Midyat ( Syriac : ܡܕܝܕ , romanized : Mëḏyaḏ , Turoyo : Məḏyaḏ , Kurdish : Midyad , Arabic : مديات ) is a municipality and district of Mardin Province , Turkey . Its area is 1,241 km, and its population is 120,069 (2022).
83-404: In the modern era, the town is populated by Kurds , Mhallami Arabs and Assyrians . The old Estel neighborhood is about 80 to 85% Kurdish -populated. it was originally a Syriac Christian town made up of mostly Syriac Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants. The spoken language of Midyat was until recently modern Aramaic (Surayt) and the town has throughout history been considered the capital of
166-500: A Kurd himself. You've bitten off more than you can chew and you have brought death to yourself. O son of a Kurd, raised in the tents of the Kurds, who gave you permission to put a crown on your head? The usage of the term Kurd during this time period most likely was a social term, designating Northwestern Iranian nomads, rather than a concrete ethnic group. Similarly, in AD 360,
249-650: A Yezidi rebellion which went on from 1506 to 1510. A century later, the year-long Battle of Dimdim took place, wherein the Safavid king Abbas I (r. 1588–1629) succeeded in putting down the rebellion led by the Kurdish ruler Amir Khan Lepzerin. Thereafter, many Kurds were deported to Khorasan , not only to weaken the Kurds, but also to protect the eastern border from invading Afghan and Turkmen tribes. Other forced movements and deportations of other groups were also implemented by Abbas I and his successors, most notably of
332-475: A central Neo-Aramaic dialect called Turoyo . The town of Midyat and the villages of Hah, Bequsyone , Dayro da-Slibo , Saleh (with the old monastery of Mor Yaqub), Iwardo (with Mor Huschabo), Anhel , Kafro , Arkah (Harabale, with Dayro Mor Malke), Beth Sbirino, Miden (Middo), Kerburan , Binkelbe with Mor Samun Zayte and Beth Zabday (Azech) were all important Syriac Orthodox settlements among with countless other villages. Hah, today called Anıtlı, has
415-640: A monument in Matiate , modern-day Midyat in Tur Abdin, which remains to be found. His successor, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III , also crossed Tur Abdin. Most ancient monuments in Tur Abdin are Christian , but as attested by the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II , the area has a pre-Christian history. Older names of the area indicate that the people living here worshipped Assyrian deities . Arches on
498-709: A monument in the city, which remains to be found. The archaeological site Matiate is located below the town and is assumed to have been in use for about 1,900 years and at its peak been inhabited by up to 70,000 people. The leading Assyrian Syriac Orthodox family, the Safars, were highly placed in the Deksuri confederation , while other local Assyrians were aligned with the opposing, anti-government Heverkan confederation . In mid-1915, Assyrian Christians in Midyat considered resistance after hearing about massacres elsewhere, but
581-570: A people with a distinct language by Arab geographers such as Al-Masudi since the 10th century. Many Kurds are either bilingual or multilingual , speaking the language of their respective nation of origin, such as Arabic, Persian , and Turkish as a second language alongside their native Kurdish, while those in diaspora communities often speak three or more languages. Turkified and Arabised Kurds often speak little or no Kurdish. According to Mackenzie, there are few linguistic features that all Kurdish dialects have in common and that are not at
664-725: A population of close to 1.5 million in Western countries, about half of them in Germany . A special case are the Kurdish populations in the Transcaucasus and Central Asia , displaced there mostly in the time of the Russian Empire , who underwent independent developments for more than a century and have developed an ethnic identity in their own right. This groups' population was estimated at close to 0.4 million in 1990. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims who adhere to
747-848: A quarter of the Christian population thirty years ago. Most have fled to Syria (where the city of Qamishli was built by them), Europe (particularly Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands ), Australia and the United States. In the past few years, a few families have returned to Tur Abdin. Due to migration, the Syriacs' main residential area in Turkey today is Istanbul , where between 12,000 to 18,000 lives there. As of 2019, an estimated between 2,000 to 3,000 of
