A generational study of the hasenan tribe from the tanzimat era to the first world war

This study investigates the ruling family of the Hasenan tribe in the Muş region from the Tanzimat era to the outbreak of the First World War. I follow the dynamic relationship between the Ottoman state and Hasenan tribal leadership, built on both conflict and collaboration, over the course of two generations. The Hasenan developed social, economic, and military relations with three different Ottoman regimes over the period discussed. This study emphasizes that, unlike its predecessors, the Hamidian regime managed to become a strong political actor in the region by upending the tribal structure of Kurdish tribes, causing lesser chiefs to rise to higher positions within the tribal hierarchy following the establishment of the Hamidian regiments. This study further argues that with the establishment of the Hamidian regiments, internal rivalries between Kurdish tribes increased, causing arbitrary and systematic violence in the region. The competition between Kurdish chiefs to seize and acquire land and property had a devastating impact on Armenian and Kurdish peasants. In this way, peasants inhabiting in the region experienced an unprecedented level of violence and havoc. Lastly, this study demonstrates that although the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) considered the Hasenan chiefs to be relicts of the Hamidian era, Hasenan leaders managed to ally with the CUP, illustrating that they could be extremely pragmatic in their relationship with the Ottoman state.