The Nestorians and their Rituals/Volume 1/Introduction
INTRODUCTION.
It was during the existence of the Euphrates Expedition sent out by the British Government under the command of Colonel Chesney, R. A., in the year 1835, that the Nestorian tribes inhabiting the mountainous districts of Coordistan, and other Christian sects dwelling between the two great rivers which almost insulate Mesopotamia, were brought into more general notice. The information respecting these communities contained in Rich's "Notes on Coordistan," is very brief, and after him, until very lately, there appears to have been no European traveller in those parts, who had made it a primary object of his research to inquire into the condition of the native Christians. Of the Nestorians in central Coordistan, scarcely anything was known beyond their existence; their isolated position amidst lofty and rugged mountains, as well as the temper of the fierce and lawless Coords by whom they were surrounded, having hitherto presented to the most daring adventurer almost insurmountable obstacles to his attempting to penetrate within their secluded boundary.
These impediments were in a measure removed by the partial establishment of the Ottoman jurisdiction over a large portion of Coordistan. This event took place in the year 1834, when the Turks, roused to a sense of the danger which threatened their eastern territory from the confederate Coords, who under the famous Rawandooz Beg, had plundered and destroyed many villages in the plains of the Tigris, sent a strong army against them under Resheed Pasha, who succeeded in capturing the rebel chief, and for a season effectually weakened the strength of his warlike followers. This blow, from which the Coords inhabiting the district to the south-east of the Nestorian territory have hardly yet recovered, together with other political intrigues set on foot to that end, had a powerful influence in inducing Noorallah Beg, the Emeer of the independent Coords of Hakkari, to sue for an appointment under the Pasha of Erzeroom, and to be officially recognised by the Sublime Porte. Noorallah Beg already boasted of having reduced the mountain Christians to his obedience, so that the surrender of his own independence virtually comprised the subjection of the Nestorian tribes to the Ottoman sway.
Another event which gradually opened central Coordistan to the researches of the traveller, and to the labours of the Christian missionary, was the appointment of Mohammed Pasha, surnamed Injé Beirakdâr, to the government of the Mosul pashalic. This individual, who from being a groom had risen step by step to the high dignity of a provincial governor, was as famous for his vigorous efforts to reduce to order the unruly tribes comprehended within the limits of his jurisdiction, as for his grasping ambition, and the tyranny with which he oppressed all the subjects of the Sultan placed under his immediate authority. The Osmanlis, fully bent upon establishing Turkish rule over the whole of Coordistan, found in Injé Beirakdâr a fit instrument for effecting the object aimed at, and in furtherance of their purpose placed under his control the hereditary Pasha of Bahdinân, who had hitherto been nominally dependent upon the Pashas of Baghdad. It did not require any very great exercise of political intrigue, at which Mohammed Pasha was a perfect adept, to persuade the Porte that Ismaeel Pasha, then governor of Bahdinân, was disaffected to its interests, and upon this plea he was allowed to expel him from the strong fortress of Amedia, and to extend the limits of his jurisdiction to the foot of the Tyari mountains,—the border-land of the Nestorian tribes.
These machinations eventually led to a direct communication between the government at Mosul and the Nestorian Patriarch, who now placed between two enemies, the Emeer of Hakkari, and Mohammed Pasha, both alike busy in fomenting divisions among the Christians, in order the more easily to seize upon their inheritance, was obliged to refer and submit sometimes to one and sometimes to the other; and, it is to be feared, was not unfrequently driven in his precarious position to side with that party, which for the time appeared to be the stronger, or from which he had the most to dread both for himself and for his people.
The sad result to the interests of the mountain Nestorians, brought about by the ambitious designs of these two rival Mohammedan rulers, who were all along the agents (unconsciously to themselves perhaps,) of the deep-laid policy of the Porte, will be detailed in the course of the following narrative; they are simply mentioned here in order to show by what instrumentality God was pleased to throw open to the pious efforts of His Church a new country, and a primitive Christian community having many claims upon her sympathy and regard.
