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21 - ‘Kurdish’ Religious Minorities in the Modern World

from Part IV - Religion and Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2021

By
Philip G. Kreyenbroek  and
Khanna Omarkhali
Edited by
Hamit Bozarslan ,
Cengiz Gunes  and
Veli Yadirgi
Hamit Bozarslan
Affiliation:
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
Cengiz Gunes
Affiliation:
The Open University, Milton Keynes
Veli Yadirgi
Affiliation:
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
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Summary

This chapter discusses religious traditions that had their origin in Kurdish-speaking regions, notably Yezidism and Yarsanism (the religion of the Yaresan, Ahl-e Haqq, or Kaka’i), with some reference to the Alevis of the Dersim (Tunceli) area, the Shabak and the development of a Kurdish Zoroastrian community in the Kurdish Autonomous Region. The chapter offers an outline of the characteristics of the main traditions discussed here, points to similarities between them and describes their recent history in the homelands, particularly after the IS attacks that began in 2014.

Keywords

Kurdish religious minoritiesreligious minoritiesYezidisYaresanAlevistransformations
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of the Kurds , pp. 533 - 559
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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