The Shekak (also Shakkak, Shikakan or Shekkāk;
;
) is a
Kurdish tribe present in various regions, mainly in
West Azerbaijan province,
Iran.
History
The Shikaki tribe are first mentioned in a
Yezidi mişûr (manuscript) from 1207 AD, where they're mentioned as one of the tribes affiliated to
Pir Sini Darani
Pir or PIR may refer to:
Places
* Pir, Kerman, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
* Pir, Satu Mare, commune in Satu Mare County, Romania
Religion
* Pir (Alevism), one of the 12 ranks of Imam in Alevism
* Pir (Sufism), a Sufi teacher or spiritu ...
, who is a Yezidi saint represented in the
Yezidi religion as the Lord of the sea.
In the
Sharafnama, they are mentioned twice. First, in the chapter on the emirate of
Bohtan, as being one of the four tribes living in
Finik
Finik is an archaeological site in southeastern Turkey. It is located on the rocky cliffs overlooking the eastern bank of the Tigris, 14 kilometers upstream from the city of Cizre. It has been identified with the ancient ''Pinaka'', mentioned by S ...
. Second, in the chapter on the
Ayyubid emirate of
Hasankeyf
Hasankeyf ( ar, حصن كيفا, translit=Ḥiṣn Kayfa‘, ku, Heskîf, hy, Հասանքեյֆ, translit=, el, Κιφας, translit=Kifas, lat, Cepha, syr, ܚܣܢܐ ܕܟܐܦܐ, Ḥesno d-Kifo) is a town and district located along the Ti ...
.
In a 16th-century
Ottoman Defter
A ''defter'' (plural: ''defterler'') was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire.
Description
The information collected could vary, but ''tahrir defterleri'' typically included details of villages, dwellings, household ...
, they are mentioned in the regions of
Birecik,
Kahta, Joum,
Suruç and Ravendan, and called 'Taife-I Ekrâd-I Shikakî'. In another Defter, they are mentioned in the region of
Çemişgezek.
Among the clans of the Shekak are the 'Awdoǐ
or Evdoyî. According to their oral history they came from
Diyarbakır in the 17th Century and settled west of
Lake Urmia,
which displaced the
Donboli tribe.
The first known chieftain of the 'Awdoǐ was
Ismail Agha, who died in 1816 and whose tomb is beside the
Naslu River.
His grandson Jafar Agha was executed as a bandit in
Tabriz in 1905.
Jafar's brother
Simko Shikak was responsible for leading the anti-
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and anti-
Alevi massacres in the area before and during
World War I, and for the organised resistance against the regime of
Reza Shah.
The Shaqaqi tribe has been described as brave warriors and they trained officers of soldiers of the
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic peoples ...
since the reign of
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ( fa, آقا محمد خان قاجار, translit=Âqâ Mohammad Xân-e Qâjâr; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (, ), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, rul ...
.
Spread
The tribe inhabits the villages of
Akçakuşak,
Çevrimli,
Düğünyurdu,
Koçtepe and
Yatağankaya in the
Şırnak Province of
Turkey.
Turkicized Shiite portions of the tribe historically inhabited
East Azerbaijan.
Leaders
*Ismail Agha (d. 1816 or 1820)
[Mihemed Resûl Hawar. Simko Axayê Şikakî û Tevgera Neteweyî ya Kurd. Translated by Ziya Avci (Istanbul: Nûbihar, 2016), 190-2.]
*Ali Khan
*Mehmed Agha
*Timur (Teymûr) Agha
*Jafar Agha (d. 1905)
*
Simko Agha (b. 1887 d. 1930)
Notes
Kurdish tribes
West Azerbaijan Province
Şırnak Province
{{Iran-stub