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Bashiqa

Coordinates: 36°26′48″N 43°20′50″E / 36.4466°N 43.3471°E / 36.4466; 43.3471
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Bashiqa
بعشيقة
Town
Bashiqa is located in Iraq
Bashiqa
Bashiqa
Location in Iraq
Coordinates: 36°26′48″N 43°20′50″E / 36.4466°N 43.3471°E / 36.4466; 43.3471
CountryIraq
GovernorateNineveh
DistrictAl-Hamdaniya District

Bashiqa (Kurdish: بەعشیقە, romanized: Başîqa;[1][2] Arabic: بعشيقة, romanized: Ba'shīqah; Syriac: ܒܥܫܝܩܐ[3]) is a town situated at the heart of the Nineveh plain, between Mosul and Sheikhan, on the edges of Mount Maqlub.

The urban area of Bashiqa and Bahzani had the third largest Yazidi population in Iraq prior to the Yazidi genocide. Whilst Bahzani contains older buildings with numerous ancient sites, Bashiqa is more modern and consists mainly of newer infrastructure and architecture. Between 2014 and 2016, ISIS destroyed 22 Yazidi mausoleums that were located in Bashiqa and Bahzani, the Yazidi libraries were demolished and the famous sacred olive grove in Bahzani was burnt.[4]

Around 85% of the population is Yazidi in 2021. The remaining 15% are 390 ethnic Christian Assyrians which include around 300 Syriac Orthodox families and 90 Syriac Catholic families.[5]

Population

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Yazidis in Bashiqa
Syriac Orthodox Christians from Bashiq

Before ISIS invaded the Nineveh plain, there were 35,000 Yezidis living in the Bashiqa and Bahzani twin-villages. They made up approximately 85% of the total population. The remainder was composed of around 12% Christians and 3% Muslims. The lightning progression of ISIS in 2014 forced the inhabitants to flee the area on the night of the 6 and 7 August. The area was liberated on 7 November 2016 and the inhabitants began to return, in 2018 around 27,000 Yezidis had returned, approximately 77% of the pre-ISIS Yazidi population. A further 735 Yezidis displaced who were displaced from Sinjar and were studying in Mosul are presently living here in IDP camps. 525 of the houses suffered damages by ISIS and 200 of them were totally destroyed.[4]

Bashiqa is surrounded by farms of olives all around the town and there is a small mountain to the north. Bashiqa is famous for its olive trees, Rakı (arak), olive oil, and soap. It is also famous for its onion, pickles. It used to be a tourist destination for the locals in Mosul and Iraqis in general. The Yazidis in Bashiqa and its twin village Bahzani speak Arabic as their mother language.[6] however, the now Arabic-speaking tribes in Bashiqa and Bahzani, including Xaltî, Dumilî and Hekarî,[7][8] have historically been classified as Kurdish tribes.[9][10][11][12][13]

History

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Although Bashiqa and Bahzani are considered to have already been known to Yezidis as early as 12th century, it seems that it only became part of the Yezidi territory in the 13th century. This is strengthened by the fact that the majority of the mausoleums present here are dedicated to the second generation members of the Shamsani family, whom lived in the second half of the 12th century.[4]

In the mid-1800s, Dr. Asahel Grant visited Bashiqa, which was largely inhabited by Yezidis or "Desani". He took notes on their spiritual practices and beliefs.[14]

Bashiqa is controlled by the Iraqi federal government but claimed by the Kurdistan Region since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. According to Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, a referendum should decide whether it should continue to be managed by the central government or the KRG. The status of the city is still not fully understood. According to reports by Human Rights Watch (2011), UNHCR (2007) and other human rights organizations the townspeople are forced and threatened with violence if they should not vote for inclusion of the city in the Kurdistan Region.[15][16][17]

In the 13th century, historian, Yaqut al-Hamawi described Bashiqa as a village on the outskirts of Nineveh to the east of the river Tigris which is well known for its olive trees and having a majority Christian population.[18]

Bashiqa is the birthplace of the famed Ezidi Mirza, a 17th century Yezidi leader who became the governor of Mosul and is mentioned in Yezidi sagas and stories until today for his heroic military achievements against the hostile neighbouring Muslim tribes.[19]

In the town square of Bashiqa, Du'a Khalil Aswad, a young woman from the Yazidi community who wanted to marry a Muslim, was stoned to death in 2007 by a large crowd of men in an "honor killing".[20][21] As a revenge on the 22 April 2007 Muslims stopped a bus in Mosul and killed 23 Yazidi from Bashiqa.[22]

In 2012, car bombs went off in the town.[23]

In June 2014, ISIL militia took over the city, and changed the name to Du'a city. Yazidi civilians fled the city in 2014.[24][25] The region had seen fighting between ISIL and Kurdish Peshmerga forces,[26] but remained under ISIL control throughout 2015 and most of 2016.[27]

Turkish soldiers were deployed in a training mission in the Mosul District in 2015, without authorization of Baghdad, but with permission of Iraqi Kurdistan.[28][29][30][31]

On 7 November 2016, during the Battle of Mosul, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters launched a massive offensive to liberate the town from ISIL control. Peshmerga had surrounded the town for two weeks.[32] There were believed to be 100 to 200 ISIL militants left.[33] Commander Kaka Hama said the Peshmerga descended from three fronts, and that coalition airstrikes played a large role in the assault. In the early afternoon, it was reported that Bashiqa was liberated and that the Peshmerga were in full control.[32]

