{"id":14371,"date":"2026-03-30T08:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T06:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/?p=14371"},"modified":"2026-03-30T08:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T06:55:35","slug":"the-story-of-an-image-kurdish-gallows-at-the-bayezid-fortress-of-1877","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/the-story-of-an-image-kurdish-gallows-at-the-bayezid-fortress-of-1877\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story of an Image: Kurdish Gallows at the “Bayezid Fortress” of 1877"},"content":{"rendered":"

The name “Bayezid Fortress” resonates throughout dozens of Kurdish folkloric songs. Most of these musical narratives\u2014the most famous of which belong to the late Jamil Horo\u2014are linked to stories recounting the heroism of Kurdish princes and Beys in obscure battles. To this day, little is known about some of these encounters other than the location: the Bayezid Fortress (referred to in Ottoman documents as “Bayezit”). Despite this, many roots of the name Bayezid Fortress (known as Do\u011fubayaz\u0131t in current Turkish nomenclature) in folkloric accounts trace back to the mid-19th century\u2014specifically to the Crimean War (1853\u20131856) and the Great Russo-Ottoman War (1877\u20131878). The latter is far more epic in the Kurdish imagination than the former, as the events witnessed in Bayezid unfolded within narrow spaces and through repeated battles oscillating between victory and defeat. Its military center was the fortress perched atop a mountain pass, originally built to guard a minor trade route coming from Persia during the shifts in transcontinental trade routes in the 16th century.<\/p>\n

The war of 1877 differed from the Crimean War in terms of its heavy toll on the Kurds; they bore the brunt of defending the frontlines on the Eastern Front, more so than in the early 19th century when the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin visited the frontlines with the Kurds. In this war, the Ottoman Empire was on the verge of total collapse; the Russians had occupied as far as Adrianople (Edirne) on the Western Front, the Empire had lost the Balkans, and the road to Istanbul itself lay open, had Sultan Abdul Hamid II not sought the aid of Queen Victoria of Britain. She mitigated the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano, which had shattered the Ottoman State, resulting in the less damaging Treaty of Berlin. This treaty delayed the fall of the Ottoman Empire by 35 years but included a clause regarding reforms in the “Eastern Provinces” to establish an Armenian state. This marked the first international appearance of the term “The Six Provinces”\u2014a project that persists today under the name “Eastern Reform,” though the Republic transformed it from a plan to displace Kurds to establish an Armenian state into a policy of Turkifying Kurds and dismantling Kurdistan.<\/p>\n

In any case, a drawing related to the battles of Bayezid circulated in the European press during the war and was later published by Agence France-Presse (AFP) in a collection of Orientalist illustrations in 1900. The image was first published in the British press with a caption stating:<\/p>\n

“Hanging of Kurdish defendants after the massacre of the Bayezid garrison, Turkey. An engraving dating back to 1877\u20131878.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
An imagined illustration published by Agence France-Presse within a collection from around 1900, showing the hanging of Kurdish defendants after the massacre of the Bayezid garrison in Turkey. The engraving dates back to 1877\u20131878.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This illustration, depicts Russian soldiers and civilians surrounding several individuals on gallows. This is one of the resounding events in the Kurdish popular imagination, despite the disappearance of the story’s specifics and the survival of only the “Bayezid Fortress heroics” stripped of detail and context. Russian soldiers were on their path of advancement to occupy the region, having previously seized Batumi, Kars, and Ardahan. They were accused of committing social violations said to have targeted women and girls\u2014or at least, this was what was circulated among the Kurds at the time. This became the dominant narrative even if nothing was proven against the Russian soldiers. As in all wars, stories spread that can neither be proven nor easily denied; however, in official Ottoman history, such as Y\u0131lmaz \u00d6ztuna\u2019s history of the Ottoman State, the events point to “heroic female resistance” on the Agri front!<\/p>\n

When news spread of a truce between the Ottoman commander and the Russian general at Bayezid Fortress, Kurdish armed groups rushed to seek revenge. Encouraged and organized by commanders in the Ottoman army, they attacked the fortress and slaughtered the Russian garrison. This incident caused a stir in Europe at the time and was one of the primary additional stories through which Europeans became acquainted with the Kurds. It was common then for war correspondents to craft dramatic, fictionalized stories claiming to observe sensational events on the fronts. It is highly probable that the “massacre of the Bayezid garrison” is one of these stories, as even the names of the Ottoman officers on the front were incorrect; the front commander was Mukhtar Pasha, whose name was not mentioned in the story of the garrison massacre.<\/p>\n

The following is the Russian account, which was circulated by the Western press, including the British Times on September 11, 1877:<\/p>\n

