Hakkari (Kurdish: حەکاری,Syriac:ܚܟܪܝḤakkāri, orܗܟܪܝHakkāri), was a historical mountainous region lying to the south ofLake Van,[1] encompassing parts of the modern provinces ofHakkâri,Şırnak,Van[citation needed] inTurkey andDohuk inIraq. During the lateOttoman Empire it was asanjak within the oldVilayet of Van.
The region stretching fromTur Abdin to Hakkari formed theNairi lands which served as the northern Assyrian frontier and border with theirUrartian rivals. TheAssyrians of this region wereChristians adhering to theAssyrian Church of the East and lived here until 1924, when the lastAssyrians who survived theAssyrian genocide and massacres that occurred during 1918 were expelled. Most subsequently moved to theSapna andNahla valleys in northern Iraq. Those who went toSimele ended up immigrating further to theTell Tamer Subdistrict in Syria during the 1930s.
In 980AD,Adud al-Dawla sent an expedition against theHakkariKurds and subdued them.[2] In 1041AD, after the defeat of the invadingGhuz turks and subsequent massacre inUrmia byRawadids. They fled to Hakkari where they ravaged it. they were eventually defeated by theKurds and 1500 Ghuz tribesmen were killed and the survivors were enslaved by the Kurds.[3][4]
Following the devastation of the urban centres of Mesopotamia at the hands ofTimur, aTurkic military leader operating under the guise of restoring theMongol Empire, he was known as "the Sword of Islam." His conquest of Baghdad and the general area, especially the destruction of Tikrit, affected theSyrian Orthodox Church which sheltered near Nineveh atMar Mattai Monastery following the destruction of Christians in the region, the Ismailis and Sunni and Shi'a Muslims indiscriminately byTimur during the second part of the 14th century. The few survivors sought refuge among the Assyrians of Hakkari and the surrounding region. This region also produced many bishops and patriarchs as hereditary succession was used to prevent a full ecclesiastical collapse of the church. By the 16th century, the Assyrians disappeared from many cities where they previously thrived, such as inTabriz andNisibis. The head of theChurch of the East moved fromBaghdad toMaragha inUrmia by 1553.[5]
By the 1500s, the Assyrians were concentrated in an older version of the Assyrian triangle, with its points inDiyarbakir (west),Maragha (east). The Church of the East lost some of its members in the few centuries following theSchism of 1552 to theChaldean Catholic Church, mainly in Diyarbakir. Those living in Hakkari, however, were unaffected by the disputes until 1692 when the Chaldean Archbishop of DiyarbakirShimun IX Dinkha broke away fromRome and moved toQudshanis in Hakkari where he reintroduced theShimun line of hereditary patriarchial succession which continued until 1976.
PatriarchShimun XIII moved his seat fromAmid toQochanis. After the final return to the traditional faith, Patriarchs of the Shimun line decided to keep their independence and after that time there were two independent lines of traditional patriarchs: the senior Eliya line in Alqosh and the junior Shimun line in Qochanis.[6] Such division was additionally caused by the complex structure of localAssyrian communities, traditionally organized as tribal confederations with eachtribe being headed by a local lord (malik), while eachmalik was ultimately subject to the patriarch, who mediated between Christian Assyrians and the Ottoman authorities.[7]
The Patriarch residing in the Church of Mār Shalīṭa inQudshanis enjoyed both spiritual and political power over his subjects. Since priests were required to remain celibates the patriarchy moved from uncle to nephew.[5] This system came to be known asNāṭar Kursyā (ܢܛܪ ܟܘܪܣܝܐ "Guardian of the throne"), and by the 19th century this system was applied to all dioceses of Hakkari.[8]The Assyrians formed intricate alliances with neighbouringKurdish tribes and theirOttoman lords, and each tribe was led by aMalik (ܡܠܟ) who also functioned as a military leader during wartime.[9] TheTyari Assyrians lived across 51 different villages and constituted 50,000 members - making it the most powerful among the semi-independentAssyrian tribes.[10]
In the 19th century, several competing Kurdish centers began emerging in the region.Mir Muhammed, the Kurdish Emir of theSoran Emirate, situated aroundRawanduz was able to depose his rivals and control a region stretching fromMardin toPersian Azerbaijan.[11] He was however defeated in battle when he tried to subdue the Assyrians of Hakkari in 1838. The Ottomans, seeking to consolidate their control of the region, engaged him in a costly war which eventually led to the dissolution of his Emirate.[12]
After the fall of his main rivalBadr Khan ofBohtan sought to extend his dominion by annexing the Assyrian regions in Hakkari.[13] He took advantage of a rift between the patriarchShimun XVII Abraham andNur Allah, theKurdish Emir of Hakkari. Badr Khan allied with Nur Allah and attacked the Assyrians of Hakkari in the summer of 1843 massacring them and taking those who survived as slaves.[14] Another massacre was inflicted in 1846 on the Assyrians of Tiyari, also residing in Hakkari.[14]The western powers, alarmed by the massacres pressured the Ottomans to intervene. Badr Khan was subsequently defeated and exiled toCrete in 1847.[14]
Although the region was nominally underOttoman control since the 16th century, it was in reality administered by its Assyrian and Kurdish inhabitants and their lords. The situation changed after the Badr Khans rule and the Tanzimat reforms as the Ottomans now were able to extend their full control unopposed, and in 1868 theSanjak of Hakkari was created.[15]
On the eve of the First World War, patriarchShimun XIX Benyamin was promised preferential treatment in anticipation of the war.[16] Shortly after the war began, however, Assyrian and Armenian settlements to the north of Hakkari were attacked and sacked by Kurdish irregulars allied with the Ottoman Army in theAssyrian genocide.[17][18] Others were forced intolabour battalions and later executed.[19]
The turning point was when the patriarch's brother was taken prisoner as he was studying inConstantinople. The Ottomans demanded Assyrian neutrality and executed him as a warning.[20][21] In return, the patriarch declared war on the Ottomans on 10 April 1915.[20]
The Assyrians were immediately attacked by Kurdish irregulars backed by the Ottomans, driving most of the Assyrians of Hakkari to the mountain tops, as those who stayed in their villages were killed.[20] Shimun Benjamin was able to move unnoticed toUrmia, which at the time was underRussian control, and tried to persuade them to send a relief force to the besieged Assyrians.[20] When the Russians replied that the request was unreasonable, he returned to Hakkari and led the surviving 50,000 Assyrians through the mountains to safety in Urmia.[20] Thousands perished from cold and hunger during this march.[20]
During the peace conferences in Paris in 1919, the Assyrians asked for a state inDiyarbekir and northern Mesopotamia in Iraq; others requested a British protectorate inUpper Mesopotamia, northern Mosul, and Urmia.[22] The Assyrians tried to retake the region, but the Turks and Kurds objected to their desire to retake their ancestral lands in Hakkari, and an attempt to occupy the region byAgha Petros failed. In 1924, aftera rebellion, Turkey formally occupied northern Hakkari and expelled the last Christian inhabitants who still remained in the region,[23] with the exception of the village of Gaznakh which due to Kurdish alliances and their conversion to the Chaldean Catholic Church avoided deportation. Assyrians still live in the southern Hakkari region ofBarwari Bala, now straddling the Turkey-Iraq border, and in theSapna andNahla Valleys of IraqsNohadra region.
As of 1920, Hakkari was producinglead. The lead, which came from a government owned mine, was used to makebullets.[24]
