In the Name of the Caliph and the Nation: The Sheikh Ubeidullah Rebellion of 1880–81

Abstract

Under the leadership of Sheikh Ubeidullah of Nehri, in the last months of 1880 tens of thousands of Iranian and Ottoman Kurds marched on northwestern Iran and temporarily took control of several cities. This movement, coupled with the response of the Iranian army, resulted in great violence and displacement. Despite its failure, in the limited literature on Kurds this revolt is seen as the birth of Kurdish nationalism. Using extensive and underutilized historical documents—including official correspondence from Iranian and Ottoman authorities as well as British consuls, and day-to-day reports and memoirs from American missionaries active in the region—this project suggests that Sultan Abdulhamid's (Sunni) pan-Islamist agenda, Shi'i–Sunni tensions, the rise of Armenian nationalism, and missionary activities in the region also played significant roles in the formation of this movement.

Notes

¹David McDowal, A Modern History of the Kurds (New York, 1997), 53–9; Robert Olson, The Kurdish Question and Turkish–Iranian Relations From World War I to 1998 (Costa Mesa, CA, 1998).

²Nezan Kendal “The Kurds under the Ottoman Empire,” in People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan, ed. Gerard Chaliand (London, 1980), 31.

³Nader Entessar, Kurdish Ethnonationalism (London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1992), 12.

⁴Stephen Pelletiere, The Kurds: An Unstable Element in the Gulf (Boulder, CO, 1984), 50. I cannot resist quoting the opening sentence of Pelletiere's rather disturbingly titled book: “This book examines the political significance of a Middle Eastern people, the Kurds, and it suggests that they have a great potential for making trouble.”

⁵Hasan Arfa, The Kurds: An Historical and Political Study (London, 1966), 23–4. For the idea that the revolt was Ottoman supported also see Abbas Amanat, The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy 1831–1896 (Berkeley, CA, 1997), 408. This idea made its way to some international papers as well. For instance, under the heading “The Kurdish Rebellion,” December 8, 1880, The New York Daily Tribune reported: “There is a strong conviction at Tehran that Sheik Abdullah [Ubeidullah] in invading Persia acted under orders from Constantinople, probably caused by the Sultan's fears that Abdullah's formidable preparations might be turned against Turkey.”

⁶Martin Van Bruinessen, “The Sadate Nehri or Gilanizade of Central Kurdistan,” in Mullas, Sufis and Heretics: The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society (Istanbul, 2000). Arshak Safrastian, Kurds and Kurdistan (London, 1948), sees the revolt as a nationalist movement par excellence.

⁷See Abbas Vali, Kurds and State in Iran: The Making of Kurdish Identity (London, 2011), 1; and Amir Hassanpour, “The Making of Kurdish Identity: Pre-20th Century Historical and Literary Sources,” in Essays on the Origins of Kurdish Nationalism, ed. Abbas Vali (Costa Mesa, CA, 2003), 148.

⁸For one, Iranian bureaucrat and historian Mahdi Qoli Khan Hedayat maintained that this revolt was one of the two most important events of the Iranian history of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. See Mahdi Qoli Hedayet Mokhber al-Saltaneh, Khaterat va khatarat: tushe'i az tarikh-e shish padeshah va gushe'i az dowre-ye zendegani-ye man (Tehran, 1363), 82. For a similar view also see Huseyn Sardar Noori, “Shaikh Ubeidullah Kord va Abbas Mirza Molk Ara,” Yadgar, no. 1–2 (1367/1948): 32–5.

⁹An exception is the studies by Kurdish authors. See Celilé Celil, 1880 Şeyh Ubeydullah Nehri Kürt Ayaklanması (Istanbul, 1998), translated from Russian. Mohamamd Hama Baqhe, Shuresh-e Sheikh Ubeidullahi Nehri (1880) Le Belgename-i Qacar Da (Hewler, 2000). (Sheikh Ubeidullah Revolt in Qajar Documents, Arbil, Iraq, Kurdish Ministry of Education.) One chapter of Wadie Jwaideh's dissertation is devoted to Sheikh Ubeidullah. Mentioning post-Russo-Ottoman War (1878–79) conditions in Kurdistan, Jwaideh claimed that conditions were ripe for the rise of a Kurdish national hero and that the sheikh fulfilled this role, and that his command of Kurdish troops in the Russo-Ottoman War helped him rise to prominence. He maintained that uniting the Kurds and the formation of a Kurdish state were the sheikh's main goals and that he was working hard to achieve this. Wadie Jwadieh, The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Its Origins and Development (Syracuse, NY, 1960) (published as a book in 2006). Also see Paul White, Primitive Rebels or Revolutionary Modernizers? The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in Turkey (London, 2000).

¹⁰Abdullah Mardukh edited and published it under the title: Qiyam-e Shaikh Ubeidullah dar Ahd-e Shah Naser al-Din (Tehran, 1356) (hereafter Qurians). In his introduction to the edition of Qurians’ account Mardukh quotes from Zendegi-ye Abbas Mirza Molk Ara that Qurians was a Russian subject living in Savojbulagh. In the index of the Manuscripts of the Library of Majlis-e Shura-ye Islami (Islamic Republic of Iran Parliament Library, Tehran) where the original manuscript is housed it is noted that Qurians was the clerk and translator (monshi va motercim) of the Iranian Commission to the Paris Exhibition of 1297 (1880). Under the title of Tarikh-e Tughyan-e Ekrad (History of the Kurdish Rebellion), the Majlis Library manuscript number is 2873.

¹¹Ranajit Guha, “The Prose of Counter Insurgency,” in Selected Subaltern Studies, R. Guha and G.C. Spivak (New York, 1988), 47.

¹²For the Ottoman version see Babakanlk Osmanl Arivi / Ottoman Prime Ministry Archives (hereafter BOA), Y. PRK. HR.

¹³Amir Niẓam Garrusi, Guzaresh-ha va nameh-ha-ye divani va niẓami-ye Amir Niẓam Garrusi: dar bare-ye vaqaya-ye Kurdistan dar sal-e 1297 Hijr, ed. Iraj Afshar (Tehran, 1994).

¹⁴See Beig Babapour, Yoosuf and Masood Gholamiyeh, eds., Fetneh-e Shaikh ‘Ubeidullah-e Kord (Tehran, 1390/2012). As this article was finished before the author obtained a copy of Fetneh-ye Sheikh Ubeidullah it is not consulted in detail but will be used for the book the author is in the process of preparing.

¹⁵Gozide-ye asnad-e siyasi-ye Iran va Usmani: dowreh-ye Qajariyeh (Tehran, 1990); Mohamamd Hama Baqhe, Shuresh-e Sheikh Ubeidullah-e Nehri (1880) Le Belgename-i Qacar Da [Sheikh Ubeidullah revolt in Qajar documents, Arbil, Iraq, Kurdish Ministry of Education] (Hewler, 2000).

