# Shabaks

Shabaks (Arabic: الشبك, Kurdish: شەبەک, romanized: Şebek) are a group of people who live east of Mosul in Iraq. Their origin is uncertain and they are considered Kurds by some scholars. They speak Shabaki and live in a religious community (ta'ifa) in the Nineveh Plains. The ancestors of Shabaks were followers of the Safaviyya order, which was founded by the Kurdish mystic Safi-ad-din Ardabili in the early 14th century. The primary Shabak religious text is called the Buyruk or Kitab al-Manaqib (Book of Exemplary Acts), which is written in Turkmen.

## Origins

The origins of the word Shabak are not clear. One theory is that Shabak is an Arabic word شبك that means intertwine, indicating that the Shabak people originated as a confederation of many tribes of different ethnicities. Others claim that the word Shabak came from the Persian "shah" and Turkish "bek", meaning "master of kings", eventually being Arabized to "Shabak". Austin Henry Layard considered Shabaks to be descendants of Kurds who originated in Iran, and believed that they possibly had affinities with the Ali-Ilahis. Anastas Al-Karmali also argued that Shabaks were ethnic Kurds. Another theory claimed that Shabaks were local ethnic Kurds who were influenced by many cultures due to the ethnic and religious diversity of the Nineveh Plains, which was historically one of the most diverse regions in Iraq. Another theory suggests that the Shabaks originated from Anatolian Qizilbash Turkomans, who were forced to settle in the Mosul area after the defeat of Ismail I by the Ottomans at the Battle of Chaldiran. In the 1990s, Turkish sources began denying the existence of the Shabaks, claiming they were simply part of the Iraqi Turkmen.
Most Shabaks belonged to the Kurdish tribes of Zangana, Bajalan, Rojbayani, Dawudi, Lak, Omerbal, Shekak, and Zirari, among others. Some individual Shabak families are of Arab or Turkmen origin who assimilated due to living in close proximity.

## Deportation and forced assimilation

After the 1987 census, the Iraqi regime declared Shabaks to be Arabs. Many Shabak community leaders protested, insisting that they were Kurds, after which the Iraqi regime began a campaign against Shabaks. Many Shabaks chose to abandon their traditions, stop identifying with Kurds, and assimilate into the Arab identity to avoid being targeted. The Iraqi government fabricated lineage documents to portray the Shabaks as Arabs. The campaign included both deportation and forced assimilation, and many of them (along with Zengana and Hawrami Kurds) were relocated to concentration camps (mujamma'at in Arabic) that were located in the Harir area of the northern Iraq. An estimated 1,160 Shabaks were killed during this period. In addition, increasing efforts have been made to force the Shabaks to suppress their own identity in favour of being Arab. The Iraqi government's efforts of forced assimilation, Arabization, and religious persecution put the Shabaks under increasing threat. As one Shabak told a researcher: "The government said we are Arabs, not Kurds; but if we are, why did they deport us from our homes?" Shabak politician Salim al-Shabaki, a representative of Shabaks in the Iraqi parliament, said "The Shabaks are part of the Kurdish nation", emphasizing that Shabaks are ethnically Kurdish.
Hunain al-Qaddo, a Shabak politician who advocated that Shabaks were a distinct ethnic group, claimed that "the Peshmerga have no genuine interest in protecting his community, and that Kurdish security forces are more interested in controlling Shabaks and their leaders than protecting them." Meanwhile, Salim al-Shabaki claimed that it was actually the Iraqi Shia militias who had no interest in protecting the Shabaks and only wanted to distance Shabaks from other Kurds. He also accused the Shia militias of committing atrocities against Shabaks.
Shabaks had tensions with Sunni Arabs, which was worsened by Saddam Hussein, and further worsened by the rise of the Islamic State in 2014.
The situation of Shabaks and Feyli Kurds in Iraq was identical, and both groups complained about being alienated from Sunni Kurds who saw them as Shia, and from Shia Arabs who saw them as Kurds.
During the 2017 Kurdistan independence referendum, there were Shabaks who supported independence and called for their native region in the Nineveh Plains to be included.

