdish princes, particularly those of the
Bahdinan principality and its Muslim clerics, requested the Ottoman Sultan to eliminate the Yazidis with the justification of Yazidi being apostates. Numerous Ottoman documents reveal the role of the princes, including one dating back to 1568 AD, which reads: During the 17th century, the Ottomans launched numerous expeditions against the Yezidis in Shingal, who had long controlled the trading routes around Shingal, attacked Ottoman caravans and refused to pay the taxes levied by the Ottomans. The first expedition was led by the Ottoman Grand Vizier,
Nasuh Pasha, and took place in 1613 AD, which resulted in a Yezidi victory and 7,000 of the Ottoman soldiers being slaughtered according to the reports of
Evliya Çelebi. In 1640, another expedition against the Yezidis of Shingal was launched by another Grand Vizier,
Melek Ahmed Pasha of Diyarbekir. The Ottoman troops surrounded
Shingal mountains and stormed Yezidi positions. Despite heavy casualties, the Ottomans eventually succeeded in capturing the mountain. Evliya Çelebi, who was an eyewitness of the event, reports that 3,060 Yezidis were killed on the Shingal mountain, and writes about the wealth of the Yezidis and the abundance of the Yezidi areas, which he describes as being prosperous in the Yezidis' hands. He reports the spoils from the Ottoman attacks on Yezidis in the following manner: A lot of phrases are used by Evliya when referring to Yezidis, namely: Saçlı Kürdü (long-haired Kurds), Yezidi Ekrad (Yezidi Kurds), Saçlı Yezidi Kürdleri (long-haired Yezidi Kurds), kavm-i na-pak (impure group), bed-mezheb (bad sect), bî-din (faithless), savm u salât ve hacc u zekât vermezler (they do not know anything about these
pillars of Islam), kelb-perest (dog worshippers), and firka-ı dal" (heretic sect). The enslavement of Yezidi captives and military action against Yezidis was legitimized by Muslim theologians, who classified Yezidis as heretics. At least eight expeditions are recorded between 1767 and 1809 and according to the French orientalist,
Roger Lescot, the Ottomans launched 15 campaigns against the Yezidis of Shingal and Sheikhan in the 18th century alone. Ahmed Pasha sought to put an end to inter-tribal feuds and reconcile his neighbours. Thus, the Yezidi leader Ali Beg, sent a word the Mizuri chieftain Ali Agha al-Balatayi, expressing the desire for peace and friendship and offering him to act as a
kirîv (sponsor) for the
circumcision of his son. However, another prince of Bahdinan, Said Pasha, persuaded Mîr Elî Beg to kill the Mizuri chieftain and rid everyone of him, intending to put another tribal leader in his position. Some sources report that he threatened Mîr Elî Beg that he would kill his entire family if he refused to do this. Ali Agha al-Balatayi responded favourably to Mîr Elî Beg's invitation and a few days later, arrived with a small escort at the town of
Baadre, where the residence of the Yezidi princely family is located. It is unknown whether he took a small escort out of disdain for the Yezidi leader, or for the purpose of demonstrating his trust in his host. Upon his arrival, Ali Beg had him and his son, Sinjan Agha, treacherously murdered. This murder which was condemned by the Yazidi clergy and Yazidi chieftains, as it went against Yazidi canons and tribal customs. It also led to a great degree of anger among the Mizuris and provoking them into gathering for great raid against the town of Baadre. In anticipation of the attack, thousands of Yezidi warriors stationed themselves in Baadre. The raid was called off due to fear of
Bahdinan forces assembling against the Mizuris when the Pasha of Amadiya, who was also the Prince of Bahdinan and was suspected of having conspired in the Mizuri chieftain's assassination, announced his opposition to the raid. Yezidis of Tur Abdin had a strong tribal structure and were active participants in the political affairs. One of the largest attacks took place in 1844, when Bedirkhan sent a large army to force Yazidis into accepting Islam, those who refused were captured and killed. Seven Yezidi villages converted to Islam out of fear. The local Christian population also suffered massacres in 1843 and 1846 by the hand of Bedirkhan and his allies
Han Mahmoud and Nurallah Bey. Yezidis were object of extra attention from Bedirkhan. During
Bayram feast, when Muslims celebrate
Abraham's ritual sacrifice of
Isaac by slaughtering animals, Bedirkhan would round up Yezidi captives for a grisly ceremony where he would with his own hand slaughter those Yezidis who had refused to convert to Islam. A medical missionary from
Urmia who visited Derguleh in 1846 reported seeing 40–50 Yezidi converts in Bedirkhan's castle, enjoying Bedirkhan's special attention and jealousy among his less favoured attendants.
End of the Ottoman period Reign of Abdul Hamid II (1876–1909) Towards the end of the 19th century, the Ottoman policies towards Yezidis gained a new dimension under the reign of
Abdulhamid II, under whose regime the Muslim Identity became increasingly essential for the Sultan's perceptions of loyalty among his subjects. As missionary activity and
nationalism among non-Muslim groups was on the rise, conversion to Islam in order to ensure their political loyalty was crucial in the perspective of Abdulhamid's government. Conscription was one of the steps taken in order to convert them. Thereafter, Yezidis would be subject to persecution from Omer Wehbi Pasha, who had been sent to Mosul by the Sultan for a task involving institutionalization of a conscription system, collection of taxes, resettlement of tribes, and crushing local tribal rebellions. He took the initiative of completing his tasks through violence due to the lack of cooperation from Yezidis. Around 500 Yezidis died in the Shingal campaign of November–December 1892, Lalish was forcibly converted into a
madrasah, sacred objects of the Yezidis were confiscated, mosques built in Yezidi villages In 1915/1916 the Ottomans, with the support of numerous Sunni Kurdish tribes, initiated widespread persecutions against the Christian communities of
Mardin,
Nusaybin and
Cizre. Leading to waves of Christian refugees, including
Armenians and
Assyrians fleeing to Shingal in hope of finding shelter among the local Yezidis. By 1916 approximately 900 people had taken permanent residence in Balad (City of
Shingal) and the village of Bardahali, which had by then turned into the headquarters of the Fuqara tribe. Hemoye Shero, the chief of Fuqara, promoted Christian settlement on the Mountain through granting them his protection in accordance with a Shingali custom which encouraged the settlement of Christians if a local Yazidi
agha would guarantee for them. This helped Hemoye Shero to seize full control of Shingal city, the capital and most important commercial centre of the mountain, as he gained the support of local Christian merchants and thus was able to expand his economic and political prestige and dominance. In 1918, when the Yazidis of Shingal mountain received an ultimatum from Ottomans to hand over the weaponry and the Christian refugees that they were sheltering, or otherwise face consequences. The Yezidis tore the letter up and sent the messengers back naked. ==Identity==