Agha, Shaikh and State

Agha, Shaikh and State [English, Schoonhoven, 1978]

Agha, Shaikh and State [English, London, 1992]

Aga, Şeyh ve Devlet: Kürdisîan'ın Sosyal ve Politik Örgütlenmesi [Türkçe, Ankara, ]

Agha, Scheich und Staat: Politik und Gesellschaft Kurdistans [Deutsche, Berlin, 1989]

Agha, Shaikh and State

Martin van Bruinessen

Rijswijk

Martin van Bruinessen was born at Schoonhoven on July 10, 1946. Secondary education (gymnasium ) at the Christelijk Lyceum, Gouda.  In 1964 he enrolled at the State University of Utrecht, where he studied mathematics and physics, since 1966 also social anthropology. In 1971 he took his master's degree ("doctoraalexamen") in theoretical physics, cum laude. Previously, in 1970, he had taken a "candidaats" degree in anthropology. From 1971 to 1973 he taught mathematics at a secondary school in Utrecht, then travelled a little. The research for this thesis was carried out from mid-1974 to mid-1976, as a research fellow of the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure Research (Z.W.O.).

Contents

Preface / xi
Intyroduction / 1

How this thesis come to be written / 1
Subject of this study / 9
A not e on the written sources / 12
A note on the transcription of oriental words / 14

Chapter I General information on Kurdistan / 16
I. a Geography / 16
I. b Geopolitical situation / 19
I. c Population / 20
I. d Economies: peasant farming, transhumant semi-nomadism, pastoral nomadism / 22
I. e Other economic activities: crafts/industries and trade; development and under-development / 26
I. f Language / 29
I. g Religion / 31
I. h The nationalist war in Iraq / 34

Chapter II Tribes, chieftains and non-tribal groups / 39
II. a The tribe and its subdivisions /40
The household / 42
The village / 47
Corporate action on levels other than the village / 48
II. b Kurdish terms / 52
II. c Blood feuds and other conflicts / 59
Ending feuds by mediation / 63
Marriage type and tribal conflict / 68
Other sorts of conflict / 69
II. d Higher than the tribe? / 70
Units larger than the tribe / 70
Dichotomy of the social universe / 73
II. e Leadership and conflicts / 78
Who becomes the leader? / 79
II. f Leadership: titles and functions / 81
II. g The guest-house (dîwan, dîwanxane) / 82
II. h Economic aspects: tribute to the agha / 88
The Balik tribe as an example / 89
II. i .Leadership among a number of different tribes / 91
Hengûr / 92
Pijder / 94
Hemewend / 97
Dizeyî / 99
II. j Power as o process: colonization of the northern Cezîre / 102
The Hevêrkan confederation and Hoco / 110
II k Subject "non-tribal" peasantry and their relations with tribal Kurds / 117
Economic exploitation of peasantry by tribesmen / 118
Ethnic differences / 119
II. l The Gûron / 122
Conclusion: Gûran and gûran / 129
Intermezzo: religious peculiarities of the Gûran / 130
How Kurdish are the Gûran? / 133
II. m Nomads and peasants: one or two peaples? / 135
Conclusion / 144

Chapter III Tribes and the state
III. a Resume of characteristics of the Kurdish tribe; introduction to the discussion in this chapter / 145
III. b Tribes of Kurdistan not autonomous units / 148
III. c Same recurring patterns: tribes and the government of states in the Middle East / 150
III. d Same recurring patterns: centre- periphery relations / 153
The Merwanids / 156
III. e The incorporation of Kurdistan into the Ottoman Empire / 161
Prelude: Qaraqoyunlu and Aqqayunlu / 161
The Safavids / 163
The event s as seen from below / 167
Ottoman-Safavid confrontation / 168
Ottoman policy vis-à-vis the Kurds / 169
III. f Political history of same Kurdish emirates / 172
1. The meliks of Hisnkeyf / 172
2. Hekari and its mirs / 174
3. Çemişkezek / 179
III. g Administrative organization of (Ottoman) Kurdistan in the 16th century / 181
Land regime and administrative organization of the Ottoman Empire (15th - 16th centuries) / 181
The application of Ottoman administrative organization in Kurdistan / 189
III. h Internal organization of the Kurdish emirates / 194
1. Bitlis / 195
2. Baban / 208
III. i Intermezzo: the emigration to northeastern Iran / 215
III. j Political changes in the 19th century / 220
III. k The rise of Bedr Xan Beg and the fall of the emirate of Botan / 222
Botan after the disappearance of the mir / 227
Conclusion / 228
III. l The new land code and its effects / 229
Land policy of the British in Iraqi Kurdistan / 232
III. m The establishment of Kurdish tribal militias: Hamidiye / 233
III. n Changes in the early 20th century / 239
New borders: the further partitioning of Kurdistan / 240
Tribal policies of the successor states / 241
III. o A few remarks to conclude this chapter / 244

