Yazidi Rebellion

In 1904, the Yazidis, under the leadership of Mir Ali Beg, managed to forcibly reclaim their property and expel the Kurdish Muslims. The newly appointed governor of Mosul, Mustafa Nuri Pasha, initiated a shift in policy and attempted to establish diplomatic relations with the Yazidis, who were considered rebellious. He initially tolerated the Yazidis’ recapture of the Lalish Valley.

Capture of Lalish
Part of Ottoman campaigns against Yazidis
Date 1904-1906 Location Lalish,, Mosul, Northern Iraq Result Yazidi Victory
Belligerents
Yazidi troops	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Mîr Alî Beg	Mustafa Nuri Pasha Sadiq al-Damluji
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	1000 soldiers killed

Aftermath

However, the Kurdish Muslims did not accept this; there was a threat of renewed fighting. Mîr Alî Beg began to arm hundreds of êzîdîsche volunteers to defend Lalish in case of attack. The Ottoman police director Sadiq al-Damluji was ordered to Lalish in 1906 to ask the Êzîdîs to hand over the temple to the Muslims. Mîr Alî Beg replied to him with the following words:

“We will never leave Lalish just because you command us. We will not give up our sanctuary, even if we die defending it,” Damluji wrote in his notes, which were published in his Arabic work al-Yezidia in 1949 in Mosul.

In the following years, there were several more attacks on the Lalish Valley, all of which the Yazidis successfully repelled.