¹⁶Ete'mad al-Saltaneh Muhammad Hasan Khan, Al-Ma'athir wa'l-Athar (Tehran, 1306 Q./1888); Tarikh-e Muntazam-e Naseri, 2nd ed., ed. M.I. Rizvani, 3 vols. (Tehran, 1363–67/1984–88); Nader Mirza, Tarikh va Joghrafi-ye Dar al-Saltaneh-ye Tabriz (Tehran, 1981); Abbas Mirza Molk-Ara, Sharh-e hal-e Abbas Mirza Molk-Ara (Tehran, 1361/1983).

¹⁷Molk-Ara, Sharh-e hal-e Abbas Mirza Molk-Ara, 156–7.

¹⁸Mirza Rashid Adib al-Shu'ara, Tarikh-e Afshar (Tabriz, 1364/1985).

¹⁹Ibid., 529.

²⁰Previously only available at Iranian National Library, Manuscript no. 774, dated 1297; and Iranian National Library Malik, no. 3702, dated 1299 is now edited and published by the late Iraj Afshar. In Daftar-e Tarikh: Majmuʿe-ye Asnad va Manabeʿ-ye Tarikhi (Tehran, 1389/2011), 4: 107–58.

²¹Sabri Ateş, “Empires at the Margin: Towards a History of the Ottoman–Iranian Borderland and Borderland Peoples” (PhD diss., New York University, 2006).

²²James Clark, Provincial Concerns: A Political History of the Iranian Province of Azerbaijan (1848–1906) (Costa Mesa, CA, 2000).

²³Fırat Kılıç, “Sheikh Ubeidullah's Movement” (unpublished Master's thesis, Bilkent University, 2003). The other thesis was completed at the Sharif University of Tehran, but I have not yet been able to acquire it.

²⁴Van Bruinessen, “The Sadate Nehri or Gilanizade of Central Kurdistan,” 199–213.

²⁵For such fears see BOA.MVL, 227/21, June 8, 1851, Tezkere-i Seraskeri (General Staff, Memoranda).

²⁶See Ali Akbar Khan Sarhang, Eftetah, 1.

²⁷Yitzak Nakash, “The Conversion of Iraq's Tribes to Shi‘ism,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 26, no. 3 (August 1994): 443–63.

²⁸For Ottoman–Iranian competition in Iraq see Selim Deringil, “The Struggle against Shiism in Hamidian Iraq. A Study in Ottoman Counter-Propaganda,” Die Welt des Islams 30 (1990): 45–62; and also Gökhan Çetinsaya, “The Caliph and Mujtahids: Ottoman Policy towards the Shiite Community of Iraq in the Late Nineteenth Century,” Middle Eastern Studies 41, no. 4 (2005): 561–74; and Gökhan Çetinsaya, Ottoman Administration of Iraq, 1890–1908 (London, 2006).

²⁹The Ottoman commissioner noted that Iranians attacked and punished some of their own (Sunni) subjects, “so hideously that none of the states and nations, not even the wild Indians of America will do.” BOA.Y.E.E 35/112, fi 1298.R.7/May 13, 1875, Sealed Report by Necib Ali (hereafter Necib Ali's report). (In the BOA Catalogue instead of Ubeidullah, his father's name was written in the summary, and this can be misleading for researchers.) Together with a member of Erzurum Idare Meclisi (Administrative Council), Necib Ali Bey was appointed as the Ottoman Representative to the Commission of Inquiry formed to inquire about that event. Iran appointed Alican Agha Mirza Sadiq.

³⁰See Daftar-e Mụtaleʻat-e Siyasi va Bayn al-Milali (Iran), Guzide-ye asnad-e siyasi-ye Iran va Usmani: dowreh-ye Qajariye (Tehran, 1990–96), 6: 608–9 (hereafter Gozide-ye Asnad). During this period the language of Iranian documents was very respectful of the sheikh and very different from the language the shah used during the revolt. Instead of “sheikh-e pedar sukhte,” the sheikh was “jenab-e mustetab-e sheikh salamullah.” See Gozide-ye Asnad, 6: 602 and 608, 609. For a very short account of that episode also see Qurians, Qiyame Shaikh Ubeidullah, 25.

³¹Ottoman Embassy to IMoFA, 13 Cumadelula, 1292, in Gozide-ye Asnad, 6: 617.

³²Necib Ali's report.

³³For the notion of “broker” see Doug McAdam, S. Tarrow, and C. Tilly, Dynamics of Contention (New York, 2001).

³⁴Both Ottoman and Iranian documents mention such pleas. For one see BOA.Y.E.E 35/112 fi 1298.R.7/May 13, 1875, Necib Ali's report and Qurians various.

³⁵BOA.HR.SYS 725/50, Sheikh's letter to Mutasarrif of Van, May 27, 1873 and Mutasarrif of Van to [Erzurum], May 17, 1873.

³⁶Necib Ali's report. Emphasis added.

³⁷Qurians, Qiyame, 23. Similar accounts of the sheikh's stature abound in the missionary and consular reports, and as I have mentioned them elsewhere I will not reproduce them here.

³⁸The words used were: “Komisyon baraye eslahat-e ayende-ye sarhadat.” Gozide-ye Asnad, 6: 572–3.

³⁹The daily unfolding of the subsequent famine during which many perished and people were reported to have sold their children, and, according to some accounts, even ate their children's dead bodies, is fairly well documented by the American missionaries in the region. Among many accounts see Rev. Samuel G. Wilson, Persian Life and Customs (New York, 1895); Robert Elliot Speer, Hakim Sahib, The Foreign Doctor: A Biography of Joseph Plumb Cochran, M.D. of Persia (New York, 1911).

⁴⁰For a history of missionary activities in the region, among many, see, Hans-Lukas Kieser, Iskalanmış Barış (Istanbul, 2005) where he analyzes the identity formation of the Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish, Greek, and Nestorian communities in relation to the missionary activities between 1839–1938. Rev. C.H. Wheeler, Ten Years on the Euphrates or Primitive Missionary Illustrated (Boston, 1868); Julius Richter, A History of Protestant Missions in the Near East (New York, 1970 (1910)); Frederic G. Coan, Yesterdays in Persia and Kurdistan (Claremont, 1939); David H. Finnie, Pioneers East: The Early American Experience in the Middle East (Cambridge, MA, 1967); Frank Andrews Stone, Academies For Anatolia (New York, 1984).

⁴¹BOA.HR.SYS 726/45, Tehran Embassy to the OMoFA, July 6, 1878.

⁴²Ibid.

⁴³BOA.HR.SYS 726/46, Telegram from Van Vilayat to OMoFA (Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs) informing Istanbul about Mutasarrif of Hakkari's report, July 18, 1878–July 30, 1878.

