Cizre

Cizre is a historical city located in Yukarı Mezopotamya, on the banks of the Dicle. It is also recorded in Islamic sources under the name Cezîretu İbn Ömer (Cilt 2, s. 115). Throughout its history, extending from antiquity to the Ottoman period, the city has been one of the main centers of the region densely populated by Kurds.

Geography and Location

Cizre is mentioned in sources within the Diyar-ı Rebia region of Yukarı Mezopotamya (Cilt 1, s. 87). Geographers speak of scattered Kurdish communities living in the region extending from around Mardin to the Hemedan and Şehrezor Dağları, and from Cizre to the Dicle; the presence of Kurds living in the villages of Cizre and Mardin indicates that this people were settled not only in the mountains but also in the plains (Cilt 2, s. 55). Mamluk era geographers list Cizre among the cities included in the Cezîre region, alongside Amed, Meyyafarikin, Mardin, Nusaybin, and Musul (Cilt 2, s. 64). İbn Şeddad and similar authors mention Cizre among the prominent cities where Kurds held dominance (Cilt 2, s. 115).

Tribes and the Marwanids

The city and its surroundings hosted various Kurdish aşiretler. In the vast geography dominated by the Mervânîler, called Zevezân (Zozan) in the Middle Ages, important Kurdish aşiretler such as Humeydî, Lârî, Hezbânî, Mihrânî, Hakkârî, Buxtî, Beşnevî, Çûpî, and Millî were present (Cilt 1, s. 129). Cizre was one of the important cities of the Mervânî dynasty, which ruled in Northern Mezopotamya between 983 and 1085 (Cilt 1, s. 129); the dynasty carried out repairs on the city walls of Cizre, another important city, as well as on the walls of Âmid (Cilt 1, s. 131). Ebû Ali el-Hasan b. Mervân, considered the true founder of the Mervânî Devleti, is also among the names who consolidated the dynasty's dominance in the region (Cilt 1, s. 130). During the military conflicts that occurred in the region in the subsequent period, the Haçlılar established their own principalities in Cizre and Suriye (Cilt 2, s. 65).

Center of Learning

Cizre was also an important center of learning and history. The famous historian İzzeddin Ali İbnü'l-Esîr el-Cezerî was born in Cizre on 4 Cemâziyelevvel 555 (12 May 1160) and received his initial education there; he took the nisba el-Cezerî from this city where he was born (Cilt 1, s. 125; Cilt 1, s. 165). İbnü'l-Esîr, the author of el-Kâmil fi't-târîh, one of the most important works of Islamic history, later migrated to Musul with his father and brothers (Cilt 1, s. 134). Sources record his birthplace as Cizre or Cezîretu İbn Ömer (Cilt 1, s. 106).

Cizre-Botan Emirate

In the 19th century, the city stood out as the center of the Cizre-Botan Mirliği. During the implementation phase of the Tanzimat, the name of Cizre-Botan Miri Bedirhan Bey is mentioned as a decisive figure in the Kurdish history of the period (Cilt 3, s. 78).