Baz (tribe) explained

Baz (syr|ܒܙ) was one of the five independent Assyrian tribes of the Hakkari region.^[1]

History

Maha Khtayya was the chief village of the region, followed by Shwawwa.^[2]

The Assyrians of the Baz tribe were renowned carpenters and iron-workers who worked not only in their villages, but throughout Mosul and other large towns of Upper Mesopotamia.^[3]

Assyrian Villages in Baz, Turkey

The Assyrian settlements that traditionally comprised the Baz region in Hakkari consist of the following villages.^[4] The region has been empty since they were abandoned in 1915 due to the Assyrian genocide.

• Arwantus (Artusnaye)
• Shwawwa (Shawutnaye)
• Maha Khtayya (Mahaye) (37°27 N, 43°53 E)
• Be-Selim (Selimnaye)
• Argab (Argabaye)
• Kojij (Kojijnaye)

Current Baznaye settlements

These are the villages occupied after the Baznaye were resettled by the British in 1920s and the French in the 1930s.

Iraq

• Babilo (Shawutnaye)
• Bagereh (Selimnaye)
• Chaqala (Kojijnaye)
• Sardarawa (Artusnaye)
• Sorka (Mahaye)
• Simele (Mahaye)
• Badarrash (Artusnaye)
• Sarsing (Artusnaye)
• Sikren (Selimnaye)
• Sedar (Shawutnaye)
• Pirozawa (Argabaye)
• Ain Sifni (Mixed Baznaye)
• Mawana (Mixed Baznaye)

Syria

• Tell Baz (Shawutnaye, Mahaye and some Argabaye)^{[5] [6]}
• Tell Ruman Foqani (Selimnaye and Mahaye)^{[5] [7]}

Famous people

• General Agha Petros Elia - Assyrian military leader during World War I and Chief Negotiator for the *Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people during the 1920s.

Notes and References

1. Book: Wilmshurst . David . The ecclesiastical organisation of the Church of the East, 1318-1913 . 2000 . Peeters . 285 . University of Virginia . 9782877235037.
2. Mutzafi. Hezy. 2000. The Neo-Aramaic dialect of Maha Khtaya d-Baz. Phonology, morphology and texts. Journal of Semitic Studies. en. 45. 293, 294. 10.1093/jss/45.2.293.
3. Maunsell . F.R. . Central Kurdistan . The Geographical Journal . 1901 . 18 . 2 . 138 . 10.2307/1775333 . 1775333 .
4. Ainsworth . William . An Account of a Visit to the Chaldeans, Inhabiting Central Kurdistan; And of an Ascent of the Peak of Rowandiz (Tur Sheikhiwa) in Summer in 1840 . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London . 1841 . 11 . 35 . 10.2307/1797632 . 1797632 .
5. Dodge . Bayard . The settlement of the Assyrians on the Khabbur . Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society . 1 July 1940 . 27 . 3 . 314 . 10.1080/03068374008730969 . 0035-8789.
6. Fernandez . Alberto M. . Dawn at Tell Tamir: The Assyrian Christian Survival on the Khabur River . Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies . 1998 . 12 . 1 . 41, 42 . 2020-04-25 . 2016-08-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160828203037/http://jaas.org/edocs/v12n1/Fernandez.pdf . dead .
7. Fernandez . Alberto M. . Dawn at Tell Tamir: The Assyrian Christian Survival on the Khabur River . Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies . 1998 . 12 . 1 . 41, 42 . 2020-04-25 . 2016-08-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160828203037/http://jaas.org/edocs/v12n1/Fernandez.pdf . dead .