Sidekan () also called

Bradost Emirate of Bradost or Emirate of Biradost (, 1510–1609) was a hereditary Kurdish emirate, ruling roughly the area from Rawandiz to Targavar and Margavar south of Urmia at its height. The emirate was founded in 1510 and acted as a bufferzone bet ...

, is a vast subdistrict belonging to

Soran District Soran (, ) is a district and an independent administration of the Erbil Governorate, Kurdistan Region, in Iraq, bordering Iran and Turkey. Its main city is Soran. Soran District is similar to a county, and the seat of government is in Diana, h ...

(Diana-Rawanduz) north 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 ...

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 ...

, with 250 villages. The district also contains the area where the ancient Armenian city of Mahkert (, ''Mahkert'') was. Sidekan has a population of less than 15,000. The exact number of Bradostian people estimated is more than this census but as the original inhabitants had been deported three times in 1961, 1978, and 1988 and a lot of them have not yet returned due to the frequent bombing by the Turkish and Iranian militaries on the

Kurdistan Workers Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurdish militant political organization and armed gu ...

strongholds in Khakurk mountains, and also because of the lack of renovation projects by the local authorities.

History

After 1958 and the return of Mullah

Mustafa Barzani Mustafa Barzani (14 March 1903 – 1 March 1979), also known as Mullah Mustafa, was a Kurdish nationalist leader and one of the most prominent political figures in modern Kurdish politics. In 1946, he was chosen as the leader of the Kurdistan ...

from Russia, and then the outbreak of Kurdish revolution in 1961 under his leadership, Sidekan became a dangerous place to stay overall impact of some of its residents to leave them, especially the family of Sheikh Rashid Lolan and his

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

followers and the family of Mahmoud Beg and his sons. Barzani had bad relationships with both families. Firstly, they dwelled in

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

and

Harir Harir () is a town and sub-district in Erbil Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The town is located in the Shaqlawa District. In the town, there was a church of Mar Yohanna. History According to the Yazidi tradition, the ruler (Mîr) o ...

and then inside

in both (Iskan) and (Azadi). In 1978, the Iraqi government issued a decision to evacuate the border areas with

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 ...

and

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 ...

to prevent contact between

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

rebels and villagers. Accordingly, many residents of Sidekan were deported to Diana (Soran), Topzawa, Kesnezan and Degele around the city of

. The rest of them were deported to Badleyan near Diana in 1984-1988 during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

. The name of Sidekan was mentioned in a Historical Islamic books in Arabic, "said Abu Abbas Qalqashandi who died in 821 Hijri wrote about Sidekan and their Kurdish princes in his Book "Sobh a'sha" as one of the countries of Eastern during

Hulagu Khan Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu; ; ; ; ( 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Western Asia. As a son of Tolui and the Keraite princess Sorghaghtani Beki, he was a grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of ...

's rule (from 1217 to 1265) one of them was the prince Ali Hossam Eddin Zerzari and Henesh bin Ismail, the prince of Beazgir.

Holy land of Muṣaṣir

Sidkan old town was located near the village of Mucéser which was called Muṣaṣir which was an ancient Mannaean city, attested in Assyrian sources of the 9th and 8th centuries BC. It was acquired by the Urartian king Ishpuini ca. 800 BC . The city's tutelary deity was Ḫaldi. The name Musasir in Akkadian means exit of the serpent. The Musasir temple was an important Araratian temple in Musasir, The Temple at Musasir appears in an Assyrian bas-relief which adorned the palace of King Sargon II at Khorsapat, to commemorate his victory over "the seven kings of Ararat" in 714 BC. During the early 1850s, the British Assyrian Excavation Fund entered the field under William Kennett Loftus and many antiquities and accurate drawings of wall sculptures were apportioned between the British Museum and the Louvre. However, a convoy of antiquities was attacked by Arab robbers while being shipped down the Tigris River, and today lies buried somewhere in the bed of that river.

Ardini Kingdom

Ardini Muṣaṣir (Assyrian cuneiform: and variants, including Mutsatsir, Akkadian for ''Exit of the Serpent/Snake''), in Urartian Ardini was an ancient city of Urartu, attested in Assyrian sources of the 9th and 8th centuries BC. It was acquired b ...

was one of the city of ancient Musasir who mentioned in Keleshin stele, the location of this city is now called (Hérdeni) not too far from Mucéser five km from Sidekan town.

