Reşwan

Nuh Ateş, a scholar and editor of Bîrnebûn, suggests that the name Reşwan is a compound of the Kurdish words {{Lang|ku|reş}} ({{Translation|black}}) and the plural form -ân.{{Sfnp|Dede|2011|p=23}} Stefan Winter argues Reşwan can be understood as "The Blacks" in Kurdish.{{Cite journal |last=Winter |first=Stefan |author-link=Stefan Winter (historian) |date=2017 |title=The Reşwan Kurds and Ottoman Tribal Settlement in Syria, 1683-1741 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48572068 |journal=Oriente Moderno |volume=97 |issue=2 |pages=258 |doi=10.1163/22138617-12340151 |jstor=48572068 |s2cid=165746274 |issn=0030-5472|doi-access=free }} Nonetheless, the name of the tribe was written in over fifty different ways in Ottoman documents due to erroneous translations from Kurdish. The tribe also goes by the name Reşî.{{Cite web|date=20 January 2018|title=Reşîlerin tarihi|url=https://www.kurdenanatolien.com/resilerin-tarihi-isyan%E2%80%88tarihidir-ores-resi/|access-date=25 June 2020|website=kurdenanatolien.com}}

A tribe by the name of "Reşan" is mentioned in a Yezidi mişûr (manuscript) from 1207 AD, as one of the tribes affiliated to Pir Sini Darani, a Yezidi saint who is represented as the Lord of sea in the Yezidi religion.{{Cite journal|last1=Pirbari|first1=Dimitri|last2=Mossaki|first2=Nodar|last3=Yezdin|first3=Mirza Sileman|date=2019-11-19|title=A Yezidi Manuscript:—Mišūr of P'īr Sīnī Bahrī/P'īr Sīnī Dārānī, Its Study and Critical Analysis|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2019.1669118|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=53|issue=1–2|pages=223–257|doi=10.1080/00210862.2019.1669118|s2cid=214483496|issn=0021-0862|url-access=subscription}} and today Yezidis from the Reşwan tribe live in Shengal and Duhok, while some of them live in Turkey and neighboring countries.

The name of the tribe was recorded in the defter for Kahta, Besni and Adıyaman in 1519, after Sultan Selim I conquered the area. The tribe was recorded again in 1524 and 1536. During this period, there were inconsistencies about which families were part of the tribe and its population. Nonetheless, they were mainly transhumant nomadic and engaged in agriculture as well.{{Sfnp|Dede|2011|p=27}}

Reşwan Kurds are mentioned in the geography book Cihannuma, which began being written in 1648 by the Ottoman intellectual, Katip Çelebi. He describes Reşwan Kurds as Yazidis who live in Ufacıḳlı, Baḳrāṣlı and Behisnī. Additionally, it is mentioned that most of the people of Malatya are Kurds and that one of their clans in these parts are "mischievous rebels" and "highway robbers".{{Cite book |last=Kâtib Çelebi |title=An Ottoman cosmography: translation of Cihânnümâ |last2=İbrahim Müteferrika |last3=Hagen |first3=Gottfried |last4=Dankoff |first4=Robert |last5=Csirkés |first5=Ferenc |last6=Curry |first6=John J. |last7=Leiser |first7=Gary |date=2021 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-44132-3 |series=Handbook of oriental studies |location=Leiden Boston |pages=463}}

Somewhen in the 17th century, the earliest mention is from 1683, the tribes taxes were included into the Ottoman foundation financing the construction and maintenance of the Atik Valide Mosque.Winter, Stefan (2017),p.261

According to Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, Reşwans were often in contact and at war with nearby Turkoman tribes, who didn't hold the Reşwans in esteem.{{cite book |last1=Burckhardt |first1=Johann Ludwig |title=Travels in Syria and the Holy Land |date=1822 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |pages=642–643}}

During the 1890s, the leader of the tribe Yakup Ragıp protected Armenians from Ottoman massacres.{{cite book|author1=Şemsa Özar, Nesrin Uçarlar, Osman Aytar|title=From past to present a paramilitary organization in Turkey|date=December 2013|isbn=978-6055458195|page=26|url=http://dealingwiththepast.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Disa-Paramilitary.pdf|accessdate=18 May 2015}}

In early 19th century, Reşwan members who lived a nomadic life around Ankara and Konya were subjected to sedentarization attempts by the Ottomans, as part of the Tanzimat. The first attempt took place in 1830, wherein the authorities notified the Reşwan headmen of the Central Anatolian plains regarding their plans to settle them around Sivas. This led to discontent among the leaders who suggested Konya and Ankara as areas of settlement, which the Ottomans agreed on.{{Sfnp|Dede|2011|pp=36 & 47}} In other places, the tribe resisted and it is well-documented that they would bribe and even give up everything to continue their semi-nomadic life.{{Sfnp|Dede|2011|p=58}} During the sedentarization, authorities would both construct new villages for the tribe but also divide and distribute them to already-existing villages to mitigate any rebellion.{{Sfnp|Dede|2011|p=65}} An 1859 document shows that about 500 households of the tribe lived in Haymana, being sedentarized in 43 villages.{{Sfnp|Dede|2011|p=46}} By 1880, this section of the tribe had been sedentarized. These tribe members were originally from Adıyaman, Islahiye and Gaziantep Province.{{Sfnp|Dede|2011|pp=67-68}}

In the 2000s, the tribe mainly voted for the conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP){{cite news|title=Aşiret oyları cepte değil|url=http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/siyaset/asiret-oylari-cepte-degil_509798|publisher=Aksiyon|accessdate=29 March 2015|date=1 March 2004}} until 2014, when the well-known Reşvan Kurdish politician Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat resigned from AKP and decided to run for the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the local election in 2015.{{cite news |title=Failure of pro-Kurdish HDP to enter Parliament could spell trouble|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/national_failure-of-pro-kurdish-hdp-to-enter-parliament-could-spell-trouble_376530.html|website=Today's Zaman|accessdate=29 March 2015|date=28 March 2015}}{{cite news|title=Pro-Kurdish leaders to run in elections despite HDP's two-term limit|url=http://politics.bgnnews.com/pro-kurdish-leaders-to-run-in-elections-despite-hdps-two-term-limit-haberi/3847|accessdate=29 March 2015|agency=26 February 2015}} The leaders of the tribe decided to vote for HDP in the general election in June 2015.{{cite news|title=HDP aşiretleri nasıl ikna etti?|url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/politika/hdp_asiretleri_nasil_ikna_etti-1354021|accessdate=5 June 2015|agency=Radikal|date=11 May 2015|language=tr}}

• Kurdish tribes
• Kurds of Central Anatolia
• Çelikhan
• Sincik

{{Reflist}}

• {{Citation|last=Dede|first=Suat|title=From nomadism to sedentary life in Central Anatolia: The case of the Risvan tribe (1830 - 1932)|date=2011|url=http://www.thesis.bilkent.edu.tr/0005059.pdf

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• {{Citation|last=Winter|first=Stefan|title=The Reşwan Kurds and Ottoman Tribal Settlement in Syria, 1683-1741|volume=97|pages=256–269|journal=Oriente Moderno|year=2017|issue=2|publisher=Brill Publishers|doi=10.1163/22138617-12340151|doi-access=free}}

{{Kurdish tribes}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resvan (Kurdish tribe)}}

Category:History of the Kurdish people

Category:History of Adıyaman Province

Category:History of Ankara Province

Category:History of Konya Province

Category:Kurdish tribes