830-485: A result, because a mayor and major Assyrian figure in Turabdin of the city of Kerboran, now named Dargecit , was assassinated and replaced with a Kurdish representative against the peoples will. The Assyrian up until then had control over the local government, and could therefore unify to resist threats. Panic ensued as the local Muslim population made a symbolic declaration of war against the Assyrian people and soon after
913-682: A small number of Christian traditions have been preserved. Several Christian prayers in Kurdish have been found from earlier centuries. In recent years some Kurds from Muslim backgrounds have converted to Christianity . Segments of the Bible were first made available in the Kurdish language in 1856 in the Kurmanji dialect. The Gospels were translated by Stepan, an Armenian employee of the American Bible Society and were published in 1857. Prominent historical Kurdish Christians include
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#1732784051989996-499: A total population of about 8,000 people. Most of them being Syriac-Orthodox Christians, plus some Protestants, Syriac-Catholics, Chaldeans, Armenians, and Muslims (mostly Kurds ). The Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Constantinople recorded 1,452 Armenians in the kaza of Midyat before the First World War. Midyat is an historic centre of the Assyrian in Turkey, and as late as the Assyrian genocide in 1915 they constituted
1079-698: A wide variety of works from the Roman Empire , Byzantine Empire , Ottoman Empire and the Republican periods. To the east of the city there is a winery that makes traditional Syriac wine: a wine native to the region. Another staple in the Midyat market is its bulgur , which is a cereal food derived from wheat. Midyat, part of the province of Mardin, has a semi-arid climate with very hot and dry summers and cold, wet, and occasionally snowy winters. Temperatures in summer usually increase to 40–50 °C (104–122 °F) due to Mardin being situated right next to
1162-529: Is Ahura Mazda . Leading characteristics, such as messianism , the Golden Rule , heaven and hell , and free will influenced other religious systems, including Second Temple Judaism , Gnosticism , Christianity , and Islam . In 2016, the first official Zoroastrian fire temple of Iraqi Kurdistan opened in Sulaymaniyah . Attendees celebrated the occasion by lighting a ritual fire and beating
1245-756: Is based on the belief of one God who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings. The leader of this heptad is Tawûsê Melek , who is symbolized with a peacock . Its adherents number from 700,000 to 1 million worldwide and are indigenous to the Kurdish regions of Iraq , Syria and Turkey , with some significant, more recent communities in Russia , Georgia and Armenia established by refugees fleeing persecution by Muslims in Ottoman Empire . Yazidism shares with Kurdish Alevism and Yarsanism many similar qualities that date back to
1328-585: Is estimated to be between 30 and 45 million. Kurds speak the Kurdish languages and the Zaza–Gorani languages , which belong to the Western Iranian branch of the Iranian languages . Kurds do not comprise a majority in any country, making them a stateless people . After World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire , the victorious Western allies made provision for a Kurdish state in
1411-621: Is nowadays Iran's West Azerbaijan Province , marked the start of the Ottoman-Persian Wars between the Iranian Safavids (and successive Iranian dynasties) and the Ottomans . For the next 300 years, many of the Kurds found themselves living in territories that frequently changed hands between Ottoman Turkey and Iran during the protracted series of Ottoman-Persian Wars. The Safavid king Ismail I (r. 1501–1524) put down
1494-456: Is said to have encountered Mar Abdisho , a deacon and martyr, who, after having been questioned of his origins by Mar Qardagh and his Marzobans , stated that his parents were originally from an Assyrian village called Hazza, but were driven out and subsequently settled in Tamanon, a village in the land of the Kurds , identified as being in the region of Mount Judi . Early Syriac sources use
1577-542: Is the regional center of commerce for the district, and is one of the largest cities in Mardin Province . Similarly with Mardin, the city is known for its Syriac handicrafts such as carpets, towels and other cloth goods. More specific to the city is its Syriac silver crafts called telkari , which are handcrafted filigreed ornaments. In December 2023, the Midyat Telkâri Museum was opened, exhibiting
1660-534: The Afsharid Empire ruled by Nader Shah at its peak. After Nader's death, Iran fell into civil war, with multiple leaders trying to gain control over the country. Ultimately, it was Karim Khan , a Laki general of the Zand tribe who would come to power. The country would flourish during Karim Khan's reign; a strong resurgence of the arts would take place, and international ties were strengthened. Karim Khan