⁴⁴BOA.Y.A.HUS 162/36, this file includes many of the sheikh's letters to the sultan and other Ottoman authorities.

⁴⁵PRO.FO. 78/2911, Trotter General Consul of Kurdistan to Sir A.H. Layard, British Ambassador to Istanbul, Erzurum, September 5,12, 1879, Abbot to T. Thomson British Minister at Tehran, September 25, 1879.

⁴⁶For the sheikh's most striking letter to the sultan where he warned the sultan that the Muslims will not allow the formation of an Armenian state and that due to Tanzimat reforms he had given in much of his authority, see BOA.Y.PRK.KOM 3/66, 1299 L, August 7/21, 1882. For Abdulhamid's policies toward Kurdish tribes see Janet Klein, The Margins of Empire: Kurdish Militias in the Ottoman Tribal Zone (Stanford, CA, 2011); and also Stephen Duguid, “The Politics of Unity: Hamidian Policy in Eastern Anatolia,” Middle Eastern Studies 9 (May 1973): 139–55; Eugene L. Rogan, “Aşiret Mektebi: Abdulhamid II's School for Tribes (1892–1907),” International Journal of Middle East Studies 28, no. 1 (February 1996): 83–107.

⁴⁷J.C. Smith, Rebel and Saint: Muslim Notables, Populist Protest, Colonial Encounters (Algeria and Tunisia, 1800–1904) (Berkeley, CA, 1994), 4.

⁴⁸In his highly biased account of the revolt Ali Afshar argues that Ubeidullah claimed that it was Sheikh Taha who from his grave urged them to attack Iran and uproot the rafidhi. Additionally Afshar claims that he issued a fatwa for jihad against the rafidhi permitting taking their property and lives, claiming that Sheikh Taha ordered so and promised them success and heaven. He also claims that the sheikh declared himself the sultan of the tribes and with the dream of rulership and independence started collecting arms and ammunitions. Tarikh-e Afshar, 530.

⁴⁹Speer, Hakim Sahib, 82–3.

⁵⁰For the first Ottoman responses to the outbreak of the rebellion see, BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, 16 or Y.A.RES., 8/7, October 11–13, 1880.

⁵¹Qurians, Qiyame, 29. Emphasis added.

⁵²Speer, Hakim Sahib, 83–4.

⁵³BOA.HR.SYS 726/112, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, November 12, 1880.

⁵⁴Qurians, Qiyame, 94. The Deputy Ottoman Consul of Urumieh also corroborated this account. See BOA,Y A RES 10/3, 18, Deputy Ottoman Consul of Urumieh's report.

⁵⁵These messengers were sent by the governor and commander of Van to urge the sheikh to withdraw his forces. BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 7/34, 4th Army Mushir Nafiz Pasha to the Ottoman Ministry of Defense (hereafter, OMD), 21 TE, 96/November 2, 1880.

⁵⁶Muhammad Rahim Nusrat Makoi, Tarikh-e Enqelab-e Azerbaijan va Khawanin-e Maku (Qom, ?), 18.

⁵⁷Qurians, Qiyame, 95–6, and BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, Ottoman Deputy Consul of Urumieh's Report. While the sheikh's troops were threatening to attack Urumieh, very discomforting news of atrocities committed by his son's forces arrived from the southern front, especially from the town of Mianduab. To this turning point, however, we will return in the following pages.

⁵⁸Wilson, Persian, 113; Qurians, Qiyame, 96.

⁵⁹At the time of the revolt too it was claimed that Cochran and Colonel Clayton, British Vice Consul of Kurdistan, had instigated the sheikh to rebel. Speer, Hakim Sahib, 83–4. For Ottoman Embassy of Tehran's response see, BOA.HR.SYS 726/110, To OMoFA, 24, TE, 1880, For Abbot's own account of the first steps of the revolt, see, PRO.FO 60/431, Abbot to British Minister at Tehran, December 10, 1880 or to Lord Aberdeen, December 30, 1880.

⁶⁰Abbot added that, “during the occupation of Oroomiah, the Union Jack, and Star and Stripes ‘floated side by side’ over the (American missionary) college buildings and a sign in Persian read, The Residence of the English Consul and the American Missionaries.” “As long as he stayed in Oroomiah,” he claimed, “the sheikh had paid marked attention to my representations and I happily succeeded in saving many lives and property.” PRO.FO 60/431, Abbot to British Minister at Tehran, December 10, 1880 and to Lord Aberdeen, December 30, 1880.

⁶¹This “help” never materialized but troops remained deployed in the frontier region for quite some time. It was reported that after the defeat of the revolt and when the sheikh was considering a second attack on Iran in the winter of 1881–82, a large Russian force concentrated at Julfa was ready to occupy the province in the event of a further Kurdish advance. See BL-IOR (British Library, India Office Records), L/PS/20/202, M.G. Gerard (Captain and Brevet Lieutenant of the 1st India Horse), Notes of a Journey through Kurdistan in the Winter of 1881–82 (Calcutta, 1883), 25.

⁶²Qurians, Qiyame, 100–101. Abbot arrived at Savojbulagh on the 27th of the month of Zilka'da (November 1, 1880) and submitted his father's letter of introduction to Sheikh Abdul Qadir. From there, on the orders of Sheikhzadeh, the British consul, in the company of some of the most prominent Kurdish chiefs (including Hamza Agha and an escort of 150 horsemen), was conducted through the Persian lines, leaving him in Gerdesh, a place four farsakh to Benab from where he would proceed to Tabriz. Qurians, Qiyame, 68.

⁶³BOA.HR.SYS 726/110, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, 21 TE (October) 1880 and also BOA.HR.SYS 726/112, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, 10.TS (November) 1880.

⁶⁴Gozide-yeAsnad-i, 6: 573–4.

⁶⁵BOA.HR.SYS 726/112, From Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, November 10, 1880, and BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 3/64 Shah to the Sultan, 1297.Za.11/October 16, 1880, BOA.HR.SYS 726/110 Tehran Embassy to the OMoFA, November 22, 1880.

⁶⁶Nusrat Makoi, Tarikh-e Enqelab-e Azerbaijan va Khawanin-e Maku, 19.

⁶⁷BOA.HR.SYS 726/110, Tehran Embassy to the Porte, 24–28 TE (October) 1880.

⁶⁸BOA.HR.SYS 726/109, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, 10 TE (October), 1880, telegram no. 41.

⁶⁹BOA.HR.SYS 726/112, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, November 10, 1880, and BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 3/64 Shah of Iran to the Sultan, 11 Zilka‘da, 1297–October 16, 1880, BOA.HR.SYS 726/110 Tehran. Embassy to OMoFA, November 22, 1880.

