Tyari
Ţyāré (Syriac: ܛܝܪܐ, Kurdish: Tîyar) is an Assyrian tribe of ancient origins, and a historical district within Hakkari. The area was traditionally divided into Upper and Lower Ţyāré - each consisting of several Assyrian villages.[1][2][3] Before 1915, Ţyāré was home to Christian Assyrians from the Ţyāré tribe as well as a minority of Kurds. Following the Assyrian Genocide, Ţyārāyé, along with other Assyrians residing in the Hakkâri highlands, were forced to leave their villages in Turkey and fled to join their brethren in northern Iraq, and also to northwestern Iran, northeastern Syria, Armenia, Georgia, and to western countries. Very few Assyrians now live in Turkey, and the Hakkâri region has been empty of Assyrians since 1924. The number of Assyrians in Turkey today is less than 30,000.
Etymology
Ţyāré may be a variation of the ancient "Autiyara".[4] An inscription by the Persian King Darius (521-486 BC) states that his forces defeated one of his enemies in the Assyrian district of "Autiyara" which is probably the Christian Assyrian "Ţiyāré" in the mountains a short distance form Nineveh where until World War I lived Assyrians known as "Ţyārāyé" meaning the people of Ţyāré.
In Classical Syriac the word Ţyāré is the plural form of a sheepfold, or grazing area. Indeed, the Assyrians of Ţyāré were renowned even amongst neighboring Kurds for their yogurt, cheese and other dairy products mostly made from sheep or goat's milk. They were also famous for their textiles, which again were spun and woven from sheep's wool. They also made woolen felt for their characteristic pointed caps, and felt was also used for bedding. These industries have continued to some extent in their new rural settlements in Iraq and Syria. One anecdote mentions that on the flight of Assyrians from Urmia (Iran) to Bakuba (Iraq) in 1918, the Ţyāré Assyrians reached the end of the thousand mile trek with more sheep than when they had originally set out!
Villages
Both Upper and Lower Ţyāré consisted of several villages, thus providing the names of the various clans that resided there.[5]
Some Lower Ţyāré clans:
- Ashītha
- Bé-Qāshā Khoshābo
- Bé-Odishkā
- Nāshé d-Māthā
- Chammānāyé
- Khaţībnayé
- Bé-Rābin
- Bé-Merwatté
- Bné-Māthā who lived in Līzan, Zarné and Māthā d-Qasrā villages
- Bé-Rawolé
- Minyānish
- Bné-Belāthā who lived in Salabakkan and Bé-Allāthā villages
- Bné-Lagippā who lived in Lagippā, Kurkhé, Chambā d-Bé-Susīnā, Oryāthā, Bé-Zīzo and Margé villages
- Zawīthā
Some Upper Ţyāré clans:
- Dadoshnāyé
- Walţwāyé who lived in Khidhyānā, Māthā d-Marth Maryam, Rīshé d-Nahrā, Shwāwūthā and Sirţā villages
- Qallayāthā
- Rumtā
- Sarispīdho
- Ārosh
- Halmon
- Gérāmon
Clothing
- About the national dress worn by the Ţyāré men in the Bakuba camp Brigadier-Gen Austin wrote; "Fine upstanding fellows they are, ...their legs, encased in long loose baggy trousers of a greyish hue originally, but so patched all over with bits of blue, red, green and other colors that their pants are veritable patch work. A broad cloth, "Kammar band," or waist band, is folded several times round the trunk of the body, and a short cut-away jacket of amazing colors, worn over a thin cotton variegated shirt. The head-dress consists of conical felt cap as depicted in frescoes of Assyrians of thousands of years ago, and which has survived to this day."[6]
- "There are 115 guests today. Among them are a number of Tyari men, whose wild looks, combined with the splendour of their dress and arms, are of great interest. Their jackets are one mass of gold embroidery, their shirts, with hanging sleeves, are striped satin; their trousers, of sailor cut, are silk, made from the cocoons of their own silkworms, woven with broad crimson stripes on a white ground, on which is a zigzag pattern; and their handsome jackboots are of crimson leather. With their white or red peaked felt hats and twisted silk pagris or head-cloths, their rich girdles, jewelled daggers, and inlaid pistols, they are very imposing." [7]
Famous Ţyāré Assyrians
- Mar Addai II - Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East, from the Be-Qasha Khoshabo clan of Ashitha Lower Tyare
- Mar Narsai Toma - Metropolitan of Kirkuk (Iraq) for the Ancient Church of the East of Bne-legippa, Lower Tyare
- Mar Toma Iramia - Metropolitan of Nineveh (Iraq) for the Ancient Church of the East of Bne-Matha, Lower Tyare
- Mar Daniel Yakob - Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand for the Ancient Church of the East, of Ashitha, Lower Tyare
- Mar Gewargis Sliwa - Metropolitan of Iraq for the Assyrian Church of the East, from the Be-Qasha Khoshabo clan of Ashitha, Lower Tyare
- Mar Aprem Athniel - Bishop of Syria for the Assyrian Church of the East, of Sarispidho, Upper Tyare
- Malik Khoshaba of Lizan, Lower Tyare
- Malik Yousip, son of Malik Khoshaba
- Malik Barkho of Lower Tyare
- Malik Shamizdin of Be-Allatha, Lower Tyare
- Malik Chikko
- Malik Ismail of Chamba d-Malik, Upper Tyare
- Malik Yaqo, son of Malik Ismail
- Soro Kirra of Ashitha, Lower Tyare
- Rabi Shmouel Yalda d-Be-Gerika of Bne-Matha, Lower Tyare
Assyrian Singers
- Emmanoel Bet-Younan
- David Simon
- Edwar Mousa
- Elizabeth Oshana
- Emmanuel Bet-Younan
- Faris Esho
- Johnny Talia
- Jowan David
- Juliana Jendo
- Lida Lawendo
- Linda George
- Nagham Edwar Mousa
- Ninos David
- Sargon Gabriel
- Sargon Rasho
- Sargon Youkhana
- Shabeh Lawando
See also
References
- ^ http://www.aina.org/maps/eastern/map_assyria_amadiya.jpg
- ^ http://www.aina.org/maps/chevalier/chevalier8.htm
- ^ Assyrian villages in Hakkari Assyrian villages in Hakkari
- ^ Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire, University of Chicago Press, 1970, p. 114
- ^ Assyrians Of The Van District During The Rule Of Ottoman Turks. M.Y.A . Lilian. 1914.
- ^ Brigadier-Gen. H.H. Austin, "The Baqubah Refugee Camp", The Faith Press, london 1920.
- ^ Bird, Isabella. "Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, including a summer in the Upper Karun region and a visit to the Nestorian rayahs". John Murray, London. 1891.