The Nestorians
The Nestorians, a Christian sect, are descendants of the followers of Nestorius, who seceded from established orthodoxy in the sixth century. They inhabit scattered villages in a region which changes from mountain to plain as it extends west of the Persian frontier to the Tigris river, roughly between latitudes 34° and 38°. On the north they rarely venture beyond the Bohtan river. The mountainous tract produces a manly set, who have more than held their own against the martial Kurds. Poverty and dependence mark the lot of the plainsmen in spite of their industry as agriculturists.
To say that the inhabitants of Turkey have religious nationality is perhaps the happiest way of accounting for the presence of large numbers of independent communities owing political allegiance to the Sultan. The bond of faith in the case of the Nestorians is one of remarkable strength, because this community represents the persecuted remnant of the ancient church of central Asia. Owing to its situation on the very outskirts of early Christianity the church became engaged in propagating the Gospel on a scale exceeded only by the see of Rome in the sixth and sixteenth centuries.[257] Consciousness of this tradition has not forsaken the Nestorians of the present day. The great influence wielded by their patriarch or religious head, the Mar Shimun, as he is called, is a relic of former authority.
The speech of the Nestorians is a Syriac dialect in which Persian, Arabic and Kurdish words have found place. Religious services are conducted, however, in the uncontaminated language. The Nestorians call themselves Syrians and refuse to recognize any other appellation. Owing to this fact much confusion has arisen in the minds of travelers who have attempted to describe them.