The facilities for holding intercourse with the mountain Nestorians, which these political changes introduced, having become known in England through the reports of the Euphrates Expedition, and especially through the information collected by Messrs. Ainsworth and Rassam on their return to Europe through Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, it was agreed upon by the Royal Geographical and Christian Knowledge Societies, to send these gentlemen on a special mission to Coordistan. The general result of their journey Mr. Ainsworth has published in two interesting volumes entitled "Travels and Researches in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Chaldea, and Armenia;" besides which he drew up a separate report for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, wherein he gives a full account of his visit to the Patriarch, Mar Shimoon, and the mountain Nestorians.
Mr. Ainsworth's report, and other communications received respecting the Christian sects inhabiting that district, induced the Christian Knowledge and Gospel Propagation Societies, chiefly at the suggestion of the Lord Bishop of London, to send out another mission into Coordistan. The previous acquaintance with the East, which the author had acquired during two years* residence there, and especially his knowledge of the Syriac and Arabic languages, seeming in a measure to qualify him for the undertaking, he was deputed to be the bearer of letters commendatory to several of the Eastern Primates from His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, and from the Lord Bishop of London, and to carry out the benevolent intentions of the two Societies as contained in the following instructions:
"Instructions to the Rev. George Percy Badger, on his departure to Coordistan.
In the year 1838, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, gave instructions to Mr. Ainsworth and Mr. Rassam, to make inquiry into the state of the Christians in Coordistan. The result of that inquiry has been communicated to the Society in a Report, transmitted from Mosul in 1840; by which it appears that the Christians both in that country and in Mesopotamia are in a state of very great depression, and that the Patriarch Mar Shimoon, of Julamerk, who is the temporal and ecclesiastical head of the Christians in independent Coordistan, as well as others of the Bishops and Clergy, were anxious to have a Clergyman of the Church of England to assist them in the education and improvement of their people.
It appears also by letters recently received from Mesopotamia, that a considerable number of the Chaldean Christians are very desirous of restoring the independence of their church, and that Mar Elîa of Alkôsh, who claims the patriarchate of the Chaldeans, has proposed to enter into amicable relations with the Church of England.
Under these circumstances it has been determined, with the sanction and approbation of His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Lord Bishop of London, to send the Rev. G. P. Badger on a special mission to Chaldea and Coordistan, accompanied by Mr. J. P. Fletcher as his assistant.
Mr. Badger will proceed to his destination as soon as convenient, travelling by way of Constantinople and Trebizond; and if practicable he will pay a visit to Jerusalem in order to put himself in communication with the Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in that city, under whose jurisdiction he will be placed.
The following are the points to which Mr. Badger will direct his attention.
1. To testify to the Bishops and Clergy of those countries the goodwill of our Church towards them, and the desire which is felt in England to see their churches restored to a flourishing condition as branches of the True Vine, taking care to explain to them the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, and to assure them that she claims no jurisdiction or authority over them, or over any of the Churches of the East.
"2. To render such assistance to the Patriarchs, Bishops, and Clergy, as he may be able to give in the work of Christian education, and to take such steps as they may approve for the establishment of schools, and for the instruction of the people generally.
"3. To make inquiries as to their wants in regard to the Holy Scriptures, and to distribute copies of the Bible and of the Arabic version of the English Liturgy wherever they may be useful.
"4. To procure ancient MSS. of the Holy Scriptures and of the Chaldean liturgies and rituals; and to ascertain what alterations have been made in their rituals in modern times, and by what authority, and how far these alterations have been approved by the native clergy and people.
"5. To collect such Arabic MSS. and printed copies of the Holy Scriptures and of ancient liturgies as may be serviceable in the new translations of the Bible and of the Liturgy which are being prepared by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
"6. To make particular inquiries into the state and condition of the churches in Chaldea and Coordistan with respect to doctrine and discipline, and to the numbers of their clergy and people.
"7. To make communications upon all these subjects to the Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in Jerusalem, and also to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge."
The following are copies of the letters commendatory above alluded to:
"To the Right Reverend, our brethren in Christ, the Patriarchs and Prelates of the Holy Eastern Church, William, by Divine Providence, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and Metropolitan, greeting in the Lord.
