Jaff (people)
Encyclopedia
The Jaff people. are one of the biggest Kurdish tribes
Kurdish tribes
Kurdish tribes of Kurdistan consist of:*Republic of Azerbaijan*Sheylanli tribe*West Azarbaijan Province:*Jalali*Milan*Haydaran*Donboli*korahsuni*Shekak*Herki*Bagzâdah*Zerzâ*Pirân*Pizhdar*Mâmash*Mangur*Mokri*Dehbokri*Gowrâg*Malkari*Suseni...

, if not the biggest, native to the Zagros area, which is presently divided between Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. The Jaff dialect (called Jaffi) is part of Sorani
Soranî
Soranî is the name of a Kurdish language that is spoken in Iran and Iraq. Soranî is one of the main Kurdish languages, which are a branch of the Iranian languages.- Name :...

, a south-southeastern branch of Kurdish language family. The region inhabited by this tribe is southwest of Sanandaj
Sanandaj
Sanandaj , also Romanized as Senneh and Sinneh) is a city in and the capital of Kurdistan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 311,446, in 81,380 families....

 all the way to Javanroud
Javanroud
Javanrud is a city in and the capital of Javanrud County, Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 43,104, in 9,591 families....

 and also areas around the city of Sulaimaniyah in Southern Kurdistan.Once nomadic, they have more recently settled into a predominantly agricultural way of life.

Geographic distribution and clans

Total population of the tribe reaches close to half million people in both Iraq and Iran. At present they are settled mainly in Halabja
Halabja
Halabja , is a Kurdish town in Northern Iraq, located about north-east of Baghdad and 8–10 miles from the Iranian border....

 and Kalar regions of Iraqi Kurdistan and the Kermanshah region of Iranian Kurdistan.
The Jaff clans in Iran are : Bawa Jani, Wakeeli, Kowaik, Nerzhi, Rostom Bagi, Qobadi, Enakhi, Eimami, De Lezeri, Darweshi, Qalkhanchak, Gork Kozh, Eliasi, Sofi, Kaka Rashi, Gakhori, Keshti, Satyari, Shemsheri, Klashi, Zardoey, Kokoye, Koyreki, Waladbagi, Qader Mirweisi, Taishei, Aliyakhaei, Be Bele, Do Roey, Yosef Yar Ahmadi, Dar Khowar, Jawari, EliaraKi, Byioyani, Qojali, Aali, Kozhe Re, Bazani, Jogheye, Haweryi, Say Ali.

The Jaff clans in Iraq are :Merag Ali, Beshtemala, Amele, Isalie, Mikaeili ,Werda Shateri, Roghzadi, Tarkhani, Bashoki, Jengni, Harooni, Tawgozi, Besari, Yosef Jani, Jojani, Glali, Sadaani, Kamalaei, Badakhi, Norolaei, Yazdan Bakhshi, Wali, Nezhweeni, Me Soawi, Mamoei, Shekh Ismaeili, Sofiwan, Qewlei, Tilakoei, Ismaeil Ozeri, Te Lan, Jaffa Rashaka and Shateri.

History

During the First World War, Ely Bannister Soane who carried out secret missions in Kurdistan, established close relations with the Jaff tribal leaders. During the 1920s, the Jaff tribe opposed Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji
Mahmud Barzanji
Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji or Mahmud Berzenji was the leader of several Kurdish uprisings against the British Mandate of Iraq. He was sheikh of a Qadiriyah Sufi family from the city of Sulaymaniyah, which is now in Iraqi Kurdistan...

, as well as Great Britain’s failure to grant Kurdish autonomy in Iraq. After the Second World War modernizing trends such as a more defined border, effective governments, and tribal settlement have decreased the Jaff’s former importance.

One of the darkest and saddest part of the modern history of Jaff tribe is Saddam's chemical attack to Halabje on March 16, 1988. At least 5,000 people died as an immediate result of the chemical attack and it is estimated that a further 7,000 people were injured or suffered long term illness. Most of the victims of the attack on the town of Halabja were Kurdish and from the jaff tribe.

