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Simko Shikak

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Chieftain and General
Simko Shikak
سمکۆی شکاک
Simkoyê Şikak
Born
Ismail Shikak

1887 (1887)
Chehriq, Salmas, Qajar Iran
Died(1930-07-19)July 19, 1930 (aged 43)
Oshnavieh, Imperial State of Iran
Cause of deathSurprise ambush and assassination by Imperial Iranian Armed Forces
NationalityKurdish
CitizenshipQajar Iran, and later Pahlavi Iran
Known forSimko Shikak revolt (1918–1922)
TitleChieftain of the Shekak tribe, and General of the Shekak forces.
PredecessorCewer Agha
SuccessorAbolished title
FamilyShekak
Rebellious leader
AllegianceAzadî - Society for the Rise of Kurdistan
Service/branchAzadî Battalion
RankGeneral - Agha
Battles/wars
 
People
Population
  • Homeland
History

Ancient

Karduchian dynasties

Corduene
Zabdicene
Cyrtians
Moxoene

Medieval

Modern
Culture
Languages
Kurdish languages
Religion

Simko Shikak[a] (born 1887 Chehriq, near Salmas - died 19 July 1930 in Oshnavieh), was a Kurdish chieftain of the Shekak tribe, former Ottoman soldier and leader of the two revolts in what is today north-western Iran from 1918-1922 and years later at 1926.

He was born into a prominent Kurdish feudal family based in Chihriq castle located near the Baranduz river in the Urmia region of northwestern Iran. By 1920, parts of Iranian Azerbaijan located west of Lake Urmia were under his control.[1] He led Kurdish farmers into battle and defeated the Iranian army on several occasions.[2] The Iranian government had him assassinated in 1930.[3] Simko took part in the massacre of the Assyrians of Khoy[4] and instigated the massacre of 1,000 Assyrians in Salmas.[5]

Early life and origin

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His family was from the 'Awdo'i clan of the Shekak tribe. The Shekak played a prominent role in local politics, occupying the districts of Somay, Baradost, Qotur, and Chahriq.[6] His brother, Ja'far Agha, served as a frontier commissioner and a brigand. On order of the governor-general in 1905, he was killed in Tabriz.[6]

Political commitment

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After the murder of Ja'far Agha, Simko became the head of Shikak forces. In May 1914, he attended a meeting with Abdürrezzak Bedir Khan who at the time was a Kurdish politician supported by the Russians.[7] The Iranian government was trying to assassinate him like the other members of his family. In 1919, Mukarram ul-Molk, the governor of Azerbaijan devised a plot to kill Simko by sending him a present with a bomb hidden in it.[8]

Simko was also in contact with Kurdish revolutionaries such as Seyyed Taha Gilani (grandson of Sheikh Ubeydullah who had revolted against Iran in the 1880s). Seyyed Taha was a Kurdish nationalist who was conducting propaganda among the Iranian Kurds for the union of Iranian Kurdistan and Turkish Kurdistan in an independent state.[9]

Jointly with the Ottoman Army he organized the massacre in Haftevan in February 1915 during which 700–800 Armenians and Assyrians were murdered.[10]

Revolt and conflicts

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Main article: Simko Shikak revolt (1918–1922)

In March 1918, under the pretext of meeting for the purpose of cooperation, Simko arranged the assassination of the Assyrian Church of the East patriarch, Mar Shimun XIX Benyamin, ambushing him and his 150 guards, as Mar Shimun was entering his carriage. The patriarchal ring was stolen at this time and the body of the patriarch was only recovered hours later, according to the eye-witness account of Daniel d-Malik Ismael.[11][12][13] On March 16 after the murder of Mar Shimun, the Assyrians under the command of Malik Khoshaba and Petros Elia of Baz attacked Simkos' fortress in Charah in which Simko was decisively defeated.[14]

Kurdish fighters and Simko pose with to his left Dr. Wilder P. Ellis, and to his right, a French priest later killed by Simko

By summer 1918, Simko had established his authority over the regions west of Lake Urmia.[15] In 1919, Simko organized an army of 20,000 Kurds and managed to secure a self-governed area in northwestern Iran, centered in the city of Urmia. Simko's forces had been reinforced with several hundred soldiers and mercenaries from the Ottoman Empire, including Kurdish deserters and nationalists.[16] After taking over Urmia, Simko appointed Teymur Agha Shikak as the governor of the city. Later, he organized his forces to fight the Iranian army in the region and managed to expand the area under his control to the nearby towns and cities such as Mahabad, Khoy, Miandoab, Maku and Piranshahr in a series of battles.[17]

In the battle of Gulmakhana, Kurdish forces under the command of Simko Shikak took control over Gulmakhana and the Urmia-Tabriz road from Iranian forces. In the battle of Shekar Yazi, the commander of the Iranian Army, General Amir Ershad, was killed.

