Keldaniler

The Chaldeans (Khaldi) are one of the communities belonging to the Christian faith that have existed in the geography of Mesopotamia and Kurdistan from antiquity to the Ottoman period. Sources of Kurdish history treat the history of the Chaldeans as an important topic, along with Armenians, Syriacs, and Nestorians, for those who want to research this region.

Ancient Sources

The Chaldeans are mentioned along with neighboring tribes in the works of ancient historians. In Eusebius's Chronicle, which is considered the first systematic and universal history of the ancient world and covers the period starting with the oldest evidence available to him up to AD 325, the Chaldeans are among the peoples discussed along with the Assyrians, Medes, and Lydians (Cilt 1, s. 36).

Ottoman Travelers

Late Ottoman travelers also record the Chaldeans while describing the multi-communal structure of Kurdistan. Evliyâ Çelebi, by providing information about the Chaldeans along with Yezidis, Kızılbaş/Alevis, Zazas, Armenians, Turks, Turkmens, Arabs, Syriacs, and Nestorians in the geography of Kurdistan, refers to relatively small communities (Cilt 4, s. 73).

Origin and Settlement

Sources emphasize that the Chaldeans are a settled community extending back to the oldest layers of the region. According to this, the inhabitants belonging to the Nestorian and Chaldean communities are stated to be descendants of the ancient Chaldeans and Syriacs, and not belonging to the Kurdish lineage; this geography was seen under the domination of the Assyrians in Nineveh in the oldest times recorded by history, and at the end of the Assyrian rule, it passed to the domination of the Median rulers and then to Keyhüsrev (Cilt 4, s. 112).

Ottoman Archival Documents

19th-century Ottoman archival documents constitute a rich source for tracing the administrative and social history of the Chaldeans. These documents provide important material for writing the history of the Chaldeans as well, along with Armenians, Syriacs, and Nestorians who lived in Kurdistan (Cilt 3, s. 57). Within the scope of the İrade Hâriciye (İ.HR) fund, records regarding the construction of a Chaldean church in the Baz sub-district of Van are found; furthermore, documents concerning the permits and decorations granted by the Ottoman State to clergymen serving at the patriarchal level and in the provinces constitute the majority in this fund (Cilt 3, s. 64). In funds such as Tercüme Odası (HR.TO), reports of foreign embassies regarding non-Muslim communities in the region and petitions concerning the life and property security of these communities are found (Cilt 3, s. 69).