Dersim

Dersim is a province of Kurdish ethnicity, defined in Ottoman sources as a region of Kurdistan, with a population of mostly Kurds; its northern and eastern sides are shown surrounded by Erzurum province, its southern and western sides by Diyarbekir and Mamuretulaziz provinces (Volume 4, s. 100). In the Geography and Administrative Location of Kamusü'l-Alam, it is described as a small region between Dersim, Anatolia and Kurdistan, and it is mentioned that it constitutes a banner attached to Mamuretulaziz, which has been under the rule of the cevelengâh of Kurdish tribes ever since (Volume 4, p. 107). In the administrative tables, accidents related to the Dersim (Hozat) Strait are recorded as Ovacık, Çemişgezek, Çarsancak, Mazgird, Pağ, Pülümür (Kuzican) and the Red Church (Volume 4, s. 119; Volume 4, p. 261). ## Population and Social Structure Kamusü'l-Alam records that Kurds living in the mountains winter in some underground cottages, summer in the open and Kurdish women manufacture very acceptable rugs and carpets (Volume 4, p. 107). In an article written on the reform of the Dersim tribes, the name, ethnic structures, tribal life, livelihoods, and military and tax views of Dersim's tribes are discussed (Volume 4, p. 219). It is stated that the Haydaranli, Demenanli, Yuskanli and Sheikhani tribes are entirely unknown to the Turkish language, while the Kaparganli, Upper Abbasanli, Shem Uşağı, Kalan, Arili, Alanlı and Karsanli tribes speak the "Kurdun Zaza language" in general (Vol. 4, p. 219). The reforms and military measures that the Ottoman State tried to implement in the region are also among the topics of the article (Volume 4, p. 219). ## In the archival documents, records of Dersim in the Ottomans archive are found in multiple backgrounds. The Domestic Control Kalem-i Mahsus (DH.KMS) catalogue contains documents relating to the Dersim and Dersim tribes in 1915 (Volume 3, p. 120). In a record from the Mutareque period, Rumi, who was taken to the Interior Control by the signature of Elaziz Vali Ali, was reported in the encrypted telegram dated 16 April 1335 (16 April 1919), that the Kurdistan Teali Society had not yet established branches in the central district and related accidents in connection with the Dersim region (Volume 3, p. 133). In the press, Dersim Ottoman periodicals also contained content about Dersim; in the newspaper Müjde, articles about the events of Dersim were published (Volume 4, p. 218).