The Donboli (Kurdish: دونبللی ,دنبلى, ''Donbolī'') are a Turkic-speaking, Kurdish tribe who live around

Khoy Khoy (, ) is a city in the Central District (Khoy County), Central District of Khoy County, West Azerbaijan province, West Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Occupied since Medes, Median times, ...

and

Salmas Salmas () is a city in the Central District of Salmas County, West Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is northwest of Lake Urmia, near Turkey. Etymology The original name of Salmas was ...

in northwestern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. They are currently adherents of

Shia Islam Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

, but before that they were reportedly

Yazidis Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish languages, Kurdish-speaking Endogamy, endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The major ...

for a long time. According to Sharafkhan Bidlisi (died 1603/04), the Donboli was known as "Donbol-e Bokht" since the "most authentic" theory said that they originated in Bohtan, an area in what is now southeast

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

between Siirt and

Cizre Cizre () is a city in the Cizre District of Şırnak Province in Turkey. It is located on the river Tigris by the Syria–Turkey border and close to the Iraq–Turkey border. Cizre is in the historical region of Upper Mesopotamia and the cultura ...

. It appears that one Isa Beg, whose heirs were referred to as the "Isa Begi", was its first leader. A few years before to the formation of the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...

in 1378, the Isa Begi ruled the district of Sokmanabad (modern-day Zurabad). One of Isa Beg's descendants, Shaikh Ahmad Beg rose to prominence in the Aq Qoyunlu government and took control of both the Hakkari territory southeast of

Lake Van Lake Van (; ; ) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey in the provinces of Van Province, Van and Bitlis Province, Bitlis, in the Armenian highlands. It is a Salt lake, saline Soda lake, soda lake, receiv ...

and the castle of Bay, which was held by the Donboli for a considerable amount of time. The

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

(king) of Iran,

Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the ...

() had Sokmanabad and Khoy merged into a single district and entrusted it to Shaikh Ahmad Beg's grandson Haji Beg as its governor, who was given the title of ''haji soltan''. Haji Beg was also given the responsibility of guarding the realm's borders. It seems that certain families in southeast Anatolia stayed behind when the Donboli northwestern Iran. Sharafkhan Bidlisi and

Carsten Niebuhr Carsten Niebuhr, or Karsten Niebuhr (17 March 1733 Cuxhaven, Lüdingworth – 26 April 1815 Meldorf, Dithmarschen), was a German mathematician, Cartography, cartographer, and Geographical exploration, explorer in the service of Denmark-Norway. He ...

(died 1815) both made reference to this group, with the latter reporting that it was situated south of Diyarbakr and that its number of tents was approximately 500. A community of Donboli Kurds—possibly not Turkicized—existed in the Safavid Erivan province in the 18th century. Today, the Donboli no longer have their tribal identity and become sedentary.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Kurdish tribes Donboli tribe History of Tabriz Yazidi history Kurdish tribes