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The Mandaean Community and Ottoman-British Rivalry in Late 19th-Century Iraq

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Thabit A.J. Abdullah discusses the case of Shaykh Ṣaḥan within the context of state centralization, Ottoman-British rivalry, and the internal conflicts among the Mandaeans.

Image courtesy of interviewee. February 28, 2024

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This video video discusses a lesser-known religious and ethnic community in Southern Iraq called the Mendan, which has largely been understudied. The focus is on their historical context during the late 19th century, a time when the region was under Ottoman control.

Key aspects include:

1. **Historical Context**: The Mendan community's origins are debated, with existing studies centered on their religious beliefs and ancient history. The late 19th century was characterized by significant reforms in the Ottoman Empire aimed at increased centralization and state control over community affairs, contrasting with previously autonomous governance.

2. **European Influence**: This video video period also saw a more aggressive European imperial presence, contributing to shifts in power dynamics within the region.

3. **Research Methodology**: The author uses a combination of archival sources (especially British consular reports) and oral traditions from the Mendan, the latter being significant due to the lack of written records from the community itself.

4. **Specific Case Study**: The analysis centers on an incident in 1895 when Sheshan, a leading Mendan priest, was arrested by the Ottomans. Allegations against him included involvement in a murder and support for a tribal rebellion against Ottoman authority.

5. **Community Dynamics**: The Mendan community, which is distinct from its Muslim, Christian, and Jewish neighbors, faced internal divisions exacerbated by the pressures of Ottoman centralization. The British involvement in the community's affairs during this tumultuous time raised questions about their motivations and the implications for the Mendan's autonomy.

6. **Struggle for Control**: The events surrounding Sheshan’s arrest illustrate the complexities of power relations among the Ottoman authorities, rebellious tribal factions, and the Mendan community itself, which attempted to navigate its precarious position amid larger political struggles.

Overall, the study highlights how the changing historical landscape impacted the Mendan community and the challenges they faced in maintaining their identity and authority amidst external pressures.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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The context is, in the land of, of Iraq

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and Southern Iraq.

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Uh, there is a community, a small

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religious and ethnic community known as the Mendan.

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This community has not really been studied.

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The, the only studies we have on it usually focus on either

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the nature of the religion

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or the, an ancient origins.

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There's a debate about the,

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the ancient origins of the mendan.

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After that in the Middle Ages,

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and certainly in the ultimate period

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and the early modern period, it's almost a complete unknown

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as to what is the role

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of this community, what have they done?

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So that's one aspect.

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This community, of course, situated in, in,

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Mesopotamia, in Southern Mesopotamia was at the time of

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the, period that I, that I look at in this article,

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which is 19th century, late 19th century.

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This area was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

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Uh, and so the other historical context

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of this article, other than the fact that it,

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investigates this unknown, you know, rather,

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vaguely understood mi minority.

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Other than that, it is also

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situated within a period in which the Ottoman Empire went

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through very important transformations.

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It was a period in which the Ottomans begin to enact

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reforms that would lead to greater

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state centralization, greater state penetration into,

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community affairs.

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Because historically,

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the Ottoman Empire was very much a hands off empire.

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They allowed communities to manage their own affairs.

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Beginning in the mid 19th century, a series of reforms

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that are referred to as the Tan Sima reforms

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are all geared toward greater state centralization

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and greater state control

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and involvement in community affairs.

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One last aspect of the historical context

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is the mid 19th century

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is also the period when we begin to see European

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imperialist penetration.

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Now, Europeans have always been involved in the,

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in the Middle East, there's always been European merchants

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and traders and so forth,

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and even at times, military campaigns in the,

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in the Middle East, originating from Europe.

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But in the 19th century, this,

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European involvement is qualitatively different.

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It begins to take on the early signs of colonialism

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whereby we begin to see an imbalance in terms

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of power relations,

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and, also in terms of meddling in the internal affairs

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of these, lands.

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So this is in general the historical context.

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You have three parties. You have the mundane community,

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a small, not well understood minority

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distinct completely from the Muslims

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or the Christians or the Jews.

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It is a completely different religion.

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Uh, its ethnicity goes back

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to the ancient Ara Romanians, pre-Islamic,

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the language that is spoken by the Mendan at this time,

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manic is a form of Eastern Aramaic,

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dialect, most closely related

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to Neo Babylonian.

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So it's really quite ancient.

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Uh, in a way, the mundane are really the leftover of

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the ancient Mesopotamian civilization.

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So you have this one party.

