| Chapter 13: | The End of the Kurdish Wars |
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Khan Mahmud of Van and Mofti Mulla Abdu Qaddus (
) were among the large number of prisoners, who also included other begs, aghas, mullas, and shaikhs who had been Bedr Khan’s senior supporters; they had been mounted and their legs chained to their horses. As for Noor Allah Beg, the news was that he had been sent to Hakkari escorted by a Turkish military force that would encamp there. Some other Kurdish leaders were still at large, such as Zenal Beg; Rassam advised Wellesley of his hiding place in the village of Hallamoon in Lower Tiyari. He also reported on the campaign of the Sar Askar in the region of Siarat (
) against some local Kurdish leaders.
According to the reports, the conditions of the Christians improved immediately after Bedr Khan’s defeat, because his fate convinced the other Kurdish leaders that they could no longer go on persecuting and exploiting them. The capture of their persecutor gave the oppressed Christians a chance to show their feelings, but they did not enjoy their release from oppression for long. The ninety-five-year-old bishop of Berwar, pressed by the persecution against his followers, was obliged to head to Mosul to present their sufferings to the pasha, while Abdul Samad was continuing his oppression and confiscating their possessions. Rassam introduced the bishop to the pasha. Despite Abdul Samad Beg’s persecution of his followers, he begged the pasha to keep the Kurdish leader in his post and not replace him, because at least he did not rob the Christians to the limit and the appointment of a new governor would cause much of suffering, since the new governor would exceed even Abdul Samad in fleecing the poor Christians. However, Rassam noted that Beirakdar himself had ordered the Kurdish leader to treat the Christians harshly. Therefore the pasha preferred to keep him in his post as mutasalim of Berwar, especially after he confessed that in his conduct he was carrying out the orders of the former pasha of Mosul.37
Kurdish Desertion
The final determination of the sultan’s government to eliminate Bedr Khan was ascribed to the pressure exerted by the British ambassador along with other representatives of the great powers in Constantinople.