Begzade Family

A single family lies at the head of the tribe, members of this family are called the Begzade and and the male members hold hereditary titles such as Bey or Aga and have also been awarded the title of Pasha by a number of Ottoman Sultans. The Begzade lineage stretches back over hundreds of years and traces its origins to the Caliph Uthman ibn Affan, the seat of the family is Shirwana castle which still stands today near the town of Kalar.

Notable Members

Mahmood Pasha, supreme chief of the tribe, stayed in Constantinople as a 'honorary detainee' for two years in 1892-1894 in a house in Beşiktaş
Besiktas
Beşiktaş is a municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and on the east by the Bosphorus...

 in proximity to the Sultan's palace with salary of 5,000 kuruş
Kurus
Kuruş is a Turkish currency subunit. Since 2005, one new Turkish lira is equal to 100 kuruş. The kuruş was also the standard unit of currency in the Ottoman Empire until 1844, and from that date until the late 1970s was a subdivision of the former lira. It was subdivided into 40 para , each of...

. Mahmood was also detained for a year in Mosul.

Uthman Pasha, married Adela Khanum of the old Ardalan family.

The earlies known scholar from Jaff tribe is Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Mahmud Al-Shahrazuri
Al-Shahrazuri
Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Mahmud Shahrazuri was a 13th century Persian physician and philosopher of the Ilkhanate and late Abbasid era of Iran....

. His father, Mahmud Sharazori was born in Sharazor
Sharazor
Sharazor was the name of a Sassanid district , Kurdish kingdom, Ottoman vilayet and finally a Sanjak of Mosul vilayet situated to the southern and eastern part of what is now known as Iraqi Kurdistan....

 in 13th century. Al-Shahrazuri was an important historian and scholar who composed a biographical dictionary of both ancient Greek and early Muslim scholars.

One of the famous Kurdish Sufis is Mawlana Khalid (Khâlid-i Baghdâdî
Khâlid-i Baghdâdî
Hadhrat Mawlânâ Khâlid-i Baghdâdî was an Iraqi sufist, the founder of a branch of the Naqshbandi Sufi order - named Khaledi after him - that has had a profound impact not only on his native Kurdistan but also on many other regions of the western Islamic world...

) from Jaff tribe (c. 1778–1826) who brought the highly influential Naqshbandi Sufi order to Kurdistan early in the 19th century. He belonged to one of the Jaff clans in Shahrizur and was born in Qaradagh, near Sulaymaniya. When he was about 30 years old, however, Mawlana Khalid traveled to India, where he studied in Delhi under Sheikh Abdullah Dihlawi. Mawlana remains one of the most revered Kurdish holy men.

Khanai Qobadi
Khanai Qobadi
Khanai Qobadi a Kurdish Jaff poet of 18th century and one of the main poet in school of Gurani poetry. He was in the court of the Ardalans of the Bābān dynasty who were based at Senna , Iran...

(ca.1700-1759) a Jaff poet of 18th century and one of the main poet in school of Gurani poetry. He was in the court of the Ardalan
Ardalan
Ardalan or was the name of a vassaldom in north-western Persia during Qajar period.Ardalan vassaldom was established in an area encompassing present day Iranian province of Kurdistan from medieval period up to mid 19th century. Ardalan is also the name of the ruling family of that vassaldom...

s of the Bābān dynasty who were based at Senna (Sanandaj
Sanandaj
Sanandaj , also Romanized as Senneh and Sinneh) is a city in and the capital of Kurdistan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 311,446, in 81,380 families....

). He praised the Prophet in his poem called Salawat Nama. His best known work is a Gurāni version of the romantic epic Khosrow and Shirin.

El-Begi Jaff
El-Begi Jaff
El-Begi Jaff is a leading Sufi poet from Jaff tribe of Kurdistan who was born in Sharazor in late 15th Century. He is well-known for his interesting prophecies concerning the future of Iran, the Orient, and the world that wrote in Gorani dialect.Secluded and a Sufi, he spent his life in worship...