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The second is the Ottoman Empire, which is beginning to try

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and centralize.

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And the third are the British now beginning to

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enter into the region in a different way, under,

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much more of what we would come to call imperialist,

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move.

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So this is generally historical context.

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The sources that I used, some

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of them are the regular sources

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that any historian would use, archival sources.

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In this case, I used British consular reports

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and letters that were written about this case that I, that I

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investigate, that I will discuss, in a while.

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Uh, of course, I used, you know, other studies.

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I've even used a, a bit of ottoman, archival sources,

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theone surveys, for example, that were done.

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But the most interesting source, it's one

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that I've never used before, which is oral tradition.

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Now, the mundane, especially for the period

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that I studied in this, in this, piece,

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didn't leave really any, written records.

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Uh, this was a community that tended

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to recall its history, primarily through the form

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of oral transmission.

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So, especially the priests,

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the sheikhs, as they were called,

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but these were, priests.

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They tended to be the custodians of the memory

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of the community, and they tended to,

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memorize the lineages

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Of the various families,

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the most important events, et cetera.

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So, what I did in this article is I looked up the

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descendants of some of the protagonist in the, event

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that I, that i, investigated

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and other, individuals, me men, members

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of the MD community that are familiar with the historical

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tradition around this, this event,

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and using oral traditions is a very, very tricky business.

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I've never done this before.

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This was my first attempt at it,

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and I found it to be extremely rewarding.

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Uh, there's a lot of controversy about using oral tradition

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because as you can imagine, you hear a story

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and then you memorize it,

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but then you begin perhaps to change it around a little bit

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before you pass it on to the next generation.

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And even then, you begin

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to interpret past events in terms

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of your current situation.

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So how can we be sure that the oral,

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traditions are being, maintained faithfully?

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Uh, but what I've discovered is

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that really oral traditions are just like any other source.

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I mean, just because you have a counselor report written

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by a British council who was a contemporary to the events

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that I, that I examined, doesn't mean

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that he wrote them faithfully either.

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And it also doesn't mean that he didn't exaggerate one part

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and tried to leave out another part, et cetera.

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Uh, so oral tradition is just like any other source.

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One has to be very careful, very cautious,

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always ask questions about whether the events

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that are being described orally are plausible.

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Uh, and what, what I did in terms of a methodology is that,

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okay, I have these two very important sources,

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the oral tradition

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and the written documents primarily from the British,

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with a few from the ottoman, archives.

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And what I do is I try to check one over the other.

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So if, if my source for an oral, my,

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my source for all tradition says something that conflicts

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with the written sources, then I have to try

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and wave this out

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and see which one seems to be more plausible.

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It wasn't, as straightforward,

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but I found oral tradition to be a very, very

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powerful, source for, for historians.

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And really, the, the main, foundation

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of this, historical piece that I, that I wrote,

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is, is exactly an attempt to balance,

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the written documents

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and the oral tradition together to try

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and get some kind of a story that seems reasonable.

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And no matter how hard historians try, no matter

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how good their sources are, we are always making guesses.

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In the end, you say, okay, I have this document,

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but I assume that this is what is meant by it,

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and this is what, what the conclusions are.

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You do have to make certain educated guesses.

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And I found that, the use

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of oral tradition is no different in this regard.

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The, the study is always looking at these three important

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players, the mundane community,

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the Ottoman State, and the British.

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Now, the, the, the way that the, the

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research is done is that it begins

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with a very specific event.

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In 1895, the Ottomans

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sees the leading priest

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of the Mendelian community, a man by the name of Sheshan,

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who lived on, well, he traveled in, in southern Iraq,

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but his, his, his origin, according to his own,

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testimony in a letter that he wrote, is

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that he comes from the Euphrates region

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and the Southern Euphrates, region.

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Now, in 1895, the Ottoman authorities, apprehend him,

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and they accuse him of two crimes.

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The first is the murder of

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his nephew, Shean.

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Now, this, the,

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the Ottomans did not accuse him directly.

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He's not the one who pulled the trigger, they said,

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but that he played a role in sending an assassin

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to, kill his nephew.

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Uh, the second, accusation

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that the Ottomans had on Sheshan,

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and the one that the Ottomans were much more worried about

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and much more concerned about, is the fact

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that they had evidence that Shan supported

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and played a role in a massive tribal rebellion

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against alman authority in southern Iraq.

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And so this is, this is the case

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that attracted my attention.

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Uh, this was recorded by the British

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because one of the sons of Sheshan went

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to the British Council and asked for his support in trying

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to release his father Shehan from the Altman, prison.