Yazidi holy sites

[edit]
See also: List of Yazidi holy places and List of Yazidi saints

Bashiqa and Bahzani has numerous Yazidi shrines, including:[34]

  1. Şêxûbekir
  2. Şêx Xefir
  3. Şêx Mend Paşa
  4. Pîr Bûb
  5. Seîd û Mesûd
  6. Şêx Zeynedîn
  7. Mîr Sicadîn
  8. Şêx Şems
  9. Şêx Babik
  10. Şêx Mihemed
  11. Sitt Habîbî
  12. Sitt Hecîcî
  13. Melekê Mîran Sadiq
  14. Şêx Nasirdîn
  15. Şêx Abd el-Ezîz
  16. Şêx Şerfedîn

See also

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bashiqa.

References

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  1. ^ "Pêşmerge li Başîqa bi tundî bersiva Daîş dide û şer li Xazir berdewame". Tigris Haber (in Turkish). 17 December 2015. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  2. ^ "لێدوانی چاوشئۆغڵو لەبارەی عێراق و بەعشیقە". Anadolu Agency (in Kurdish). Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  3. ^ Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Baʿshīqa — ܒܥܫܝܩܐ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified December 9, 2016, http://syriaca.org/place/303.
  4. ^ a b c "The Yazidi mausoleum of Melek Miran in Bashiqa". Mesopotamia. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  5. ^ "Shlama Population Project - Nineveh". Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  6. ^ electricpulp.com. "Yazidis i. General – Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
  7. ^ Maisel, Sebastian (2016-12-24). Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-7775-4.
  8. ^ Edmonds, C. J. (2002-03-21). A Pilgrimage to Lalish. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-947593-28-5.
  9. ^ Bozarslan, Hamit; Gunes, Cengiz; Yadirgi, Veli (2021-04-22). The Cambridge History of the Kurds. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-58301-5.
  10. ^ Joseph, John (2000-01-01). EARLY BEGINNINGS. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-32005-5.
  11. ^ Khachatrian, Alexander (2003-01-01). "The Kurdish Principality of Hakkariya* (14Th-15Th Centuries)". Iran and the Caucasus. 7 (1): 37–58. doi:10.1163/157338403X00024. ISSN 1573-384X.
  12. ^ Yıldız, Erdal. "Şerefhan Şerefnâme Kürt Tarihi cilt 1". Academia.
  13. ^ Guest (12 November 2012). Survival Among The Kurds. Routledge. ISBN 9781136157363.
  14. ^ Grant, A. (1841). The Nestorians. United Kingdom: J. Murray. 31-34.
  15. ^ "Iraq's Disputed Territories" (PDF). United States Institute of Peace.
  16. ^ "On Vulnerable Ground" (PDF). Human Rights Watch.
  17. ^ "UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers" (PDF). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
  18. ^ George, Nashwan (2014). The Villages and Towns Presently Inhabited by the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian (Soraya) People in Iraq. Ishtar TV. p. 102.
  19. ^ admin (2016-10-01). "Die Geschichte des Ezidi Mirza: Vom Waisenkind zum Helden". ÊzîdîPress (in German). Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  20. ^ Iraq: 'Honour Killing' of teenage girl condemned as abhorrent Archived 2016-01-09 at the Wayback Machine (May 2, 2007). Amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  21. ^ Freedom Lost by Mark Lattimer, December 13, 2007 in The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-10-23
  22. ^ Schmidinger, Thomas (2019). Die Welt hat uns vergessen. Mandelbaum Verlag. p. 80. ISBN 9783854765905.
  23. ^ Christine van den Toorn. "look at 'little iraq' shows why iraq is so troubled". Niqash. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  24. ^ "Mass grave of Yazidis in Iraq tells horror story". USA Today. 12 November 2015.
  25. ^ "Kurdish families escape ISIS-held Bashiqa". Rudaw.
  26. ^ "IS launches twin attacks on Peshmerga near Mosul". NRT English. Nalia Corporation. Archived from the original on 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  27. ^ "Peshmerga, US strikes fail to dislodge ′Islamic State′". DW.COM. 9 August 2015.
  28. ^ Humeyra Pamuk and Orhan Coskun (5 December 2015). "Turkish soldiers training Iraqi troops near Mosul: sources". Reuters.
  29. ^ "Iraq demands Turkish troops withdraw from near Mosul". BBC News. 5 December 2015.
  30. ^ "Turkish troops go into Iraq to train forces fighting Isis". The Guardian. 4 December 2015.
  31. ^ "Northern Iraq: Turkish army sets up base in Christian-Yezidi town". EzidiPress English. 5 December 2015.
  32. ^ a b "Mosul Offensive Day 22: Peshmerga attack ISIS in Bashiqa". Rudaw Media Network. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  33. ^ "Peshmerga in heavy gun battle with ISIL near Mosul". Al Jazeera. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  34. ^ Maisel, Sebastian (Spring 2021). "Rebuilding the unimagined past: Êzidî religious architecture and the reconfiguration of sacred space". Lalish. 45: 3–31.
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