{{short description|Kurmanji-speaking Sunni Kurdish tribe}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Herki | native_name = {{Lang|ku|Herkî, هەرکی (Kurdish)}} | image = Herkiyan.jpg | caption = A group of Herki chieftains, 1944 | population = {{See below|{{section link||Distribution}}}} | regions = Iraq (Duhok Governorate, Erbil Governorate), Iran (West Azerbaijan Province), Turkey (Hakkâri) | languages = Northern Kurdish | religions = Sunni Islam (Shafi'i) }} '''Herki''', also spelled '''Harki''' (Kurdish: Herkî, هەرکی), is a Kurmanji-speaking<ref>Kahn, M. (1976). ''Borrowing and variation in a phonological description of Kurdish''. p. 11.</ref><ref name="AR">{{Cite book |title=Aşiretler raporu |date=1998 |publisher=Kaynak Yayınları |isbn=978-975-343-220-7 |editor-last=Perinçek |editor-first=Doğu |edition=1st |series= |pages=157}}</ref> Kurdish tribe native to the intersection zone between the borders of Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Laizer |first=Sheri J. |title=Into Kurdistan: Frontiers Under Fire |date=1991 |publisher=Zed Books |isbn=978-0-86232-899-3 |series=Zed books Middle East, current affairs, travel |pages=16}}</ref> Herki populations exist in Iraq (Kurdistan Region), Iran (West Azerbaijan Province),<ref>[https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/harki “HARKI”]. ''Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 03-03-2025''</ref> and in Turkey (Hakkâri Province).<ref>Tekin, F. (2005). ''Hakkari Örneğinde Aşiret, Cemaat ve Akrabalık Örüntülerinin Modernleşme ve Kırsal Çözülme Sürecindeki Siyasal ve Toplumsal Sonuçları''. p. 19. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12395/8429</ref> The majority of Herkis lived traditionally as nomads who dealt with animal husbandry, the weaving of intricate textiles,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eagleton |first=William |title=An introduction to Kurdish rugs and other weavings |date=1988 |publisher=Scorpion Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-0-905906-50-8 |pages=78}}</ref> and the transportation of goods between countries.<ref name="KT">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zc0MAQAAMAAJ |title=Kurdish Times |publisher=Cultural Survival, Incorporated |year=1989 |pages=34–40}}</ref> Herkis are predominantly Sunni Muslims of Shafi'i jurisprudence.<ref name="AR" />
==Distribution== {| class="wikitable" |+Estimated Population and Distribution of Herki Tribesmen (19th-20th centuries) !Population !Lifestyle !Region !Date |- |~4,000 |Settled |Şemdinli (Hakkâri Province) |1970s<ref name="AR" /> |- |~20,000 |Nomadic, Settled |Akre, Rawanduz, Hakkari mountains |1921<ref name=":0" /> |- |~12,270 |Nomadic |Akre, Rawanduz (Mosul Vilayet) |1905<ref name="OD">{{Cite book |last=Marufoğlu |first=Sinan |title=Osmanlı döneminde Kuzey Irak, 1831-1914 |date=1998 |isbn=978-975-7622-70-3 |pages=118–120}}</ref> |- |~3,000 (~500 households) |Settled |Şemdinan (Sanjak of Hakkari) |1872<ref name="UT">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/966459521 |title=Uluslararası Tarihte Hakkâri Sempozyumu |date=2016 |publisher=Hakkari Valiliği : Hakkari Üniversitesi |isbn=978-605-87029-8-1 |editor-last=Kaplan |editor-first=Yaşar |edition=1st |volume=2 |pages=167–168 |oclc=966459521 |editor-last2=Adıyaman |editor-first2=Murat |editor-last3=Sadînî |editor-first3=M. Xalid}}</ref> |- |~18,000 (~3,000 households) |Nomadic |(Sanjak of Hakkari) |1872<ref name="UT" /> |- |~900 |Nomadic |Akre (Sajak of Mosul) |1847<ref name="OD" /> |}
==Origins==
According to oral lore, the common ancestor of Herki chieftains was a certain Abū Bakr, a fierce rival of Zayn al-Dīn of Shamdinan. He is said to have had four sons, the prominent ones being Mendō, Sīdō, and Serhāt. Nomadic Herki clans belong to three divisions said to be named after these eponymous ancestors: Mendān, Sīdān, and Serhātī.<ref>"[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.529974/page/n311/mode/2up?q=%28q.v.%29 SHAMDĪNĀN]". {{Citation |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam |date=1934 |volume=4 |pages=306 |publisher=Brill}}</ref> thumb|Main divisions and clans of the Herki.
Zirar S. Tewfiq asserts that the Herki are attested in the high medieval period through an individual named Bāw al-Arjī, a deputy of Abu'l-Hayjā’ al-Hakkārī.<ref>{{cite book |title=القبائل والزعامات القبلية الكردية في العصر الوسيط |author=زرار صديق توفيق |url=https://www.noor-book.com/كتاب-القبائل-والزعامات-الكرديه-في-العصر-الوسيط-pdf |year=2007 |publisher=مؤسسة موكرياني للبحوث |pages=18–19}}</ref> Al-Azzawi states that it was affirmed to him by Fattah Agha, a Herki chieftain, that the Herki are a Millî tribe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=العزاوي |first=عباس |url=http://www.masaha.org/research/book/view/4100-موسوعة-عشائر-العراق?page=3 |title=موسوعة عشائر العراق |publisher=العربية للموسوعات |year=1952 |pages=part 4, 158}}</ref>
== History == British Indian officer Rupert Hay mentions the Herki as one of three remaining migratory tribes in the region (present-day Iraqi Kurdistan) in the 1910s, the others being the Kheilani and the Boli, with the Herkis being the most important. A section of the tribe was sedentary and lived in the mountains. He states that the Herkis were known for their bravery and that they were armed with modern rifles. Apparently in dispute with Layard, Hay states that they were remarkably well-behaved during his stay in the region. He notes that the nomadic Herkis were led by multiple chieftains and that it was customary for the Ottomans to appoint one annually as a spokesman for the whole tribe.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hay |first=W. R. |title=Two Years in Kurdistan: Experiences of a Political Officer, 1918-1920 |year=1921 |isbn=9781633913639 |pages=79–80}}</ref>
Some Herki families, particularly from the Salaranî branch, migrated around 200 years ago from Şemzinan (Şemdinli) and settled on the slopes of Mount Halgurd, where they founded the village of Shora (Şore) in the Choman District of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The community maintains strong cultural and ancestral ties to the Herki tribe of Hakkâri.<ref>{{Cite book |last=The Spirit of Kurdistan |url=http://archive.org/details/the-history-of-the-shora-sore-people |title=The History Of The Shora ( Şore) People |date=2004-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Metin |first=Cosgel |date=2002 |title=Ottoman Tax Registers (Tahrir Defterleri) |url=https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1295&context=econ_wpapers}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kurdistan |first=The Spirit of |date=2004-01-01 |title=The History of the Shora (Şore) People |url=https://www.academia.edu/144262415/The_History_of_the_Shora_%C5%9Eore_People |journal=The Spirit of Kurdistan}}</ref>
== References == <references/>
{{Kurdish tribes}}
Category:Kurdish tribes Category:Kurdish tribes of Iran