⁷⁰BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, Ottoman Deputy Consul's report.

⁷¹Qurians, Qiyame, 97.

⁷²To safeguard the Catholics who would remain in the war region from the Kurdish attacks, Grand “Khalifah” of Urumieh's Catholics, Monsseignore Cluzel, sent the Deputy of the Ottoman consul (who himself was a Christian), his brother Hajji Davud, and Monsieur Solomon, the preacher, to the sheikh. According to the deputy consul's account, upon learning their identity the sheikh told the messengers that if the city were not surrendered, he “would treat it like Mianduab, leaving nothing alive. However, there would be no harm to non-Muslims.” BOA.YA RES, 10/3, Ottoman Deputy Consul's report, 19.

⁷³Reverend Wilson reported that when the attack seemed imminent the citizens wished to surrender the city of Urumieh and the Mullahs sent a deputation seeking to deliver the city to the Kurds. Yet the acting governor sent Dr. Cochran, who urged the sheikh to grant twenty-four hours’ delay, after which the city would be surrounded without bloodshed. At Dr. Cochran's request the sheikh reluctantly granted the delay. This saved the city for the government, for during this reprieve the governor Eqbal al-Dowleh and his soldiers extricated themselves, reentered the city, and prepared for its defense. After his arrival in the city Eqbal al-Dowleh resisted surrender claiming that he would be faithful to the king. “At this juncture, the sheikh might have easily taken the city.” See Wilson, Persian, 114–18. Also see Speer, Hakim Sahib, 93. BOA.YA.RES, 10/3, Ottoman Deputy Consul of Urumieh's Report, 19.

⁷⁴Speer, Hakim Sahib, 86, 93.

⁷⁵Qurians, Qiyame, 100, and also BOA,Y A RES 10/3, 19.

⁷⁶Wilson, Persian, 114.

⁷⁷Qurians, Qiyame, 100. Rahim Nusrat Makoi, on the other hand, claims that, after the defeat of the forces of Eqbal al-Dowleh his father Sheikh Ali Khan Sartib Makoi arrived in Urumieh with the tenth fovc of Khoi. That he adds was the time the sheikh arrived in Urumieh to conduct the Friday prayers. He made an agreement with the people of Urumieh who were gathered at the Masjid Asghar Khan, who stamped the agreement to acknowledge him as their pir so that they would be left in peace. Yet Sertib Makoi tore the agreement apart and encouraged the Urumians to resist the forces of the sheikh that they believed is about 60,000. Tarikh-e Enqelab-e Azerbaijan va Khawanin-e Maku, 19.

⁷⁸Ibid., 88–90.

⁷⁹Ibid., 102.

⁸⁰Letters of Mrs. Cochran; see Speer, Hakim Sahib, 88.

⁸¹Qurians, Qiyame, 102, and BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, 19.

⁸²Speer, Hakim Sahib, 90.

⁸³Qurians, Qiyame, 103–4

⁸⁴Wilson, Persian, 115. Because missionaries were mostly concerned about Christians, and they had already counted and registered every Christian household, these numbers should be trusted.

⁸⁵BOA.HR.SYS 726/110, Tehran Embassy Telegram no. 60, 3 TS, 1880/November 3, 1880; Wilson, Persian, 115; Qurians claimed that when withdrawing in their clash with Teymour Khan's forces the sheikh's forces lost about eighty men and then escaped; although the sheikh's account varied. Qurians, Qiyame, 105, and for the sheikh's claims see Y.A.RES., 10/3, p.19; Nusrat Makoi, Tarikh-e Enqelab, 19.

⁸⁶BOA.Y.PRK.MYD, 1/91, Telegram from Navy Colonel Yaver Ahmed Ratib Bey, January 3, 1881. Ahmed Ratib Bey's service was appreciated and while in Hakkari he was made a Mirliva (Major General).

⁸⁷BOA.Y.PRK.A 3/ 4, Ubeidullah to the Vali of Van, 12 Muharrem 98/December 14, 1880.

⁸⁸BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 4/82, 4th Army Mushir Samih Pasha to the OMD, 20 TE 96/November 1, 1880.

⁸⁹BOA.YPRK.ASK 4/82, 4th Army Mushir Samih Pasha to the OMD, 20 TE 96/November 1, 1880 and Y.PRK.ASK. 7/34, p.10. Nafiz Pasha's letter about the sheikh's letter to the Qa'im Maqam of Gevar, 1 Zilhicce 97 ve fi 22 TS 96/November 4, 1880.

⁹⁰BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 4/76, Samih Pasha to OMD, November 9, 1881.

⁹¹Speer, Hakim Sahib, 92.

⁹²BOA.Y.PRK.EŞA 2/73, no date [1298/1882].

⁹³[Khaneh-ye in pedar sukhte rikhte, pedaresh ra dar atesh besuzand.] Gozide-ye Asnad, 6: 587–9.

⁹⁴Speer, Hakim Sahib, 93–4.

⁹⁵According to Qurians' account these forces were poorly armed and all in all had 300–400 Martini rifles, see Qurians, Qiyame, 37–8. Also BOA.HR.SYS 107/3, and BOA.HR.SYS 726/109, Tehran Embassy to the OMoFA, 6 TE (October), 1880.

⁹⁶BOA.Y.PRK EŞA 2/71, 1297/October 9, 1880.

⁹⁷BOA.Y.PRK.EŞA 2/71, 1297/1880. This letter is undated.

⁹⁸Ibid. Even though including the name of a ruler in a Friday prayer was a sign of recognizing his sovereignty, mentioning the name of the Ottoman sultan as the caliph in the khutbehs in non-Ottoman lands was not rare. For example it was reported that in the year 1892 the sultan's name was included in the khutbehs read in China, see BOA.Y.PRK.MŞ 4/91,1310.Z.30 /July 14, 1893.

⁹⁹Qurians, Qiyame, 43.

¹⁰⁰Gerard, Notes, 23.

¹⁰¹Speer, Hakim Sahib, 83–4.

¹⁰²Wilson, Persian, 112, Rev. Wilson claimed that upwards of 2,000 villages were burned during the revolt.

¹⁰³Qurians, Qiyame, 43–4; also see Speer, Hakim Sahib, 83–4; Wilson, Persian, 112.

¹⁰⁴Qurians, Qiyame, 57.

¹⁰⁵Ibid. The want of provisions among sheikhzadeh's army will be reported to Istanbul as well. BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 4/67, From Ferik Namik Pasha to OMD, 13.TE.96/October 25, 1880.

¹⁰⁶See Resendez, Changing, Introduction.

¹⁰⁷Qurians, Qiyame, 46–7.

¹⁰⁸Ibid.

¹⁰⁹Ibid., 55.

¹¹⁰Ibid., 60.

¹¹¹Ibid.

