AORAMAN
The people of Ardalan made little resistance, for they had become accustomed to the rule of the Qajar princess, and moreover the dynasty had lost a great deal of its influence and power, and become decadent. So Mu’tamed ud Douleh found it an easy task to retain his seat at Sina. But when he turned his attention to Aoraman he found himself confronted by a very different situation. The Aoramani, who had found it hard enough to have to submit to the Ardalan family, discovered in Persian suzerainty a condition of life to which their natures could not consent without a struggle.
Mu’tamed ud Douleh had a long and hard struggle before he could subdue Hasan Khan, sultan of the Aorami; and even when he did so, the respect the tribe had gained for itself was so considerable that the government was given into the hands of the son and his brother.
At the present time Aoraman lies part in Turkish and part—the greater—in Persian territory, and while the rulers on both sides are nominally subjects of those powers, they are to all intents and purposes independent, particularly Ali Shah, the Persian Aorami, who owns allegiance to none. An expedition is at the time of writing being sent against him from Sina to collect taxes and attempt to bring him to order.
The Ardalan family, though shorn of their power, are still a noteworthy family, and holders of position under the Persian Government. Fakhr ul Mulk, the present head of the family, an old man of great culture and learning, is Governor of Shushtar and Dizful, in Arabistan, and has an heir who is about twenty-five years of age.
From this advanced and powerful family we have to turn aside to their neighbours, of a different stamp—the Jaf, known throughout southern Kurdistan for their ability and ferocity in war. Up to the present little if anything has been known of their history, and it is given here upon the authority of a member of the ruling family, Muhammad Ali Beg Pushtamala, of Qizil Rubat, in extreme southern Kurdistan.
The tribe lays claim to having been domiciled in Juanru, one of the sub-provinces of Ardalan already mentioned, from the earliest times till about A.D. 1700, and there they lived under the rule of the valis of Ardalan. It appears, however, that either the Ardalan valis cast jealous eyes upon the extremely fertile province of Juanru, or, piqued by the growing strength of the Jaf, made an attempt to bring the government of the land more directly under their own hands. This was not accomplished without fighting, and after a battle in which the chief of the Jaf with his brother and son were caught and slain, the remaining chiefs of the tribe fled to the protection of the Kurdish pasha of Sulaimania, except a few sub-tribes whose attachment to the land was greater than their detestation of the conquerors.
Some of these, however, the Qadir Mir Waisi, Taishai, Qalkhani, Yusif Yar Ahmadi, Kuyik, Nirji, and Gurgkaish, unable to submit to the rule of the arrogant Ardalan valis, took refuge with the Gurans and adopted the name also, being to-day known as the Jaf Guran.
The Kurdish pasha of Sulaimania gave the chiefs protection, and granted their tribes the right to migrate in the spring and autumn on the routes they still occupy, namely, northward towards Panjwin, and south as far as Qizil Rubat and Khaniqin. They thus became Turkish subjects, and have remained so ever since.
The tribe is estimated to number some hundred thousand people, and the pasha—Mahmud Pasha is the head now—claims to be able to put four thousand horsemen into the field at a few hours’ notice.