On June 14, 1877, Lieutenant General Faik Pasha, commander of the Van Division in the Ottoman army, advanced from the eastern shore of Lake Van toward Bayezid after reorganizing his forces, which had been heavily damaged before the outbreak of the war. The Russian commander had left two companies in the fortress\u2014a massive, ancient stone structure\u2014and then marched to a distance of 13 miles southeast of the town, engaging in a battle against Faik\u2019s forces. Being significantly outnumbered, he was defeated and retreated into the town, positioning his soldiers within the fortress while the cavalry remained just outside its walls. With the help of two field guns, the officer managed to keep the Turks at a distance; however, after Faik sent Munib Pasha with two battalions and three mountain guns to occupy a hill about 1,200 yards east of the fortress, the Turks were able to dominate the Russian position with fire, eventually rendering it indefensible.<\/p>\n

On June 28, after the water supply to the garrison was cut off, the garrison commander raised a white flag and sent an officer to negotiate terms of surrender. Faik Pasha delegated an officer of equal rank; the two met in a house in the town and drafted a “project treaty” which received the approval of both the Russian and Turkish commanders. At four o’clock that afternoon, after completing all preliminary procedures, Faik Pasha headed to the battery of three guns east of the town and sent a company of infantry to the fortress, over which the white flag was still flying, to line the road from the gates so that the Russian prisoners of war could march between the two ranks down to the camp prepared for them.<\/p>\n

At the appointed time, the gates were opened, and the garrison emerged, unarmed, in ranks. About two hundred or more had already passed between the ranks of Turkish soldiers when suddenly a crowd of Kurds (numbering eight thousand among Faik\u2019s forces) rushed in and began a horrific massacre. In vain did the regular Turkish soldiers attempt to intervene; it had no effect. In vain did the Russian officers appeal to them in the name of honor, shouting that they were unarmed prisoners of war; for demons released from hell could not have shown greater brutality. One group rushed to the rear of the column attempting to cut off the Russian path of retreat back into the fortress, but some Russian soldiers fortunately maintained their composure and saved themselves at the expense of their comrades’ lives by slamming the gates shut.<\/p>\n

The Times continues: It suffices to say that the Kurds, after being deprived of their prey in the Russian garrison\u2014of whom 236 were said to have been slaughtered in this manner\u2014rushed unchecked, swords in hand, into the city and proceeded with their bloody work among the unarmed inhabitants. Muslims and Christians, men and women, children and infants fell. In one church, two hundred bodies were found. There was almost no house that did not contain two or more corpses.<\/p>\n

The suffering of the Russians, already severe before the massacre when thirst\u2014the greatest hardship a garrison can endure\u2014drove them to offer surrender, was now multiplied a thousand times. Death by starvation with honor was better, far better, than death at the hands of those criminal murderers whom a Turkish general allowed to remain in his army. Despite the betrayal of the pledge committed by men of his own command, Faik Pasha showed no sign of remorse for an act that would leave all of Europe aghast with horror, nor any sign of shame for the disgrace that must fall upon his own head, nor any sign of pity for the brave men inside the fortress, nor any recognition of the white flag still flying over the Russian garrison. Instead, he issued orders to continue the shelling, boasting of the accuracy of his artillery fire, pointing to it with pride, and bragging that night after night he watched the stream from which alone the Russians could obtain water, and that the raiding parties who occasionally tried to carry a few precious drops to their comrades were attacked and repelled every night with losses.<\/p>\n

The Times correspondent adds: This cruel war lasted 23 days; for 23 days this brave band held out, enduring all the horrors of a siege, made even more terrifying by the greater horror of the danger of dying of thirst, until the morning of July 10. Then, Tergukasov, in an action that will remain recorded as one of the most daring military feats of modern times, managed to penetrate with eight battalions, 32 guns, and seven cavalry regiments through the ranks of Ismail Pasha (who had 20 battalions) and Faik Pasha (who had six battalions and 11,000 regulars). He broke the siege of his beleaguered comrades, led them out with their sick, wounded, guns, and ammunition, and then turned to Faik Pasha, inflicting a resounding defeat upon him, capturing three guns and taking 800 Turkish soldiers as prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The name “Bayezid Fortress” resonates throughout dozens of Kurdish folkloric songs. Most of these musical narratives\u2014the most famous of which belong to the late Jamil Horo\u2014are linked to stories recounting the heroism of Kurdish princes and Beys in obscure battles. To this day, little is known about some of these encounters other than the location: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,61],"tags":[1277,1278,121,544],"ppma_author":[151],"class_list":["post-14371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-slider","tag-bayezid-fortress","tag-jamil-horo","tag-kurdish-people","tag-ottoman-empire"],"authors":[{"term_id":151,"user_id":13,"is_guest":0,"slug":"hussain-jummo","display_name":"Hussain Jummo","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Jummo-3.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Jummo-3.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14374,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14371\/revisions\/14374"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14371"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nlka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=14371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}