'Kurdistan and the Kurds' [‎12r] (23/122)

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The plain of Seruj is very fertile; its chief products are wheat, barley,
sesame, and lentils; in 1916 potatoes also were introduced, with very good
results. Several perennial streams water the plain and every village, has
a well. Shrubs and manure are largely used for fuel.
In the neighbourhood of Samsat live the Beski (or Baziki) Kurds; on
the right bank their territory stretches on both sides of the Euphrates
between Geiger and Rum Kale, with its centre at Samsat. On the
northern bank of the river the line runs through Chepal, Jimik, Kumic,
Gevosi, Kerrik, Karageul, Keurkun, Kirbis, Salamul, Eskisamsur, Boyerle,
Kayali, Harmantil and Zerteriz, where it touches the river again. On the
other side the boundary follows the Zenjibar Chai till it reaches the
road to Severek, down which it runs to Melisert; thence it passes Elhan,
Shawashi, Hajji Fazli, Hamur Kesin, Cheulmen, Khoruzum, Kurd Euyuk,
Berik, Kochvernn, Karaski, Kizilburj, Beyazkeui, Denizbashi, Boztepe,
Bujakli, ‘Osman, Hobob, Karamezra, Seldik and Sipsandik, where it reaches
the Euphrates. There is also a small enclave An area of land belonging to one country and entirely surrounded by land of just one other country. of Beski Kurds to the west
of Rum Kale; their southern limit is formed by the waters of the
Merziman Chai between Tohmilk and Keroglu ; on the north they extend
up to Millalis.
Their numbers are difficult to ascertain, but they can be put down at
about 40,000 persons, with a fighting strength of 6,500 men, armed and
mounted. The language spoken is almost entirely Turkish ; a few people
know Arabic, while Kurdish is very little used. The tribesmen are mostly
agriculturalists, living a settled life, seldom moving into tents in summer, as
their southern neighbours are accustomed to do. The tribal organisation
is weak ; for, though they are split up into tribes, their chiefs have little
influence. There are, on the other hand, more aghawat or nobles than is
usual in Kurdish tribes, petty chiefs whose {lowers run counter to the
tribal system and tend to weaken it. The most influential family is that
of the Khartawi, in which is vested the hereditary chieftainship of the
the whole tribe and which possesses sufticient authority to unite all the
sub-tribes for common action. Unfortunately this family is torn by
domestic feuds, often leading to murder; at present it is split into two
factions by a quarrel between ‘Abd-ur-Rahman-il-Khartawi, the acknow
ledged paramount chief, and his*nephew, Yusuf ibn ‘Abd-ul-Qadir.
‘Abd-ur-Rahman-il-Khartawi is about 50 years old, strong and active ;
he was a rich man, but has been ruined by the Turks; in the winter
of 1916 he was ordered to go into exile at Angora, but fled to Kharput ; he
returned when the British occupied Aleppo, to find that all his goods had
been confiscated by the Ottoman government and that his house had been
destroyed. He is in consequence bitterly opposed to the Turks; perhaps
as a result of this he has taken the side of the Armenians, a number of
whom he protected during the massacres. Another cause of complaint
against the Turks is the closing down of all the schools, for, though