(1493-1554) is another Jaff poet who was born in Sharazor
Sharazor
Sharazor was the name of a Sassanid district , Kurdish kingdom, Ottoman vilayet and finally a Sanjak of Mosul vilayet situated to the southern and eastern part of what is now known as Iraqi Kurdistan....

. He is well-known for his interesting prophecies concerning the future of Iran, the Orient, and the world that wrote in Gorani dialect. Secluded and a Sufi, he spent his life in worship and solitude; this was reflected in most of his poems on future prophesies. He is one of the founder of Ahl-e Haqq
Ahl-e Haqq
The Ahl-e Haqq or Yârsân , are members of a religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of members is estimated at around 1,000,000, primarily found in western Iran and Iraq, mostly ethnic Kurds and Laks, though there are also smaller groups of Luri,...

 or Yârsân, a Islamic sect whose follower are settled in western Iran, and eastern Iraq. In his poems he predict invention of tanks and fighter aircrafts. His acclaimed poems known as Har wa Bowaw, Harwa Awe means That How It Was, And That’s How It Should Be.

Here is an example of his prophecies:

A bird like thunder will appear with his ears smoking. It shakes and suspend plains and fields. That How It Was, And That’s How It Should Be (Taire wak raado bargh dabi, Goychka la dookal ghargh dabi, ba rooy hawa moalagh dabi, har wa bowaw,har wa awe).
Rostam’s horse (Rakhsh) will appear, Iron horse will be tamed like Doldol and Shabdiz. Many things will appear. That How It Was, And That’s How It Should Be (Rakhshi rostam ezhar dabi, aspi asen rahwar dabi, dodol shawdiz ba kar dabi, gali she than ashkar dabi, har wa bowaw,har wa awe).
Lady Adela
Lady Adela
Lady Adela or Adela Khanem was a famous and cultured chief of the Jaff tribe, one of the biggest Kurdish tribes, if not the biggest, native to the Zagros area, which is presently divided between Iran and Iraq....

or (Adela Khanem) was a famous and cultured chief of the Jaff tribe who exerted great influence in the affairs of Jaff tribe in the Sharazor
Sharazor
Sharazor was the name of a Sassanid district , Kurdish kingdom, Ottoman vilayet and finally a Sanjak of Mosul vilayet situated to the southern and eastern part of what is now known as Iraqi Kurdistan....

 plain. She was born in 1847 to a leading family in Sanandaj, the major center of Kurdish culture in Iranian Kurdistan. She married Osman Pasha,a chief of the Jaff tribe, whose headquarter was in Halabja. Later Osman Pasha was appointed the kaimakam of Sharazor
Sharazor
Sharazor was the name of a Sassanid district , Kurdish kingdom, Ottoman vilayet and finally a Sanjak of Mosul vilayet situated to the southern and eastern part of what is now known as Iraqi Kurdistan....

, thus allowing Adela Khanem to take over. The revival of commerce and restoration of law and order in the region of Halabja is attributed to her sound judgement. She died in 1924 and buried in Halabja.

Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along...

, British politician and writer, describes Adela Khanem in a letter in 1921 as follow:"
The feature of Halabja is 'Adlah Khanum the great Jaf Beg Zadah lady, mother of Ahmad Beg. She is the widow of Osman Pasha, sometime dead, and continues to rule the Jaf as much as she can and intrigue more than you would think anyone could, and generally behave as great Kurdish ladies do behave. She has often written to me, feeling, I've no doubt, that we must be birds of a feather, and I hastened to call on her after lunch. She is a striking figure in her gorgeous Kurdish clothes with jet black curls (dyed, I take it) falling down her painted cheeks from under her huge headdress. We carried on in Persian, a very complimentary talk in the course of which I managed to tell them how well 'Iraq was doing under Faisal and to assure them that all we wished was that our two children, 'Iraq and Kurdistan, should live in peace and friendship with one another".
Abdulla Goran
Abdulla Goran
‏Abdulla Goran was a Kurdish poet. He undoubtedly brought about a revolution in Kurdish poetry, and is also called the father of modern Kurdish literature. At this time Kurdish poetry was loaded with hundreds of years of foreign heritage, especially Arabic...

