Principality of Eğil (also known as Emirate of Eğil, around 1049–1864) was a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

principality or emirate around the town of

Eğil Eğil ( Hittite: 𒅔𒃲𒀀𒉿 ''Ingalawa'', ota, اکيل, ku, Egil) is a town and district of Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. As of 2018, the district's population is 23,369. The elected mayor Mustafa Akkul of the Peoples' Democratic Party ...

founded by Pir Mansûr (b.989) who conquered the town around 1049. Pir Mansûr claimed to be a descendant of

Prophet Mohammed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

and settled in the area from Hakkâri (around

Sinjar Mountains The Sinjar Mountains ( ku, چیایێ شنگالێ, translit=Çiyayê Şingalê, ar, جبل سنجار, translit=Jabal Sinjār, syr, ܛܘܪܐ ܕܫܝܓܪ, Ṭura d'Shingar,) are a mountain range that runs east to west, rising above the surroundi ...

) in 1049. The descendants of Pir Mansûr would rule Eğil for nearly eight centuries. During the rule of Emir Muhammed, the principality had expanded southward to

Karaca Dağ Karaca Dağ ( ku, قه‌ره‌ژداخ, ) is a shield volcano located in eastern Turkey. It was also known as Mount Masia. Which in turn was used to give the title of an iris found on the mountain, as '' Iris masia''. On 6 March 2006, repo ...

Palu Palu, which is officially known as the City of Palu (Indonesian: ''Kota Palu''), is the capital and largest city of Central Sulawesi. Palu is located on the northwestern coast of Sulawesi and borders Donggala Regency to the north and west, Pari ...

and

Elazığ Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. It is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of . El ...

northward,

Çermik Çermik ( hy, Ջերմուկ, lit=hot springs, Jermuk; ku, Çermûk) is a town and district of Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. The population is 50,390 as of 2021. The mayor is Şehmus Karamehmetoğlu from the Justice and Development Party (Turkey ...

to the west and the area between Hani and

Lice Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result o ...

to the east.

History

During the reign of the

Marwanids Marwanids may refer to: * Marwanids (Diyar Bakr), a Kurdish dynasty that ruled in Diyar Bakr in the 10th–11th centuries * Marwanids, a branch of the Umayyad dynasty Umayyad dynasty ( ar, بَنُو أُمَيَّةَ, Banū Umayya, Sons of Um ...

, Kurds from the Humeydiye, Beşneviye and Zuzaniye tribes settled in Eğil changing the composition of the area to the detriment of the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, and

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

-speaking population. It was during this period that Pir Mansûr settled in the town of

Dicle Dicle ( ku, Pîran, ota, پيران) is a town and district of Diyarbakır Province, Turkey. The population was 8,436 in 2010. The Mayor is Felat Aygören from the Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey), HDP. Dicle is the Turkish language, Turkish n ...

which was populated by Kurds of the Mirdesan tribe. Pir Mansûr ultimately became their leader due to their admiration of him. Pir Mansûr would also become a

murshid ''Murshid'' ( ar, مرشد) is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher", derived from the root ''r-sh-d'', with the basic meaning of having integrity, being sensible, mature. Particularly in Sufism it refers to a spiritual guide. The term is frequently use ...

, a status his son and successor retained. It was during the next two rulers – Pir Musa, son of Pir Mansûr and his grandson Pir Bedir, that the Principality of Eğil was established. This is attributed to the support received from various tribes including the Mirdesan and their leadership on

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

. However the rule of Pir Bedir was short since he got killed during the

Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * Seljuk (warlord) (di ...

siege of the territory in 1087. He was succeeded by his son Emir Bulduk who was birthed after the death of Pir Bedir in exile. The mother of Bulduk died after giving birth and he was raised by the Mirdesan tribe. By the time the Emir of Eğil was Ibrahim the Mirdesan abandoned the title "Pir" for "Emir". After the death of Emir Ibrahim, the principality was shared between his three sons. The principality and

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (Wh ...

had friendly relations. The principality was subsequently captured by the

Safavids Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

, which then lost it to

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite last ...

. The Ottomans allowed the locals of the principality to govern themselves and would not interfere and it was exempted from the

timar A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service. A ...

system. However, when the Ottomans began losing land on the

Balkan peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, it started recruiting men from Eğil ultimately ending its special status. In 1864, all of its privileges were abolished and the emirate dissolved.

History

See also

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading