Simko Shikak سمکۆی شکاک Simkoyê Şikak | |
|---|---|
 Simko Shikak, Kurdish chieftain | |
| Nickname(s) | "Father of Kurdish Nationalism"[1] |
| Born | 1887 Chahriq-e Olya,West Azerbaijan province,Iran |
| Died | 30 July 1930 Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan province, Iran |
| Cause of death | Surpriseambush andassassination byImperial Iranian Armed Forces |
| Allegiance | Kurdish Tribes |
| Rank | Chieftain of theShekak tribe, andGeneral of theShekak forces. |
| Commands | Shekak tribe |
| Battles / wars | |
Ismail Agha Shikak (Kurdish:ئیسماعیل ئاغا شکاک,Îsmaîl Axayê Şikak), also known asSimko (Kurdish:سمکۆ,Simko; 1887–1930), was aKurdish chieftain of theShekak tribe. He was a nationalist warlord who controlled significant land and led thousands of Kurdish rebels who defeated the Iranian army on several occasions. He also engaged in conflicts againstAssyrians andAzerbaijanis. He was later assassinated by the Iranian government in 1930.
Simko was born in 1887 inChahriq-e Olya,Chahriq Rural District,Salmas County, to a family from the Avdoyi clan of the Shekak tribe. The Shekak played a prominent role in local politics, occupying the districts ofSomay,Baradost,Qotur, andChahriq.[2] His brother,Jafar Agha, served as a frontier commissioner and a brigand. On order of the governor-general in 1905, he was killed in Tabriz.[2] In 1907, his father, Mohammad Agha Shekak, went to personally askAbdul Hamid II for assistance against Iran, although he was imprisoned in Istanbul and died in prison.[3]
Simko became the leader of the Shekak tribe after his elder brother,Jafar Agha, was killed in 1905.[4]
Simko was also in contact with Kurdish revolutionaries such as Seyyed Taha Gilani, the grandson ofSheikh Ubeydullah. Seyyed Taha was a Kurdish nationalist who was actively campaigning for the unification ofIranian Kurdistan andTurkish Kurdistan in an independent state.[5]
Kurdish nationalism was first introduced to Iranian Kurds during the reign ofAbdul Hamid II, where the Ottoman Empire made several attempts to annex Iranian Kurdistan while encouraging nationalism to convince Iranian Kurds to the rest of the Kurds, who lived in the Ottoman Empire. TheYoung Turk Revolution did not change the policy. The Ottomans briefly controlled Iranian Kurdistan on two occasions, in 1906 and World War I.[6]
In 1906, the Ottomans capturedMahabad relatively easily due to the Kurds being Sunni. In 1908, a group of Kurdish nationalists approached the Russian consulate in Urmia and asked for assistance in expelling the Ottomans. Simko was the most prominent figure who approached the consulate. The presence of Ottoman troops in Iranian Kurdistan had challenged the powerful status of Simko, while the Kurds were divided into Pro-Ottoman and Anti-Ottoman factions. Simko visited the Russian consulate in Urmia again in 1911 and visited Russia in 1912.[7] Simko attacked the Ottomans and caused significant damage.Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov often gave Simko rank promotions, which the Ottomans protested toSergey Sazonov, but achieved nothing as the Russian consul inVan stated that Simko "is someone that we need and we should support him, since his hatred toward the Turks is without limit. And that benefits us."[8] According to British travelogue C.J. Edmonds, who interviewed Simko in October 1922, Simko hated Turks more than he hated Persians.[9] In May 1914, he attended a meeting withAbdürrezzak Bedir Khan who at the time was a Kurdish politician supported by theRussians.[4] InWorld War I, the Russians were expelled from the region after the Ottomans captured Urmia and Tabriz in December 1914, after which Simko allied with the Ottomans. The Russians returned shortly after and imprisoned Simko in Tbilisi, after which he returned to Iran, still a Russian ally. When the Russians withdrew in 1917, Simko became a British ally and worked with Assyrians against the Ottomans. However, the alliance broke shortly after, as Simko was often paranoid and believed that the Assyrians wanted to establish a state in Kurdish lands and ethnically cleanse the Kurds. He frequently changed sides as he was willing to ally with anyone who benefitted the Kurds. Simko later assassinatedShimun XIX Benyamin in March 1918, and sided with the Ottomans when they invaded Iran in summer 1918.[10]
