The Yezidis

The Yezidis are a group of people who form part of the rich cultural mosaic of the Middle East. This book aims to give a comprehensive and comprehensible introduction to Yezidi culture, religion and society. It examines Yezidism not only as a religion but also as a historical and social phenomenon. This is a fresh approach to the subject. Previous scholars focused mainly on the origins, early history and religious practices of the modern Yezidis of northern Iraq. In this book, the full historical and geographic range of Yezidism is examined for the first time, not just in northern Iraq but also in Turkey, Syria and Transcaucasia. Thus, the book throws light on the origins of Yezidism and documents its historical development as part of the general history of the Kurds. It traces the changing fortunes of Yezidism and examines the role of the Yezidis in Kurdish history over time and in the different Kurdish regions. The Yezidi community emerged in a small area, known as Sheikhan, and spread rapidly amongst the Kurdish tribes. However, this rapid expansion disturbed their Muslim and Christian neighbours, and from the thirteenth century onwards, Yezidis suffered repression and massacre. As a result, the Yezidis remain a small, oppressed community, but one that has stubbornly survived to this day. Today, the Yezidis of northern Iraq are under increasingly severe threat from the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists. It is not just their religious and material culture that are in peril but their entire existence is under threat.