Contents
Preface / ix Introduction / 1 How this book came to be written / 1 Subject of this study / 6 A note on the written sources / 8
1. General Information on Kurdistan / 11 Geography / 11 Geopolitical situation / 13 Population / 14 Other economic activities: crafts/industries and trades / 18 Language / 21 Religion / 23 The Kurdish national movement, 1960-85 / 25 Iranian Kurdistan and the Islamic Revolution / 34 The Iran-Iraq war and the Kurds / 38 Saddam Hussein's solution to the Kurdish question / 42 Recent changes in Turkey's attitude / 45
2. Tribes, Chieftains and Non-tribal Groups / 50 The tribe and its subdivisions / 51 Kurdish terms / 59 Blood feud and other conflicts / 64 Higher than the tribe? / 74 Leadership and conflicts / 78 Leadership: titles and functions / 80 The guest-house / 81 Economic aspects: tribute to the agha / 85 Leadership situation among a number of different tribes / 87 Power as a process: the colonization of the northern Jazira / 94 Subject 'non-tribal' peasantry and their relations with tribal Kurds / 105 The guran and the Guran / 109 Nomads and peasants: one or two peoples? / 115 Conclusion / 122 3. Tribes and the State / 133 Introduction / 133 The incorporation of Kurdistan into the Ottoman Empire / 136 The political history of some Kurdish emirates / 145 Administrative organization of Ottoman Kurdistan in the sixteenth century / 151 Internal organization of the Kurdish emirates / 161 Political changes in the nineteenth century / 175 The rise of Bedr Khan Beg and the fall of the emirate of Botan / 177 The new land code and its effects / 182 The establishment of Kurdish tribal militias: the Hamidiye / 185 Mustafa Pasha of the Miran / 186 Ibrahim Pasha of the Milan / 187 Changes in the early twentieth century / 189 Conclusions / 192
4. Shaikhs: mystics, saints and politicians / 203 Introductory remarks / 205 God incarnate / 205 Dervish and sufi orders / 210 Sufi and dervish orders: organized popular mysticism / 213 The history of the Qadiri order as an example / 216 Qadiri shaikhs in Kurdistan / 220 The Naqshbandi tariqa and the Naqshbandi order / 222 Why did the Naqshbandi order spread so rapidly? / 224 Rituals of the Qadiri order / 234 The Naqshbandi ritual / 240 Shaikh and khalifa: relations with other shaikhs / 244 The shaikh and his followers / 246 Millenarianism / 249 Decline of the shaikhs' influence / 252 Islamic revival: the Nurcu movement / 257
5. Shaikh Said's Revolt / 265 Introduction / 265 History of Kurdish national consciousness / 267 The end of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of the Republic of Turkey / 270 The first Kurdish political organizations / 275 Shaikh Said's revolt / 281 External and internal support for the revolt / 291 The Naqshbandi order and the revolt / 296 The religious versus the nationalist character of the revolt / 298 6. Concluding Remarks / 306 Appendix: The major shaikhly families of Kurdistan / 319 Some oriental terms frequently used in this book / 341 Bibliography / 344 Index / 362
Tables 1. Population estimates for 1975 / 15 Figures 1. Segmentary lineage structure / 52 2. Consistent father's brother's daughter marriage / 72 3. Partial family tree of the Duriki aghas (mala Abbas) / 97 4. Partial family tree of the Heverkan aghas (mala Osman) / 102 5. Social stratification of Kurdish society / 120 6. Growth of the administrative network and the breaking up of large autonomous units in the periphery / 194 7. Structure and phases of development of the Qadiri and Naqshbandi orders in Kurdistan / 227
Charts 1. The Barzinji family / 320 2. The Sadat-e Nehri and the shailchs of Barzan / 321 3. The shaikhs of Biyara and Tawela (Hawraman) / 322 4. Important Naqshbandi shaikhs in the Jazira / 323 5. Other influential Naqshbandi families / 324 6. The shaikhs of Palu / 325
Maps 1. Kurdistan 2. The Kurds in the Middle East / 12 3. Dialects spoken in Kurdistan / 21 4. Places and tribes mentioned in chapter 2 / 63 5. The northern Jazira / 95 6. The Qaraqoyunlu and Safavid empires / 139 7. Location of the most important emirates / 158 8. The emirate of Botan at the period of greatest expansion (1846) / 178 9. Important centres of propagation of the Naqshbandi order / 225 10. The area affected by Shaikh Said's revolt / 287 11. The districts in revolt by early April / 288 |