In 1918, theSimko Shikak revolt began, aimed at establishing an independent Kurdish state. Nearing the 1920s, Simko grew increasingly nationalist. However, Simko was primarily considered a tribal leader, as he lived in a time where Kurds primarily gave their allegiance to their tribe and had no concept of unity for a national cause.[11] Simko lacked administration, which made him less successful than his contemporariesMohammad Khiabani andMirza Kuchik Khan. Simko was a pioneer of Kurdish nationalism and was among the first to attempt to unite Kurds of various tribal affiliation for a national cause. His failure was primarily due to the lack of nationalism among Kurds. However, Kurdish nationalism rapidly grew during thePahlavi era in Iran, which also coincided with the Kemalist era in Turkey where Kurdish nationalism was also growing. Eventually,Qazi Muhammad successfully united various Kurdish tribes and established theRepublic of Mahabad.[12][13] Qazi Muhammad's father was a close friend of Simko and accompanied him throughout the battles.[14]
During theBattle of Charah, after the murder of Mar Shimun, theAssyrians under the command ofMalik Khoshaba andPetros Elia of Baz attacked thefortress in Charah in which Simko was decisively defeated.[15] By summer 1918, Simko had established his authority in the region west ofLake Urmia.[16]
.png)
In 1919, Simko sent a letter to the British civil commissioner of Iraq, demanding Kurdish independence.[17] Also in 1919, Yusuf Adl Mukarram ul-Molk, the governor of Iranian Azerbaijan, devised a plot to kill Simko by sending him a present with a bomb hidden in it.[18] At this time, government inTehran tried to reach an agreement with Simko on the basis of limited Kurdishautonomy.[19] When Simko captured Mahabad in October 1921, some Kurds fell victim to the looting. Simko stated that he highly discouraged any violence against other Kurds, and claimed that he was not able to restrain his men who were used to pillaging after fighting. The Kurdish victims were robbed and left alive, although the Azerbaijani victims were all executed. The Azerbaijani towns of Miandoab, Binab, and Maragheh sent letters of submission to Simko. At this time, Simko grew more powerful while having permanent ties with many Kurdish tribes. While controlling a large part of Iranian Kurdistan, his influence reached Luristan, as well as Iraqi Kurdistan, and Turkish Kurdistan.[20][21] Simko specifically targeted Assyrian and Azerbaijani communities for pillaging.[8] Simko was known among Iranian Azerbaijanis as the "Butcher of Azerbaijan".[22][23]
Simko had organized a strong Kurdish army which was much stronger than Iranian government forces. Since the central government could not control his activities, he continued to expand the area under his control and by 1922, cities ofBaneh andSardasht were under his administration.[24] In theBattle of Sari Taj in 1922, Simko's forces could not resist the Iranian Army's onslaught in the region ofSalmas and were finally defeated and the castle of Chari was occupied. The strength of the Iranian Army force dispatched against Simko was 10,000 soldiers.[25] In 1922, Turkey assisted the Iranian army against Simko.[9] After the defeat of Simko,Reza Shah began a repressive campaign toward non-Persian minorities.[26]
On January 8, 1923, Simko visited theKingdom of Kurdistan and met withMahmud Barzanji. Simko was welcomed with a military parade, and the day of his visit was made a national holiday.[27]
In 1924,Reza Khan pardoned Simko, who returned to Iran from exile. When Reza Khan becameReza Shah in 1925, Simko pledged eternal loyalty to him and theIranian state.[28] However, in 1926, Simko allied with theHerki andBegzada tribes, regained leadership of the Shekak tribe, and began another revolt.[29][30] In October 1926,Salmas was besieged by a force of 1,500 men loyal to Simko.[31][29] Shortly after,Iranian forces were dispatched fromUrmia,Sharafkhaneh andKhoy, and defeated Simko.[29] During the engagement, half of Simko's troops defected to the Shekak tribe's previous leader and Simko himself fled toMandatory Iraq.[30]
In 1930, GeneralHassan Moghaddam, the commander of the Iranian Army, sent a letter to Simko, who was residing in the village ofBarzan, inviting him for a meeting in the town ofOshnaviyeh. Simko, along with Khurshid Agha Herki, went to Oshnaviyeh and were invited to the house of Colonel Norouzi, a local Iranian commander. They were told to wait for General Moghaddam. On June 30, 1930, Colonel Norouzi convinced Simko to go to the outskirts ofOshnavieh to welcome General Moghaddam. However, it was a trap, and the Iranian troops killed Simko.[32]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
