Եզդիների Ազգային Պատմություն

Yezidis History

The Ezides are one of the oldest people in the world. According to reliable facts their home country is Northern Irak. The Ezides are of Arian origin and are Sun-worshippers. They also call themselves the people of Malake Taus, the religion is Sharfadin. The Ezides are a special ethnic group and have no connections to any other nation.

The main Ezide God is Mighty Khudeh that is the creator of the Universe. According to Ezide national rules, no representative of other nation can be called an Ezide. The version that the Ezides were Zoroastrians is wrong. Zoroaster was a religious preacher who was a Persian by origin and lived in 635 BC.

To relate Ezides to Yazats is also wrong. Yazat is an Old Iranian God that lived 3 000 years ago BC. There is no any reference between Ezides and the city of Yezd in Iran, as the Ezides never lived in that city. Remember that “Izdai” means I gave, and has nothing to do with the name Ezid.

Some identify Ezides with Kurds, which is also wrong. “Kurd” in some Iranian languages means ‘shepherd’. Kurds formulated as a nation in the X-XII cc, therefore they cannot have any connection with the Ezides. None of the above mentioned could be Red Sultan Ezide or has any reference to him. All of these versions have no historical background.

Red Sultan Yezid                                                       

In the earliest times of the history of mankind people used to change their places of habitation and the Ezides moved from India to Burma, Afghanistan /city of Kandahar/, then to Iran, where they became fire-worshippers. Later the Ezides moved from to different cities of present Turkey – Karza, Avakhe, Antave, Shark, and Shame as well as to other cities of different countries, such as Shangal, Kamishlu, Basra, Cuff and Baghdad. Ezids called themselves by this name beginning from the VII century. But it should be mentioned that long before they called themselves the people of Malake Taus, later Adaves (Alaves), then Sunis. In October 10, 683 the son of Shia Ali or as the Ezides call him, Alie Sher, Hussein was killed, and soon Red Sultan Ezid disappeared (his fate is still unknown to us).

Sheikh Adi

It should be mentioned that after Hussein’s death on the field of Kerballa, the Muslims wear blue as a sigh of deep moor, while to wear blue for an Ezide is a sin. And Sultan Ezide being covered with red blood in this battle became known as Red Sultan Ezide. An interesting fact is that before the mention battle the flag of the Ezids was white (be laqabie), after Kerballa it became red and white and is that up to now.

In the XI century during the reign of Shikhadi, the Ezides moved from Sham to Lalish, Shangal (Sinjar). After the death of Shekh Adi the same century, a great number of Ezides moved to the nearby areas of the cities of Western Armenia such as Kars, Mush, Van, Erzerum, in Diarbakr – Ortala, Karakuy, Igdir, Sink, Digor and other areas.

Though we have no State system or State organization and are spread all over the world, we have preserved our unique national features, for we have lived in strong communities and stayed attached to our religion and beliefs. Maybe this absence of State organizations was the reason that we were called differently in different countries: in Turkey they called us Turk-ezides, in Iraq – Arab-ezides or Kurd-ezides. And though we were considered to be Muslims, this fact didn’t prevent the some countries to organize genocides against the Ezide people.

The arch above the entrance to the 13th Century temple.
It houses the tomb of a key Yezidi figure, Sheikh Adi,
who died in 1162, but the roots of the Yezidi
faith pre-date Islam and Cristianity

Lalish (Main Sanctuary of the Yezidis)

Later under the pressure of Shians, the Yezids were resettled and became consolidated in Meser, Shark, Sham (now Damascus). In 19th century, at the time of Shikhadi, Yezides moved from Sham to Lalsh, Shanghal (Sinjar), Mosul. At the time of Shikhadi for Yezids was originated hatsad (constitution) in accordance with it was formed religious parliament of seven members: Nasrdin, Sjadin, Sheshms, Farkhadin (they are brothers- Esta Zin’s sons), Shekhesen, Hazmaman, Shekhubakr.

It’s a few years that we – Armenian-inhabited Yezides have got informed by means of media- TV, newspaper, magazines, video- that some Tahasin Beg, that considers himself a Mir of the whole world, announces that Yezids are Kurds and their language is Kurdish.
We – Armenian-inhabited Yezids consider such a person to be a traitor to a long-suffering people and it’s millions of descendants. We don’t recognize him as a Mir of Yezids. If he were a Mir of Yezids then why hadn’t he at least once visited Armenian Yezids and also the Yezids in the area of the former Soviet Union. We ourselves consider a Mir the Ismail’s grandson, Masoi’s son Anouchar, as soon as both Mir Ismail and his sons and grandsons visited us at our place.

Aziz Tamoyan (Azize Amar) – Doctor – Professor of Yezidi national history and theology.

Double the national hero of the Yezidis

The President of the National Unity of Yezidis of the World

Posted in: Aziz Tamoyan,Ezdi,Ezidi history,Khdr hajoyan,Yezidi,yezidis,Езиды,история езидов,եզդի,եզդիների պատմություն