'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎221v] (441/501)

6
\i
There were no villages at all, for the simple reason that it was on the track of the
annual migrations of the nomad Kurds, the Hartoshi and Muran, to whom I have referred
above, and to them a village was usually a place to loot.
Taking this with the semi-independent district along the middle Hazil, it will be
seen that the Turkish kaimakam when in Zakho had to look far before he could find
the frontier of any vilayet to the north of him.
As we have seen, that of Van was far away to the north-east in Nurduz. Directly
north he would discern no settled government until he reached the other side of the
great Harakol range, where the Vilayet of Bitlis maintained kaimakams in Khoskheir
and Deh in the Bohtan. These depended on the mutaserif of the Sanjak of Sairt, who
actually had an imperfect control over his kazas. Khoskheir was noted for its street
fighting, when the adherents of the various local aghas were wont to exchange shots
and conduct their local affrays up and down the main street in front of the konak. Such a
kaza could scarcely be termed settled, and its frontiers to the south were quite indefinite.
Deh was a large village containing many Armenians, and is now probably derelict,
while its boundaries have doubtless entirely lapsed.
Thus, with the wide independent space intervening, the frontiers of the Mosul
Vilayet can scarcely be said to have marched with those of Bitlis at all.
Then, to the north-west of Zakho, the territory of an entirely separate vilayet was
introduced, as at Jezire a ka'imakam was posted under the Vilayet of Diarbekr.
The frontier between the two kazas, on the Zakho-Jezire road, were fairly well
defined across the Nahrwan Plain, following our present line with the Turks there.
But the authority of the Jezire kaimakam did not extend far from the banks of
the Tigris into the wild mountains which approach the bank east of that place.
Among these hills is Shernakh, the stronghold of the sedentary section of the
powerful tribe of Hartoshi Kurds, under an agha who still exercises a very powerful
influence, and claims to be a descendant or relation of Bedr Khan Bey, the Kurdish
hero of 1837.
Beyond Shernakh to the east comes the uninhabited area of Bestenjik, which I
have already described, while Derigule, in the Rohsur Valley below Shernakh to the
north, and a place on the nomad migration route, is under the Hartoslii chief also.
Shakh, in the hills a few miles east of Jezire, is the gateway leading to Shernakh,
standing as it does at the mouth of the Tang-i-Ghelli, a fine limestone gorge, up which
the track to Shernakh leads, the passage being once defended by two fine castles
overlooking the gorge, which are now in ruins.
Shakh itself has walls and defences of the Roman period in good preservation,
similar to those of Jezire, while the remains of a remarkable irrigation canal cut by the
Romans in solid rock for a long distance, and meant to utilise the water of the stream
in the gorge, can still be traced. The Kurds of Shakh regard themselves as under the
Hartoshi chief of Shernakh, and the guardians of this gateway for him.
It was usual for the kaimakam of Jezire to fall in with this arrangement, while he
exercised little authority over the Hartoshi, and probably the present Turkish Govern
ment find it convenient to do the same, unless they seek by underground propaganda
to utilise the Hartoshi aghas for some action against our position in Zakho. It is to be
hoped that our officers have taken measures to counter this, as these Hartoshi struck
me as a fine stamp of Kurd, who would readily be loyal to us.
In article 8 of the Franco-Turkish Agreement of Angora, 1921, the frontier
regarding Jezire is referred to as follows : “ Thence it will follow the old road between
“ Nisibin and Jezire-bin-Omar, where it will join the Tigris. The localities of Nisibin
“ and Jezire-bin-Omar, as well as the road, will remain Turkish, but the two countries
“ shall have the same rights to the use of the road.”
A commission comprising delegates of the two parties was to have been constituted
within a period of one month from the signature of the agreement to determine the
above-mentioned line, and it is to be hoped that the subtle mind of the Angora delegate
did not put too wide a meaning on the word “ locality ” of Jezire-bin-Omar, a rather
vague expression, I think, and extend the territory occupied rather too widely.
Now, taking the districts referred to as a whole, we find the Turks had only two
general lines of control over this wide area of Kurdish mountains, one on the extreme
east, that of Van-Bashkala-Diza and Neri, towards Rowanduz, and another on the
extreme west from Bitlis, through Sairt and Jezire, towards Zakho, and they seem still
to be utilising the same lines in the method of governing the country.
And I should imagine that at present the Turkish, or, rather Angora, Government
has a rather weaker hold over these regions than the Government of the Ottoman
Empire before the war.

'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎221v] (441/501)

Transcription

About this item

Copyright: How to use this content

'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎221v] (441/501)

Transcription

About this item

Use and share this item

Copyright: How to use this content