Firman of Mir Muhammad

The **Firman of Mir Muhammad** was a, genocidal campaign by Muhammad Pasha of Rawanduz against the Yazidi religious minority from 1832 to 1834. It is considered the bloodiest event in Yazidi history that is still remembered today. Estimates suggest that between 70,000 to 135,000 Yazidis were killed. Sadiq al Damaluji puts the number of survivors of the Firman at about 5% of the targetted population.Mullah Yahya, a member of the Mzuri tribe in the principality of Bahdinan , appealed to Muhammad Pasha for help in a civil strife. The Mzuri chieftain, Ali Agha, had been killed by the Yazidi chieftain, Mir Ali Beg. However, Prince Said Pasha of Bahdinan denied the Mzuri the opportunity to take revenge. Mullah Yahya then approached Muhammad Pasha and asked him to take revenge on the Yazidis of Jabal Sinjar . Muhammad Pasha was able to use this punitive expedition to conquer the principality of Bahdinan. He issued a fatwa against the "infidel" Yazidis through his mufti, Mullah Muhammad Khalti, and crossed the Great Zab River in 1832.
The attack on the Yazidis. The second phase of the mir's career begins with his conquests and depredations in the Greater Zab region, which started as a punitive expedition against the Yazidis of the Shaykhan. This expedition is said to have been touched off by the murder of ‘Ali Agha al-Balti, chief of the Alkoshi, a subdivision of the Mizuri tribe, by the Yazidi chieftain ‘Ali Beg.
The Yazidis and the Mizuris had been feuding for years, and their leaders were known to be bitter enemies. One day ‘Ali Beg sent word to ‘Ali Agha expressing his desire for peace and friendship and inviting him to act as a kiriv²⁴ (sponsor) at the forthcoming circumcision of his son. The Mizuri chieftain responded favorably and a few days later arrived at the residence of the Yazidi prince at Ba‘idhra accompanied by only a few re-
In 1832, Bedir Khan Beg and his troops committed a massacre against the Yazidis in Shekhan. His men almost killed the whole Yazidi population of Shekhan. Some Yazidis tried to escape to Sinjar. When they attempted to escape towards Sinjar, many of them drowned in the Tigris River. Those who could not swim were killed. About 12,000 Yazidis were killed on the bank of the Tigris river by Bedir Khan Beg's men. Yazidi women and children were also kidnapped.The inhabitants of Sinjar were soon subdued first by the Ottoman forces under the command of Muhammad Rashid Pasha, and for a second time by the Ottoman forces under the command of Hafiz Pasha. On both occasions, a massacre took place, and three-quarters of the population were destroyed. The Yazidis took refuge in caves, where they were either suffocated by fires lit at the entrances or annihilated by artillery fire.

## The Campaign 
Mohammed Pasha was given an opportunity to expand his territory. Mullah Yahya, a member of the Mzurî tribe from the Principality of Bahdinan, asked Mohammed Pasha for help in a feud. The Mzurî tribal leader Ali Agha was murdered by the Yazidi tribal leader Mir Ali Beg. However, the Prince of Bahdinan Said Pasha refused to allow the Mzuri to take revenge. So Mullah Yahya turned to Mohammed Pasha and asked him to take revenge on the Yazidis of Sinjar Mountains. Mohammed Pasha was able to use this punitive expedition to conquer the principality of Badinan. He issued a fatwa against the "infidel" Yazidis by his own Mufti Mullah Mohammed Khalti and crossed the Great Zab in 1832.In the year 1832, about 70,000 to 120,000 Yazidis were killed by the Sunni Kurdish princes Bedir Khan Beg and Muhammad Pasha of Rawanduz. Bedir Khan Beg was repeatedly responsible for massacres of the Yazidis. In 1832, thousands of Yazidis were killed in the Shekhan area by Bedir Khan Beg in cooperation with the Kurdish Soran prince Muhammad Pasha of Rawanduz. But he was not always on good terms with Muhammad Pasha, in 1828, his army had to defend the Emirate from him.Muhammad Pasha reportedly gave the Yazidis an ultimatum: convert to Islam or be killed. Those who refused were executed.Ali Beg was captured and executed Yazidi women and children were abducted and sold in markets. on the orders of Mir Muhammad. Fearing the consequences, the inhabitants of Sheikhan fled to Mosul for refuge. In the spring, the Tigris River burst its banks and destroyed the pontoon bridge. While some Yazidis managed to swim to the other side, the elderly, women, and children sought shelter on the Mountain of Kouyunjik. The Mir of Rawanduz pursued them, resulting in a massacre in which an estimated 12,000 Yazidis were killed. Some of the surviving Yazidis fled towards Tur Abdin and Mosul.During his research trips in 1843, the Russian traveller and orientalist Ilya Berezin mentioned that 7,000 Yazidis were killed by Kurds of Rawandiz on the hills of Nineveh near Mosul, shortly before his arrival. According to many historical reports, the massacres can today be classified as a genocide. After most of the Yazidis in Sheikhan were killed, the survivors fled to Sinjar, Mohammed Pasha decided to attack Sinjar in 1833. Hundreds of Yazidis fell victim to the massacre. Before occupying the town of Aqrah and expelling its leader.
In another attempt he and his troops occupied over 300 Yazidi villages. The emir kidnapped over 10,000 Yazidis and sent them to Rawandiz and gave them the ultimatum of converting to Islam or being killed. Most of them converted to Islam and those who refused to convert to Islam were killed.

## Aftermath
In 1843, the traveller Elyah Berezina wrote that several thousand Yazidis were killed by Muslims in the Nineveh area.
As a result of repeated persecution in the 1830s and 1840s, many Yazidis migrated toward the Caucasus within the Russian Empire. Sinjar, Sheikhan, and the Caucasus remain major Yazidi population centers.Bedir Khan Beg's goal was to force the Yazidis to convert to Islam.In 1844, Bedir Khan Beg and his men committed a massacre against the Yazidis in the Tur Abdin region. His men also captured many Yazidis and forced them to convert to Islam. The inhabitants of seven Yazidi villages were all forced to convert to Islam.

Pressure from the European Powers to stop the massacres of Christians led to Ottoman forces invading his territories in 1846–7, with Omer Pasha's 12,000 strong Ottoman force, which was supported by Yezidi tribesmen seeking revenge, defeating the Kurdish army in the field near Zeitun, Cizre.

## See also 
* Muhammad Pasha of Rawanduz
* Yazidis

## References