Daybreak in Turkey / Second Edition

by James L. Barton

Little is known of the origin and history of this wild and most interesting people. They probably are the direct descendants of the Karduchi, who occupied the same plateaus and commanded the same mountain passes that the Koords now hold. It is probable that they are not a race by themselves, but a collection of tribes with little among them all that is common except their hardihood, roughness, and tendency to plunder. One chief, whom the writer knew, declared that his ancestors came to the upper waters of the Tigris from Mesopotamia some eight centuries ago, and, after conquering the region, ruled it as feudal lords. That form of government is in existence among them even at the present time. Undoubtedly the word Koord, Kurd, Gutu, Gardu, or Karu, has been promiscuously applied to any mountain race, clan, or tribe occupying the upper waters of the great rivers in that part of the empire, if they were not already claimed by another race.

There are some marked distinctions between the peoples called Koords. Some are nomadic and pastoral, taking their flocks into the north of Armenia as the summer advances, and returning to the warmer regions of the south as it recedes. These live almost entirely in black tents, and, while they steal, are not generally robbers. Others settle in villages and the men devote their time usually to robbing traders and caravans passing through their country, and levying blackmail upon the Armenians who dwell upon their borders. It is this class who cause both the Turkish government and the Armenians the most trouble. A chief, whom the writer knew personally, and at whose castle he has often passed the night, boasted that he owned nearly four hundred villages with the adjacent land, and could throw, within two days’ notice, two thousand armed horsemen into a fight anywhere within the bounds of his territory. He said that he had over three hundred armed men out upon the road most of the time. His castle had dungeons, and was, to all intents and purposes, a fort.

These various Koordish leaders not only have little in common, but they are frequently in open conflict one with another. Could these people unite under a bold leader and form an alliance with the Arabs of the south, nothing in Turkey could stand against them. Many renowned leaders from among the Koords have appeared from time to time. Saladin, a noted ameer at the time of the crusades, was a Koord.

They occupy the mountainous regions throughout Eastern Turkey, reaching far down the Tigris to Mosul and into Mesopotamia, extending into Persia upon the east and coming west as far even as Anatolia. The mass of the Koords dwell within this area, but not a few are found outside. An estimate given of their numbers places it as high as 3,000,000.

Their languages are unclassified. There are two of them, neither of which ever was put into writing except within the last generation, so that the spoken tongues of those professing to speak the same language greatly differ in different parts of the country. Their speech is rough, like the life they live, and resembles in no small degree the barren cliffs amid which they dwell.

Some years ago Sultan Hamid II conceived the idea of subduing the Koords in the eastern part of his dominions by calling the chiefs to Constantinople and making them each commander of a body of their own people, giving this troop his own name as a special honor. The chiefs were to provide the men and the horses and the sultan furnished the equipment. The proposition was most acceptable to the Koordish nobles, for it provided them with modern equipments of warfare and at the same time stamped their acts, even of depredation, with official authority. Under the new dispensation, whoever offered resistance to a Koord armed with a government rifle, by that very act put himself into open rebellion against the government. These conditions prevail at the present time in the Erzerum, Bitlis, Diarbekr and Van vilayets along the Russian frontier. Much of the trouble of the last fifteen years in these regions is due to this fact. Were it not that the Koords are urged by the government to take aggressive measures against the resident Christian population, conditions there would be better than they are at the present time.

It is often stated that all Koords are Mohammedans. The Turks take this ground, as they do regarding the Albanians of Macedonia. The fact is that few of the Koords are good Moslems. They do not hesitate to put out of the way a Turkish tax-collector who makes himself obnoxious. The fact that he is a brother Moslem interposes no obstacle. Many of them observe few of the rites and customs of Islam, and one tribe, at least, living along the upper waters of the Euphrates openly declares that it is not Mohammedan. The writer, in conversation with a leading man of that tribe, said, “You are a Mohammedan.” With great indignation he spat into the air, and, beating upon his breast, he said, “I am a Koord; Moslems are dogs.” They have certain religious rites which greatly resemble some of the Christian customs, as, for instance, they have a service in which bread dipped in wine is put into the mouths of the kneeling participants by their religious leader. These people often tell the Armenian Christians that their sympathy is with them rather than with the Turks.

Owing to the claim of the Turks that all Koords are Mohammedans, missionaries have not been able to inaugurate special work among them. Throughout the country called Armenia and where the Armenians are the most numerous, there also the Koords are found in the largest numbers. Frequently they reside in the same city, side by side, but more often the Armenians dwell in the plains, where they are the cultivators of the soil, while the Koords live higher up the mountains. A study of the regeneration of the Turkish empire cannot be complete without giving large consideration to this ancient, wild and violent people.

THE TURKS

In Turkey the word “Turk” is used only to designate a Mohammedan. A Greek who had accepted Islam would at once be called a “Turk.” It would be said of him that “he had Turkofied himself.” In its ordinary use, therefore, in Turkey it signifies a religious belief and that alone. The same may be said of the other names for nationality, such as Armenian, Greek, Jacobite, Yezidi, Koord, etc. Instead of using the word “Mohammedan” at this point we will consider this part of our subject under the title “The Turks,” thus keeping the national and religious parallel intact.