Elbegli ( or ) is a Turkoman tribe mainly residing in

Kilis Kilis is a city in southernmost Turkey, near the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria, and the administrative centre of Kilis Province and Kilis District. Its population is 112,187 (2022). On 6 February 2023 Kilis was badly affected by the tw ...

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

, and

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

provinces in

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 ...

History

The tribe was mainly found around

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

and Kemah before the Ottoman authorities resettled them near

Sajur River The Sajur ( ; ) is a long river originating in Turkey and flowing into the Euphrates in Syria. It is the smallest of the three rivers joining the Euphrates in Syria, and the only one that joins the Euphrates on its western bank. Occupation in th ...

during the 17th and 18th centuries. In mid-18th century,

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 ...

noted that the Elbeglis were 2 thousand tents in total, one half dwelling near

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

and the other near

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. They were noted to be living north of Tadef in Syria by Christian missionaries in 1862. Throughout the 18th century, smaller communities of Elbegli appeared in the Ottoman records for the regions of

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

Antakya Antakya (), Turkish form of Antioch, is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is . Prior to the devastating 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, 2023 earthquakes, its population was recorded ...

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

, and

Harran Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale. ...

. The administrative divisions within the Ottoman Empire that Elbegli densely settled were named after the tribe. The Ottoman vilayet of Aleppo included Elbegli

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

and Sivas vilayet included Elbegli

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

. The Alimantar village and

Elbeyli Elbeyli, formerly Alimantar, is a town and the administrative seat of Elbeyli District in the Kilis Province in Turkey. Its population is 1,974 (2022). The town is inhabited by Turkomans of the Barak Barak ( or ; ; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bār ...

district of Kilis were later named in the honor of the tribe.

Demographics

Sivas Province Sivas Province () is a province of Turkey. It is located in the eastern part of the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Its area is 28,164 km2 (the second largest province after Konya), and its population is 634,924 (2022). Its adjacent prov ...

, Elbegli tribe inhabits the city of

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

and 42 villages to the southwest of the city, towards

Şarkışla Şarkışla is a town in the Central Anatolian Sivas Province of Turkey. It is the seat of Şarkışla District.Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

. The tribe inhabits at least 15 villages in

and 13 villages in

. In

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, there are 30 Elbegli-inhabited villages near the Turkish border as well as 68 villages that the Elbegli settled but were

Arabized Arabization or Arabicization () is a sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Arab society becomes Arab, meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Arabic language, culture, literature, art, music, and ...

, near

Manbij Manbij (; ; ) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, west of the Euphrates. The 2004 census gives its population as nearly 100,000.

and

Raqqa Raqqa (, also , Kurdish language, Kurdish: ''Reqa'') is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and b ...

. There are smaller numbers of Elbegli villages in the provinces of

Yozgat Yozgat is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

Iğdır Iğdır (; or ; ; or ) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Iğdır Province and Iğdır District.

, and

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the capital of Ordu Province. The city forms the urban part of the Altınordu, Ordu, Altınordu district, with a population of 235,096 in 2023. Name Kotyora, the origina ...

Notable people

Adil Şan Adil Şan (born September 12, 1980) is a Syrian and Turkey, Turkish singer and poet. He represented Syria in the Turkvision Song Contest 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey, with the song "''Geliş''", where he was placed 5th with 165 points. Şan's song ...

, Syrian-Turkish poet *

Şahin Bey Mehmed Said (1877, Gaziantep, Antep, Aleppo Vilayet – 28 March 1920), better known as Şahin Bey or Şahan Bey in the local Turkish dialect, was the commander of the Turkish National Movement, Turkish revolutionaries that were stationed in the ...

, Turkish militia leader in the Siege of Aintab

References

{{Reflist Turkomans in Turkey Oghuz tribes Ethnic groups in Iran Azerbaijani tribes History of Sivas Province