'Kurdistan and the Kurds' [‎29r] (57/122)

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(2Q
and peculiar uncouthness of behaviour. They are seemingly true nomads
by instinct and lack any capacity for war or agriculture ; they appear at once
stupid and treacherous, disloyal, rapacious and quarrelsome ; they must,
however, have some qualities that are not apparent, since they seem to
have been masters of the country which they inhabited long before the
Ottoman Government had any power there. Their women shave the hair
on the top of the head in the form of a tonsure. They are all orthodox
Sunnites.
The tribes of the Jibranli confederacy, the Mamanli, the Badeli, and
the Shaderli, are probably the aboriginal tribes of this region ; they are
usually of small physique and fine features, inoffensive, with no salient
characteristics. The Isoli, on the contrary, and the Sheikh Bazeini are
perhaps exiles, banished from their homes by the Sultan Selim, the
conqueror of Erzerum.
North of this region in the Russian Caucasus a few scattered Kurdish
families have been observed, especially in the vicinity of Tiflis and Kars.
But nothing is known of them and they have no political significance.
§ 6 .—The Kurds in Southern Kurdistan. '
This zone is hounded on the north by Lake Van and the tableland of
Armenia, on the west by the Tigris and on the south by the plains of ‘Iraq,
the Diala Su and the Turco-Persian frontier; on the east lies Lake
Urmiyah, into which the river Jachatu flows, completing roughly the
confines of this part of Kurdistan. The country, though densely peopled
with Kurds, has a considerable scattered population of Nestorian
Christians. The Kurdish tribes fall into three main classes, based not on
geographical distribution but on different habits of life. The following
catalogue starts in each case from the north, by Lake Van, and works
southwards.
In the north-west corner between the lake and the Tigris from
Challek to Jezirat-ibn-‘Omar, is the first group, consisting of the
following tribes :—
Tribe.
Number of
families.
Locality. ||
Remarks.
1. Duderi
400
On the shore of L.
Nomads.
Van in summer
* The information contained in this section is taken entirely from Sir Mark
Sykes’ book.
11 Localities enclosed in square brackets are taken from Sir Mark Sykes’ map after
comparison with other sheets ; those not so enclosed are given in bis own words.