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And the British immediately got involved.

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So I immediately asked the question, first of all,

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why did the British, you know, get involved?

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What's, what's in it for them?

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Why, why are they so interested?

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This is a tiny, tiny minority.

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It hardly has any, effects.

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Why would the British get so involved?

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They were continuously writing letters, lobbying, meeting

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with the, with the ottoman, governor, to the point

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where the Ottoman governor began to get angry.

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And, and there was a problem that was developing

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between the Ottomans and the British, just over this priest.

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The second question that I asked is, why in the world,

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with such a small, tiny minority,

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which is completely defenseless, the mundane, by the way,

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by their own teachings, are non-violence.

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They're their pacifists.

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They do not believe in, in joining any kind of rebellions

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or bearing arms or any, even in self-defense, they don't,

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they, they refuse to do that.

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So why in the world would the chief priest

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of the mundane community, which is such a vulnerable,

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tiny defenseless community,

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why would they get involved in such a dangerous,

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dangerous rebellion?

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This was a, a massive rebellion

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that took place in southern Iraq, in the 1890s,

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from the, one

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of the main tribes called the Benisa Tribe,

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along the Euphrates against Ottoman authorities.

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So why, why in the world would he get involved in this?

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Uh, and the third question that I asked

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is I found a document.

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Uh, it is a letter signed by a number

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of the m notables priests,

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as well as, men

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of influence within the mundane community, merchants,

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and so forth, who collectively signed a letter,

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that was, sent to Queen Victoria herself,

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asking, her to intervene

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and to release the, the priest, shehan.

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When I looked at the names of the, of the signatories,

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there was one name that was missing, another priest,

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his name is she, Sam.

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Now we know that subsequently in the early,

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the first half of the, of the 20th century, she, Sam,

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would become the prominent priest of the mundane community.

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So he was a, a rising star in the community at the time

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that this letter was written.

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Why is his name missing?

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He seems to be a very important figure,

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and he is also related to sheshan.

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They have a, they're, they're closely related.

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So these were the questions that I asked.

15:00.295 --> 15:03.235
Now, I won't get into all the details

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because it'll take us a lot of time,

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and of course, the articles there for those who would like

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to, to read it.

15:10.015 --> 15:13.275
But essentially it's a very,

15:14.065 --> 15:15.275
complex case.

15:15.745 --> 15:20.195
There's a lot of actors all with intersecting interests.

15:21.625 --> 15:26.025
The Ottomans were trying to centralize this meant

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that they were beginning to intervene in the affairs

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of the either two autonomous tribes.

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There were many acts

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of resistance on the part of their tribes.

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They wanted to protect their autonomy.

15:40.005 --> 15:44.185
The, co the confederation known as the AK tribe,

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for example, was one of the leaders in resisting

15:48.025 --> 15:51.065
ottoman centralization, the Benisa tribe,

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which is also very powerful,

15:53.135 --> 15:56.805
very influential along the Euphrates, rebuilt

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as a result of Ottoman intervention

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and Ottoman attempts at centralization.

16:02.675 --> 16:06.685
This was typical of the period that was a turbulent period.

16:07.805 --> 16:12.235
Now, the Bea tribe had a very charismatic,

16:12.935 --> 16:15.795
chieftain, known as,

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is the name of the family.

16:20.415 --> 16:24.035
She Hasan was especially fond of,

16:25.435 --> 16:28.375
and especially, attuned to

16:28.985 --> 16:33.055
protecting the mandian minority in his territory.

16:33.955 --> 16:36.415
He was, known,

16:36.715 --> 16:39.935
and again, I got this mainly from oral traditions,

16:40.205 --> 16:42.775
both from the descendants of Sheik Hasan

16:43.395 --> 16:48.375
and from Ians descendants of people who lived under she,

16:49.075 --> 16:50.735
who always speak very highly of him

16:51.155 --> 16:56.095
as being a very tolerant, tribal leader,

16:56.435 --> 17:00.895
one who was very, very severe in making,

17:01.275 --> 17:03.895
in punishing anyone who would dare

17:03.955 --> 17:06.295
to attack the men within his community.

17:06.755 --> 17:08.895
He went to great length to protect them.

17:09.475 --> 17:12.295
Now, the reason that he did this is not just

17:12.295 --> 17:15.655
because he was an enlightened, you know, tolerant person.

17:16.115 --> 17:17.215
I'm sure that was part of it.

