"مذكرات الحرب. مقر قيادة الجيش، الهند. [...] [قوة المشاة الهندية] «د». المجلد ٤٠. الجزء I. (من ١ إلى ١٥ نوفمبر ١٩١٧.)" [و‎‎١‎٦‎١] (٥٤٤/٣٣٠)

there is no lack of political interest. Every spring these mountains seethe with
wars and rumours of wars—villages are besieged, relieved or taken. Then follow
yeice conferences, oaths of friendship and marriage alliances.
The nomad Kurds do not belong to this district, but some of the tribes are
allowed a passage through Hakkiari from their winter quarters on the plains to
their summer pastures on the Persian Frontier and the highlands south of Lake
Van.
The semi-nomadic tribes descend to the valleys and live in stone-built villages
during the winter when the high regions are deep in snow. About the middle of
June they takethex flocks and herds up into the “ Yailas,” each tribe having its
own area delimitated and occupying it year after year after much discussion and,
probably, bloodshed. As the summer advances and the grass on the lower slopes
becomes dried up, they move their goathair tents higher up the slopes towards
the melting snow in search of fresh pasture, returning to their villages at the time
of the Autumn rains
Other Kurds of Hakkiari are entirely sedentary, each living on Ms miniature
estate, growing rice, millet, tobacco on one small plot of ground and conducting
water from one terraced field to another with surprising ingenuity.
Before the war the Kurds of this district supplied no recruits to the Ottoman
Army, and only one or two tribes supplied the Han.idieh regiments. They re
garded the Government with no feelings of goodwill, and those living in the more
naccessible districts only paid the sheep tax, and even that grudgingly, hiding
wo*thirds of their flocks when the approach of the tax-collector was signalled.
They are Sunnis by religion, but are not very devout and Mosques are rarely
seen in their country. There are however a number of religious Sheikhs who
exercise considerable political influence among the Kurds—men who are too
holy to take the field themselves, but direct operations from their villages.
Foremost in prominence stands out the Sheikh of Neri—a man of considerable
power and wealth whose remarkable three-storeyed house, furnished in European
style is a " rvonder *' in these parts. In 1881 his ancesters with a confederation
of tribes invaded North Persia and captured the town of Urmia. Another noto-
rity is the much-venerated Sheikh of Barzan, who fell foul of the Ottoman Gov
ernment in 1909 and for many months kept at bay a large force of Turks with
guns. He eventually escaped to Persia and threw in his lot with the Russians.
Reverence of sacred places is a marked feature among the Kurds. One
will often come across a holy tree, standing alone, its boughs covered with stribs
of rags torn from the clothing of passing travellers, while at its foot the dead
branches, too sacred to be used for purposes of fuel, lie and rot. Some of the
Nestorian churches are respected as much by the Kurds as by the Christians and
churches dedicated to certain Saints are visited by barren Kurdish women
Sometimes a “ pillar ” of stones is set up to mark a sacred spot; but on the othe
hand a high heap of stones marks the site of a murder, and each passer-by is
expected to add one more stone to the ever increasing pile.
As throughout the East, all have a firm believe in the pow^r of the “ Evil
Eye,’’ everyone wears some kind of charm to avert it and buildings often have
ibex horns cemented into the wall for the same purpose.
Among the tribes are to be met many families of Syriac speaking Jews.'
These carrv no arms but are generally allowed to trade and carry messages. The
Jews are protected to a certain degree by the Aghas in whose district they live,
and are immune from robbery in their own Agha’s district. If however they are
molested by Kurds of another tribe and bring a complaint to their Agha, the Jew
does not get redress ; he must be satisfied with his Agha’s promise of “ Ah 1
Wait and see what I will do to their Jew when I catch him l”
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