Chapter IV Shaikhs: mystics, saints and politicians / 249
IV a Introductory remarks / 249
IV b The dervish and sufi orders / 259
IV c Sufi and dervish orders: organized popular mysticism / 262
IV d History of the Qadiri order as an example / 269
IV e Other saints of Kurdistan / 275
IV f Qadiri shaikhs in Kurdistan / 277
Şex Hehmûd's revolts / 278
The Talebani shaikhs / 280
IV. g The Naqshbandi tariqa and the Naqshbandi order / 281
IV. h Why did the Naqshbandi order spread so rapidly? / 284
IV i Rituals of the Qadiri order / 296
IV. j The Naqshbandi ritual / 305
The meditations in the Naqshbandi ritual / 308
Orthodoxy and heterodoxy / 312
IV. k Shaikh and khalifa; relations with other shaikhs / 313
IV. l The shaikh and his followers / 315
IV. m The economic power of shaikhs / 318
IV. n Two shaikhs: Şex Osman of Durû and Şex Saida of Cezire / 319
Şex Osman / 319
Şex Saida / 324
IV. o Massianism / 327
IV. p Lass of influence of shaikhs / 333
IV. q Islamic revival: nurculuk / 338

Appendix to Chapter IV / 340
I. Branches of the Berzenci family / 341
II. The Sedate Nehri and the Barzani family / 345
III. The sheikhs of Biyare/Tawêla and of Palû / 348
IV. Other important Naqshbandi families / 349
V. More influential Naqshbandi sheikhs / 350

Chapter V Șêx Seîd's revolt / 353
V. a Introduction / 353
A note on the sources for this chapter / 354
V. b History of Kurdish national consciousness / 356
Periods in nationalism / 357
Kurds: a nation? / 358
Nationalist currents in the Ottoman Empire / 360
V. c End of the Ottoman Empire and birth of the Republic of Turkey / 362
Armenian massacres and Russian invasion / 362
Armistice and partition of the Empire / 363
The Turkish War of Independence / 364
The Republic of Turkey / 367
The Mosul question / 368
V. d The first Kurdish political organizations / 369
Nationalist organizations after the war and the kemalists / 373
Azadî / 376
V. e Şex Seid's revolt / 378
The religious factor / 378
A contemporary view of the state of affairs in 1924 / 380
Ehsan Nûrî's mutiny and desertion / 382
New plans for the revolt / 383
Outbreak of the revolt / 385
Suppression of the revolt / 389
V. f External and internal support for the revolt / 394
British aid ? / 394
Arms / 395
Turkish opposition / 395
V. g Participation among the Kurds / 397
Non-tribal Kurds / 399
Urban notables / 400
Urban lower classes / 401
V. h The Naqshbandî order and the revolt / 401
V. i Religious vs. nationalist character of the revolt / 404

Chapter VI / 407

Some oriental terms occurring in this book / 422
Notes / 425
Bibliography / 449
Index / 460
Beknopte samenvatting (short summary in Dutch) / 463

List of maps and figures

Map 1 (general map) / ix
Map 2 The Kurds in the Middle East / 17
Map 3 Oil installations and international transport routes in Kurdistan / 20
Map 4 Dialects spoken in Kurdistan / 31
Map 5 Places and tribes mentioned in Chapter II / 58
Map 6 The northern Cezîre / 103
Map 7 Qaraqoyunlu and Safavid empires / 165
Map 8 Location of the most important emirates / 190
Map 9 Bitlîs and its surroundings / 197
Map 10 Baban and its surroundings 209
Map 11 Khorasan / 219
Map 12 The emirate of Botan at the period of greatest expansion (1846) / 223
Map 13 Important centres of propagation of the Naqshbandî order / 283
Map 14 The areas affected by Şêx Seîd's revolt / 386
Map 15 The districts in revolt (after the daily Cumhuriyet, March 27, 1925) / 388

