Şirvan

Şirvan is a place name that appears as two distinct geographical entities in the sources of Kurdish history: one is a historical region mentioned in the Arrân/Azerbaycan region in the Caucasus, and the other is a kaza and tribal region located around Bitlis-Siirt during the Ottoman period.

Caucasian Şirvan and the Şeddâdîs

In Islamic period geographical literature, Şirvan is counted among the most important cities of Arrân; it is mentioned along with Berzağa, Debil, Gence, Bilkan, Bab, Derbend, Tiflis, Veresan, Berdic, Şamkur, Şabran, and Bakü in this list of cities (Volume 2, p. 61). The same region is intertwined with the history of the Kurdish-origin Şeddâdî emirate; the name Şeddâdîye is based on Şeddâd b. Kurtuk, who came from the Revvâdiye Kurds, and this emirate was established thanks to Muhammed b. Şeddâd and maintained its existence until the late 6th Hijri / 12th Gregorian century (Volume 2, p. 61).

This Caucasian Şirvan holds special importance in terms of source historiography. Müneccimbaşı, who served as chief astrologer in the Ottoman palace for many years and gained his main fame with his Arabic general history Câmi'ü'd-düvel, transmitted one of the most important sources on the history of the Şeddâdîs from a lost history book he acquired (Volume 1, p. 103). This work, whose full name is Târîhu Bâbi'l-Ebvâb ve Şirvân ve Arrân, is lost today, and only the part "declaring the conditions of the kings of Bâbü'l-Ebvâb, Şirvân, Arrân, and Azerbaycan" has reached us thanks to Müneccimbaşı's transmission, and it holds the distinction of being the only source providing comprehensive information on the history of the Şeddâdî State (Volume 1, p. 105).

Şirvan Kaza in Bitlis-Siirt

In Ottoman archive and press records, Şirvan appears as an administrative unit in the Bitlis-Siirt region. Şirvan Kaza (Volume 4, p. 119), counted among the kazas affiliated with the Siird (Siirt) Sanjak along with Garzan, Erva, and Pervari, was recorded with 111 villages and 1 nahiye in population and settlement tables (Volume 4, p. 126). Regarding the linguistic fabric of the region, it was recorded that there were many Armenians "who did not know Armenian, speaking only Kurdish" in the kazas of Şirvan, Hizan, Harzan, and Beravil in Bitlis Vilayet (Volume 4, p. 173). Şirvan was also mentioned among the regions where over three hundred derebeys ruled around the Bitlis-centered Kurdish beylik —along with Çemişgezek, Palu, Sason, Hizan, Müküs, and others— (Volume 4, p. 216).

Political Events in the Archives

Ottoman archival documents show Şirvan in this region as a party to social and political events. The conflict experienced by Yezdanşer, whom Ottoman officials referred to as İzzeddin Şîr, with his relatives on one hand and the people of Şirvan on the other, was reflected in the archives within ten documents (Volume 3, p. 64); these records are important for depicting the relations of Kurdish beys with the central state. In documents from the early 20th century, Şirvan is mentioned as a Kurdish tribe along with Barzan, Oramar, Zibar, and Surci (Volume 3, p. 120) and side by side with Barzan, Zibar, and Masfin in the context of events in the Mosul region (Volume 3, p. 124). Regarding religious institutions in the region, it is stated that records concerning the revenue of the Şeyh Şirvan Tekke in Bitlis are found in the archives (Volume 3, p. 96).