1743-822: The Armenians , the Georgians , and the Circassians , who were moved en masse to and from other districts within the Persian empire. The Kurds of Khorasan, numbering around 700,000, still use the Kurmanji Kurdish dialect. Several Kurdish noblemen served the Safavids and rose to prominence, such as Shaykh Ali Khan Zanganeh , who served as the grand vizier of the Safavid shah Suleiman I (r. 1666–1694) from 1669 to 1689. Due to his efforts in reforming
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#17327840519891826-565: The Assassins . The Ayyubid dynasty lasted until 1341 when the Ayyubid sultanate fell to Mongolian invasions. The Safavid dynasty, established in 1501, also established its rule over Kurdish-inhabited territories. The paternal line of this family actually had Kurdish roots, tracing back to Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah , a dignitary who moved from Kurdistan to Ardabil in the 11th century. The Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 that culminated in what
1909-659: The Council of Chalcedon of 451. After a period of persecution by the Chalcedonian state church of the Roman Empire and during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 , the monasteries of the Tur Abdin enjoyed a particular prosperity under Arab rule in the latter 7th century. The fortress of Rhabdion was mentioned by the 6th-century Greek historian Procopius , while the 6th-century Notitia Antiochena and
1992-471: The High Middle Ages , the Kurdish ethnic identity gradually materialized, as one can find clear evidence of the Kurdish ethnic identity and solidarity in texts of the 12th and 13th centuries, though, the term was also still being used in the social sense. Since 10th century, Arabic texts including al-Masudi 's works, have referred to Kurds as a distinct linguistic group. From 11th century onward,
2075-644: The Kurmanj , Kalhur , and Guran . Kurdish (Kurdish: Kurdî or کوردی) is a collection of related dialects spoken by the Kurds. It is mainly spoken in those parts of Iran , Iraq , Syria and Turkey which comprise Kurdistan . Kurdish holds official status in Iraq as a national language alongside Arabic , is recognized in Iran as a regional language, and in Armenia as a minority language. The Kurds are recognized as
2158-577: The Ottoman–Persian War (1775–76) , Karim Khan managed to seize Basra for several years. Tur Abdin Tur Abdin ( Arabic : طور عبدين ; Kurdish : Tor ; Latin : Turabdium ; Syriac : ܛܽܘܪ ܥܰܒ݂ܕܺܝܢ or ܛܘܼܪ ܥܲܒ݂ܕܝܼܢ , Ṭūr ʿAḇdīn ) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey , including the eastern half of the Mardin Province , and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris , on
2241-581: The Sassanid era , in Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan , a short prose work written in Middle Persian, Ardashir I is depicted as having battled the Kurds and their leader, Madig . After initially sustaining a heavy defeat, Ardashir I was successful in subjugating the Kurds. In a letter Ardashir I received from his foe, Ardavan V , which is also featured in the same work, he is referred to as being
2324-527: The Shafiʽi school , while a significant minority adhere to the Hanafi school and also Alevism . Moreover, many Shafi'i Kurds adhere to either one of the two Sufi orders Naqshbandi and Qadiriyya . Beside Sunni Islam, Alevism and Shia Islam also have millions of Kurdish followers. Yazidism is a monotheistic ethnic religion with roots in a western branch of an Iranic pre-Zoroastrian religion. It
2407-531: The Syrian Civil War who have settled in the city and region according to different estimates, and comprise 1% of the population of Midyat. There are five churches in the city, and all are Syriac. There are 72 neighbourhoods in Midyat District. Twelve of these (Akçakaya, Bağlar, Bahçelievler, Cumhuriyet, Gölcük, Işıklar, Ortaçarşı, Sanayi, Seyitler, Ulucamii, Yenimahalle and Yunus Emre) form
2490-458: The Tur Abdin region, the heartland of Syriac Christianity. Assyrian tablets from 9th century BC refer to Midyat as Matiate . During a campaign in 879 BC , the Assyrian king Assurnasirpal II and his army marched through the city, staying for two nights. His successor, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III did the same in 845 BC . The tablets also described how Assurnasirpal II erected
2573-667: The border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for its Christian monasteries on the border of the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire . The area is a low plateau in the Anti-Taurus Mountains stretching from Mardin in the west to the Tigris in the east and delimited by the Mesopotamian plains to the south. The Tur Abdin is populated by more than 80 villages and nearly 70 monastery buildings and
