Zilan

Zilan is an ancient Kurdish tribe extending from Diyarbekir to the serhad region. In Ottoman archive documents, especially in mühimme defters, it is mostly mentioned along with the Bisyan (Besyan) and Bociyan tribes.

Migration and Tribal Mobility

Ottoman archive sources reveal Zilan's position within the tribal mobility directed from Southern Kurdistan to Northern Kurdistan. Zilan was also among the large tribes migrating from Aleppo and Diyarbekir to the serhad region - towards Erzurum, Kars, Revan, Bayezid, and Muş; in the same context, the Milan tribe in Van province is also mentioned as one of the largest tribes (Volume 3, p. 13). This mobility was also intertwined with conflicts between nomadic Kurdish tribes and settled Kurds.

Financial Order and Tax

Zilan was closely related to the state's financial order in the provinces. In records dated 979/1571, members of the Zilan, Bisyan, and Bociyan tribes are seen to have been tasked with collecting mirî property (Volume 3, p. 13). However, problems arose periodically (991/1583) between Kurdish tribes and state officials collecting taxes in the provinces, and tribal members even occasionally killed tax collectors (Volume 3, p. 13).

Public Order Records

Records related to public order also mention Zilan's name. In an order sent to the Beylerbeyi of Erzurum, it was stated that a person named Hızır from Zilan and other tribal groups in the Hınıs sancak had plundered and looted the property of the reaya with three hundred men; the central administration ordered that necessary measures be taken to protect the reaya who could not resist these tribes, and that Behlül Bey, who was responsible for the tribes, identify and apprehend the culprits (Volume 3, pp. 13-14).

Twentieth Century

The political existence of the tribe extends to the early 20th century. After the First World War, in 1919, when discussions about the future of Vilayat-ı Şarkiye intensified, Ali Ağa, the Chief of the Zilan Tribe, along with Abdülmecid Ağa, the Chief of the Sipki Tribe, sent letters to Kâzım Karabekir Paşa, Commander of the 15th Army Corps; these correspondences reflect the reaction against discourses regarding the abandonment of the region to Armenia (Volume 3, p. 141).