Fig. 1 Segmentary lineage structure / 42
Fig. 2 Consistent father's brother's daughter marriage / 69
Fig. 3 Partial family tree of the Dûrikî aghas (mala Ebbas) / 105
Fig. 4 Partial family tree of the Hevêrkan aghas (mala Osman) / 112
Fig. 5 Social stratification of Kurdish society / 143
Fig. 6 Growth of the administrative network and the breaking up of large autonomous units in the periphery / 245
Fig. 7 As the administrative network is refined, local units become smaller and less complex / 247
Fig. 8 Structure and phases of development of the Oadirî and Naqshbandî orders in Kurdistan / 287

PREFACE

Research may be a solitary affair, and the book that results from it may bear the name of o single person, but there are many others who contribute to it in essential ways. It is o pleasure to think of all those who have helped me and to thank them at this place. The research on which this thesis is based was made possible through o research fellowship of the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure Research (Z.W.O.), nr 52-120. I am grateful to this organization for the open-mindedness with which it continued to sponsor my research also when the original research proposal could not be carried through.

Many thanks are due to Professor von 8001, my first teacher in anthropology, who was a great support in all stages of the research and the writing. Although his and my theoretical interests and political attitudes diverge, he left me more freedom to pursue my research as i wished than many of his more congenial colleagues might have done. His critical discussion of my findings and of my analyses was often illuminating. Discussions with Professor Thoden van Velzen were also stimulating. He mode several interesting suggestions and aided me in viewing my data from different angles.

Many others have contributed in important ways to my research and to the book that grew ultimately out of it. First of all, of course, the Kurds themselves. if it were not for the proverbial Kurdish hospitality, i would not have been able even to visit many of the places I write about. The leadership of the Kurdish national movement in Iraq were the only authorities that gave me official permission to pursue my research. The freedom of movement they left me was remarkable under the circumstances. Many Kurdish friends went to great trouble in order to make my investigations possible. They took me to places where I would otherwise not have been able to go, introduced me to persons I wished to interview, and took core of my physical security. Discussion with them gave me many new ideas. It may be better not to mention their names; let me thank them all anonymously here, and dedicate to them this book, that would not have been written without their help.

Thanks are due also to Sandy Morton, assistant-director of the British Institute of Persian Studies at Tehran, for his hospitality and help at essential moments; I have profitably mode use of his great knowledge of things Persian. Each return to the Institute after o period in the field was like o home-coming, to which Margaret Karapetian, the secretary, greatly contributed.

Parts of the manuscript of this book were read and commented upon by Rik Boeschoten, Mark van Damme, Chiel Kiel, Jiya Nuri and J.D.J. Waardenburg. Mark Harvey, who applied himself to the arduous task of improving the English of my text, was olso o critical reader and mode many useful comments. Needless to say, the responsibility for all opinions expressed, as well as for all mistakes that remain in the text, is entirely mine.

Thanks, finally, to Sally Tenney and Annelies Bruin for patiently typing my difficult manuscript, and suffering the lost-minute alterations I made.

Martin van Bruinessen

Agha, Shaikh and State
On the Social and Political Organization of Kurdistan

Rijswijk

Rijswijk
Proefschrift
Ter Verkrijging van de graad van doctor in de sociale
wetenschappen aan de rijksuniversiteit te Utrecrt, op gezag van
de rector magnificus Prof. Dr. A. Verhoeff, volgens besluit
van het college van decanen in het openbaar te
verdedigen op vrijdag 6 October 1978
des namiddags te 4.15 uur
Door
Maarten Martinus van Bruinessen
Geboren Op 10 Juli 1946 Te Scroonhoven

Promotores
Prof. Dr. J. Van Baal
Prof. Dr. H.U.E. Thoden Van Velzen

cover designed by Henk van Reeuwijk
the photographs represent Mistefa Pașa (of the Miran),
Şêx Ziyadin (the Hezret of Nûrșin), and a peshmerga
(Kurdish guerrilla fighter) from Iraq.
printed on recycled paper by Enroprint / Secondprint, Rijswijk.