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2656-399: The border with Syria . Snowfall is quite common between the months of December and March, snowing for a week or two. Mardin has over 3,000 hours of sun per year. The highest recorded temperature is 48.8 °C. Kurds Ancient Medieval Modern Kurds or Kurdish people ( Kurdish : کورد , romanized : Kurd ) are an Iranic ethnic group native to
2739-573: The ethnonym Kurd might be derived from a term kwrt- used in Middle Persian as a common noun to refer to ' nomads ' or 'tent-dwellers', which could be applied as an attribute to any Iranian group with such a lifestyle. The term gained the characteristic of an ethnonym following the Muslim conquest of Persia , as it was adopted into Arabic and gradually became associated with an amalgamation of Iranian and Iranianized tribes and groups in
2822-736: The frame drum or 'daf'. Awat Tayib, the chief of followers of Zoroastrianism in the Kurdistan region, claimed that many were returning to Zoroastrianism but some kept it secret out of fear of reprisals from Islamists. Although historically there have been various accounts of Kurdish Christians , most often these were in the form of individuals, and not as communities. However, in the 19th and 20th century various travel logs tell of Kurdish Christian tribes, as well as Kurdish Muslim tribes who had substantial Christian populations living amongst them. A significant number of these were allegedly originally Armenian or Assyrian , and it has been recorded that
2905-447: The monastery of Mor Gabriel . Some local Kurdish villages sought to claim land on which the monastery had paid taxes since the 1930s as belonging to the villages, and made other accusations against the monastery. This led to considerable diplomatic and human rights action throughout Europe and within Turkey. The most important Syriac Orthodox centre in Tur Abdin is the monastery of Dayro d-Mor Hananyo , 6 km south east of Mardin, in
2988-830: The 11th-century Kurdish dynasties crumbled and became incorporated into the Seljuk dynasty. Kurds would hereafter be used in great numbers in the armies of the Zengids . The Ayyubid dynasty was founded by Kurdish ruler Saladin , as succeeding the Zengids, the Ayyubids established themselves in 1171. Saladin led the Muslims to recapture the city of Jerusalem from the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin ; also frequently clashing with
3071-747: The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres . However, that treaty was not ratified. When the Treaty of Lausanne set the boundaries of modern Turkey three years later, no such provision was made, leaving Kurds with minority status in all of the new countries of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria . Recent history of the Kurds includes numerous genocides and rebellions , along with ongoing armed conflicts in Turkish , Iranian , Syrian , and Iraqi Kurdistan . Kurds in Iraq and Syria have autonomous regions, while Kurdish movements continue to pursue greater cultural rights , autonomy , and independence throughout Kurdistan . The exact origins of
3154-589: The Caliph Al-Mu'tasim who sent the commander Itakh to combat him. Itakh won this war and executed many of the Kurds. Eventually, Arabs conquered the Kurdish regions and gradually converted the majority of Kurds to Islam, often incorporating them into the military, such as the Hamdanids whose dynastic family members also frequently intermarried with Kurds. In 934, the Daylamite Buyid dynasty
3237-701: The Sassanid king Shapur II marched into the Roman province Zabdicene , to conquer its chief city, Bezabde, present-day Cizre . He found it heavily fortified, and guarded by three legions and a large body of Kurdish archers. After a long and hard-fought siege, Shapur II breached the walls, conquered the city and massacred all its defenders. Thereafter he had the strategically located city repaired, provisioned and garrisoned with his best troops. Qadishaye, settled by Kavad in Singara , were probably Kurds and worshiped
3320-550: The Syriac population of Tur Abdin, many of these Syriacs spoke other languages. During World War I , 300,000 Assyrian/Syriac Christians were killed in the Ottoman Empire's Genocide in Syriac called Sayfo , or 'the sword'). In the last few decades, caught between Turkish assimilation policies against Kurds , and Kurdish resistance, many Assyrians/Syriacs have fled the region or been killed. Today there are only 5,000,
