'Kurdistan and the Kurds' [‎11r] (21/122)

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CHAPTER II.
THE KURDISH TRIBES.
§ l.— -The Kurds round Urfah.
The Ketkan Kurds and the Barazi Kurds are the easternmost of the
Kurdish tribes, and occupy the hilly region in the loop formed bj' the
Euphrates between Birijik, Urfah, and Jerablus. It is a district of fertile
slopes on the hills and narrow valleys, with an abundant supply of water.
The Ketkan in this region count 1,800 houses; but there are also about
400 houses down in the plain round El-Bab, which is situated about
20 miles to the north-east of Aleppo. They can muster a force of 1,800
infantry and 200 cavalry, and possess 500 modern rifles, with a sufficient
quantity of ammunition ; their transport comprises 500 camels, and they
have enough supplies to keep their troops for two months in the field.
Their paramount chief is at present Mohammed Basrawi. The tribe is
now on good terms with both the Milli and Karakechili Kurds, while their
disputes with the Barazi tribe were settled in 1908, through the mediation
of Ibrahim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , who was at that time the paramount chief of the Milli
Kurds; and in 1916 two leading chiefs of the Karakechili married daughters
of his uncle, Shakir Bey. They are a race of troublesome brigands,
continually at enmity with both the Turks and the Arabs; consequently,
they are inclined to be friendly with the British.
The Barazi Kurds number about 7,000 families, scattered among nearly
800 villages, which lie in the district between the Euphrates, Urfah,
Charmelik and Kanli Avshehr on the north, and Serrin, Khan Mahmud
and Geul Tepe on the south side. The paramount chief of this tribe is at
present Husein Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ibn Nebi Bey. The most prominent of the sub
tribes are the Aleddin' 1 ', who are of Turkish origin, and who were brought to
Seruj to act as guardians of the frontier by the Sultan Murad the Fourth,
who conquered Baghdad ; they now muster 800 families, and their chief is
Mustafa ibn Shahin Bey, who resides sometimes at Seruj and sometimes
at Maktala; the Pijani, ! who consist of 1000 families and who are virtually
independent of the Barazi; their principal village is ‘Osman Maghribi;
the Dinazi,t the number of whose houses reaches 1800, and who are
mostly Yezidi; (he Sheikhtani, a tribe of about the same size as the
Pijani; they claim to be descendants of Husein, the grandson of the
prophet Mohammed, and in virtue of this claim they are regarded as a
religious sect and much respected by all the Barazi; and, lastly, the
* Or Alai-ud-Din.
t Their chief is Muslim Bey ibn Hamid Musto, who resides at Nazli Mizar, to
the west of Seruj; his rival, Hanimo-’l-‘Abdo, who unsuccessfully disputed the
succession with him, now lives at Asamor, on the road from Birijik to Urfah
Another account gives the chief’s name as Mustafa ibn Ghalib Bey.
| OrDenadi. Their chief is Hamid Ibn Suleiman, who resides at Karakuyu on
the road from Seruj to Urfah. Another report names Saif-ud-Din Zada Salih Bey,
resident at Aligeur, as chief.