Ridwan or Redwan (also ''Ridvan'') was a place in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(in the Garzan area, south of

Siirt Siirt ( ar, سِعِرْد, Siʿird; hy, Սղերդ, S'gherd; syr, ܣܥܪܬ, Siirt; ku, Sêrt) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the seat of Siirt Province. The population of the city according to the 2009 census was 129,188. History Pr ...

in modern-day

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

) that was inhabited by

Yazidis Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the wester ...

Alternative name

The American

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Henry A. Homes Henry Augustus Homes (March 10, 1812 – November 3, 1887) was a librarian, diplomat, and missionary. Family background His earliest New England ancestor was William Homes, a school teacher at Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard, from 1686 to 1692, and ...

quoted the name "Yezidi Khan" as alternative name for Ridwan in the 19th century.

History

Ridwan was an autonomous Yazidi principality in the 19th century. First the Yazidi prince Mirza Agha ruled over the area and lastly Seid Beg. A castle and a river in the region were also known by the name Ridwan.

Population

The location was mainly inhabited by Yazidis, but a few hundred

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

also lived there. Prince Mirza Agha built a church in Ridwan for the Christian Armenian inhabitants.

Massacre of the Yazidis in Ridwan

There were many armed conflicts between the Yazidis and the Muslim

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...

in Ridwan. In particular, the Kurds of the Goyan tribe, who called themselves the "Knights of Islam", were especially hostile to the Yazidis. Once members of the Goyan tribe attacked a Yazidi caravan consisting of 1,500 unarmed horsemen and killed 500 of them. The Kurdish prince

Bedir Khan Beg Bedir Khan Beg (Kurmanji: ''Bedirxan Beg'', tr, Bedirhan Bey; 1803–1869) was the last Kurdish Mîr and mütesellim of the Emirate of Botan. Hereditary head of the house of Rozhaki whose seat was the ancient Bitlis castle and descended from ...

also carried out many massacres of the Yazidis. Some Yazidis migrated to

Sheikhan Sheikhan (Punjabi Shahmukhi: ) (Punjabi Gurmukhi: ) (Hindi: ) City is situated in District Chiniot in Punjab province of Pakistan. Geography Southern side The village Sheikhan is situated some distance from the right bank of the river ...

and

Sinjar Sinjar ( ar, سنجار, Sinjār; ku, شنگال, translit=Şingal, syr, ܫܝܓܪ, Shingar) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its ...

to escape Kurdish harassment and persecution.

References

{{coord missing, Turkey Yazidi history Ottoman Empire Historical regions in Turkey Kurdistan