'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎117] (126/568)

I. Si
INHABITANTS jjy
or less Kurdish blood in them, but they form a very distinctly
marked group, owing to their peculiar religion, which has cut them
oil irom their neighbours and has made them disliked and feared by
r nlfw Z alike (see pp - 133 - 4 )- The y are mostly settled
cultivatois, though there are some Yezidi nomads between Mosul
and the Jebel Sinjar. Travellers generally describe them as a harm
less, peaceable tolk, but the Yezidis of the Jebel Sinjar appear to
e a lathei wild set, capable of fighting in their own defence and
ot raiding out into the plains, as they are said to have done in the
present war.
The Yezidis of the Sinjar are organized in a number of tribes,
rru™ i 111 important at present appear to be :
. lh , e ™ r ? J (under Mzhmnde-Uz or el-Bajwal), who number only
about 100 fighting-men, but are renowned for their fierceness. Their
chief is said to control the northern part of the Sinjar. perhaps by
having the Jowana (400 men) and the Aldaki (100 men) as his allies.
m, Ua ? ,u ! l e1 ' Kal11 6 Kesum), numbering about 600 fiffhtins
men. Ihe head-quarters of their chief are at Sukeni (Sekenik?) in
the south-west part of the Sinjar, and he is said to control the
southern part of the region.
The Samukha (under Mato Lalo or Ahmed Lalo) in about six villages
m the plain to north-west of the mountain. Their strength is esti
mated at 1,200 guns. Their chief guards the Sinjar on the west.
Accordmg to another account the paramount chief of the Siniar
fezidis is Hamo Sharo, who is said to be about 85 years old and to
AT ou ln ? e C ® nt 1 re of the Sin i ar - (He may be the
no knaro mentioned elsewhere as chief of the Fakir tribe ) The
same account gives the following Yezidi tribes of the Sinjar country
as important: J
'rfMythe Mihrka, 200 guns, east of the Sinjar
lange) ;chief, Sheikh Daud.
,, ' Taraf '' (Possibly the tribe called elsewhere the Jefra, 50 guns, on
the north side of the mountains); chief, Husein Birjis.
Hassi Khan' (the Haska, 200 guns, on the north side of the
range); chief, Ami,
id Samukha : see above.
' Kharan ' (?); chief, Khidhr.
Mandi Khan (possibly the Mendika, 300 guns, on Soluk Chai) •
jits chief, Jirdo. This tribe is said to be Mohammedan.
J Ia ^ ba (f; 0( J § uns . in the middle of the range): chiefs, Adhi Ismail
# . ^j 1 (According to another account an ' Audi Ismail'
is chief of the Delka, 100 guns, east of Beled Sinjar.)
babians. In lower Irak, chiefly at Nasirlyeh. They are said not