3403-568: The Syrian considered them as pagan , followers of mahdi and adepts of Magianism . Their mahdi called himself Christ and the Holy Ghost . In the early Middle Ages , the Kurds sporadically appear in Arabic sources, though the term was still not being used for a specific people; instead it referred to an amalgam of nomadic western Iranian tribes, who were distinct from Persians . However, in
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3486-575: The Tur Abdin became part of the Sasanian Empire along with the remaining territory of the five Transtigritine provinces and the nearby strongholds of Nisibis and Bezabde . The numerous monasteries of the Tur Abdin eventually became part of the Church of the East organized at the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410. They mainly took the Miaphysite position of non-Chalcedonian Christianity after
3569-412: The Yarsani lack political rights in both countries. The Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism has had a major influence on the Iranian culture, which Kurds are a part of, and has maintained some effect since the demise of the religion in the Middle Ages. The Iranian philosopher Sohrevardi drew heavily from Zoroastrian teachings. Ascribed to the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster , the faith's Supreme Being
3652-445: The ancient 'Idto d'Yoldath-Aloho, the Church of the Mother of God. The Assyrian king Adad-nirari II , who came to throne in the late 10th century BCE, removed the Arameans from political power in the Kashiari mountains (Tur Abdin). In the 9th century BCE the Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II described crossing the plateau of Tur Abdin (which he calls "Kashyari") on his way to attack the region of Nairi , more than once. He erected
3735-445: The barren hills of the Tur Abdin." Gaunt has estimated the Assyrian population at between 500,000 and 600,000 just before the outbreak of World War I, significantly higher than reported on Ottoman census figures. Midyat , in Diyarbekir vilayet , was the only town in the Ottoman Empire with an Assyrian majority, although divided between Syriac Orthodox , Chaldeans , and Protestants . Syriac Orthodox Christians were concentrated in
3818-416: The brothers Zakare and Ivane Mkhargrdzeli. "The land of Karda" is mentioned on a Sumerian clay tablet dated to the 3rd millennium BC. This land was inhabited by "the people of Su" who dwelt in the southern regions of Lake Van ; the philological connection between "Kurd" and "Karda" is uncertain, but the relationship is considered possible. Other Sumerian clay tablets referred to the people, who lived in
3901-426: The central town ( merkez ) of Midyat. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Midyat was divided into 12 districts (The number 12 was possibly an influence from the 12 tribes of Israel). 11 of which were Syriac districts and one Muslim. These names still exist in the old population registration. Notable Syriac leaders in Midyat were: Galle Hermez, Hanne Safer, Ibrahim Shabo (Sahho), Isa Zatte (Chalma) Midyat
3984-435: The centre of the Tur Abdin region, a few miles south of Midyat , is Dayro d-Mor Gabriel . Built in AD 397, Mor Gabriel monastery , is the oldest functioning Syriac Orthodox monastery on earth. It is the residence of the Metropolitan Bishop of Tur Abdin, seven nuns, four monks and a host of guests, assistants and students. The monastery is charged with keeping the flame of Syriac Orthodox faith alive in Tur Abdin, for which it
4067-421: The city; this panicked the Assyrian population. Local people refused to hand over their arms, attacked government offices, and cut telegraph lines; local Arab and Kurdish tribes were recruited by the Ottoman government to attack the Christians. The town was pacified in early August after weeks of bloody urban warfare which killed hundreds of Christians ( Assyrians and Armenians ). Survivors fled east to
4150-435: The country's 25,000 Assyrians live in Tur Abdin, and they are spread among 30 villages, hamlets , and towns. Some of these locations are dominated by Syriacs while others are dominated by the Kurds. As part of a return movement, some Syriac Orthodox Christians returned to Tur Abdin villages from Germany , Sweden and Switzerland . The Syriacs of Diyarbekir Vilayet made significant resistance. Their strongest stand
4233-409: The declining Iranian economy, he has been called the "Safavid Amir Kabir " in modern historiography. His son, Shahqoli Khan Zanganeh , also served as a grand vizier from 1707 to 1716. Another Kurdish statesman, Ganj Ali Khan , was close friends with Abbas I, and served as governor in various provinces and was known for his loyal service. After the fall of the Safavids, Iran fell under the control of
