BEDİRHAN BEY’S REVOLT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

Abstract

In the 19th century, the Bohtan Emirate of Cizre had a central role in the history of the Ottoman Empire and the Kurds. The period in which this central role was most severely experienced was the period of Bedirhan Bey, who ruled in the Cizre-Bohtan Emirate between 1821-1847. In this century, Western-style modernization movements started to show their effects in the Ottoman Empire and Iran, and the area where modernization was first implemented was undoubtedly the administrative area. The new regulations that were tried to be made in the administrative areas affected the Kurds the most. The new regulations that were tried to be made in the administrative areas affected the Kurds the most because the Kurds were governed by the Emirate and the new regulations foresaw to abolish this structure. Bedirhan Bey was the one who opposed this arrangement most effectively. In the studies on the Bedirhan Bey revolt, the issue was generally handled in a biased way. The reason why he was evaluated in this way is that the researchers evaluated Bedirhan Bey on the basis of the documents registered by the official authorities of the Ottoman Empire or with ideological concerns. However, the Bedirhan Bey revolt was a revolt that seriously affected the Kurds, the Ottoman Empire and Iran in political, economic and demographic terms. It would be incomplete to evaluate this revolt solely with political concerns. This study tries to reveal the background, causes and consequences of Bedirhan Bey’s revolt, taking into account the researches made in recent years.