¹¹²Ibid., 64.

¹¹³BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, To the Ottoman Ministry of Interior by Consul General of Tabriz, as reported by the Ottoman Consul of Rumieh, 18 Safer 97–8 KS 96/January 20, 1881.

¹¹⁴BOA, Y PRK HR 5/31, Samih Pasha to OMD, 16 TS 96/November 28, 1880, and 4^th Army Mushir Nafiz Pasha to OMD, 1298.M.6/December 8, 1880.

¹¹⁵I agree that alliances and public representation of political identities and other forms of participation in struggle proceeds through intense coordination, contingent improvisation, tactical maneuvering, responses to signals from other participants, on-the-spot reinterpretations of what is possible, desirable, or efficacious, and strings of unexpected outcomes inciting new improvisations. McAdam et al., Dynamics of Contention, 132.

¹¹⁶Irrespective of ethnic origin still in the frontier region, even today Ajam is used to identify the Shi‘is. In the Maku and Qotur regions where I visited, upon inquiry Kurds would identify the Shi‘i Azeri villages as Ajam villages.

¹¹⁷Qurians, Qiyame, 46.

¹¹⁸Qurians, Qiyame, 64. Also see BOA, Y ARES 10/3 Consul General of Tabriz to the Ottoman Ministry of Interior as reported by the Ottoman Consul of Urumieh, 18 Safer 97–8 KS 96/January 20, 1881.

¹¹⁹These atrocities were best reported by Qurians, Qiyame.

¹²⁰Quoted in Wilson, Persian, 116.

¹²¹Nusrat-Makoi, Tarikh-e Enqelab-e Azerbaijan, 20.

¹²²Qurians, Qiyame, 72–5.

¹²³Qurians, Qiyame, 76–7.

¹²⁴This high ranking army officer of Kurdish origin was in charge of the Tehran barracks in the late 1840s, and towards the end of 1850s became the Persian minister to European courts, and then ambassador to Paris. See Abbas Amanat, Pivot of the Universe (Berkeley, CA, 1997), 95–6, 369, 418.

¹²⁵Qurians, Qiyame, 80.

¹²⁶Ibid., 82.

¹²⁷Ibid., 84.

¹²⁸Husayn Khan Mushir al-Dowleh was ambassador to Istanbul, and was later appointed as the Minister of Justice and then Chancellor/Sepahsalar.

¹²⁹Qurians, Qiyame, 84.

¹³⁰Ibid., 90–91.

¹³¹Ibid., 90–93.

¹³²Ibid., 92.

¹³³Qurians, Qiyame, 69.

¹³⁴PRO.FO. 60/431, Abbot to R. Thomson, December 30, 1880.

¹³⁵For a similar account see Speer, Hakim Sahib, 98. For Ottoman Consul of Urumieh report see, BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, p.15, 18 S 97–8 KS 96/January 20, 1881.

¹³⁶Speer, Hakim Sahib, 99–100, and Wilson, Persian, 122. In fact it was the letters of missionary Dr. and Mrs. Shedd to Mrs. Shedd's brother General Rufus Dawes (who was then a member of US Congress) that turned their fortunes. Through his efforts, “Secretary of State, William M. Evarts, telegraphed the United States Minister in London, Mr. Lowell, directing him to lay the facts before the British Government, and request that they instruct their ambassador in Tehran to see the shah about the matter.” That he did, and secured a letter to that effect. Later the same missionary individuals and their protection would be instrumental in opening a United States diplomatic mission in Tehran, the first head of which was the son of a missionary. Through the efforts of General Rufus Dawes, the American Legation was established in Tehran. After the danger of revolt was past, “the conviction remained that United States owed its citizens in Persia efficient protection.” Having more missionaries in Persia than any other country, in August 1882, Congress passed a bill for the appointment of a consul-general and charge d'affaires at Tehran, which in the following year was changed to minister resident. The son of a missionary, S.G.W. Benjamin, was appointed as the first representative of the US to the court of Persia, arriving on June 9, 1883. See Speer, Hakim Sahib, 101.

¹³⁷PRO.FO. 60/441, Abbot to R. Thomson, January 28, 1881.

¹³⁸BOA.Y.A.RES 9/23, Ottoman Council of Ministers Resolution, January 2, 1880.

¹³⁹BOA.Y.PRK.MYD 1/91, Telegram from Navy Colonel Yaver Ahmed Ratib Bey, January 3, 1880.

¹⁴⁰BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, 9, Sepahsalar to Nafiz Pasha, 13 Muharrem, 98/December 15, 1880.

¹⁴¹PRO.FO. 60/441, Abbot to R. Thomson, January 27, 1881.

¹⁴²BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 5/70, Nafiz Pasha to OMD, January 12, 1881.

¹⁴³BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, 6 Şubat-ı Ferengi 1881/February 6, 1881, IMFA to OMoFA, 02.02.1881 and Sa'id Pasha to the Palace 18.Ra 98–7 Mart 97/February 19, 1881.

¹⁴⁴BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, Sa'id Pasha to the Palace 18.Ra 98–7 Mart 97/February 19, 1881.

¹⁴⁵Ibid.

¹⁴⁶For but one example see, BOA, YA HUS 166/22, Ambassador Fahri Bey to OMoFA, 22 Safer 97/12 KS 96/January 24, 1881. And also Gozide-ye Asnad-e Siyasi-ye Iran va Usmani, Dore-ye Qajariyeh (Tehran, 1990–96), 6: 585.

¹⁴⁷At this time Tehran was sharing information with St. Petersburg and the Russian Minister was often meeting with the Iranian authorities and was informed of the developments by the Iranians. See Gozide-ye Asnad-i, 6: 576–80 and 583.

¹⁴⁸BOA.Y.PRK.A 3 /4, Ahmed Ratib Bey to the Sultan, January 3, 1881, Sheikh to Government of Van, 12 Muharrem 98/December 14, 1880.

¹⁴⁹BOA.Y.PRK.A 3/4, Proceedings of the Ottoman Council of Ministers, 21 Safer 97–11 KS 96/January 23, 1881.

¹⁵⁰BOA.Y.E.E 82/6, 8.R.1298–25.12.1296/March 9, 1881.

¹⁵¹BOA.Y.PRK.A 3/4, Ottoman Council of Ministers, 21 Safer 97–11 KS 96/January 23, 1881.

¹⁵²BOA.Y.PRK.RES 10/3 Ottoman Council of Ministers Resolution, Rebiulahir 98/ Subat 96/February 1881.

¹⁵³The number seems very inflated, and could be individuals instead of families. But in the original the word is hane meaning households. “Lakin mes'ele-i ma'lumede hicrete mecbur olan yüz bin hane muhacirin zuefa şimdiden mal ve eşyalarini furuhtla cümlesi silah ve at tedarikinde oldukları görülmüşdür.” BOA, Y PRK MYD 1/85, Ahmed Ratib Bey [Rewanduz] to the Sultan, 8–12 Şubat 96/February 20–24, 1881.