At this time, government in Tehran tried to reach an agreement with Simko on the basis of limited Kurdish autonomy.[18] Simko had organized a strong Kurdish army which was much stronger than Iranian government forces. Since the central government could not control his activities, he continued to expand the area under his control and by 1922, cities of Baneh and Sardasht were under his administration.[19]

In the battle of sari Taj in 1922, Simko's forces could not resist the Iranian Army's onslaught in the region of Salmas and were finally defeated and the castle of Chari was occupied. The strength of the Iranian Army force dispatched against Simko was 10,000 soldiers.[20]

Massacres on Assyrian population

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Main article: Hamidian massacres

At the Ottoman Army, simko organized the massacre in Haftevan in February 1915 during which 700–800 Armenians and Assyrians were murdered.[10]

In March 1918, under the pretext of meeting for the purpose of cooperation, Simko arranged the assassination of the Assyrian Church of the East patriarch, Mar Shimun XIX Benyamin, ambushing him and his 150 guards, as Mar Shimun was entering his carriage.

Simko took part in the massacre of the Assyrians of Khoy[4] and instigated the massacre of 1,000 Assyrians in Salmas.[5]

Massacres on local Turkic tribes

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Main article: Lakestan incident

During December 1919, Simko prepared forces to attack Lakestan. When the people of Lakestan heard, they prepared for war and gathered from nine villages in two places, one being Soltan Ahmad and the other being Qara Qeshlaq. They brought their wives and children along with them. There were 8,700 locals, although over 340 did not have weapons.[21]The leaders of the Azerbaijanis were Masoud Divan and his brother Sadegh Khan. Taymour Yavur Habshi and Hajireza Qaraqeshlaghi and Karbalaei Ibrahim Khan Qazaljah were also among the companions of Masoud Divan and the chiefs of Lakestan. Before the battle began, Kazem Khan, an Azerbaijani leader from Qushchi, came to Lakestan with fifty of his fighters.[22]

Simko had nearly 4,000 Kurdish troops. On Friday, 19 December, the Kurds reached the vicinity of Soltan Ahmad, beginning the battle. The Azerbaijanis resisted for two hours before being overwhelmed by the Kurds, who entered the city from all sides and began looting and killing. Civilians who escaped made it to Qara Qeshlaq, while some were killed before they reached it.[23] Simko asked for 5,000 tomans and 15,000 bullets in order to end the invasion, however his demands were not met.[21]

After capturing Soltan Ahmad, Simko led the assault on Qara Qeshlaq. Masoud Divan and his brothers Sadiq Khan and Ibrahim Khan led the defence of Qara Qeshlaq and were able to resist for eleven hours. The battle in Qara Qeshlaq was much bloodier than the one in Soltan Ahmad. Masoud Divan was later killed. The Kurds eventually captured Qara Qeshlaq. Qara Qeshlaq residents escaped at night in the desert, while those who stayed in the village were captured. Many of those who escaped died from the cold, while the survivors reached  Sharafkhaneh after 2 days.[24]

In the telegram that survivors of Lakestan sent to Tabriz, they claimed that 3,500 Azerbaijanis had died, with 2,000 of them dying during the battles and 1,500 dying due to the cold weather while they were trying to escape. The deaths created a strong shock in Tabriz, where the people criticised the Iranian government. They compared the Lakestan incident to the Uprising of Sheikh Ubeydullah, where Kurdish rebels infiltrated Iran and nearly reached Tabriz, before failing due to the Shia Azerbaijanis refusing to surrender to Sunni Kurds.[25][26][27] The Iranian Army later deployed troops to Lakestan and retook it. During and after the Lakestan events, Azerbaijanis and Assyrians clashed with Kurds in nearby settlements.[25] Simko stopped his attacks after reaching an agreement with Iran, although he began attacking once again, and his men returned to looting Azerbaijani and Assyrian villages.[28] Immediately after, Simko led an invasion of Urmia, where another battle ensued.[29]