17:17.515 --> 17:20.375
But another part is that the mens

17:21.755 --> 17:25.855
became specialists in certain artisanal crafts.

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They were the chief carpenters

17:30.825 --> 17:35.605
and the main blacksmiths of the tribal regions.

17:36.615 --> 17:39.115
Uh, they almost had a monopoly over the,

17:39.115 --> 17:40.395
these kind of trades.

17:41.135 --> 17:45.385
So anytime that, a peasant needed

17:45.935 --> 17:49.305
some kind of implement, you know, for, for harvesting

17:49.325 --> 17:52.205
or whatever, they would go to a mian carpenter

17:52.305 --> 17:53.405
who would fashion this.

17:53.675 --> 17:56.685
They were also the people who built the best boats.

17:57.265 --> 17:59.725
And southern Iraq is a marshland.

18:00.145 --> 18:03.805
It depends heavily on, on, boats for,

18:03.825 --> 18:04.885
for communication.

18:05.645 --> 18:09.475
And in terms of blacksmiths, they

18:10.185 --> 18:15.155
made the weapons that were used by the tribesmen, swords

18:15.215 --> 18:16.795
and spears and so forth.

18:17.495 --> 18:21.275
And increasingly, by the late 19th century,

18:21.705 --> 18:25.235
they were beginning to learn how to make bullets

18:26.175 --> 18:28.915
and to make certain type of bombs

18:29.425 --> 18:30.955
that were referred to as a Dan.

18:31.695 --> 18:35.675
Uh, this was basically a metal ball with a fuse.

18:36.575 --> 18:38.595
And inside it there was gunpowder

18:38.615 --> 18:40.155
and lots of pellets and so forth.

18:40.215 --> 18:42.635
And you like the fuse and you throw it and it explodes.

18:42.635 --> 18:46.115
And, the ions were, became the experts.

18:47.055 --> 18:49.475
Sheikh Shan, the person who

18:50.455 --> 18:52.235
is the chief mundane priest.

18:53.005 --> 18:54.465
He was especially known.

18:54.965 --> 18:59.505
Him and his sons were especially known as, for being,

19:00.005 --> 19:03.705
experts, craftsmen in making these bombs.

19:03.755 --> 19:08.145
These, Dan, that's one of the reasons, no doubt, that

19:09.085 --> 19:12.665
she, who was now involved in a rebellion against the

19:12.825 --> 19:14.785
ultimate valued them men so much.

19:14.785 --> 19:16.825
They knew how to make these kind

19:16.825 --> 19:20.585
of a very specialized weapons for, for him.

19:21.485 --> 19:25.935
Now, when, so, so he favored, she,

19:26.395 --> 19:28.975
shehan, he gave him all kinds of protection.

19:30.465 --> 19:34.575
In addition to this, he elevated,

19:34.835 --> 19:38.005
he helped elevate shehan to the position

19:38.005 --> 19:42.365
of being the paramount priest within the mundane community.

19:42.565 --> 19:47.555
Everywhere the Ians have governed themselves,

19:48.535 --> 19:49.995
not in a centralized fashion.

19:50.695 --> 19:53.955
The, the mundane never had a very hierarchical priesthood,

19:54.335 --> 19:56.635
unlike, say, for example, the Catholic church, right?

19:56.685 --> 19:59.155
Which has a very hierarchical structure.

19:59.775 --> 20:01.075
The Ians never had that.

20:01.215 --> 20:03.635
It was a very decentralized priesthood.

20:04.145 --> 20:08.515
Anybody who studies and becomes a priest can go anywhere

20:08.695 --> 20:12.835
and begin to service a community without necessarily having

20:12.895 --> 20:15.675
to obey somebody's superior to him.

20:16.415 --> 20:19.835
But because the Ottomans were beginning to centralize,

20:20.465 --> 20:23.155
this had a, a, a trickling effect.

20:23.895 --> 20:26.235
All of the communities were now required

20:26.235 --> 20:27.275
to choose one leader.

20:28.475 --> 20:31.895
So the c there was a similar pressure put on Christians

20:32.675 --> 20:35.135
to choose a single leader, to represent them.

20:35.435 --> 20:38.615
The Jews had to choose a single leader to represent them.

20:39.435 --> 20:41.935
The mundane began to feel this pressure.

20:42.475 --> 20:44.455
And thanks to the support that

20:45.035 --> 20:47.845
Sheikh Sahan had from the Benza tribe

20:48.225 --> 20:52.045
and their leader, he was elevated to the chief,

20:52.865 --> 20:56.005
the paramount priesthood of the mundane community.

