Tahseen Said or Tahsin
Beg Saied (, b. 15 August 1933 in
Baadre
Baadre (also written Ba'adra, Badra or Bathra, (, ) is a town located in the Shekhan District of the Ninawa Governorate in northern Iraq. The town is located in the Nineveh Plains. It belongs to the disputed territories of Northern Iraq. According ...
– d. 28 January 2019 in
Hanover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
) was the hereditary leader (
Mīr, or prince) of
Kurds
Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
—
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 ...
. He was also the head of the Yazidi Supreme Spiritual Council and represented the Yazidis in all matters in respect of states and tribes. Although the historic base of the family is
Ba'adra
Baadre (also written Ba'adra, Badra or Bathra, (, ) is a town located in the Shekhan District of the Ninawa Governorate in northern Iraq. The town is located in the Nineveh Plains. It belongs to the disputed territories of Northern Iraq. Accord ...
, Tahseen Said lived in the district capital,
Ain Sifni
Ain Sifni (, , ) also known as Shekhan (), is a town and subdistrict in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. It is located in the Shekhan District in the Nineveh Plains. Ain Sifni is largely populated by Yazidis, most of whom speak Kurmanji Kurdish.
In ...
.
He had a son named
Hazim Tahsin Said
Hazim Tahsin Beg (born 1 May 1963 in Ba'adre) is the current and official Mir (Prince) of the Yezidis since July 27, 2019. Mir Hazim is the son and successor of Tahseen Beg, who after ruling Yezidis for 75 years, died at the age of 85. Mir Hazim ...
.
Life
The Office of Mīr is hereditary and is transmitted from father to son, and Tahseen Said was the successor of his father Saied Beg, who died in 1944. He became Mîr at the age of 11.
Mīr Tahsin joined the Kurdish movement in 1969. He had an office in
Choman area which is located north-east of
Erbil
Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate.
Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...
. When Tord Wallström, a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
journalist, met him in 1974, Mir Tahsin stated his reason for participating in the
Kurdish Revolt. He stated, “I believe in the principles of the revolt. However, there is no relation between the religion and the revolt. I am Kurdish, and all the
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 ...
are Kurdish; this is the reason why I joined this revolt”. The journalist asked whether all the Yezidis are participating in the revolt, to which Mîr Tahsin responded: “No, but because their participation in the revolt has not been necessary as of yet. I've not requested their participation, but if I do, at least 95% will join the revolt. By the way, the Iraqi government executed 20 Yazidis recently in Mosul”.
He travelled in 1975 after the
Algiers Agreement led to the crushing of the
Kurds' resistance.
During the 1991–2003 existence of the
Kurdistan Region
Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...
, he served as sub-ruler of the Yazidis in that territory.
Mîr Tahseen survived an assassination attempt in 2004.
On 4 August 2014, he issued a plea to world leaders concerning the plight of the
Yazidis being attacked by the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...
.
He died on 28 January 2019 in the Siloah hospital in Hanover.
He was buried in
Ain Sifni
Ain Sifni (, , ) also known as Shekhan (), is a town and subdistrict in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. It is located in the Shekhan District in the Nineveh Plains. Ain Sifni is largely populated by Yazidis, most of whom speak Kurmanji Kurdish.
In ...
on 5 February 2019.
See also
*
Khurto Hajji Ismail
Khurto Hajji Ismail (1933 – 1 October 2020, ) was the Baba Sheikh of the Yazidis until his death in 2020. He held this position since 2007. He lived in Ain Sifni, Iraq.
He played an important role in reintegrating Yazidi society by helping the ...
References
External links
''Interview with the head of the Yazidi: ''Interview mit dem Oberhaupt der Yeziden - Mir Tahsin Saied Beg''(April 1999). Yeziden.de
Iraqi politicians
Iraqi Yazidis
1933 births
2019 deaths
{{Iraq-bio-stub