Isa Agha

Isa Agha (†  1875 in Deir ez-Zor ) was a Yezidi chief from Sinjar , who was known for his successful resistance in 1846 against Tayyar Pasha , the Ottoman governor of Mosul . He was friends with Austen Henry Layard . The title Agha is of Mongolian origin and originally referred to an old person or old man.

Life

Isa was born in the Yazidi village of Mihirkan, the first son of Adi Della , the head of the village. After Della's death, Isa took over the management of the village.

To collect the taxes due and to get an overview of the location of Mihirkan and the other villages, Tayyar Pascha started an expedition. The situation escalated and from October 14-17, 1846, a bitter battle raged in Mihirkan and in the high mountain caves near the village between the Ottoman troops of Tayyar Pasha and the Yazidi villagers of Mihirkan. Isa Agha led the Yazidis battle. The Ottoman troops, far superior to the Yazidis in terms of number of fighters and military equipment, were crushed. The Yazidis finally managed to escape after a three-day battle. However, the village was devastated and even three years after the battle, part of the village was still destroyed.

The execution of Isa Agha

In 1875, Isa Agha was executed with several other Yazidi heads by order of the governor of Deir ez-Zor. His successor was his son Dawid Isa .

swell

• Guest, John S. (1993): Survival Among the Kurds: A History of the Yezidis.
• Layard, Austen Henry (1849): Nineveh and Its Remains: With an Account of a Visit to the Chaldean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, Or Devil-worshipers; and an Inquiry Into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians, London, Vol. I.
• Layard, Austen Hanry (1853): Discoveries among the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, New York.
• Rişkanî, Silêman (2011): Jiyannama Dawidê Dawid, qehremanê du fermanan, in: Yezidische Helden - Mêrxasên Êzîdiyan, Oldenburg, pp. 326–332.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rişkanî 2011: p. 237.
2. ^ Layard 1849: p. 316ff.
3. ^ Layard 1853: p. 213.
4. ↑ Guest 1993: p. 123.