the whole state of things in Kurdistan might be changed in
the course of a twelvemonth by a little firmness and energy
on the part of the officials representing the Government. The
power of the Kurds for organized resistance has been completely
broken, and the military strength of the Government can be
no longer contested by them. The change has, even as it is,
greatly ameliorated the lot of the Christian and the Jewish
population; but to complete the work a sufficient force of
mounted native police should be organized and properly paid,
and the administration of justice improved.[1]
The success of General Hawker, an officer of the Guards placed by the
Turkish Government in command of a well equipped and regularly paid
gendarmerie (an appointment which he held until the outbreak of the
present European war) has amply verified the correctness of these views.
It is worthy of observation that as a means of “civilizing” the Kurds,
and accustoming them to discipline, and at the same time suitably
utilizing their warlike propensities as a frontier guard against Cossack
raids, Sultan Abdul Hamid formed nearly 10,000 of these Kurds into
cavalry regiments, styling them the “Hamidieh Cavalry.” The bravery,
hardihood and energy of these men rendered them particularly fit for
such an operation, and the experiment proved a complete success. It
was largely from time-expired men of these regiments that many of the
gendarmes, who proved themselves so efficient under General Hawker’s
command, were enlisted.
THE THIRD GROUP, the nomadic Kurds, have largely intermarried with the
Arabs of the South, where they winter their flocks and herds, and are
therefore really semi-Arab rather than pure Kurd. They are neither so
industrious nor so reliable as the Kurds proper, but are quicker witted
and more intelligent. During the summer months they graze their flocks
on the mountain slopes, and as winter approaches migrate to the warmer
regions bordering on Mesopotamia, to return again in the early summer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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