Simko‘s revolt in 1926

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Main article: Simko Shikak revolt (1926)
Simko Shikak and rebel in front of the local council house in Salmas, 1926

When Reza Khan had become Reza Shah in 1925, Simko pledged eternal loyalty to him and Iranian state.[30] However, next year Simko allied himself with Haji Agha of Herki and tribal chiefs of Begzadeh,[30] regained control of his tribe and begun another rebellion.[31]

Short military confrontation has started in October 1926[32] in Salmas (a.k.a. Dilman or Shahpur) where rebels started encircling the city.[30] Shortly after, Iranian forces were dispatched from Urmia, Sharafkhaneh and Khoy, engaged rebels and defeated them.[30] During engagement half of Simko's Shikak troops defected to the tribe’s previous leader and Simko himself fled to Mandatory Iraq.[31]

Aftermath

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In 1926, another unrelated Kurdish tribal revolt occurred in Kurdistan Province.[33] Kurdish insurgency and seasonal migrations in late 1920s, along with long-running tensions between Tehran and Ankara, resulted in border clashes and even military penetrations in both Iranian and Turkish territory.[34] In 1930, the commander of Iranian Army General Hassan Muqaddam sent a letter to Simko, who was residing in the village of Barzan, and invited him for a meeting in the town of Oshnaviyeh. After consulting with his friends, Simko along with Khorshid Agha Harki went to Oshnaviyeh and were invited to the house of local army commander, Colonel Norouzi and were told to wait for the Iranian general. Colonel Norouzi convinced Simko to go to the outskirts of the town to welcome the general's arrival. However, this was a trap and Simko was ambushed and killed on the evening of June 30, 1930.[30]

Simko's revolts are considered as attempt by a powerful tribal chief to establish his personal authority vis-à-vis the central government throughout the region.[30] Although elements of Kurdish nationalism were present in this movement, historians agree these were hardly articulate enough to justify a claim that recognition of Kurdish identity was a major issue in Simko's movement.[30] It lacked any kind of administrative organization and Simko was primary interested in plunder.[30] Government forces and non-Kurds were not the only ones to suffer in the attacks, the Kurdish population was also robbed and assaulted.[30] Simko's men do not appear to have felt any sense of unity or solidarity with fellow Kurds.[30]On other hand, Reza Shah's military victory over Simko and Turkic tribal leaders initiated with repressive era toward non-Iranian minorities.[30]

Legacy

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Simko Shikak

Simko's revolts are seen by some as an attempt by a powerful tribal chief to establish his personal authority over the central government throughout the region.[35] Although elements of Kurdish nationalism were present in this movement, historians agree these were hardly articulate enough to justify a claim that recognition of Kurdish identity was a major issue in Simko's movement.[35] It lacked any kind of administrative organization and Simko was primarily interested in plunder.[35] Government forces and non-Kurds were not the only ones to suffer in the attacks, the Kurdish population was also robbed and assaulted.[35] Simko's men do not appear to have felt any sense of unity or solidarity with fellow Kurds.[35] In the words of Kurdologist and Iranologist Garnik Asatrian:[36]

In the recent period of Kurdish history, a crucial point is defining the nature of the rebellions from the end of the 19th and up to the 20th century―from Sheikh Ubaydullah’s revolt to Simko’s (Simitko) mutiny. The overall labelling of these events as manifestations of the Kurdish national-liberation struggle against Turkish or Iranian suppressors is an essential element of the Kurdish identity-makers’ ideology. (...) With the Kurdish conglomeration, as I said above, far from being a homogeneous entity―either ethnically, culturally, or linguistically (...)―the basic component of the national doctrine of the Kurdish identity-makers has always remained the idea of the unified image of one nation, endowed respectively with one language and one culture. The chimerical idea of this imagined unity has become further the fundament of Kurdish identity-making, resulting in the creation of fantastic ethnic and cultural prehistory, perversion of historical facts, falsification of linguistic data, etc.

