Fayli Kurds, "Feili Kurds", or Feyli Kurds' (Kurdish: فه یلی /Feylî/Pehlî) are largely a Kurdish Shi'a community living in Baghdad and the Diyala Province of Iraq around Khanaqin and Mandali, and across the Iranian border, in the provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and Luristan. They number an estimated 6.000.000. people. The Fayli Kurds are an important community within the wider Kurdish people.
Faylee (Faylee, Faili, or Feli) Kurds are, as their name tells, an inseparable segment of the Kurdish population in Iraq and an integral part of the Kurdish nation, which is divided among many countries in the Middle East, mainly Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. Faylee Kurds have themselves shown, over the years, and still show this fact and reality by words and deeds. They speak a dialect that belongs to the southern Kurdish dialect which is spoken in the southern areas of Kurdistan proper, particularly on both sides of the border areas between Iraq and Iran .[1]
Feyli speak Gorani, a dialect of the Kurdish language. The roots of the Feyli go back to the Aryan immigrants of the first millennium BC, and more specifically, the Parthian/Pahlawi/Pahlawanid settlements of the 2nd century BD. They embraced Islam in the early stages of the Islamic conquest and colonisation of Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Iran, although archaeological evidence from the Ilam Province in Iran indicates that some proportions of Fayli might have been Nestorian Christians until the 18th Century. The conversion to Shia form of Islam seem to have begun under the Safavid dynasty (1507–1721) of Persia/Iran, Faylis today are primarily Imami Shias like the Persians, Lurs and the Azeris, as well as the majority of the Iraqi Arabs.
In modern times the Feylis have been subject to state persecutions.[2][3] They are considered as a stateless people, with both Iran and Iraq claiming they are citizens of the other country.[4] In the mid 1970s, Iraq expelled around 40,000 Shia Feyli's who had lived for generations near Baghdad and Khanaqin, alleging that they were Iranian nationals.[5]
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The origins and linguistic history of the Feyli have been investigated by several notable western scholars, such as Sir John Malcolm, Brown, Laurie, Hassle and Henry Field. Several imaginative, if apocryphal, etymologies for the word "Feyli" have been espoused. In the 13th century, Yaqout al-Hamawi mentions in his book The lexicon of countries (Ar. معجم البلدان Mujam al-Buldan) that the Feylis are those who reside the mountains separating Iran and Iraq. He attributes their name to their size, claiming that they are as huge as "elephants"; the word fil (فيل) means "elephant" in Arabic. Others have claimed that the name goes back to an ancient ruler of the territory. Feyli's have a large population within Baghdad due to disruption among the area. The numbers go from 500,000 to 1,300,000 people. Many people believe that this gives the Kurds the right to press claims on Baghdad and divide the city with Shias and Sunnis if a 3 states solution is created
However, more likely is the explanation given by M. R. Izady.[6] He claims that the Arabic Feyli is a corruption of Pahla, meaning Parthia, a kingdom based in modern day Iran, contemporaneous with the Roman Empire. The change occurred because Arabic alphabet lacks the letter p, rendering it as an "f" instead (this sound change can also be seen in Palestine/Philistin فلسطين and Persian/فارسي), but sometimes also as a "b". Early Arabic texts recorded the name as Fahla or Bahla, the former of which became the more common, corrupting eventually to Faila, of which the adjective is Faili or Feyli.
Since ancient times, the Feylis have lived in the border area between Iraq and Iran, which consists of the Zagros Mountains and cliffs. They live on the two sides of this mountain in Iran and Iraq and they call it Kabir Kuh, "the great mountain".
The areas on the Iraqi side from north to south are the following: Khanaqin, Shahraban (now called Al-Meqdadia), Mandali, Badrah, Zorbateyah, Jassan, Al–Kut and Al-Azizyah. They also reside in a number of cities in the area of Shaikh Sa’ad, Ali Sharqi, Ali Gharbi and Al–Kofah, which is 170 kilometres (110 mi) south of Baghdad.
However, as early as the first decade of the 20th century, many Feylis moved to Baghdad and lived in its center. Consequently, there are some areas which are named after them, such as the Kurdish quarter, the Kurdish alley, and the Kurdish Street.
On the Iranian side, the Feyli Kurds live in the following areas, from north to south: Qasre Shirin, Kermanshah, Karand, Islam Abad e Gharb (former Shah Abad), Sarpol-i Zohab, Gilan e Gharb, Ilam, Saleh Abad, Moseyan, Badrah, Dehloran, Arak, Qazvin, Qazvin, Garmsar (Semnan), Tehran and Andimeshk.
The basic activities of the people of the border area are agriculture and sheep herding. They plant corn, barley, wheat, and summer vegetables as well as fruits on the mountains or on the flats. There are also some natural resources in the area such as oil (petroleum) at Naft Khanah (Iraq), Naft-Shahr, Dehluran (Ilam province, Iran)and natural gas at Tange Bidjar (Ilam province, Iran).
In the northern area, people use the Alvand River, which flows out of the Harunabad & Gelan regions (Iran) towards Khanaqin before joining the Diyala River, which pours into the Tigris River. There are also a few channels, wells, and springs that help with irrigation and domestic water use.