20:56.275 --> 21:00.485
This angered several other priests within the community.

21:00.785 --> 21:03.045
So here we begin to see something very interesting,

21:03.045 --> 21:04.725
which is one of the themes of this article.

21:06.575 --> 21:10.235
The process of Ottoman centralization,

21:11.775 --> 21:14.595
of demanding that each community choose a single

21:14.595 --> 21:15.835
leader to represent.

21:15.835 --> 21:17.865
It begins to have

21:18.695 --> 21:22.345
detrimental effect on the unity of the community itself.

21:23.135 --> 21:25.945
It's supposed to consolidate the community,

21:26.005 --> 21:29.665
but actually it gave rise to jealousies, to competition,

21:30.245 --> 21:32.305
to other priests saying, why is

21:32.935 --> 21:35.545
Sheshan chosen to represent us?

21:35.965 --> 21:38.025
Uh, I think I like this priest more.

21:38.085 --> 21:41.345
And so there was even more infighting than usual.

21:43.595 --> 21:46.575
The, the event that took place

21:47.835 --> 21:49.695
of a tribal rebellion,

21:50.565 --> 21:52.975
sheshan now supporting this rebellion in the form

21:52.975 --> 21:57.135
of making these weapons for the tribal warriors,

21:58.695 --> 22:02.365
occurred at the same time that an,

22:03.305 --> 22:06.165
priest challenged she, Han's authority,

22:07.155 --> 22:08.295
and this was his nephew.

22:09.425 --> 22:12.735
And apparently, his patron,

22:13.715 --> 22:17.895
she hasan from the Benza tribe, ordered the murder of,

22:18.555 --> 22:20.375
Shean.

22:21.195 --> 22:25.735
So it sounds like a complex,

22:26.155 --> 22:28.895
you know, set of, of, developments,

22:29.195 --> 22:31.695
but it's all connected in this process

22:31.955 --> 22:33.335
of state centralization

22:33.835 --> 22:36.935
and the com a small community trying to work around

22:37.555 --> 22:40.255
the tribal rebellions that are trying

22:40.255 --> 22:42.215
to challenge the state centralization.

22:42.595 --> 22:44.655
Now, one last point before I drop this.

22:45.955 --> 22:49.095
Uh, in the, in the middle of all this, you have,

22:49.235 --> 22:51.255
you have the Ottomans trying to centralize.

22:52.095 --> 22:55.025
This meant that the mendan had to choose a single leader,

22:55.025 --> 22:58.625
which created problems within their community state.

22:58.625 --> 23:02.945
Centralization also pushed the tribes to rebel against them,

23:03.275 --> 23:06.225
which then forced Sheikh Shan

23:06.445 --> 23:11.265
and his, sons to support the,

23:11.605 --> 23:13.545
the tribe that is their protector

23:14.085 --> 23:16.025
by manufacturing weapons for them.

23:16.765 --> 23:20.065
In the middle of all of this, the British come in.

23:21.055 --> 23:25.875
Now, the British at this time always looked

23:26.015 --> 23:30.465
for opportunities to further their interests.

23:30.965 --> 23:35.905
And one of the ways in which they tended to do this is by

23:36.625 --> 23:39.465
singling out minorities that are vulnerable.

23:39.815 --> 23:41.825
They don't have a strong defender.

23:42.485 --> 23:44.985
And by coming in and basically saying, you know,

23:45.105 --> 23:47.285
we will support you, we'll give you funds,

23:48.015 --> 23:52.965
we'll even lobby on your behalf, in front

23:52.985 --> 23:54.805
of the Ottoman authorities.

23:55.425 --> 24:00.325
In return, you act as our agents, as our, as our supporters,

24:00.385 --> 24:02.325
as our, representatives.

24:03.065 --> 24:05.525
So when this be, when this happened,

24:05.675 --> 24:07.125
when the rebellion took place,

24:07.995 --> 24:09.805
sheshan was captured by the Ottum.

24:09.805 --> 24:10.805
As he was put in prison,

24:11.185 --> 24:14.045
the British immediately took this opportunity

24:14.145 --> 24:15.445
and said, we'll defend you.

24:15.825 --> 24:17.925
You know, we will, help you out.

24:18.835 --> 24:22.775
Uh, so this is, this is basically the,

24:23.075 --> 24:27.255
the event and how it fits into this whole context.

24:28.145 --> 24:30.455
Again, there's state centralization.

24:30.845 --> 24:32.575
There's the British trying to come in.

