Bedirxan Beg

Bedirxan Beg also Bedir Khan or Badr Khan (* 1802 in Cizre , † 1868 in Damascus ) was a Kurdish prince of the dynasty of Botan in today Şırnak of the family of Azizan / Azizi. The family claimed descent from the Muslim general Chālid ibn al-Walīd .

Bedirxan was born in 1802 or 1808 in Cizre, the capital of Botan, as the son of Abdullah Bey. At the age of 18 he became Prince of Botan with the help of the Ottomans in 1821. The principality of Botan was an autonomous Kurdish principality in the Ottoman Empire . Bedirxan collected the taxes for the Ottoman Empire on site and carried the title of Mütesellim (tax collector). He was largely loyal to the Ottomans, but only sent troops once for the Sultan in the battle of Nizip on June 24, 1839 against the Egyptian Ibrahim Pascha . After the defeat of the Ottomans, Bedirxan withdrew to Botan. With an iron hand he restored security in the emirate. Under his leadership, the region flourished economically. There was constant emigration from the surrounding provinces. This was one of the causes of the conflict between him and the Vali of Mosul, which also strained his relations with the Porte.

The conflict with the Nestorians

The Christian Nestorians lived in tribes. Tribal clashes and attacks were just as common among them as they were among the Kurdish neighbors. The Nestorian Patriarch, Mar Shimon, was in conflict with the Emir of Hakkari. He called Bedirxan Beg for help. In 1843 there were two campaigns, the second of which was extremely bloody. This brought Bedirxan in the European public of that time - despite the political character of the dispute - the reputation of a Christian butcher.

Yazidis massacre

Bedirxan Beg was repeatedly responsible for massacres of the Yazidis . For example, in the Tur Abdin mountain range in the 1840s . In 1832, thousands of Yazidis were killed in the Sheikhan area in collaboration with the Kurdish Soran Prince Mohammed Pascha Rewanduz . Bedirxan Beg's goal was to force the Yazidis in his dominion to accept Islam.

revolt

To the discomfort of the Ottomans, Bedirxan made a “sacred agreement” with the Kurdish princes of Bitlis , Hakkâri , Muş , Van and Kars . The Principality of Ardalan in Iran was added later . Bedirxan Beg was dissatisfied with the new Ottoman policy of centralization as it threatened the local autonomous principalities. Botan was to be divided between the Ottoman governors in Diyarbakır and Mosul .

Bedirxan declared Botan's independence in 1842 and began minting its own coins. The Ottomans tried on the one hand to keep Bedirxan under control and on the other hand they made military preparations to attack Cizre from several fronts. The first battle between the Ottomans and Bedirxan took place on June 4, 1847. When Bedirxan's men attacked the Christian Nestorians , he lost the goodwill of the Europeans, who were now pushing the Ottomans more to overthrow Bedirxan. Bedirxan could not offer long resistance and withdrew to the castle of Eruh . The decisive factor was that the Ottomans were able to persuade Bedirxan's nephew Yezdan Ser, who led a large part of Bedirxan's troops, to no longer support his uncle by promising him to recognize him as ruler of Botan.

Bedirxan surrendered on July 27, 1847, was led through the bazaar of Cizre with chains on his feet and then brought to Istanbul and then exiled to Crete. In 1858 he went back to Istanbul and received the title of pasha. He later went to Damascus, where he died in 1868. Bedirxan is considered to be the ideal ruler among the Kurds. He left four wives, six concubines ( odalık ), 42 children and ten grandchildren.

family members

Some of his descendants and relatives were active and pioneering in the Kurdish national movement, such as his son Emin Ali Bedirxan and his grandsons Celadet Ali Bedirxan , Süreyya Bedirxan and Kamuran Bedirxan . Other family members such as Hüseyin Vasıf Çınar and Cemal Kutay played major roles in Turkish politics and society.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ YAZIDIS i. GENERAL - Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved February 24, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Birgul Acikyildiz: The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion . IBTauris, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78453-216-1 ( google.de [accessed on February 24, 2019]).
3. ^ Diane E. King: Kurdistan on the Global Stage: Kinship, Land, and Community in Iraq . Rutgers University Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0-8135-6354-1 ( google.de [accessed February 24, 2019]).
4. ↑ Hasan Gökçe: Bedir Khan Bey, the Emir of Cezire , in: Hans-Lukas Kieser (ed.): Kurdistan and Europe. Insights into the Kurdish history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Zurich 1997, p. 105

swell

• Zeynel Abidin Kızılyaprak: 1900'den 2000'e Kürtler (a chronology)
• Musa Anter : Hatiralarim
• Martin van Bruinessen : Agha, Scheich und Staat , Berlin 1989, p. 237ff.
• Hasan Gökçe: Bedir Khan Bey, the Emir of Cezire - one of the last autonomous Kurdish princes of the 19th century in: Hans-Lukas Kieser (Ed.): Kurdistan and Europe - Insights into the Kurdish history of the 19th and 20th centuries . Zurich 1997, pp. 77-112
• Hasan Gökçe: Portrait d'un Emir Kurd, Beder Khan Bey. Figures anonymes, figures d'élites: (…) Travaux du Cerato, center de recherche sur l'Asie intérieure, le monde turc et l'espace ottoman, Strasbourg. Isis, Istanbul, 1999.
• Hakan Özoğlu: Nationalism and kurdish notables in the late ottoman-early republican era , Int. J. Middle East Stud. # 33, pp. 383-409
• Kai Merten: Among each other, not next to each other: The coexistence of religious and cultural groups in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century . tape 6 of Marburg's contributions to the history of religion. LIT Verlag , Münster 2014, ISBN 978-3-643-12359-6 , 4. The murder of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of vonūr ʿAbdīn, p. 167–179 ( limited preview in Google Book search).