¹⁵⁴Andrés Reséndez, Changing National Identities at the Frontiers: Texas and New Mexico, 1800–1850 (Cambridge, 2005), Introduction.

¹⁵⁵Ibid. Ahmed Ratib Bey does not provide the details of the negotiations and does not tell us how Istanbul convinced the sheikh to remain calm.

¹⁵⁶BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 7/34, The Mushir of the 4th Army Nafiz Pasha to Ottoman Ministry of Defense (hereafter OMoD), 30 KS 96 /February 11, 1881.

¹⁵⁷BOA.Y.A.RES 10/26, Ottoman Council of Ministers Resolution, February 30, 1881.

¹⁵⁸Ibid.

¹⁵⁹BOA.Y.PRK.HR 5/63, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, March 16–17, 1881.

¹⁶⁰See among many, Jeremy Salt, Imperialism, Evangelism, and the Ottoman Armenians, 1878–1896 (London, 1993); Donald Bloxham, The Great Game of Genocide : Imperialism, Nationalism, and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians (Oxford, 2005); Manoug Joseph Somakian, Empires in Conflict: Armenia and the Great Powers, 1895–1920 (London, 1995).

¹⁶¹For these letters see BOA.Y.A.HUS 167/15, Nafiz Pasha to OMD, 21 Mart 97/April 2,1881. Same info also in BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 7/34, p.2. For the letter to the people of Ercis, as summarized by Nafiz Pasha, see BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 7/34, to OMD, 1 Mart 97/March 13, 1881. For the sheikh's letters to Bitlis see BOA.Y.E.E 82/6, 8 R 1298–25.12.1296/March 9, 1881. For his letters to the tribes in Mosul region see BOA.Y.PRK A 3/6, Vali of Mosul to Prime Minister's Office-Daire-i Başvekalate, 24 Subat 96 / March 8, 1811.

¹⁶²Ibid.

¹⁶³Unfortunately I was not able to find what these publications (neşriyat) might have been. BOA.Y.A.RES 10/59, Ottoman Council of Ministers Resolution, 18 Cumadelula 98–5 Nisan 97/March 17, 1881. Nafiz Pasha informed OMD that all advised measures are taken and tribes are distancing themselves from the sheikh. See, BOA.A.MKT.MHM 486/62, Nafiz Pasha to OMD, 15 Nisan 97/March 27, 1881.

¹⁶⁴The letter was forwarded to Abbot. PRO.FO. 60/441, Abbot to Principal Secretary of State, September 9, 1881.

¹⁶⁵When asked about such a possibility Tehran assured Istanbul that in that case the sheikh would not receive a welcome. BOA. Y PRK HR 5/56, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, March 16–17, 1881.

¹⁶⁶BOA.Y.A.HUS 167/38, Form Said Pasha (Grand Vizier) to the Palace, 18 Cumadelula, 98/March 24, 1881.

¹⁶⁷BOA.YP.RK.HR 5/56, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, March 16–17, 1881.

¹⁶⁸BOA.Y.A.HUS 167/38, Form [Said Pasha-Grand Vizier] to the Palace, 18 Cumadelula, 98/March 24, 1881.

¹⁶⁹BOA.HR.SYS 727/63, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, May 31, 1881.

¹⁷⁰Ibid.

¹⁷¹Wilson, Persian, 118.

¹⁷²Ibid.

¹⁷³This declaration was later transmitted to Istanbul by the Ottoman Consul of Tabriz. See Y.PRK.ASK 15/18 1299.2.25/May 7, 1883.

¹⁷⁴Speer, Hakim Sahib, 110.

¹⁷⁵BL-IOR, L/PS/20/202; Gerard, Notes, 27.

¹⁷⁶PRO.FO., 60/441, Abbot to R. Thomson, June 7, 1881.

¹⁷⁷BOA.Y.PRK.ASK, 7/34, From Nafiz Pasha to OMD, 19 Mayis 97/May 31, 1881.

¹⁷⁸BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 7/34, Nafiz Pasha to OMD, 27 Mayis 97 and 30 Mayis 97/June 8, 1881–June 11, 1881.

¹⁷⁹Gozide-ye Asnad-i, 6: 595.

¹⁸⁰BOA.HR.SYS 723/20 Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, June 24, 1881.

¹⁸¹Gozide-ye Asnad-i, 6: 597.

¹⁸²For specific examples see Wilson, Persian, 118–19, and PRO.FO. 60/441, Abbot to Thomson, June 7, 1881.

¹⁸³Wilson, Persian, 119.

¹⁸⁴The New York Daily Tribune, Saturday, September 10, 1881.

¹⁸⁵Ibid.

¹⁸⁶In spite of such acts of courage, it appears Hamza Agha was well aware of the hopelessness of the situation and the campaign he started. Hence, when he was in the company of 200 horsemen around the region of Savojbulagh he responded to an Iranian offer of negotiation positively. According to the missionary and consular accounts, with a stratagem Hasan Ali Khan Garrusi, Silar-il-Askar, a Kurd of Garrus and Governor of Savojbulagh (who as we saw attempted to justify the violence of the Iranian by citing the example of Napoleon), sent a deputation and a Quran to Hamza Agha promising him “if he swear allegiance to the shah, authority over southern Kurdistan, on condition of paying a small revenue. Hamza Agha together with fourteen of his men went to Governor's tent, they dined together, and upon the Governor's excusing himself the tent he was in was riddled with bullets.” Reverend Wilson added that until his fall he killed a dozen. Yet his head was cut off and sent to the commander-in-chief at Urumieh. Wilson, Persian, 121. This view was first shared by Consul Abbot who later added that “according to the more recent intelligence it was Qadir Aga and the brother of the qazi of Sovojbulak that had induced Hamza Aga to come as a suppliant to Vezir Fevaid's [Garrusi] tent where he was killed.” PRO.FO. 60/441, Abbot to Thomson, August 3, 1881.

¹⁸⁷Gerard, Notes, 26. Though 80 years of age, shortly afterward the Shikak chief escaped and ended up on the Ottoman side. Tehran nominated one Hassan Khan as chief of his tribe.

¹⁸⁸PRO.FO 60/441, Abbot to R. Thomson, September 9, 1881.

¹⁸⁹Ibid.

¹⁹⁰One of the forts of Mamesh region, Mabawa, which was destroyed in the war, was repaired and garrisoned by 200 regular soldiers, sirbaz. Gerard, Notes, 22.

¹⁹¹Ibid., 24–5. “The Persian Governor [Garrusi], who was previously Iranian ambassador and knows fluent French, has 1,000 men and the city has considerable trade in furs with Russia,” he wrote.