On the other hand, Reza Shah's military victory over Simko and Turkic tribal leaders initiated a repressive era toward non-Persian minorities.[35] In a nationalistic perspective, Simko's revolt is described as an attempt to build a Kurdish tribal alliance in support of independence.[37] According to Kamal Soleimani, Simko Shikak can be located "within the confines of Kurdish ethno-nationalism".[38] According to the political scientist Hamid Ahmadi:[39]

Though Reza Shah’s armed confrontation with tribal leaders in different parts of Iran was interpreted as an example of ethnic conflict and ethnic suppression by the Iranian state, the fact is that it was more a conflict between the modern state and traditional socio-political structure of pre-modern era and had less to do with the question of ethnicity and ethnic conflict. While some Marxist political activists (see Nābdel 1977) and ethno-nationalist intellectuals of different Iranian groups (Ghassemlou 1965; Hosseinbor 1984; Asgharzadeh 2007) have introduced this confrontation as a result of Reza Shah’s ethnocentric policies, no valid documents have been presented to prove this argument. Recent documentary studies (Borzū’ī 1999; Zand-Moqaddam 1992; Jalālī 2001) convincingly show that Reza Shah’s confrontation with Baluch Dust Mohammad Khan, Kurdish Simko and Arab Sheikh Khaz‘al have merely been the manifestation of state-tribe antagonism and nothing else. (...) While the Kurdish ethno-nationalist authors and commentators have tried to construct the image of a nationalist hero out of him, the local Kurdish primary sources reflect just the opposite, showing he was widely hated by many ordinary and peasant Kurds who suffered his brutal suppression of Kurdish settlements and villages.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Kurdish: سمکۆی شکاک, romanized: Simkoyê Şikak. Birth name: Ismail Agha Shikak.