## Religious beliefs

Historically, the native Shabaki faith was a syncretic religion based on the Ghulat sect of Shia Islam, with similarities to Yarsanism, Yazidism, Christianity, and Alevism. Shabaks were divided between those who followed the traditional Shabaki faith, and those who followed Yarsanism. The Shabaks gradually left their traditional faith and increasingly converted to orthodox Twelver Shi'ism after World War I, while the Yarsani Shabaks continued adhering to Yarsanism and remained a significant part of Shabak society.
The Shabaki faith combined elements of Sufism with their own concept of divine reality. According to Shabaks, divine reality was more advanced than the literal reading of the Qur'an, which is known as Sharia. Shabak spiritual guides are known as pirs, and they are well versed in the prayers and rituals of the sect. Pirs are under the leadership of the Supreme Head or Baba. Pirs act as mediators between divine power and ordinary Shabaks. Their beliefs form a syncretic faith that is similar to the beliefs of Yarsanism. While the Shabak faith was already similar to Yarsanism, some Shabaks adhered to Yarsanism. In the 1990s, the Yarsani Shabaks received attention when a Western travelogue visited the Nineveh Plains and interviewed the Yarsani community there, mostly made up of Gurani Kurds. He later came across a Yarsani Shabak family who introduced him to the Yarsani Shabak community, who made up a significant part of both the Shabak and Yarsani communities. Historically, the Shabak and Gurani Kurds were rarely distinguishable. They had close ethnic and linguistic ties, and some Shabaks gradually integrated into Yarsanism, becoming adherents of the religion while retaining significance in Shabak society. The Gurani Kurds and the Shabaks did not regard each other as foreigners, and thus the Shabaks were accepted into the Yarsani religion which did not accept converts. They were able to marry within the endogamous Yarsani community. The large community of Yarsani Shabaks was rarely noticed until the 1990s, due to being indistinguishable from both the Shia Shabaks and the Yarsani Guran. The Shabaki language is a branch of Gorani and mutually intelligible with it, and the Shabaks were often considered ethnic Kurds closest to the Guran, also with similarities to the Feyli Kurds.
Historically, the Shabaks enjoyed positive relations with the Yazidis. Despite the affinity of Shabaks with Hussein ibn Ali and the affinity of Yazidis with the Umayyad dynasty, religious differences caused no tensions between Shabaks and Yazidis, who actually often participates in the religious ceremonies of each other. Yazidi holy sites also had a holy status in the traditional Shabak faith.
Shabaks also considered the poetry of Ismail I to be revealed by Allah, and they recite Ismail's poetry during religious meetings. Most Shabaks identified as Shia Muslims.

## Settlements

List of Shabak–majority settlements in the Nineveh Plains:
* Abbasiyah
* Ali Rash
* Badanat Sufla
* Badanat Ulya
* Basakhrah
* Basatliya Saghirah
* Baybukh
* Bazgirtan
* Bazwaya
* Chunji
* Darawish
* Dayrij
* Gogjali
* Gora Ghariban
* Judaydat
* Kahriz
* Khazna
* Kiretagh / Qaraytagh
* Manara Shabak
* Mufti
* Qara Shor
* Qara Tappa
* Sadah
* Salamiyah
* Shaqoli
* Shahrazad
* Sheikh Amir
* Tahrawa
* Tawajinah
* Terjilleh
* Tiskharab
List of mixed settlements in the Nineveh Plains:
* Abu Jarwan (Shabak–Bajalan Kurdish)
* Bartella (Shabak–Assyrian)
* Basatliya (Shabak–Kurdish)
* Bashbitah (Mixed Kurdish)
* Bashiqa (Shabak–Yezidi)
* Bir Hallan (Mixed Kurdish)
* Birma (Mixed Kurdish)
* Fadila (Mixed Kurdish)
* Hasan Shami (Mixed Kurdish–Arab)
* Jilu Khan (Mixed Kurdish)
* Kabarli (Mixed Kurdish)
* Kanunah (Mixed Kurdish)
* Kharabat Sultan (Mixed Kurdish)
* Khorsabad (Mixed Kurdish)
* Orta Kharab (Mixed Kurdish)
* Bakhdida / Qaraqosh / Hamdaniyah (Assyrian-Shabak)
* Qarqashah (Mixed Kurdish)
* Shamsiyat (Shabak–Turkmen)
* Summaqiyah (Mixed Kurdish)
* Tall Akub (Mixed Kurdish)
* Tallara (Mixed Kurdish)
* Topzawah (Mixed Kurdish)
* Tubraq Ziyarah (Mixed Kurdish)
* Umar Qabji (Mixed Kurdish)
* Umarkan (Mixed Kurdish)
* Yangija (Mixed Kurdish)
* Yarimjah (Shabak–Turkmen)
* Zara Khatun (Mixed Kurdish)
As of March 2019, all of the above settlements are under federal control and are disputed territories of Northern Iraq.