The Kurds
An Alpine zone of transition connecting the plains of northern Mesopotamia with the surrounding mountains on the north and east became the homeland of the Kurds. In a broad sense it is the drainage area of the Tigris and Euphrates. It is also the site of important mountain gaps through which human movements from east to west or vice versa have proceeded. Before the consolidation of Turkish authority in this region, a matter of less than a century ago and still in an imperfect stage of completion, Kurdish clans, each under the sole leadership of their respective Chieftains, controlled the pass through which traffic from the southern lowlands or the eastern plateau was directed towards the Anatolian table-land. They exacted heavy tolls from passing caravans and derived their chief source of revenue from these levies.
Their manner of living conforms with the intermediary character of their habitat. The semi-nomads of the plains and southern hills seek cool uplands during the summer months. In winter they descend to the warm plains with their flocks and herds and mingle with their Arab neighbors. Their instinct for seasonal migrations has been developed to such an extent that they cannot refrain from maintaining their semi-annual movements in the Armenian districts to which they have been forcibly removed by the Turkish government, desirous of insuring Mohammedan predominance in the Christian valleys of Armenia.
Language and religion carry the Kurds back to eastern ancestry. However diverse their dialects, Aryan roots forming the framework of their speech have survived in spite of the admixture of Turkish and Arabian words. By creed they are generally upholders of Shiite tradition in its westernmost confines. But their religious views vary from tribe to tribe and present as composite a character as their race. Many are Sunnis. Wandering into eastern Asia Minor since hoary antiquity they have culled from Paganism, Christianity and Islamism alike. The predominance of the ideals which inspire these faiths among the individual clans probably affords a clue to the period of their arrival in the localities which they now inhabit.
Similarly, the racial relation of the Kurds with peoples found east of their land is well established.[238] They undoubtedly belong to the European family, though perhaps not in the sense suggested by von Luschan, who would connect them with inhabitants of northern Europe. From the writer’s own observations the “generally blue eyes and fair hair” are by no means dominant in the regiments of Hamidyeh cavalry recruited exclusively from among Kurdish tribesmen.[239] The three groups studied by the eminent anthropologist near Karakush, on the Nimrud mountain, and at Sinjirli were probably remarkably pure, as might be inferred from the nature of their secluded districts. As early invaders of a transition land the Kurds have intermingled extensively with both highland and lowland populations.[240] The Kurd varies therefore according to region, the inhabitants of the elevated sections being stocky and of massive build, while the tall and sallow Semitic type appears among those on the southern plains.[241]
The Kurds, particularly in the semi-nomadic state, are noted freebooters. Travel in the districts they occupy is generally unsafe. Armenians and other Christians find them an inexorable foe. They are none too loath to prey even on Turks, although as a rule the latter obtain immunity in return for the lenient dealing of the government in cases of Kurdish depredations on non-Moslem communities. The strong arm of an organized police alone will end the lawlessness with which their name is coupled in Turkey.
Good qualities are not wanting among them. A Kurd is generally true to his word. The rude code of honor in vogue among their tribes is rarely violated, and, whenever disposed, the Kurd can become as hospitable as his Arab neighbors. The tempering influence of a settled existence among sedentary tribes is marked by harmonious intercourse with surrounding non-Kurdish communities. At bottom their vices are chiefly those of the restless life they lead in a land in which organized government has been unknown for the past eight centuries.
Fig. 62—A Kurdish village in Upper Mesopotamia with characteristic stone shanties peculiar to semi-arid regions.
Fig. 63—A harvest scene in Upper Mesopotamia with Kurds at work.