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#17327840519894316-403: The end of 3rd millennium BC and distinguished them as the Guti , speakers of a pre-Iranic language isolate . They conquered Mesopotamia in 2150 BC and ruled with 21 kings until defeated by the Sumerian king Utu-hengal . Many Kurds consider themselves descended from the Medes , an ancient Iranian people, and even use a calendar dating from 612 BC, when the Assyrian capital of Nineveh
4399-467: The end of the conflict in 1999. Now only around 3–5,000 live in Tur Abdin, with the other 15–17,000 living in Istanbul and other still functioning Syriac Diocese like Adiyaman , Harput , and Diyarbakir . The churches and houses belonging to the Christians have been preserved although many of them are empty, with their owners living away in Europe. At present 500 Assyrian Christians live in Midyat, and they have been joined by 100–300 Syriac refugees fleeing
4482-420: The following 150 years, during which most of the villages' churches were built. After the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, the Syriac Orthodox Church split from the Greek-speaking Byzantine mainstream. They were then "severely persecuted as heretical Monophysites by the Byzantine Emperors", according to William Dalrymple , which led the Syrian Orthodox Church hierarchy to retreat to the "inaccessible shelter of
4565-428: The following day, large demonstrations took place in the city of Midyat in Tur Abdin. Muslims angry about the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons gathered in Estel, the new part of the city, and started to march towards the old part of Midyat (6 kilometers away), where the Assyrians/Syriacs live. The mob was stopped by the police before reaching old Midyat . In 2008 a series of legal challenges were made against
4648-438: The hilly rural areas around Midyat, known as Tur Abdin, where they populated almost 100 villages and worked in agriculture or crafts. Syriac Orthodox culture was centered in two monasteries near Mardin (west of Tur Abdin), Mor Gabriel and Deyrulzafaran . Outside of the area of core Syriac settlement, there were also sizable populations in the towns of Diyarbakır , Urfa , Harput , and Adiyaman as well as villages. Unlike
4731-469: The independent Kardouchoi as the ancestors of the Kurds, while others prefer Cyrtians . The term Kurd , however, is first encountered in Arabic sources of the seventh century. Books from the early Islamic era, including those containing legends such as the Shahnameh and the Middle Persian Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan , and other early Islamic sources provide early attestation of the name Kurd . The Kurds have ethnically diverse origins. During
4814-481: The land of Karda, as the Qarduchi (Karduchi, Karduchoi) and the Qurti. Karda/Qardu is etymologically related to the Assyrian term Urartu and the Hebrew term Ararat. However, some modern scholars do not believe that the Qarduchi are connected to Kurds. Qarti or Qartas, who were originally settled on the mountains north of Mesopotamia , are considered as a probable ancestor of the Kurds. The Akkadians were attacked by nomads coming through Qartas territory at
4897-585: The local Syriac Orthodox community initially refused to support this. Hanne Safar Pasha was persuaded to break with other Christian leaders who wanted to organize an uprising in Midyat. Shortly thereafter, Safar was killed after all male members of the pacifist Protestant Hermez family. In late June, kaymakam Nuri Bey disappeared, likely executed by Mehmed Reshid after refusing to massacre local Christian Assyrians . On 21 June, 100 Christian men (mostly Armenians and Assyrian Protestants) were arrested, tortured for confessions implicating others, and executed outside
4980-400: The majority of the city's population. During the early 20th century, the Assyrian population of the city started to gradually diminish due to emigration, but the community was still very large. The Assyrian of Tur Abdin were the only significant population of Christians outside of Istanbul , until 1979, when panic ensued over an act of war and an exodus of local Christians overtook the city as
5063-419: The martyr Abd al-Masih. They revolted against the Sassanids and were raiding the whole Persian territory. Later they, along with Arabs and Armenians, joined the Sassanids in their war against the Byzantines. There is also a 7th-century text by an unidentified author, written about the legendary Christian martyr Mar Qardagh . He lived in the 4th century, during the reign of Shapur II, and during his travels
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#17327840519895146-434: The monastery is led by a bishop and a monk and some lay assistants, and is a school for orphans. The bishop of Mor Hananyo is also the patriarchal vicar of Mardin. His goal is to rebuild the monastery and to preserve the history of the Syriac Orthodox church. The Dayro d-Mor Hananyo is part of the UNESCO world cultural heritage and was visited by numerous celebrities including the UK's King Charles III, when Prince of Wales. In
