Tyari

Ṭyārē or Tyari (Syriac: ܛܝܪܐ‎) is an Assyrian tribe of ancient origins and a historical district within Hakkari, Turkey. The area was traditionally divided into Upper and Lower Tyare--each consisting of several Assyrian villages. Today, the district mostly sits in around the town of Çukurca.^[1][2][3] Historically, the largest village of the region was known as Ashitha.

Before 1915, Tyare was home to Assyrians from the Tyare tribe as well as a minority of Kurds. Following the Assyrian genocide, Ṭyārāyē, along with other Assyrians residing in the Hakkari highlands, were forced to leave their villages in southeast Anatolia and fled to join their fellow Assyrian brethren in modern-day northern Iraq (Sarsink, Sharafiya, Barwari, Araden), northeastern Syria (Tel Tamer and Al Hasakah), Armenia, Georgia and, from the late 20th century, to western countries.

Etymology

Tyare may be a variation of the ancient "Autiyara".^[4] An inscription by the Persian King Darius (521-486 BC) states that his forces defeated one of his enemies in the Assyrian district of "Autiyara" which is probably the Christian Assyrian "Ṭiyārē" in the mountains a short distance form Nineveh where Assyrians known as "Ṭyārāyē" meaning the people of Tyare live.

In Classical Syriac the word Tyare is the plural form of a sheepfold, or grazing area. Indeed, the Assyrians of Tyare were renowned even amongst neighboring Kurds and Armenians for their yogurt, cheese and other dairy products mostly made from sheep or goat's milk. They were also famous for their textiles, which again were spun and woven from sheep's wool. They also made woolen felt for their characteristic pointed caps, and felt was also used for bedding.

These industries have continued to some extent in their rural settlements in Northern Iraq and North East Syria. One anecdote mentions that on the flight of Assyrians from Urmia (Iran) to Bakuba (Iraq) in 1918, the Tyare Assyrians reached the end of the thousand mile trek with more sheep than when they had originally set out.

Dialect

Like Jīlū, the Tyare dialect is a very distinct Assyrian Neo-Aramaic dialect. Unlike the Jilu, Baz and Gawar dialects (which are very similar to each other), this one is more "thick". It is, in a way, a sort of a "working class" accent of the Assyrian dialects. Dialects within Tyare, and especially the Western group, have more in common with Chaldean Neo-Aramaic than with Iraqi Koine (similar to General Urmian).

Many Tyare speakers can switch back and forth from Tyare to "Assyrian Standard" (or "Iraqi Koine") when conversing with Assyrian speakers of other dialects. Some speakers tend to adopt a form of verb conjugation that is closer to the Iraqi Koine or Urmian Standard. This is attributed to the growing exposure to Assyrian Standard-based literature, media, and its use as a liturgical language by the Assyrian Church of the East. Furthermore, it is customary for Assyrian artists to generally sing in Iraqi Koine for them to be intelligible and have widespread recognition. Songs in Tyare dialects are usually of the folk-dance music genre and would attract certain audiences.^[5]

Villages

Both Upper and Lower Tyare consisted of several villages, thus providing the names of the various clans that resided there.^[8]

Some Upper Tyare clans:

• Dadoshnāyé
• Walţwāyé who lived in Khidhyānā, Māthā d-Marth Maryam, Rīshé d-Nahrā, Shwāwūthā and Sirţā villages
• Qallayāthā
• Rumtā
• Sarispīdho
  • Bé-Chāmma

Some Lower Tyare clans:

• Ashītha
  • Bé-Marques
  • Bé-Qāshā Khoshābo
  • Bé-Odishkā
  • Nāshé d-Māthā
  • Chammānāyé
  • Khaţībnayé
  • Bé-Rābin
  • Bé-Merwatté
• Bné-Māthā who lived in Līzan, Zarné and Māthā d-Qasrā villages
• Bé-Rawolé
• Minyānish
• Bné-Belāthā who lived in Salabakkan and Bé-Allāthā villages
• Bné-Lagippā who lived in Lagippā, Kurkhé, Chambā d-Bé-Susīnā, Oryāthā, Bé-Zīzo and Margé villages
• Zawīthā
• Ārosh
  • Bé-Meshkoro
• Halmon
• Geramon
  • Bé-Sāda
  • Bé-Tilo
  • Bé-Qasafo
  • Bé-Tallo
  • Bé-Fishoo
  • Bé-Bacho
  • Bé-Awro

Clothing

• About the national dress worn by the Tyare men in the Bakuba camp, Brigadier-General Austin wrote; "Fine upstanding fellows they are, ...their legs, encased in long loose baggy trousers of a greyish hue originally, but so patched all over with bits of blue, red, green and other colors that their pants are veritable patch work. A broad cloth, "Kammar band," or waist band, is folded several times round the trunk of the body, and a short cut-away jacket of amazing colors, worn over a thin cotton variegated shirt. The head-dress consists of conical felt cap as depicted in frescoes of Assyrians of thousands of years ago, and which has survived to this day."^[9]
• "There are 115 guests today. Among them are a number of Tyare men, whose wild looks, combined with the splendour of their dress and arms, are of great interest. Their jackets are one mass of gold embroidery, their shirts, with hanging sleeves, are striped satin; their trousers, of sailor cut, are silk, made from the cocoons of their own silkworms, woven with broad crimson stripes on a white ground, on which is a zigzag pattern; and their handsome jackboots are of crimson leather. With their white or red peaked felt hats and twisted silk pagris or head-cloths, their rich girdles, jewelled daggers, and inlaid pistols, they are very imposing." ^[10]

Famous Tyare Assyrians

See also

• Assyrian people
• List of Assyrian tribes
• List of Assyrian settlements
• Assyrian war of independence
• Barwari, a bordering tribe to the south of Tyare (Northern Iraq)
• Jilu, an Assyrian settlement to the west (Hakkari)
• Gawar, a tribe towards the northwest (Hakkari)
• Nochiya, nearby tribe in Hakkari
• Öveç, Şemdinli, a Nochiya tribe (Saranus)
• Beyyurdu, Şemdinli, Nochiya tribe of Be-Diwe

References