24:33.275 --> 24:35.655
The tribes rebel against state centralization.

24:35.925 --> 24:39.135
This tiny community, which is controlled by the tribe,

24:39.475 --> 24:43.175
by these big tribes, has to, they're forced to choose sides.

24:43.685 --> 24:45.055
They come into support.

24:45.675 --> 24:49.695
Not all the members of this small community are supportive

24:49.695 --> 24:51.975
of the rise of this new, new priest.

24:52.115 --> 24:56.015
And so they, their unity is also being torn asunder here.

Mendan Community Amidst Ottoman Transformations

00:00:00 - The context is, in the land of, of Iraq and Southern Iraq. there is a community, a small religious and ethnic community known as the Mendan. This community has not really been studied. The, the only studies we have on it usually focus on either the nature of the religion or the, an ancient origins. There's a debate about the, the ancient origins of the mendan.
00:00:36 - and certainly in the ultimate period and the early modern period, it's almost a complete unknown as to what is the role of this community, what have they done? So that's one aspect. This community, of course, situated in, in, Mesopotamia, in Southern Mesopotamia was at the time of the, period that I, that I look at in this article, which is 19th century, late 19th century.
00:01:10 - and so the other historical context of this article, other than the fact that it, investigates this unknown, you know, rather, vaguely understood mi minority. Other than that, it is also situated within a period in which the Ottoman Empire went through very important transformations.
00:01:43 - reforms that would lead to greater state centralization, greater state penetration into, community affairs. Because historically, the Ottoman Empire was very much a hands off empire. They allowed communities to manage their own affairs. Beginning in the mid 19th century, a series of reforms
00:02:11 - are all geared toward greater state centralization and greater state control and involvement in community affairs. One last aspect of the historical context is the mid 19th century is also the period when we begin to see European imperialist penetration. Now, Europeans have always been involved in the,
00:02:43 - and traders and so forth, and even at times, military campaigns in the, in the Middle East, originating from Europe. But in the 19th century, this, European involvement is qualitatively different. It begins to take on the early signs of colonialism whereby we begin to see an imbalance in terms of power relations, and, also in terms of meddling in the internal affairs

Mendan Community: Historical Context and Sources

00:03:17 - So this is in general the historical context. You have three parties. You have the mundane community, a small, not well understood minority distinct completely from the Muslims or the Christians or the Jews. It is a completely different religion. its ethnicity goes back to the ancient Ara Romanians, pre-Islamic, the language that is spoken by the Mendan at this time,
00:03:54 - dialect, most closely related to Neo Babylonian. So it's really quite ancient. in a way, the mundane are really the leftover of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. So you have this one party. The second is the Ottoman Empire, which is beginning to try and centralize. And the third are the British now beginning to
00:04:24 - much more of what we would come to call imperialist, move. So this is generally historical context. The sources that I used, some of them are the regular sources that any historian would use, archival sources. In this case, I used British consular reports and letters that were written about this case that I, that I
00:04:54 - of course, I used, you know, other studies. I've even used a, a bit of ottoman, archival sources, theone surveys, for example, that were done. But the most interesting source, it's one that I've never used before, which is oral tradition. Now, the mundane, especially for the period that I studied in this, in this, piece,
00:05:26 - this was a community that tended to recall its history, primarily through the form of oral transmission. So, especially the priests, the sheikhs, as they were called, but these were, priests. They tended to be the custodians of the memory of the community, and they tended to,
00:05:56 - Of the various families, the most important events, et cetera. So, what I did in this article is I looked up the descendants of some of the protagonist in the, event that I, that i, investigated and other, individuals, me men, members of the MD community that are familiar with the historical tradition around this, this event,

