Simko Shikak revolt (1926)

2nd Simko Shikak Revolt
	Part of Kurdish separatism in Iran
Date	October 1926
Location	Dilman (Salmas), North western Iran
Result	Iranian victory Simko Shikak fled to Mandatory Iraq;
Belligerents
Shikak tribesmen; Herki tribesmen; Begzadeh tribesmen	Pahlavi Iran; Assyrian levies; Assyrian volunteers
Commanders and leaders
Simko Shikak; Haji Agha	Reza Shah Agha Petros; Malik Khoshaba; Malik Yaqo

1926 Simko Shikak revolt (Sorani Kurdish: شۆڕشی سمکۆی شکاک) was a short-timed Kurdish uprising against the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran in 1926, led by Kurdish chieftain Simko Shikak from Shikak tribe.

Background

In 1919 Simko Shikak has started his first and foreign-backed revolt against Iranian government. His expeditions resulted with regional plunder and massacres of Assyrians, Alevis and even Kurdish tribes. After three years of revolt he was defeated, but in 1924 Reza Khan pardoned him and he returned to Iran from exile.^[3] When Reza Khan had become Reza Shah in 1925, Simko pledged eternal loyalty to him and Iranian state.^[4] However, next year Simko allied himself with Haji Agha of Herki and tribal chiefs of Begzadeh,^[3]^[4] regained control of his tribe and begun another rebellion.^[5]

Revolt

Short military confrontation has started in October 1926^[6] in Salmas (a.k.a. Dilman or Shahpur) where rebels started encircling the city.^[4] Shortly after, Iranian forces were dispatched from Urmia, Sharafkhaneh and Khoy, engaged rebels and defeated them.^[4] During engagement half of Simko's Shikak troops defected to the tribe’s previous leader and Simko himself fled to Mandatory Iraq.^[3]^[5]

Aftermath

In 1926, another unrelated Kurdish tribal revolt occurred in Kurdistan Province.^[7] Kurdish insurgency and seasonal migrations in late 1920s, along with long-running tensions between Tehran and Ankara, resulted in border clashes and even military penetrations in both Iranian and Turkish territory.^[8] In 1930, the commander of Iranian Army General Hassan Muqaddam sent a letter to Simko, who was residing in the village of Barzan, and invited him for a meeting in the town of Oshnaviyeh. After consulting with his friends, Simko along with Khorshid Agha Harki went to Oshnaviyeh and were invited to the house of local army commander, Colonel Norouzi and were told to wait for the Iranian general. Colonel Norouzi convinced Simko to go to the outskirts of the town to welcome the general's arrival. However, this was a trap and Simko was ambushed and killed on the evening of June 30, 1930.^[4]

Simko's revolts are considered as attempt by a powerful tribal chief to establish his personal authority vis-à-vis the central government throughout the region.^[4] Although elements of Kurdish nationalism were present in this movement, historians agree these were hardly articulate enough to justify a claim that recognition of Kurdish identity was a major issue in Simko's movement.^[4] It lacked any kind of administrative organization and Simko was primary interested in plunder.^[4] Government forces and non-Kurds were not the only ones to suffer in the attacks, the Kurdish population was also robbed and assaulted.^[4] Simko's men do not appear to have felt any sense of unity or solidarity with fellow Kurds.^[4] On other hand, Reza Shah's military victory over Simko and Turkic tribal leaders initiated with repressive era toward non-Iranian minorities.^[4]

References

^ "آغا بطرس: سنحاريب القرن العشرين" (PDF). نينوس نيراري. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-12.
^ Ismael, Yaqou D'Malik. "Assyrians and Two World Wars: Assyrians from 1914 to 1945".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bruinessen, Martin (2006). "Chapter 5: A Kurdish warlord on the Turkish-Persian frontier in the early Twentieth century: Isma'il Aqa Simko". In Atabaki, Touraj (ed.). Iran and the First World War: Battleground of the Great Powers. Library of modern Middle East studies, 43. London; New York: I.B. Tauris. p. 21. ISBN 9781860649646. OCLC 56455579.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k See:
* Entessar, Nader (2010). Kurdish Politics in the Middle East. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 17. ISBN 9780739140390. OCLC 430736528.
* Kreyenbroek, Philip G.; Sperl, Stefan (1992). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 138–139. ISBN 9780415072656. OCLC 24247652.
^ ^a ^b Smith, Benjamin (2009). "Land and Rebellion: Kurdish Separatism in Comparative Perspective" (PDF). Working Paper: 11.
^ McDowall, David (2004-05-14). A Modern History of the Kurds. I.B.Tauris. p. 221. ISBN 9781850434160.
^ Arfa, Hassan (1966). The Kurds: An Historical and Political Study. London: Oxford University Press. p. 64. OCLC 463216238.
^ Schofield, Richard N. Boundaries v. With Turkey. New York: Columbia University.

[Senchar-1] "آغا بطرس: سنحاريب القرن العشرين" (PDF). نينوس نيراري. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-12.

[2] Ismael, Yaqou D'Malik. "Assyrians and Two World Wars: Assyrians from 1914 to 1945".