Kéleshin Stele

Kéle shin meaning "Green stone" in

is a mountain pass located on the Iranian border, Bradost area north of Iraqi Kurdistan some 80 km south-west of

Lake Urmia Lake Urmia is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is located between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran, and west of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea. At its greatest extent, it was the largest lake in th ...

. The Kélashin Stele (also Kélishin Stele) found in Kélashin pass, bears an important Urartian-Assyrian bilingual text dating to ca. 800 BC, first described by

Friedrich Eduard Schulz Friedrich Eduard Schulz (1799–1829, also known as Friedrich Edward Schulz) was a German philosopher and orientalist, who was one of the first to uncover evidence of the Kingdom of Urartu. Research on Urartu In 1827, the French scholar ...

in 1827. Part of Schulz's notes were lost when he was killed by local brigands, and later expeditions were either prevented by weather conditions or brigands, so that a copy (

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...

squeeze) of the inscription could only be made in 1951 by G. Cameron, and again in 1976 by an Italian party under heavy military protection. The inscription describes the acquisition of the city of Musasir (Ardini) by the Urartian king Ishpuini the stele is now kept in the museum of Urmia city since 1984. also there are a small stele found in Topzawa village, close to Sidekan town called Topzawa stele. it kept in Erbil museum.

Topzawa stele

From Topzawa (Topzawä), 25 km is from Kéleshin, a bilingual Stele of King Rusa I urartu. It is badly preserved. The text tells how Urzana appeared in front of Musasir Rusa, perhaps, as Russell suggested, to seek for help against the

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

. Rusa attacked the Assyrians and Urzana sat on the throne of his fathers. Musasir were offered to the gods of sacrifice. At the end of the inscription are the one who destroys, threatened the usual punishment of the gods. Most researchers assume that Musasir was in the vicinity of Topzawa

Clans and tribes

Sidekan is inhabited by the clan of

or Biradost ( برادوست) which has four main branches: *Begzade in the villages of (Mucéser, or Mudjesir :old Muṣaṣir), Lolan and in Dashti-Berazgir. *Khakurki in Khakurk (Hakurk) area close to Shemdinan district with

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

border. *Piresni in Sidekan town, zerza valley and outlying areas. *Rewendok including Shekhzade branch, in Dashti Hért who live as Semi-Nomade and their summer residences are in Kéle Shin Pass close to

Oshnavieh Oshnavieh () is a city in the Central District of Oshnavieh County, West Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Oshnavieh County is bordered by Naqadeh County to the east, by Piranshahr Count ...

inside Iran border There is also a tribe of Muhacir who are originally immigrants came from Turkey and Iranian Kurdistan with Sheikh Taha Nehri and

Simko Shikak Ismail Agha Shikak (, ), also known as Simko (, ; 1887–1930), was a Kurds, Kurdish chieftain of the Shekak (tribe), Shekak tribe. He was a nationalist warlord who controlled significant land and led thousands of Kurdish rebels who defeated th ...

during Shemdinan-Chariq unrest in 1884 and 1915Book of Kurdistan tribes by Burhan Bradost

Geographic details

Mountains

Bradost is a mountainous area characterized by high mountains. The most famous one is Helgurd (the peak of Hasarost) in the south east. Other mountains include Goshine, Bizeen, Berbizeen, Shekiw, Déwane, Siako, Hesenbeg, Bolé, Rebenok, Qelender, Awedel Kéw, xréne.

Rivers

* Haji beg, originate from Khakurk and pour out into upper Zab in the village of Rézan (Barzan area) * Gader rise from Lolan area and crosses into Deshti-Shno and Silduz (Neghede) and pour out into the Lake of Urumia (Iran) * Zena thru Letan valley into Balekyan branch and then to Zab (in Khelan village).

Lakes

There are some Volcanic lake located in the highlands close to Kileshin passage, locally called (bérm) which mean small lakelet. The famous one is (Bérm of Dindaran). in the graphics of Musasir (assyrian inscriptions) this lake is shown up.

Gallery

File:Halgurd 1.JPG, Helgurd peak File:Rewendi woman.JPG, Rewendi Woman File:sadam palace ruins.GIF, ruins of

Saddam Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until his overthrow in 2003 during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He previously served as the vi ...

palace on Hasanbeg mount. File:Nilgiri Thar 2.jpg,

Wild goat The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near threaten ...

File:Rewends.jpg, Nomadic Rewends

References

{{reflist Erbil Governorate Mannaeans Urartian cities Former populated places in Iran Rabat Tepe