As for the weather, it is dry in summer but the mountains are usually covered with lays of snow, which melts in summer to irrigate the lands. In summer, many people move with their sheep to the tops of the mountains because there are wide areas of grass; when the winter comes, they go back to their villages. Some Kurds work in trade and goods exchange and other free works (urban professions).
The Kurdish people have proved to be so persistent and civilized as they studied hard to join the universities of the main cities and got good jobs. In his book "Ameroir of Baghdad" issued by Al-Rais publishing house, Cyprus 1993 the ex minister Mosa Al-Shabandar describes the life of the Feyli Kurds. It is very difficult to give an accurate estimate of the Faili Kurds' population, as many of them in Iraq have been deported and ethnically cleansed; however, some estimate that about 2.5 millions lived in Iraq and 3 million in Iran. The Iraqi Minorities Council and Minority Rights Group International estimate that prior to the current war there were 1,000,000 Failis in Iraq[7]
Feyli Kurds consist of many tribes and clans. Their names are sometimes based on the name of their tribal leader or where they live but sometimes they take vocational names. Here are listed some of them: Ali Sherwan (he was from the Kurdish tribe of Sanjabi and established Beyrey tribe) tribe and his four sons Cheragh, Safar, Heydar or Hiar, and Dara—each one of these four established a tribe in his name like Cheragh Wandi, Safar Wandi, Hiar Wandi, and Dara Wandi) Malek Shahi tribe Jamal Vandi tribe Ansari tribe Kalhur tribe Zouri or Zhohairi clan Qaitoli clan Khezell or Khaza`al clan Shuhan clan Mousi clan
The existence of the Feyli's in Iraq has never been marginal. On the contrary, they have participated in all political, social, cultural, and economical activities.
The Feyli Kurds have had a great economical and commercial weigh especially in Baghdad, and also have had great capitals, companies and factories. This great weight pushed Saddam to confiscate their capitals and properties and expel them to Iran , claiming that they are not genuine Iraqis and that they are Iranians. The injustice that happened to the Feyli Kurds is same as what happened to the Jew during the II World War in Europe.
The Feyli's suffered severe oppression under Saddam Hussein and his Baathist government. They joined others in opposing the dictatorial government in Iraq and fighting alongside other Iraqis and also joined national Iraqi parties such as the Iraqi Communist Party, the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and the National Kurdish Association.
Many Feyli's became active cadres in organizations like the Al-Da’awa Islamic Party, the Islamic Action Organisation, and other Islamic and secular parties. Others were involved in the ruling Baath party, though most of those were subsequently removed by Saddam Hussein.
The Feyli's have had a very effective role in social life as they have established social centers, clubs, and youth and women associations. That has been made possible due to the presence of many famous Feyli in different fields. They have also taken part in the establishment of many religious institutions and in the spread of religious awareness. Feyli have also shown great interest in studying religion and science.
During the 80s a large segment of the Feyli population in Baghdad were forcibly deported to the Iranian border by Iraqi police and intelligence units on the order of the authorities. Their properties seized as well as being stripped of their legal documents and citizenship, the Feyli's were effectively rendered into right-less foreigners. Most of the targeted families were of significant influence on a large spectrum of Iraqi society. Having a high level of education, commercial success and ranking positions in the military. The Baathist regime fearing potential dissidence and opposition, implemented deportation policies against Feyli's. The official claim was that Feylis were Iranian nationals.
Adult males between the ages of 18-55 were detained and sent to various prison complexes in the country, with no legal procedures such as trails being taken before incarceration. It is estimated that between 13.000-30.000 Feyli's died under the conditions of captivity and systematical murder by the Baathist intelligence apparatus. These human right violations were only recognized after the fall of the regime, when access to documents and testimonies of former inmates and personnel became available. The underlying pretext for this act, was that Shiite Feylis would become potential recruits for the Iranian government, post-deportation.
On Monday 29 November 2010, an Iraqi court found Saddam Hussein's longtime foreign minister Tariq Aziz guilty of terrorizing Feyli Kurds during the Iran-Iraq war, sentencing him to 10 years in prison. Mohammed Abdul Saheb, a spokesman for Iraq's high criminal court, said: "Today a judge found Tariq Aziz guilty and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The evidence was enough to convict him of displacing and killing Feyli Kurds. Aziz was a member of the revolutionary command council which cancelled the Iraqi nationality for the Feyli Kurds."[8] The spokesman also said Aziz was spared a death sentence for the crimes against humanity because he had a lesser involvement than some of his co-defendants in the atrocities against the Feyli Kurds.[9] Of the other 15 defendants in the Iraqi High Tribunal case, three Saddam loyalists were found guilty and sentenced to death. Two, including Aziz, were sentenced to 10 years in prison. The remaining 10 were acquitted, including Saddam's two half brothers, Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan and Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan. The Feyli Kurd minority comes mainly from an area in northeastern Iraq that straddles the Iraq-Iran border. Saddam, a Sunni Muslim, killed, detained and deported tens of thousands of Feyli Kurds early in his 1980-1988 war with Iran, denouncing them as alien Persians and spies for the Iranians.[10]
Ali sherwan was one of the most famous feyli kurds in Ilam province. He created the feyli kurds.