Hekarî

Hekarî (Hekarîye, Hekkâriye in sources) is a large community of Kurdish tribes mentioned in medieval Islamic geography and travel sources, settled in Upper Mesopotamia, north of Musul and around İmadiye. It is accepted that the Hakkâri region takes its name from this tribe.

Mention in Sources

Yâkūt el-Hamevî, in his work Muʿcemü'l-büldân, while introducing in detail the places where Kurds lived, enumerates many Kurdish tribes and clans; among them, he mentions Hekkâriye along with Beşneviyye, Buhtîyye, Dâsiniyye, and Hezbanî (Volume 2, p. 27). Hamevî describes Hakkâri as a city in Cezîretu İbn Ömer, in the upper regions of Musul, and states that Kurds called "Hekarîye" are settled there (Volume 2, p. 26).

Castles

The tribe was known for its strong castles. Hamevî speaks of Hekarî castles in the Musul district and castles located in the "Hekarî mountains" in Musul territories (Volume 2, p. 27). Historians and geographers who discussed the castles and fortresses belonging to Kurdish tribes named some of these castles as "Hekariye castles or Beşneviyye castles" (Volume 2, p. 113).

Spread and Emirate

İbn Fadl el-Umerî, in Mesâlikü'l-Ebsâr, reports that this community also protected caravan routes and was responsible for the security of regions extending from Buhara to Cezîre Dağları (Volume 2, p. 111). el-Kalkaşendî also shared similar information about Hekarîye; stating that some parts of their spread area were close to the Çölemerikliler, that they had a protected emirate, and that their most important settlements and locations, in addition to Harun Kalesi, were İmadiye (Volume 2, p. 111).