Pazukî (or Pazuki in

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to t ...

sources) is a Kurdish tribe whose members live in different regions in

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages ...

as well as in and around

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

, Iran. The tribe is mentioned in the 16th century Kurdish historical book '' Sharafnama'' by Sharaf Khan Bidlisi. There are some variants of the name Pazuki and they are known under the various names, like ''Bazikî'', ''Bozukan'', ''Bazukan'' etc. Pazukî was originally a tribal confederation like Rojiki Kurds. Some branches of them speak

Kurmanji Kurmanji ( ku, کورمانجی, lit=Kurdish, translit=Kurmancî, also termed Northern Kurdish, is the northern dialect of the Kurdish languages, spoken predominantly in southeast Turkey, northwest and northeast Iran, northern Iraq, northern S ...

and the others speak

Zazakî Zaza or Zazaki (), is an Iranian language spoken primarily in eastern Turkey by the Zazas. The language is a part of the Zaza–Gorani language group of the northwestern group of the Iranian branch. The glossonym Zaza originated as a pejorati ...

. But Henry Field mentioned their Iranian branch also as a Turcophonic community in 1939.

The origin of the name Pazukî

There are two suggestions about the origin of the name Pazukî. The first one by Garnik Asatrian who thinks that it comes from Armenian botanical term ''pazuk'' which means beet. He shows some Kurdish tribal names which are originated from botanical terms, like ''Zilî'', ''Sipkî'', ''Mandikî'' and ''Pivazî''. But according to a recent research, there is one more possibility on its etymology. It is suggested by Aksoy that ''pazuk'' may be connected with another word, ''bazuk,'' which is the Armenian name for the

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance ...

star cluster. His reference is to a Bozukan (from Pazukan) tradition which mentioned by

Mark Sykes Colonel Sir Tatton Benvenuto Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet (16 March 1879 – 16 February 1919) was an English traveller, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician, and diplomatic advisor, particularly with regard to the Middle East at ...

in his article ''"The Kurdish Tribes of Ottoman Empire"'' (1908). Sykes writes that "''their tradition is that they used to worship a sword thrust in the ground and the moon and the stars, and they lived under the government of a Christian King named Tavit, who dwelt in the castle of Boso''". Aksoy thinks that it is possible to find some cultural continuities between

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...

and Pazuki world, may be by original Armenian clan of Pazukis or directly by Kurdish clan(s).

Placenames

There are some placenames in Turkish Kurdistan which refer to Pazukîs. For example, Bêskan (Erzurum) "''Bozik Ușağı köyü''" ( Ovacık), "''Bazikân''" ( Varto), "''Bazikân''" (

Sasun Sason ( hy, Սասուն, translit=Sasun, ku, Qabilcewz, ar, قبل جوز; formerly known as Sasun or Sassoun) is a district and town in the Batman Province of Turkey. It was formerly part of the sanjak of Siirt, which was in Diyarbakır vi ...

), "''Bazikî''" (

Urfa Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features e ...

, Yaylak), "''Bozik''" (

), "''Bazük''" ( Adıyaman) etc.

Prominent individuals

The most famous person who belongs originally to Pazukî tribe, is former leader of

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sou ...

(PKK),

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish and Kurdish for "uncle"), is a political prisoner and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from ...

.Fikret Yaşar, "''Kürdistan Tarihinde Pazuki Aşireti ve Öcalan''", see http://kurdistan-post.eu/tr/kurdistan/kurdistan-tarihinde-pazuki-asireti-ve-ocalan

The origin of the name Pazukî

Placenames

Prominent individuals

See also

References

Further reading