Exploring the Value of Oral Tradition

00:06:30 - I've never done this before. This was my first attempt at it, and I found it to be extremely rewarding. there's a lot of controversy about using oral tradition because as you can imagine, you hear a story and then you memorize it, but then you begin perhaps to change it around a little bit before you pass it on to the next generation.
00:07:00 - to interpret past events in terms of your current situation. So how can we be sure that the oral, traditions are being, maintained faithfully? but what I've discovered is that really oral traditions are just like any other source. I mean, just because you have a counselor report written by a British council who was a contemporary to the events
00:07:31 - that he wrote them faithfully either. And it also doesn't mean that he didn't exaggerate one part and tried to leave out another part, et cetera. so oral tradition is just like any other source. One has to be very careful, very cautious, always ask questions about whether the events that are being described orally are plausible. and what, what I did in terms of a methodology is that,
00:08:06 - the oral tradition and the written documents primarily from the British, with a few from the ottoman, archives. And what I do is I try to check one over the other. So if, if my source for an oral, my, my source for all tradition says something that conflicts with the written sources, then I have to try and wave this out
00:08:37 - It wasn't, as straightforward, but I found oral tradition to be a very, very powerful, source for, for historians. And really, the, the main, foundation of this, historical piece that I, that I wrote, is, is exactly an attempt to balance,
00:09:06 - and the oral tradition together to try and get some kind of a story that seems reasonable. And no matter how hard historians try, no matter how good their sources are, we are always making guesses. In the end, you say, okay, I have this document, but I assume that this is what is meant by it, and this is what, what the conclusions are. You do have to make certain educated guesses.

Conflict Between the Mendan, Ottomans, and British

00:09:37 - of oral tradition is no different in this regard. The, the study is always looking at these three important players, the mundane community, the Ottoman State, and the British. Now, the, the, the way that the, the research is done is that it begins with a very specific event. In 1895, the Ottomans sees the leading priest
00:10:13 - who lived on, well, he traveled in, in southern Iraq, but his, his, his origin, according to his own, testimony in a letter that he wrote, is that he comes from the Euphrates region and the Southern Euphrates, region. Now, in 1895, the Ottoman authorities, apprehend him, and they accuse him of two crimes.
00:10:46 - his nephew, Shean. Now, this, the, the Ottomans did not accuse him directly. He's not the one who pulled the trigger, they said, but that he played a role in sending an assassin to, kill his nephew. the second, accusation
00:11:16 - and the one that the Ottomans were much more worried about and much more concerned about, is the fact that they had evidence that Shan supported and played a role in a massive tribal rebellion against alman authority in southern Iraq. And so this is, this is the case that attracted my attention. this was recorded by the British
00:11:47 - to the British Council and asked for his support in trying to release his father Shehan from the Altman, prison. And the British immediately got involved. So I immediately asked the question, first of all, why did the British, you know, get involved? What's, what's in it for them? Why, why are they so interested? This is a tiny, tiny minority. It hardly has any, effects. Why would the British get so involved?
00:12:20 - with the, with the ottoman, governor, to the point where the Ottoman governor began to get angry. And, and there was a problem that was developing between the Ottomans and the British, just over this priest. The second question that I asked is, why in the world, with such a small, tiny minority, which is completely defenseless, the mundane, by the way, by their own teachings, are non-violence.

Mendan Community's Involvement in Rebellion

00:12:49 - They do not believe in, in joining any kind of rebellions or bearing arms or any, even in self-defense, they don't, they, they refuse to do that. So why in the world would the chief priest of the mundane community, which is such a vulnerable, tiny defenseless community, why would they get involved in such a dangerous, dangerous rebellion? This was a, a massive rebellion that took place in southern Iraq, in the 1890s,
00:13:25 - of the main tribes called the Benisa Tribe, along the Euphrates against Ottoman authorities. So why, why in the world would he get involved in this? and the third question that I asked is I found a document. it is a letter signed by a number of the m notables priests, as well as, men
00:13:56 - and so forth, who collectively signed a letter, that was, sent to Queen Victoria herself, asking, her to intervene and to release the, the priest, shehan. When I looked at the names of the, of the signatories, there was one name that was missing, another priest,
00:14:25 - Now we know that subsequently in the early, the first half of the, of the 20th century, she, Sam, would become the prominent priest of the mundane community. So he was a, a rising star in the community at the time that this letter was written. Why is his name missing? He seems to be a very important figure, and he is also related to sheshan. They have a, they're, they're closely related.
00:15:00 - Now, I won't get into all the details because it'll take us a lot of time, and of course, the articles there for those who would like to, to read it. But essentially it's a very, complex case. There's a lot of actors all with intersecting interests. The Ottomans were trying to centralize this meant that they were beginning to intervene in the affairs
00:15:33 - There were many acts of resistance on the part of their tribes. They wanted to protect their autonomy. The, co the confederation known as the AK tribe, for example, was one of the leaders in resisting ottoman centralization, the Benisa tribe, which is also very powerful, very influential along the Euphrates, rebuilt as a result of Ottoman intervention