[bruinessen-3] Bruinessen, Martin (2006). "Chapter 5: A Kurdish warlord on the Turkish-Persian frontier in the early Twentieth century: Isma'il Aqa Simko". In Atabaki, Touraj (ed.). Iran and the First World War: Battleground of the Great Powers. Library of modern Middle East studies, 43. London; New York: I.B. Tauris. p. 21. ISBN 9781860649646. OCLC 56455579.

[entessarkreysperl-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k See:
* Entessar, Nader (2010). Kurdish Politics in the Middle East. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 17. ISBN 9780739140390. OCLC 430736528.
* Kreyenbroek, Philip G.; Sperl, Stefan (1992). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 138–139. ISBN 9780415072656. OCLC 24247652.

[cornell-5] Smith, Benjamin (2009). "Land and Rebellion: Kurdish Separatism in Comparative Perspective" (PDF). Working Paper: 11.

[6] McDowall, David (2004-05-14). A Modern History of the Kurds. I.B.Tauris. p. 221. ISBN 9781850434160.

[7] Arfa, Hassan (1966). The Kurds: An Historical and Political Study. London: Oxford University Press. p. 64. OCLC 463216238.

[8] Schofield, Richard N. Boundaries v. With Turkey. New York: Columbia University.

[3]

[1]

[2]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

v t e List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
1910s	Italo-Turkish War World War I Middle Eastern theatre Battle of Robat Karim Arab Revolt Armenian genocide Assyrian genocide Mount Lebanon starvation Unification of Saudi Arabia Simko Shikak revolt 1919 Egyptian revolution Turkish War of Independence Anglo-Turkish War Al-Jazeera Front Greco-Turkish War Turkish–Armenian War Franco-Turkish War Revolts United States Mahmud Barzanji revolts
1920s	Franco-Syrian War Iraqi Revolt (1920) Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine Adwan Rebellion Arab separatism in Khuzestan Great Syrian Revolt Sheikh Said rebellion
1930s	Ararat rebellion Ahmed Barzani revolt Simele massacre Saudi–Yemeni War (1934) Goharshad Mosque rebellion 1935–1936 Iraqi Shia revolts 1935 Yazidi revolt 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Dersim rebellion
1940s	World War II Italian bombing of Palestine Allied invasion of Iraq Syria–Lebanon campaign Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran 1943 Barzani revolt Al-Waziri coup Al-Wathbah uprising Kurdish separatism in Iran Iran crisis of 1946 Arab–Israeli conflict 1948 Arab–Israeli War Suez Crisis 1967 Six-Day War 1973 Yom Kippur War 1982 Lebanon War
1950s	1952 Egyptian revolution 1953 Iranian coup d'état Jebel Akhdar War Cyprus Emergency Suez Crisis Yemeni–Adenese clan violence 1958 Lebanon crisis 1958 Iraqi revolution 1959 Mosul uprising
1960s	Cyprus crisis of 1963–1964 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict First Iraqi–Kurdish War Second Iraqi–Kurdish War Dhofar Rebellion North Yemen Civil War Feb. 1963 Iraqi coup Mar. 1963 Syrian coup Nov. 1963 Iraqi coup Aden Emergency 1964 Hama riot Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1948 Palestine war First Intifada Second Intifada 1966 Syrian coup d'état
1970s	Black September in Jordan Yemenite War of 1972 Turkish invasion of Cyprus Shatt al-Arab clashes Lebanese Civil War Political violence in Turkey Islamist uprising in Syria 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq NDF Rebellion Yemenite War of 1979 Iranian Revolution Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution 1979 Qatif Uprising Grand Mosque seizure 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq
1980s	Iran–Iraq War 1980 Turkish coup d'état Kurdish–Turkish conflict Turkey–PKK conflict South Yemen civil war 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot 1986 Damascus bombings 1987 Sharjawi coup d'état attempt Mecca massacre Abu Nidal's executions
1990s	Gulf War (1990–1991) 1991 Iraqi uprisings Terror campaign in Egypt (1990s) Yemeni Civil War (1994) Iraqi Kurdish Civil War Islamic insurgency in Saudi Arabia (2000–present) Operation Desert Fox al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq
2000s	Iraq War Balochi insurgency in Iran 2004 Qamishli riots Houthi insurgency in Yemen Iran–Israel proxy conflict 2006 Lebanon War Fatah–Hamas conflict South Yemen insurgency
2010s	2011 Bahraini uprising Egyptian Crisis Sinai insurgency Insurgency in Egypt (2013–present) Syrian civil war Turkish involvement in Syria Syrian War spillover in Lebanon Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) War in Iraq (2013–2017) Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present) Yemeni crisis Yemeni civil war (2014–present)
2020s	2021 Beirut clashes Israel–Hamas war Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) Red Sea crisis
This list includes World War I and later conflicts (after 1914) of at least 100 fatalities each Prolonged conflicts are listed in the decade when initiated; ongoing conflicts are marked italic, and conflicts with +100,000 killed with bold.

Background

Revolt

Aftermath

See also

References