Iraq and the Persian Gulf by Naval Intelligence Division Naval Intelligence;

Author:Naval Intelligence Division, Naval Intelligence;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1779161
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

Yezidis

The Yezidis, whose proper name is Dasnayi, speak a Kurdish dialect and are thought to be of Kurdish stock. In Iraq they inhabit the Jabal Sinjarand the Shaikhan district north-east of Mosul (p. 381). The Yezidi faith is a mixture of both ancient and living religions. The Zoroastrian element is most notable, and their name may derive from the Persian Yazdan, God. They believe that the supreme being, the spirit of good, delegated power over the world for 10,000 years to Satan (Shaitan) on his fall from heaven. Hence their religion seeks not to worship but to placate one who is regarded more as the Lord of Power—a Babylonian and Semitic notion (p. 222)—than as the author of evil; but the name of Shaitan is never pronounced, nor will they utter similar words beginning with sh. The more cheerful part of their religion is concerned with nature worship and the cult of the sun. There is a spring festival and in October a Feast of Assembly at Shaikh Adi, at which a bull is sacrificed to the sun,‘Shaikh Shams ad Din’, in whose honour they illuminate the neighbourhood at night with numerous little oil lamps. A great place is held in their pantheon by the Peacock King, Malek Taus, a power of nature apparently not to be identified (as is usually said) with Shaitan. They have seven sacred and secret bronze images of Malek Taus for different sections of their community.

They respect Christ (Malek Isa) as an angel and Mohammed as a prophet, and have adopted many biblical stories. Baptism and circumcision are customary; they drink wine, but do not eat pork, gazelle, or fish, lettuce, beans, or pumpkins. Red is a favourite colour for clothing, which is in the Kurdish style (p. 346), but blue is taboo; their sacred books include the Kitab al Jalweh or Book of Revelation, containing an account of the powers of Satan, and a Black Book which contains a myth of the creation of the world and of the origin of the Yezidis with the name of Satan erased when it occurs. They have a holy village and shrine at Shaikh Adi, 30 miles north-east of Mosul. Shaikh Adi himself was apparently a Moslem and a pupil of the Sunni saint Abdul Gailani (p. 329). Friendly strangers may be admitted to his tomb but not to an inner shrine which even Yezidis seldom enter. On the door of the shrine is a black serpent, the symbol of Shaitan, which pilgrims kiss, and there is a holy spring supposed to draw its water from the well of Zemzem at Mecca (photo. 143).

The community has for its head a Mir or Amir, and there are often rival claimants. There is also a religious hierarchy: shaikhs, mullas, and qawals are preachers and teachers, the qawals also being concerned with the ritual of the Peacock King. Other priests are pirs, and the attendants of the shrine of Shaikh Adi are called kuchaks and faqirs. The sh taboo has

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