Second Bedirkhanis Revolt

Second Bedirkhanis Revolt
Part of Early Kurdish nationalism and Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)

Map of the affected areas of the Bedirkhan Revolt
Date1877–1878
Location
Cizre, Siirt, Bitlis, Van, Hakkari, Mardin Nusaybin , Zaxo,Amedi,Bohtan, (Ottoman Kurdistan)
Result Revolt suppressed
Belligerents

Russian Empire

Ottoman Empire
Assyrian troops
Commanders and leaders
Osman Pasha Bedirkhan[1]
Huseyin Kenan Bedirkhan		 Abdul Hamid II
Cemil Pasha
General Shevket Beg
Mushir Zeki Pasha
Bedri Pasha Bedir Khan (mediator)
Hanne Safar

The Second Bedirkhanis Revolt (Kurdish: دووەمین یاپەچوونی بێده‌رخانی) was a Kurdish uprising against the Ottoman Empire that took place in 1877–1878, following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The revolt was led by two sons of Bedir Khan Beg, Osman Pasha and Huseyin Kenan Pasha.[2]

This was an effort by the two brothers to revive the former Bohtan Emirate.[3]

Background

The revolt was a movement on a much smaller scale than the 1847 Bedirkhan revolt.[4][5][6] The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) created a period of chaos and an authority vacuum in the region.[7]

Osman and Huseyin Kenan Bedirkhan, who were in exile, took advantage of the war environment and the Ottoman state's inability to maintain sufficient soldiers in the region to escape their place of exile and return to Cizre.[8] Huseyin Kenan Pasha had previously participated in the 1877 Russo-Turkish War leading 3,800 Kurdish volunteers from the Adana region, where he was wounded. After recovering, he expressed regret for his service to the Ottoman state.

Revolt

The uprising began in the Cizre and Siirt regions. Huseyin Kenan and Osman, after participating in the 1877 Ottoman-Russian war, went to Botan and attempted to organize an uprising against the central government.

The revolt quickly spread to the hinterland of Lake Van, covering areas such as Van, Muş, Bitlis, Hakkari, and Amedi.[9] Osman Bey commanded Cizre and its vicinity, while Huseyin Kenan Bey managed the northern front. The southern front reportedly extended to Hakkari, Zaxo, Mardin, and Nusaybin.

The Bedirkhanis and the forces they gathered launched attacks against the central government's troops in the Cizre regions. They arrested all Ottoman officials in their vicinity and seized the treasury and arms depots. The Botan Emirate was re-established,[10][11][12] and a sermon (Khutbah) was read in Osman Bedirkhan's name. The Ottoman state mobilized local military forces, to suppress the revolt.

Support

The uprising was supported by several Kurdish tribes. Tribes such as Reşkotan, Motkan, and Yazidis around Siirt and Bitlis supported the revolt.[13] The revolt also received support from the people of Cizre and numerous surrounding Kurdish tribes. Some tribal leaders were already in a state of rebellion and non-recognition of the government. The Hakkari Kurds also supported the revolt.

The rapid spread of the revolt was attributed to the problematic relationship between the central authority and the tribes since the dissolution of the Kurdish emirates.[14] Osman Bedirkhan corresponded with Diyarbakır Governor Abdurrahman Pasha during the revolt, stating that the bonds of the Kurdish tribes with the state were weakened due to the oppression of the governors sent by the state.

The Russian consuls closely monitored and secretly supported the revolt.[15]

The Ottoman Empire was supported by the organized forces of the Syriac-Assyrian leader Hanne Safar of Midyat. For his service, he was later granted the title of Pasha and presented with a sword blessed by the Sultan himself.[16][17][18]

Aftermath

The revolt was ultimately suppressed by Ottoman military forces. An Ottoman-appointed official, Bedri Bedir Khan (a brother of Huseyin Kenan and Osman), was sent to convince his brothers to surrender and return to Istanbul.[19] Upon their return, Huseyin Kenan and Osman were imprisoned for a short time and then released on the condition that they would not leave Istanbul.[20]

References

  1. ^ Temel 2023, p. 71.
  2. ^ Gürsel, İbrahim Etem (1977). Kürtçülük Gerçeği. Kömen Yayın ve Dağıtım Limited Şirketi. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  3. ^ Astourian, Stephan; Kévorkian, Raymond (2020-11-01). Collective and State Violence in Turkey: The Construction of a National Identity from Empire to Nation-State. Berghahn Books. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-78920-451-3.
  4. ^ Ateş, Sabri (2013). Ottoman‑Iranian Borderlands: Making a Boundary, 1843–1914. Cambridge University Press. p. 72. ISBN 9781107031142. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  5. ^ Atabaki, Touraj (2006). Iran and the First World War: Battleground of the Great Powers. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 152. ISBN 9781786724670. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  6. ^ Di Destana Bedirxan Beg de Rengê Serhildana wî. Pak Ajans Yayıncılık. 2021. p. 36. ISBN 9786059413701. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  7. ^ Popek, Krzysztof (2021). "Liberation and exile: The fate of civilians during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 in Bulgarian and Turkish historiography". Prace Historyczne. 148 (3): 515–533. doi:10.4467/20844069PH.21.035.14011. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  8. ^ Örs, Orhan (2022). Aşiretçilik, Milliyetçilik ve İslamcılık Kavşağında Osmanlı’nın Kürt Siyaseti (1876-1909). Pak Ajans Yayıncılık Turizm ve Dış Ticaret Ltd. p. 85. ISBN 9786059413701. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
  9. ^ Ulugana 2022, p. 85.
  10. ^ Ulugana 2022, p. 86.
  11. ^ Galip, Özlem Belçim (2015-04-24). Imagining Kurdistan: Identity, Culture and Society. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-85772-643-8.
  12. ^ Stansfield, Gareth; Shareef, Mohammed (2017-08-15). The Kurdish Question Revisited. Oxford University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-19-086965-6.
  13. ^ Temel 2023, p. 81.
  14. ^ Eppel, Michael (2016-09-13). A People Without a State: The Kurds from the Rise of Islam to the Dawn of Nationalism. University of Texas Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-4773-1107-3.
  15. ^ Akgül, Suat (2023). Rusya'nın Doğu Anadolu Politikası. Net Kitaplık Yayıncılık. ISBN 9786052392980. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
  16. ^ Astourian, Stephan; Kévorkian, Raymond (eds.). Collective and State Violence in Turkey: The Construction of a National Order. Berghahn Books. p. 63. ISBN 9781789204513. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  17. ^ Gaunt, David; Atto, Naures; Barthoma, Soner O. (eds.). Let Them Not Return: Sayfo – The Genocide Against the Assyrian, Syriac, and Aramean Christians. Berghahn Books. p. 60. ISBN 9781785334993. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  18. ^ Jongerden, Joost; Verheij, Jelle, eds. (2012). Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1915. The Ottoman Empire and its Heritage, Vol. 51. Brill. ISBN 9789004232273.
  19. ^ Temel 2023, p. 82.
  20. ^ Özoğlu, Hakan (2004). Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries. SUNY Press. p. 152. ISBN 0791459934. Retrieved 2025-10-21.

Sources

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