¹⁹²Ibid., 23, 27.

¹⁹³A correspondent of the New York “Evening Post” described his escape as follows: “During the fast of Ramadan, by giving out that he would pass the whole time in meditation and prayer … he secured his chamber against the entry of anyone who might have prematurely made known the fact of his flight. He thus gained clear start of all pursuit of over twenty-seven days. A jug of water and a loaf were placed each night at the door of his chamber, and it only required that these should disappear regularly—as was easily managed through a devoted attendant—for those on guard to imagine that the Sheikh was always safe within. It was only on the sultan's noticing his absence from the service at the mosque and from the subsequent levee at the palace that messengers were sent to bring Obeidullah to the imperial palace, but found that the bird had flown.” Quoted in Wilson, Persian, 122.

¹⁹⁴BOA.HR.SYS 82/42, Ottoman Consul of Tbilisi to OMoFA, August 19, September 5, 20, 1882.

¹⁹⁵Istanbul quickly responded to the sheikh's escape and a couple of days later a commission of inquiry was formed to investigate. His personal attendant, Abdullah, an Iranian émigré and most possibly his murid, who was found by detectives a few days after the Sheikh's escape, almost repeated what the NY Evening Post had reported. Abdullah testified that until the evening of 7 Ramadan (July 22, 1882) the sheikh was in his room and upon noticing the sheikh's absence that night, he was advised by Khalifah Said to mind his own business and keep quiet. Being the sheikh's only personal attendant, on receiving the [Baş]vekaletpehanhi's [Prime Minister] official invitation for Ayd al-fitr, [Ramadan holiday] the day before Ayd, he realized that the sheikh's absence would be obvious on the day of the religious holiday and therefore he escaped to where he was found by the detectives, in a room shared by Madrasa students from Erzurum. Abdullah's hiding in a room shared by madrasa students from Erzurum can be taken as an indication of Naqshbandi or organized Kurdish network in operation which might have helped the sheikh to get away. The document we have about the sheikh's right-hand man and helper, his Khalifah Said Effendi's interrogation unfortunately is very partial and is about whether a paper found among his stuff belonged to him or not and as such is not very informative. For the interrogation of Abdullah see BOA.Y.PRK.KOM 3/65, Commission of Inquiry Minutes, 1299 L 6/August 20, 1882. For the interrogation of Mehmed Said Effendi, see BOA.Y.PRK.KOM 3/66, 1299 L 7/August 21, 1882.

¹⁹⁶BOA.Y.PRK.UM 5/40, Vali of Hakkari to OMD, 1299. Za. 5/September 18, 1882.

¹⁹⁷BOA.Y.PRK.UM 18/39, Report from Ferik Musa Pasha, 1300.S.7/December 18, 1882.

¹⁹⁸BOA.Y.PRK.AZJ 6/1, Sheikh Ubeidullah to the Palace [Mabeyn-i Humayun Baskitabeti], 6 Eylul 98/September 18, 1882.

¹⁹⁹“As it was decreed,” he wrote, “forty thousand courageous Ottoman Kurdish infantry and cavalry, without salary or being a burden to the public treasury proceeded to the battlefield, and stayed for seven months.” See BOA.Y.PRK.AZJ 4/96 Sheikh Ubeidullah to Sultan Abdulhamid, 1298.Za.18/October 12, 1881. Ubeidullah signed this letter as “El dai el-Qadiri, El Nakshsbandi, Ubeydullah.”

²⁰⁰The sheikh also informed the sultan that, “trespassing the frontiers of the Sublime State, Iranian troops recently pillaged and plundered fifteen inhabited villages, daring to kill the inhabitants on the Ottoman side and destroying some of my villages they ruined the livelihood of my family.” Ibid.

²⁰¹On September 2, 1882 the sheikh sent a messenger to Urumieh to inquire with Dr. Cochran about the policies of Turkey and Iran and about the news of the world in general. Not responding to the sheikh's messenger, Cochran maintained that the sheikh's appearance brought to an end the comparative peace that they had enjoyed, and that the border districts were in panic and that people in Urumieh were thinking that his return necessarily meant that he was going to re-attack the city. Speer, Hakim Sahib, 124.

²⁰²Ibid.

²⁰³BOA.YPRK.UM 18/39, Report from Ferik Musa Pasha, 1300.S.7/December 18, 1882.

²⁰⁴BOA.Y.YRK.AZJ 6/118. [No date] In the archive catalogs the date of the letter is given as 1299 and it is cataloged as “Sheikh Ubeidullah's letter to the chiefs of tribes.”

²⁰⁵He urged the recipient of the letter that they should secretly spread the word and inform a certain Mullah Fehim to unite his people and bring them over to the Ottoman side. Informing the recipient that 200 individuals from the Bradost tribe had joined him and that many others were coming, he warned that they should not be unwary and keep the correspondence secret among those the sheikh had already told them about. Ibid.

²⁰⁶BOA.YPRK.BSK 7/94, Telegram to Kamil Bey in Dize, 1299. Za.27/October 10, 1882.

²⁰⁷Wilson, Persian, 122.

²⁰⁸BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 18/39, Ferik Musa Pashas Report, December 18, 1882.

²⁰⁹BOA.Y.A.HUS 172/32, Memorandums and cover letters of the OMoFA, February 11–14–16, 1882.

²¹⁰BOA.Y.PRK.BŞK 7/7, Telegrams from Kamil Bey, Ali Reza and 4th Army Mushir Nafiz Pasha, 1300.M.14/November 25, 1882.

²¹¹BOA.Y.PRK DH 1/48, Telegrams from Mirliva Suleyman Bey (November 26, 1882); Ferik Musa Pasha (November 15, 1882); Miralay Huseyin Bey (November 27, 1882); and Suleyman Pasha at Van (November 13–17, 1882).

²¹²After his father's death the sheikh's younger son Abdul Qadir returned to Istanbul where he later became a member of the Ottoman Senate and afterward its president. He was hanged by the nascent Turkish republic for his pro-Kurdish activities (1925). His older son Sadiq went back to his ancestral village where he remained a petty chieftain, far from his father's and forefather's authority. The complaints of Ottoman and Iranian borderland authorities about Sheikh Sadiq continued. But none of these complaints were related to a possible challenge to the now secured “boundaries,” and were related to “smuggling.”

²¹³Guha, “The Prose of Counter Insurgency,” 47.

²¹⁴In most of the Iranian documents the sheikh was at best referred to as mel'un (the damned), pedar sukhte (the accursed), or as yek nafar-e yaghi-taghi-ye pedar sukhte (a presumptuous accursed rebel). See Gozideh-ye Asnad, part on Mes’ale-ye Sheikh Ubeidullah in vol. 6.

