İmadiye

İmadiye, located today in the Irak Kürdistan region, is a historical fortress-city known for its protected mountainous location and the center of a Kürt principality bearing the same name. In sources ranging from Islamic period geographers to Ottoman archival records, it is mentioned as both a strategic position and an administrative unit governed by Kürt beys for centuries.

Geography and Sources

Classical Islamic geography and travel sources highlight İmadiye for its protected location and waters; Ebü'l-Fidâ mentions its protected place and waters (Volume 2, p. 111). The settlement is located today 6 km from the Serseng sub-district in the Irak Kürdistan region (Volume 2, p. 113). According to information provided by El-Umerî, İmadiye is one of the most important settlements and places of the tribes around Çölemerik (Hekarî) and is mentioned together with Harun Kalesi (Volume 2, p. 111). In addition, among the sovereign political units inhabited by Kürt people in the Cibal region, İmadiye is mentioned along with locations such as Harun Kalesi and Kumraniye (Volume 2, p. 57).

İmadiye Principality

Sources state that the Behdinan, or İmadiye Principality as it is known, brought vast territories, including Bradust, in the Cezîre, Irak, and Cibal regions under its rule, and that its rulers were influential during the Moğol and Tatar administrations (Volume 2, p. 67). One of the rulers of İmadiye is known by the name Şemseddin Muhammed, and he corresponded as the ruler of İmadiye (Volume 2, p. 67). It has also been recorded that Kürt people resided in the regions subject to Hakkâri, and in this context, Görgil, İmadiye, and Bay were under the dominion of İzeddin Şir Bey (Volume 4, p. 40).

Ottoman Period

During the Ottoman period, İmadiye was a sanjak and a "hükûmet" (government) administered by Kürt beys with yurtluk-ocaklık status. In 1670, the appointment of İmadiye sanjakbey Kubad Bey was recorded as the "İmadiye Hükûmet Nişanı"; the nişan (edict) stated, with the phrases "İmadiye hükûmeti kadîmü'l-eyyamdan ila-hazel an babaları ve dedeleri yurtluğu ve ocaklığı üzre sâir Kürdistan hâkimleri neslen ba'de'n-nesl mutasarrıf oldukları gibi mutasarrıf olmak," that Kürt beys had governed these places for centuries from father to son (Volume 3, pp. 49-50). In administrative divisions, İmadiye was one of the units listed alongside Cizre and Mesyun within the "Eyalet-i Kürdistan" (Volume 3, p. 51). Furthermore, imperial edicts were issued regarding the delivery of the miri akçe (state revenue) of the İmadiye Hükümeti tribal chieftaincy to the Diyarbekir Hazinesi with the annexation of the Deyr-i maklıb sub-district (Volume 3, p. 51).

The administration of the principality was not always stable; İmadiye sanjakbey Kubad Bey, who had problems with his tribe, and his son were murdered, his brother Behram Bey was appointed in his place, and the central administration was appealed to for the punishment of those responsible for the incident (Volume 3, p. 17). In late Ottoman sources, İmadiye is shown as one of the important locations of the Hakkâri province (Volume 4, p. 93); in administrative lists, it appears as a unit attached to both the Hakkâri (Çölemerik) sanjak and the Musul province (along with Akre, Zibar, Duhok, Zaho) (Volume 4, p. 119).

After World War I

İmadiye also became one of the centers of Kürt tribes' resistance against British influence in the period after World War I. In 1919, it was reflected in the encrypted telegrams of the period that a British detachment sent to İmadiye was defeated by the people of İmadiye, and these forces were repelled and pursued as far as Duhok (Volume 3, p. 123). In the same period, the loyalty of Musul's Zaho, Duhok, and İmadiye Kürt tribes to the central administration was emphasized (Volume 3, p. 122), it was recorded that due to British practices, the İmadiye, Goyan, Miran, and Batuvan tribes were preparing for a rebellion against the British (Volume 3, p. 127), and it was reported that following the murder of a British political officer, the İmadiye and Zaho tribes allied and attacked the British (Volume 3, p. 133).