'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎232r] (468/862)

PEOPLE
343
lavishness in its upkeep is regarded as a great virtue and many aghas
ruin themselves thereby. It has been estimated that the guest-house
of a minor agha may cost him about £25 a year. Apart from the
guest-house entertainment is also provided by the rural tea-houses
or chaikhanas.
After the agha the second authority in the village is the mulla or
priest. He is usually maintained by the agha and dependent on him,
but sometimes may be a rival influence.
Tribes and Titles
The tribe, ashiret, is divided into clans, taifa, and clans into kinship
groups, tira, which contain one or more gunds. The relationship is
patrilineal, and in the smaller tribes ashiret and taifa or taifa and tira
may be identical. Each subdivision has its agha and also owes
allegiance to the larger groups, though the authority of the aghas of
ashiret and taifa is often nominal. There are also some confederations
of allied tribes, but these are rarer than among the Arabs. The usual
function of the agha of a taifa is arbitration (fasl), for which he receives
seasonal presents but no regular rents or tribute except from his own
gund. The perquisites of the tribal agha are even less, and his
proper job is to lead the tribe in war. But Kurdish leaders in recent
times, such as Mahmud of Sulaimaniya (p. 307), have held authority
not as aghas but as shaikhs. The Kurdish shaikh is not a tribal
leader but either a holy man or the head of a family with a tradition
for holiness.
The tribal system of the more nomadic tribes is generally similar to
that of the sedentary, though the nomenclature is not always the
same. Ashiret seems to be replaced by kabila, taifa by khel, and gund
by hoba, which is a small settlement of tents in one location. The
hoba is smaller in size than a gund and may contain only one large
family, i.e. parents, children, and grandchildren with their depen
dants. The tribal agha has more effective authority than among
settled Kurds, and holds the whole tribe together when in its migra
tions it is spread out over a wide area.
The Kurdish commoner has a single name to which he may add
that of his village as a surname, e.g. Kharim Bakhani is Kharim of the
village of Bakhani. The title Agha follows the name and may be used
as a courtesy title by the near relations of the actual chief. The
Turkish titles Mir or Beg are sometimes used instead or in addition,
Mir preceding the name, e.g. Mir Hamid Agha-i-Naupardan is
Sir Hamid, Lord of Naupardan. The position and title of agha do