Pazukî (or Pazuki in

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

sources) is a Kurdish tribe whose members live in different regions in

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages ...

as well as in and around

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, Iran. The tribe is mentioned in the 16th century Kurdish historical book ''

Sharafnama The ''Sharafnama'' (Kurdish: شەرەفنامە Şerefname, "The Book of Honor", Persian: Sharafname, شرفنامه) is the famous book of Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi (a medieval Kurdish historian and poet) (1543–1599), which he wrote in 1597, in Pe ...

'' by

Sharaf Khan Bidlisi Sharaf al-Din Khan b. Shams al-Din b. Sharaf Beg Bedlisi ( Kurdish: شەرەفخانی بەدلیسی, ''Şerefxanê Bedlîsî''; fa, شرف‌الدین خان بن شمس‌الدین بن شرف بیگ بدلیسی; 25 February 1543 – ) wa ...

. There are some variants of the name Pazuki and they are known under the various names, like ''Bazikî'', ''Bozukan'', ''Bazukan'' etc. Pazukî was originally a tribal confederation like Rojiki Kurds. Some branches of them speak

Kurmanji Kurmanji ( ku, کورمانجی, lit=Kurdish, translit=Kurmancî, also termed Northern Kurdish, is the northern dialect of the Kurdish languages, spoken predominantly in southeast Turkey, northwest and northeast Iran, northern Iraq, northern Sy ...

and the others speak Zazakî. But Henry Field mentioned their Iranian branch also as a Turcophonic community in 1939.

The origin of the name Pazukî

There are two suggestions about the origin of the name Pazukî. The first one by Garnik Asatrian who thinks that it comes from Armenian botanical term ''pazuk'' which means beet. He shows some Kurdish tribal names which are originated from botanical terms, like ''Zilî'', ''Sipkî'', ''Mandikî'' and ''Pivazî''. But according to a recent research, there is one more possibility on its etymology. It is suggested by Aksoy that ''pazuk'' may be connected with another word, ''bazuk,'' which is the Armenian name for the

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance ...

star cluster. His reference is to a Bozukan (from Pazukan) tradition which mentioned by Mark Sykes in his article ''"The Kurdish Tribes of Ottoman Empire"'' (1908). Sykes writes that "''their tradition is that they used to worship a sword thrust in the ground and the moon and the stars, and they lived under the government of a Christian King named Tavit, who dwelt in the castle of Boso''". Aksoy thinks that it is possible to find some cultural continuities between

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

and Pazuki world, may be by original Armenian clan of Pazukis or directly by Kurdish clan(s).

Placenames

There are some placenames in Turkish Kurdistan which refer to Pazukîs. For example, Bêskan (Erzurum) "''Bozik Ușağı köyü''" ( Ovacık), "''Bazikân''" (

Varto Varto (, ku, Gimgim, grc-x-medieval, Barzanissa) is a town and district in Muş Province, Turkey. The population of Varto city is around 13,000 with another 17,000 living in the villages. The largest population from Varto in Europe is in Berli ...

), "''Bazikân''" ( Sasun), "''Bazikî''" (

Urfa Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ex ...

, Yaylak), "''Bozik''" (

), "''Bazük''" (

Adıyaman Adıyaman ( ku, Semsûr) is a city and district in southeastern Turkey, and the capital of the Adıyaman Province. The inhabitants of the city are mostly Kurdish. Etymology An unverified theory is that the former name of the city ''Hisn-Mansur'' ...

) etc.

Prominent individuals

The most famous person who belongs originally to Pazukî tribe, is former leader of

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

(PKK), Abdullah Öcalan.Fikret Yaşar, "''Kürdistan Tarihinde Pazuki Aşireti ve Öcalan''", see http://kurdistan-post.eu/tr/kurdistan/kurdistan-tarihinde-pazuki-asireti-ve-ocalan

The origin of the name Pazukî

Placenames

Prominent individuals

See also

References

Further reading