5229-399: The more-defensible Iwardo , which held out successfully with the food aid of local Yazidis . Midyat, in Diyarbekir vilayet , was the only town in the Ottoman Empire with an ethnic Assyrian majority, although denominationally divided between the Syriac Orthodox Church , Chaldean Catholic Church , and Assyrian Protestants. On the eve of the First World War , various sources report
5312-418: The mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia , which spans southeastern Turkey , northwestern Iran , northern Iraq , and northern Syria . There are exclaves of Kurds in Central Anatolia , Khorasan , and the Caucasus , as well as significant Kurdish diaspora communities in the cities of western Turkey (in particular Istanbul) and Western Europe (primarily in Germany ). The Kurdish population
5395-399: The name Kurd are unclear. The underlying toponym is recorded in Assyrian as Qardu and in Middle Bronze Age Sumerian as Kar-da . Assyrian Qardu refers to an area in the upper Tigris basin, and it is presumably reflected in corrupted form in Classical Arabic Ǧūdī ( جودي ), re-adopted in Kurdish as Cûdî . The name would be continued as the first element in
5478-410: The north side of the churches in Zaz and Saleh suggest pre-Christian buildings originally stood on the sites. Ancient Assyro-Babylonian religion is believed to have survived in the region until as late as the 18th century. In 586 B.C. the prophet Ezekiel mentions the famed wine of Izlo, on the southern edge of the plateau of Tur Abdin, in his prophecy against Tyre. The Mor Gabriel Monastery,
5561-427: The oldest Syriac Orthodox church in the world, was founded in 397 by the ascetic Mor Shmu'el (Samuel) and his student Mor Shem'un (Simon). According to tradition, Shem'un had a dream in which an Angel commanded him to build a House of Prayer in a location marked with three large stone blocks. When Shem'un awoke, he took his teacher to the place and found the stone the angel had placed. At this spot Mor Gabriel Monastery
5644-534: The population in Turkey , 15 to 20% in Iraq ; 10% in Iran ; and 9% in Syria . Kurds form regional majorities in all four of these countries, viz. in Turkish Kurdistan , Iraqi Kurdistan , Iranian Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan . The Kurds are the fourth-largest ethnic group in West Asia after Arabs , Persians , and Turks . The total number of Kurds in 1991 was placed at 22.5 million, with 48% of this number living in Turkey, 24% in Iran, 18% in Iraq, and 4% in Syria. Recent emigration accounts for
5727-467: The pre-Islamic era. Yarsanism (also known as Ahl-I-Haqq, Ahl-e-Hagh or Kakai) is also one of the religions that are associated with Kurdistan. Although most of the sacred Yarsan texts are in the Gorani and all of the Yarsan holy places are located in Kurdistan , followers of this religion are also found in other regions. For example, while there are more than 300,000 Yarsani in Iraqi Kurdistan, there are more than 2 million Yarsani in Iran. However,
5810-426: The region. Sharafkhan Bidlisi in the 16th century states that there are four division of Kurds: Kurmanj , Lur , Kalhor , and Guran , each of which speak a different dialect or language variation. Paul (2008) notes that the 16th-century usage of the term Kurd as recorded by Bidlisi, regardless of linguistic grouping, might still reflect an incipient Northwestern Iranian "Kurdish" ethnic identity uniting
5893-421: The same time found in other Iranian languages . The Kurdish dialects according to Mackenzie are classified as: The Zaza and Gorani are ethnic Kurds, but the Zaza–Gorani languages are not classified as Kurdish. The number of Kurds living in Southwest Asia is estimated at between 30 and 45 million, with another one or two million living in the Kurdish diaspora . Kurds comprise anywhere from 18 to 25% of
5976-550: The takeover, local Mhallami and Kurdish inhabitants started immigrating into the traditionally Assyrian areas, causing a demographic shift which – along with the start of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict a few years later in 1984 – sounded a death toll to the community not only here, but in all of Tur Abdin . From a 1975 population of 50,000 comprising 10% of Mardin Province's demographic structure: barely 2,000 were left by
6059-628: The term Kurd is explicitly defined as an ethnonym and this does not suggest synonymity with the ethnographic category nomad. Al-Tabari wrote that in 639, Hormuzan , a Sasanian general originating from a noble family, battled against the Islamic invaders in Khuzestan , and called upon the Kurds to aid him in battle. However, they were defeated and brought under Islamic rule. In 838, a Kurdish leader based in Mosul, named Mir Jafar , revolted against