References

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  1. ^ C. Dahlman, "The Political Geography of Kurdistan", Eurasian Geography and Economics, pp. 271-299, No.4, Vol.43, 2002. p.283
  2. ^ B. O'Leary, J. McGarry,The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq, University of Pennsylvania Press, 355 pp., ISBN 0-8122-1973-2 (see p.7)
  3. ^ M. M. Gunter, The Kurdish Question in Perspective, World Affairs, pp. 197-205, No.4, Vol. 166, Spring 2004. (see p.203)
  4. ^ a b John Joseph, "The Modern Assyrians of the Middle East: Encounters With Western Christian Missions, Archaeologists, and Colonial Power (Studies in Christian Mission) (Hardcover)", BRILL, 2000. p. 147: "Simko and his men had escaped to Khoi where they took part in the massacre of Assyrians
  5. ^ a b Maria T.O’Shea (2004). Trapped Between the Map and Reality: Geography and Perceptions of Kurdistan. New York. p. 100. ISBN 0-415-94766-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ a b M. Th. Houtsma, E. van Donzel, E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, 1993, ISBN 90-04-08265-4, p. 290
  7. ^ Kieser, Hans-Lukas; Anderson, Margaret Lavinia; Bayraktar, Seyhan; Schmutz, Thomas (2019-07-11). The End of the Ottomans: The Genocide of 1915 and the Politics of Turkish Nationalism. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-78831-241-7.
  8. ^ Handren, Dilan (2009-02-02). "The Rebellion of Simko Agha". Kurdmania (in German). Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  9. ^ F. Kashani-Sabet,Frontier Fictions: Shaping the Iranian Nation, 1804-1946, 328 pp., I.B. Tauris, 1999, ISBN 1-85043-270-8 p. 153.
  10. ^ a b Gaunt, David (2006). Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I. Gorgias Press. pp. 81, 83–84. ISBN 978-1-59333-301-0.
  11. ^ Houtsma, M. Th.; van Donzel, E. (1993). E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. p. 118. ISBN 90-04-08265-4.
  12. ^ O'Shea, Maria T. (2004). Trapped Between the Map and Reality: Geography and Perceptions of Kurdistan. New York: Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 0415947669. Simko later arranged the assassination of Mar Shamon, the Assyrian patriarch in March 1918, under the pretext of a meeting to discuss cooperation.
  13. ^ Nisan, Mordechai (2002). Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-Expression (2nd ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 187. ISBN 0786413751. Simko, their leader in Iran, had invited Mar Shimon for conference in Kuhnehshahr, west of Salmas, kissed him—and then treacherously murdered the Nestorian patriarch and his men
  14. ^ Ismael, Yaqou D'Malik (2020-11-13). Assyrians and Two World Wars: Assyrians from 1914 to 1945. Ramon Michael. p. 152.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  15. ^ Elphinston, W. G. (1946). "The Kurdish Question". International Affairs. 22 (1): 91–103 [p. 97]. doi:10.2307/3017874. JSTOR 3017874.
  16. ^ Bruinessen, Martin (2006). "Chapter 5: A Kurdish warlord on the Turkish-Persian frontier in the early Twentieth century: Isma'il Aqa Simko". In Atabaki, Touraj (ed.). Iran and the First World War: Battleground of the Great Powers. Library of modern Middle East studies, 43. London; New York: I.B. Tauris. pp. 18–21. ISBN 9781860649646. OCLC 56455579.
  17. ^ W. G. Elphinston, The Kurdish Question, International Affairs, Vol.22, No.1, pp. 91-103, 1946. p. 97
  18. ^ JINGGA888. "Jingga888 🧧 Raih Jackpot Besar & Bonus Melimpah - Daftar Sekarang!". jingga888x.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-09-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ F. Koohi-Kamali, "Nationalism in Iranian Kurdistan" in The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview, ed. P.G. Kreyenbroek, and S. Sperl, 252 pp., Routledge, 1992, ISBN 0-415-07265-4 pp. 175, 176
  20. ^ S. Cronin, "Riza Shah and the disintegration of Bakhtiyari power in Iran, 1921-1934", Iranian Studies, Vol. 33, No. 3-4, pp. 349-376, Summer-Fall 2000 p. 353
  21. ^ a b کسروی، احمد، «تاریخ هیجده ساله آذربایجان: بازمانده تاریخ مشروطه ایران»، ص 851.
  22. ^ انزلی، حسن، «اورمیه در گذر زمان»، ص 234.
  23. ^ کسروی، احمد، «تاریخ هیجده ساله آذربایجان: بازمانده تاریخ مشروطه ایران»، صص 851 - 852.
  24. ^ کسروی، احمد، «تاریخ هیجده ساله آذربایجان: بازمانده تاریخ مشروطه ایران»، ص 852.
  25. ^ a b کسروی، احمد، «تاریخ هیجده ساله آذربایجان: بازمانده تاریخ مشروطه ایران»، صص 852 - 857.
  26. ^ Behrendt, Günter (1993), pp.222–223
  27. ^ Chaliand, Gérard (1981-01-01). Les Kurdes et le Kurdistan (in French). La Découverte (réédition numérique FeniXX). pp. 50–52. ISBN 2707110132.
  28. ^ تاریخ مشروطه ایران (کتاب), تاریخ مشروطهٔ ایران, احمد کسروی تبریزی, انتشارات امیرکبیر, صفحه ۴۲۵
  29. ^ کسروی، احمد، «تاریخ هیجده ساله آذربایجان: بازمانده تاریخ مشروطه ایران»، ص 831.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k See:
  31. ^ a b Smith, Benjamin (2009). "Land and Rebellion: Kurdish Separatism in Comparative Perspective" (PDF). Working Paper: 11.
  32. ^ McDowall, David (2004-05-14). A Modern History of the Kurds. I.B.Tauris. p. 221. ISBN 9781850434160.
  33. ^ Arfa, Hassan (1966). The Kurds: An Historical and Political Study. London: Oxford University Press. p. 64. OCLC 463216238.
  34. ^ Schofield, Richard N. Boundaries v. With Turkey. New York: Columbia University.
  35. ^ a b c d e f See:
    * Entessar, Nader (2010). Kurdish Politics in the Middle East. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 17. ISBN 9780739140390. OCLC 430736528.
    * Kreyenbroek, Philip G.; Sperl, Stefan (1992). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 138–139. ISBN 9780415072656. OCLC 24247652.
  36. ^ Asatrian, Garnik (2009). "Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds". Iran and the Caucasus. 13 (1): 65–66. doi:10.1163/160984909X12476379007846.
  37. ^ Smith, B. (2009). "Land and Rebellion: Kurdish Separatism in Comparative Perspective" (PDF). Working Paper.
  38. ^ Soleimani, Kamal (June 2017). "The Kurdish image in statist historiography: the case of Simko". Middle Eastern Studies. 53 (6): 950. doi:10.1080/00263206.2017.1341409. S2CID 148644922.
  39. ^ Ahmadi, Hamid (2013). "Political Elites and the Question of Ethnicity and Democracy in Iran: A Critical View". Iran and the Caucasus. 17 (1): 84–85. doi:10.1163/1573384X-20130106.
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