Barwari


Barwar also known as Barwari and Barwari Bala, is a region situated in northern Dohuk Governorate of Kurdistan Region and Hakkari Province in southeastern Turkey. The region is mostly populated by Assyrians and the Kurdish Berwarî tribe. Despite straddling two countries and two provinces, Barwar was historically situated in the region of Hakkari.

History

The mountainous region was part of the diocese of Beth Nuhadra since antiquity and has seen a mass migration of Assyrians after the fall of Baghdad in 1258 and Timurlane's invasion from central Iraq.
Its Christian inhabitants were little affected by the Ottoman conquests; however starting from the 19th century Kurdish Emirs sought to expand their territories at their expense. In the 1830s Muhammad Rawanduzi, the Emir of Soran, tried to forcibly add the region to his dominion pillaging many Assyrian villages. Bedr Khan Beg of Bohtan renewed attacks on the region in the 1840s, killing tens of thousands of Assyrians in Barwari and Hakkari before being ultimately defeated by the Ottomans.
Many Assyrians who survived later suffered in the Assyrian Genocide by the Ottoman Army during the First World War; others took refuge in Urmia led by their patriarch, Mar Shimun XIX Benyamin. Later attempts for their resettlement in Barwar were largely successful however, and Assyrians still live in the region.
In addition to the Assyrian population, an Aramaic-speaking Jewish population existed in the region for thousands of years, living mainly in Barwari. However, they all left for Israel shortly after its creation in 1947. The region was heavily affected by the Kurdish uprisings during the 1950s and 60s and was largely depopulated during the Al-Anfal campaign in the 1980s, although some of its population later returned and their homes were subsequently rebuilt.

Villages

List of settlements

Lower Barwari

Lower Barwari is located in Dohuk Governorate.
Upper Barwari is situated in what is now southeastern Turkey, with the villages centered in around the Hakkari Province.