²¹⁵Usama Makdisi, The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon (Berkeley, CA, 2000), 6.

²¹⁶Qurians, Qiyame, 23.

²¹⁷Ubeidullah's authority was well known even a decade before the revolt. The British consul of Kurdistan in 1869 maintained that Sheikh Ubeidullah enjoyed “the adoration of the ignorant Kurds, who, blind instruments of his will, regard him as little short of the Deity.” PRO.FO. 78/2911, Trotter to Sir A. H. Layard, Erzurum, 5 September 1879.

²¹⁸To prove his point Cochran maintained that while at Nehri (where he conversed with the sheikh at least two hours a day) he had many calls from Kurdish chiefs form different parts of the country who had come to pay their respects to the sheikh. Adding, “Except winter, from 500 to 1,000 persons are entertained daily at this great man's personal expense. During the famine he fed sixty poor persons daily.” Speer, Hakim Sahib, 80–81.

²¹⁹Speer, Hakim Sahib, 74.

²²⁰BOA.HR.SYS 727/63, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, January 24, 1881.

²²¹Speer, Hakim Sahib, 75. According to this interpretation the first man in the ecclesiastical rank of Islam was the caliph, and the second was the sheriff of Mecca.

²²²Ibid.

²²³Cochran maintained that the sheikh was a man well read in Persian and Arabic literature and was a very pious person who had also read most of the Bible (a copy of which the missionaries sent to him). Cochran's letter to one of his friends was published in Buffalo Commercial Advertiser of July 26, 1880, and quoted in Speer, Hakim Sahib, 79.

²²⁴In fact as I have tried to show, problems between the sheikh, his followers, and the representatives of Tehran and Istanbul had already started before the revolt. Writing about the clashes between the Ottoman troops, people of Amadiyah, and the sheikh's son Abdul Qadir a year before the revolt, Consul Abbot maintained that the sheikh had been always “a thorn in the side” of the Turkish government against whom he rose in arms. He cautioned though that the sheik's “unlimited sway over religious feelings of the tribes throughout the Kurdistan may perhaps deter the Turkish government from dealing with him as a rebel of his stamp deserves.” PRO.FO 60/425, Abbot to HM Minister at Tehran, Tabriz, October 28, 1879.

²²⁵PRO.FO. 60/441, Abbot, August 10, 1881, “Memorandum on the Kurdish Question and its relation to the Armenian Communities.”

²²⁶PRO.FO. 60/441, Abbot to Earl Granville Tabriz, October 1, 1881. Emphasis added.

²²⁷Ibid.

²²⁸Ibid.

²²⁹Ibid.

²³⁰PRO.FO. 60/441, Abbot to Earl Granville Tabriz, October 1, 1881.

²³¹“Bizim taraf Kurdistanının ve belki ahalisinin cümlesi kendisini peygamberliğe yakın derecede tanıyıb i'tizad etmiş olduklarından bütün Kurdistan kendisine kalben merbuttur.” BOA.HR.SYS 726/112, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, November 12, 1880.

²³²Ibid.

²³³BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 3/72, 7 TS 96/November 19, 1880 From Samih Pasha [to Ministry of Defense].

²³⁴BOA.Y.PRK.ASK 5/2, 10 TS 96/November 22, 1880.

²³⁵“Devleti Osmaniye ve İraniye payimal olub bir isimleri kalmiş ve onuda kariben mahv ederim.” See BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, p.18, as reported by the Deputy Consul of Urumieh. Also see Qurians, Qiyame, 98.

²³⁶BOA.Y.A.RES 10/3, p.18. And Qurians, Qiyame, 98.

²³⁷BOA.HR.SYS 726/110, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, 25, 26, 27, 28 TE [October], 1880. It seems that by passing on such information to the Ottomans, Tehran wanted to immediately enlist Istanbul in its war against the sheikh. Yet it also seems plausible to suggest that the sheikh wanted to negotiate all possibilities and might have written to the governor of Urumieh in that vein.

²³⁸Qurians, Qiyame, 45; and Wilson, Persian, 113.

²³⁹For one such example see BOA.Y.PRK.ASK, 4/45, Mushir of 4th Army Samih Pasha's telegrams to the OMoD,12 TE 96/October 14, 1880.

²⁴⁰Qurians, Qiyame, 27 and 98.

²⁴¹BOA.HR.SYS 726/110, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA.

²⁴²Qurians, Qiyame, 56–7. These grievances were reported to Qurians by the Aghas of Zerza and an elder of the town of Savojbulagh.

²⁴³A very telling indicator of the breadth of the his design was a letter he sent to (Sunni) Taleshis living far from Kurdistan proper, in Iran's Caspian province of Gilan. IMFA wired OMoFA that “two of the sheikhs he sent to the neighborhood of Talesh, were arrested after the governor of Gilan province was informed of their wrongdoing. See BOA.Y.PRK.EŞA 7/23, IMFA to OMoFA, [dated 1298–1882–3, but should have been 97/81].

²⁴⁴See BOA.Y.PRK.EŞA 7/23, IMFA to OMoFA, [dated 1298–1882], also see BOA.Y.H.HUS 311/6 which gives a summary of the above mentioned telegram.

²⁴⁵Molk-Ara. Sharh-e hal-e Abbas Mirza Molk-Ara, 153.

²⁴⁶Noori, “Sheikh Obeidullah Kord va Abbas Mirza Molk-Ara,” 32–5.

²⁴⁷Ibid.; Molk-Ara. Sharh-e hal-e Abbas Mirza Molk-Ara, 156–7. Also for the ambassador's letter see BBA.HR.SYS 726/12, Tehran Embassy to OMoFA, November 2, 1880. As mentioned previously, Yahya Beg of Chehrik (an Ottoman subject) after being defeated by the Iranian army and imprisoned, became an Iranian national and was given the title of Khan around Selmas and later for a short time became the governor of Urumieh. To secure Yahya Beg's and the Kurds’ allegiance the shah married him to one of his sisters who apparently was a murid of Sheikh Taha's and later gave birth to Abbas Mirza.

²⁴⁸See A.D. Smith, “War and Ethnicity: The Role of Warfare in the Formation, Self-Images and Cohesion of Ethnic Communities,” in Nationalism: Critical Concepts in Political Science, ed. John Hutchinson and A.D. Smith, vol. 5 (London, 2002).

²⁴⁹For the concepts of charismatic and traditional leadership in a Muslim setting see John Woll's discussion of “The Sudanese Mahdi: Frontier Fundamentalist,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 10 (1979): 145–66.

²⁵⁰Qurians, Qiyame, 78–9.

²⁵¹See Makdisi, The Culture of Sectarianism.

²⁵²Smith, “War and Ethnicity,” 1623.

²⁵³Résendez, Changing National Identities at the Frontiers, Introduction.