Şırnak

Şırnak is a Kurdish settlement in the Botan region, where the tribal structure is strong. In the Ottoman administrative division, it is mentioned as a settlement connected to the Mardin sanjak, along with Nusaybin, Cizre, Avina, and Midyat (Cilt 4, s. 119).

Tribal Structure

According to sources, the chiefs of the Şırnak tribe belong to a single family; they have earned the respect of other tribes in terms of lineage and honor. A tradition was followed where the Ağas would gather and elect one of them as the tribal chief, known in Kurdish as "Ağayê Sor", and if deemed necessary, they would gather again to depose the chief and replace him with another. It is stated in the report of the Musul Governor dated 14 Temmuz 1918 that the tribe could field about six hundred armed men (Cilt 3, s. 120). The tribe's sphere of influence extends beyond the settlement's borders; the fact that the people of Silopi belong to the Şırnak tribe has been recorded as a detail demonstrating the tribe's regional weight (Cilt 3, s. 126).

Şırnak in the Ottoman Archive

Şırnak frequently stands out in Ottoman archive documents from the period after I. Dünya Savaşı, and during this time, the tribe's chief Abdurrahman Ağa is at the center of the documents. Abdurrahman Ağa is also the mayor of Şırnak Kasabası; a telegram dated 1919, sent to the Dâhiliye Nezareti by him as Mayor, along with Sorzade Muhammed Ağa, on behalf of the townspeople, belongs to this period (Cilt 3, s. 121). At a time when news of Kürdistan's annexation to Ermenistan was spreading, Şırnak tribal chief Abdurrahman Ağa, Dirşevi tribal chief Ömer Ağa, and Batuvan tribal chief Ömer Ağa sent a telegram from Şırnak dated 10 Nisan 1919, stating that the majority Kurdish population would not accept any nationality other than Ottoman citizenship (Cilt 3, s. 119).

The Goyan Incident and Nestorian Contacts

During the same period, Abdurrahman Ağa appears in the multi-actor politics of the post-war Botan-Cizre line. The development referred to as the "Goyan hadisesi" and the details of the meeting held with Şırnaklı Abdurrahman Ağa on this matter were the subject of a coded telegram sent from the Dâhiliye Nezareti (Emniyeti Umumiye Müdüriyeti) to Van Vilayeti with the note "gayet mühim ve acele" (very important and urgent) on 14 Mayıs 1919 (Cilt 3, s. 132). Nasturi commander Davud Efendi wrote Arapça letters dated 16 ve 25 Ağustos 1919 to Şırnaklı Abdurrahman, Temirhan, Alihan, and Süleyman Tarar Ağas, proposing submission to the İngilizlere; these letters and their Osmanlıca translations were forwarded to the Dâhiliye Nezareti by the Bitlis Vali Vekili (Cilt 3, s. 125). At this time, reports that the Şırnak tribe would form an alliance with other tribes and attack Zaho were also reflected in the documents (Cilt 3, s. 126).

Regional Position

The name of Şırnaklı Abdurrahman Ağa appears in the same records as prominent Kurdish actors of the period; he is mentioned alongside tribal chiefs such as Şeyh Mahmud Berzenci, Koçgiri Aşireti Reisi Alişan Bey, Barzan, Oramar, Zibar, Surci, and Şirvan, in documents related to developments in Güney Kürdistan and İran Kürdistanı and İngiliz-Kürt relations (Cilt 3, s. 120). Thus, Şırnak holds a significant place in archive records as a center where the Ottoman-İngiliz struggle for influence and Nasturi contacts intersected in the tribal politics of the post-war Botan geography.