6142-667: The terms Hurdanaye, Kurdanaye, Kurdaye to refer to the Kurds. According to Michael the Syrian , Hurdanaye separated from Tayaye Arabs and sought refuge with the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus . He also mentions the Persian troops who fought against Musa chief of Hurdanaye in the region of Qardu in 841. According to Barhebreaus , a king appeared to the Kurdanaye and they rebelled against the Arabs in 829. Michael
6225-474: The toponym Corduene , mentioned by Xenophon as the tribe who opposed the retreat of the Ten Thousand through the mountains north of Mesopotamia in the 4th century BC . There are, however, dissenting views, which do not derive the name of the Kurds from Qardu and Corduene but opt for derivation from Cyrtii ( Cyrtaei ) instead. Regardless of its possible roots in ancient toponymy,
6308-762: The west of the region. Built from yellow rock, the monastery is affectionately known as Dayro d Kurkmo in Syriac , Dayr al-Zafaran in Arabic , or Deyrülzafarân in Turkish : the Safron Monastery . Founded in AD 493, the monastery was the residence of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch from 1160 to 1932. Although the patriarch now lives in Damascus the monastery still contains the patriarchal throne and tombs of seven patriarchs and metropolitans. Today
6391-663: The work of the 7th-century Greek geographer George of Cyprus both attest that Turabdium was an episcopal see . The bishop of Turabdium's seat was probably the village of Hah, in which were, besides the functioning 6th-century monastery, several ruined churches including the cathedral . The Tur Abdin became part of the Rashidun Caliphate in 640, during the Muslim conquest of the Levant . The Syriac Orthodox communities flourished under early Islamic rule; nearly 30 structures are known to have been wholly built or rebuilt in
6474-516: Was at the villages of Azakh , Iwardo , and Basibrin. For months, Kurdish tribes and Turkish soldiers commanded by Ömer Naci Bey were unable to subdue the mostly Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic villagers who were joined by Armenian and other refugees from surrounding villages. The leaders of the Azakh fedayeen swore We all have to die sometime, do not die in shame and humiliation and lived up to their fighting words. On 10 February 2006 and
6557-544: Was built. In Late Antiquity , the area was part of the Roman Empire 's province of Mesopotamia and an important centre of Roman Christianity , called in Latin : Mons Masius or Izla . The Tur Abdin was fortified by the emperor Constantius II ( r. 337–361 ), who constructed the fortress of Rhabdion to defend it during the Roman–Persian Wars . After the failure of Julian's Persian War in 363,
6640-582: Was conquered by the Medes. The claimed Median descent is reflected in the words of the Kurdish national anthem : "We are the children of the Medes and Kai Khosrow ." However, MacKenzie and Asatrian challenge the relation of the Median language to Kurdish. The Kurdish languages , on the other hand, form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian languages like Median . Some researchers consider
6723-472: Was founded, and subsequently conquered most of present-day Iran and Iraq. During the time of rule of this dynasty, Kurdish chief and ruler, Badr ibn Hasanwaih, established himself as one of the most important emirs of the time. In the 10th–12th centuries, a number of Kurdish principalities and dynasties were founded, ruling Kurdistan and neighbouring areas: Due to the Turkic invasion of Anatolia and Armenia,
6806-611: Was mostly Syriac Orthodox until the early 20th century. The earliest surviving Christian buildings date from the 6th century. The name "Tur Abdin" is Syriac : ܛܘܪ ܥܒܕܝܢ , lit. 'Mountain of the Servants [of God]'. Tur Abdin is of great importance to the Syriac Orthodox Assyrians , for whom the region used to be a monastic and cultural heartland. The Assyrian/Syriac community of Tur Abdin call themselves Suryoye , and traditionally speak
6889-591: Was portrayed as being a ruler who truly cared about his subjects, thereby gaining the title Vakil e-Ra'aayaa (meaning Representative of the People in Persian ). Though not as powerful in its geo-political and military reach as the preceding Safavids and Afsharids or even the early Qajars, he managed to reassert Iranian hegemony over its integral territories in the Caucasus , and presided over an era of relative peace, prosperity, and tranquility. In Ottoman Iraq , following
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