, (1904-1962) was a Jaff poet who was born in (Halabja
Halabja
Halabja , is a Kurdish town in Northern Iraq, located about north-east of Baghdad and 8–10 miles from the Iranian border....

) in 1904, and studied in Kirkuk
Kirkuk
Kirkuk is a city in Iraq and the capital of Kirkuk Governorate.It is located in the Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk, north of the capital, Baghdad...

. When his father and older brother died, he left school and taught as a teacher for several years in the Hawraman region. In the 1940s when the Allies established a Radio Station in Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...

, Goran served as Kurdish staff member. He undoubtedly brought about a revolution in Kurdish poetry, and is also called the father of modern Kurdish literature. At this time Kurdish poetry was loaded with hundreds of years of foreign heritage, especially Arabic. Goran cleared his poetry of this influence and gave it a form, rhythm, language and content which was based on Kurdish reality and Kurdish culture, nature and folkloric traditions. Goran published his poems, articles and translations in majority of the Kurdish journals and newspapers between early 1930s and until his death on November 18, 1962. During his lifetime, two collections of his poetry were published, "Beheştî Yadigar" (Paradise & Memory)and Firmêsk û Huner (Tears & Art) in 1950.
His poem “Kurdistan” articulates what this love is and how it shapes his thoughts and defines his aesthetic values: I have been nurtured by these valleys, summits and hummocks, My breath is full of the fragrant breeze of your highlands, My lips are satiated by your snow waters, My gaze is used to the sight of your silvery twilights Reflecting on evening snows, My ears are habituated to the music of your waterfalls Pouring down from high quarters above snow to green landscapes. My tongue bloomed with your beautiful speech,With words of your mountain songs, The words of folk tales told around fireplaces, The words of your children‘s lullabies. When blood stirs in my veins, It does so under the power of your love, I know.

The famous Kurdish musician and singer, Tara Jaff
Tara Jaff
Tara Jaff is an Iraqi Kurdish musician who has been exposed to many influences. Her father was an Iraqi diplomatr from Halabja. Over the years, she experimented with different string instruments, but it was her fascination with the ancient harps of Sumeria, Assyria and Elam, dating as far back as...

is from Jaff tribe and her family lived in Halabja. She has embraced Celtic harp and introduced to Kurdish music. She arrange songs for the harp and the songs that she perform are adapted from Kurdish poetry or old Kurdish songs mainly from Hawraman region. She has developed her own innovative style to adapt to the various musical rhythms and modes of the region, bringing a contemporary expression to an ancient form of music and song. She has been living in the UK since 1976 and has performed widely mainly as a solo artist in concerts, festivals, galleries, conferences as well having appeared regularly on radio and television worldwide. Her occasional collaborations have been with a wide range of artists such as film-makers, story-tellers, poets, painters as well as other musicians. This is a lyric from her song Hewraman:
I beg you, get up and lets go back to Hawraman. That Hawraman that I used to ramble in. Is still alive while I’m getting older………

Another young singer from this tribe is Paiwand Jaff who is known as a pop singer among young Kurdish people.

Jaff rugs

Weaving rugs and bags of Jaff tribe are well-known worldwide.Thousands of Jaff bags that have been brought out of villages in Kermanshah and Halabja regions exported to the U. S. market in the 1920s and 1930s. Jaff rugs usually are woven on a rather narrow loom three to four feet across and are often twice as long as they are wide. They usually have only one or two borders, as compared to the three borders of Persian and Turkish rugs. With the decline of the nomadic tradition among Jaffs, the quality of Jaff rugs and bags has also steadily declined.

External links

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