Sheik Hasan: Protector of the Mendan Community

00:16:02 - This was typical of the period that was a turbulent period. Now, the Bea tribe had a very charismatic, chieftain, known as, is the name of the family. She Hasan was especially fond of, and especially, attuned to protecting the mandian minority in his territory.
00:16:36 - and again, I got this mainly from oral traditions, both from the descendants of Sheik Hasan and from Ians descendants of people who lived under she, who always speak very highly of him as being a very tolerant, tribal leader, one who was very, very severe in making, in punishing anyone who would dare
00:17:06 - He went to great length to protect them. Now, the reason that he did this is not just because he was an enlightened, you know, tolerant person. I'm sure that was part of it. But another part is that the mens became specialists in certain artisanal crafts. They were the chief carpenters and the main blacksmiths of the tribal regions.
00:17:39 - these kind of trades. So anytime that, a peasant needed some kind of implement, you know, for, for harvesting or whatever, they would go to a mian carpenter who would fashion this. They were also the people who built the best boats. And southern Iraq is a marshland. It depends heavily on, on, boats for, for communication. And in terms of blacksmiths, they
00:18:15 - and spears and so forth. And increasingly, by the late 19th century, they were beginning to learn how to make bullets and to make certain type of bombs that were referred to as a Dan. this was basically a metal ball with a fuse. And inside it there was gunpowder and lots of pellets and so forth.
00:18:42 - And, the ions were, became the experts. Sheikh Shan, the person who is the chief mundane priest. He was especially known. Him and his sons were especially known as, for being, experts, craftsmen in making these bombs. These, Dan, that's one of the reasons, no doubt, that she, who was now involved in a rebellion against the

Centralization's Impact on the Mendan Community

00:19:14 - They knew how to make these kind of a very specialized weapons for, for him. Now, when, so, so he favored, she, shehan, he gave him all kinds of protection. In addition to this, he elevated, he helped elevate shehan to the position of being the paramount priest within the mundane community. Everywhere the Ians have governed themselves,
00:19:50 - The, the mundane never had a very hierarchical priesthood, unlike, say, for example, the Catholic church, right? Which has a very hierarchical structure. The Ians never had that. It was a very decentralized priesthood. Anybody who studies and becomes a priest can go anywhere and begin to service a community without necessarily having to obey somebody's superior to him. But because the Ottomans were beginning to centralize,
00:20:23 - All of the communities were now required to choose one leader. So the c there was a similar pressure put on Christians to choose a single leader, to represent them. The Jews had to choose a single leader to represent them. The mundane began to feel this pressure. And thanks to the support that Sheikh Sahan had from the Benza tribe and their leader, he was elevated to the chief,
00:20:56 - This angered several other priests within the community. So here we begin to see something very interesting, which is one of the themes of this article. The process of Ottoman centralization, of demanding that each community choose a single leader to represent. It begins to have detrimental effect on the unity of the community itself.
00:21:26 - but actually it gave rise to jealousies, to competition, to other priests saying, why is Sheshan chosen to represent us? I think I like this priest more. And so there was even more infighting than usual. The, the event that took place of a tribal rebellion, sheshan now supporting this rebellion in the form of making these weapons for the tribal warriors,
00:22:03 - priest challenged she, Han's authority, and this was his nephew. And apparently, his patron, she hasan from the Benza tribe, ordered the murder of, Shean. So it sounds like a complex, you know, set of, of, developments,

Centralization Challenges and Community Dynamics

00:22:31 - of state centralization and the com a small community trying to work around the tribal rebellions that are trying to challenge the state centralization. Now, one last point before I drop this. in the, in the middle of all this, you have, you have the Ottomans trying to centralize. This meant that the mendan had to choose a single leader, which created problems within their community state. Centralization also pushed the tribes to rebel against them,
00:23:06 - and his, sons to support the, the tribe that is their protector by manufacturing weapons for them. In the middle of all of this, the British come in. Now, the British at this time always looked for opportunities to further their interests. And one of the ways in which they tended to do this is by
00:23:39 - They don't have a strong defender. And by coming in and basically saying, you know, we will support you, we'll give you funds, we'll even lobby on your behalf, in front of the Ottoman authorities. In return, you act as our agents, as our, as our supporters, as our, representatives. So when this be, when this happened, when the rebellion took place,
00:24:09 - As he was put in prison, the British immediately took this opportunity and said, we'll defend you. You know, we will, help you out. so this is, this is basically the, the event and how it fits into this whole context. Again, there's state centralization. There's the British trying to come in. The tribes rebel against state centralization. This tiny community, which is controlled by the tribe,
00:24:52 - They come into support. Not all the members of this small community are supportive of the rise of this new, new priest. And so they, their unity is also being torn asunder here.

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