"We earnestly commend to your good will and brotherly kindness our beloved in Christ, George Percy Badger, a Priest of our United Church of England and Ireland, whom we have charged, as occasion may be offered, to salute your Holinesses in our name, and to express to you our respect and affection towards you, and our zeal and fervent desire for the welfare and peace of your churches. He will tell you all things that you may wish to know concerning our apostolical Church, and its feelings of love and kindness towards the ancient and apostolical churches of Christ in the East. Wherefore we entreat you to receive him as a brother, and to accept at our hands the expression of our constant goodwill towards you, which we would desire to offer by him.
"Given under our hand and seal, at our palace of Lambeth, this thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
"To their Holinesses the Patriarchs and other Prelates of the Christian Churches in Mesopotamia and Coordistan, William, by Divine Providence, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and Metropolitan, greeting in the Lord.
"Understanding that you have expressed the desire that we would send to you one of the clergy of our Church, who might assist you in the establishing of schools for the instruction of children, and make known unto us more particularly the things of which you stand in need, we have herewith sent to you our beloved in Christ, George Percy Badger, a priest of our United Church of England and Ireland, whom we have charged to salute your Holinesses in our name, and to assure you of our goodwill towards you, and our hearty desire to render you all the assistance in our power. We earnestly commend him to your Holinesses, and request you to receive him as a brother, and to make known your wants to him, and we shall be rejoiced to learn through him all things concerning you, and by what means we may more effectually contribute to your prosperity and welfare.
"Given under our hand and seal, at Lambeth, this thirteenth day of March in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
The next letter from our late Most Reverend Primate is the same as that immediately preceding, with the exception of the address, which is as follows:
"To His Holiness the Patriarch and other Prelates of the independent churches of Coordistan, William, by Divine Providence, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and Metropolitan, greeting in the Lord."
The next is from the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of London.
"To the Most Reverend Father, His Holiness Mar Shimoon, Patriarch of the Church of Christ in Coordistan, in the name of Jesus Christ, (He is Lord of all,) health and peace.
By these letters we commend to your Holiness our beloved son in the Lord, George Percy Badger, a priest of the ancient apostolic Church of England, wherein I am an unworthy Bishop, entreating you to receive him with fatherly love and kindness, of which he is deserving. He will make known to your Holiness the present state of our Church; and our desire to act in the spirit of Christian friendship and goodwill towards the Church over which the Divine Providence has placed you. And we have directed him to report to us concerning your welfare, and the present condition of the ancient Church in Coordistan.
"We pray that Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may have you in His holy keeping, and protect the Church committed to your care.
"Your Holiness's humble servant,
"London, March 20, 1842."
It not having been found convenient for him to visit Jerusalem on his journey into Coordistan, the author was provided with the subjoined additional letter from the late Bishop Alexander.
"To their Holinesses the Patriarchs and Bishops of the Christian churches in Mesopotamia and Coordistan, grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the sincere wish and prayer of Michael Solomon Alexander, by Divine permission, Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in Jerusalem.
"It is one of the pleasing signs of the times in which we are privileged to live, that a desire is felt in the different Apostolic churches of Christ to hold out to each other the right hand of fellowship, and to endeavour by word and deed to promote each other's temporal and eternal welfare. We cannot but hail this as an indication of the speedy approach of that much longed-for period, when the kingdom of Christ shall be established, and when the Lord shall be One and His Name One. It was with a view to this, that I have, in the providence of God lately been placed here, and I have much pleasure in adding my brotherly salutations to those of His Grace the Primate, and the Lord Bishop of London, and to join with them in the request that your Holinesses will receive the bearer, our beloved in Christ, George Percy Badger, a priest of our holy Apostolic Church, with all fatherly love and kindness, as he comes to you with a message of peace and offers of assistance.
"It will at all times afford me pleasure to hear of you, and of your church's welfare, and to be in any way instrumental in promoting it. Praying that the King of Zion may bless His Church and people everywhere, and hasten the coming of His kingdom,
"I remain,
"Your Holinesses' humble servant
and brother in Christ,
"Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
August 15th, 1842."
The foregoing instructions will make the reader acquainted with the object of our mission, and with the nature of the researches contained in the following volumes. Not that they are confined to these topics; for it was judged that even way-side information respecting countries and people as yet but little known would not be devoid of interest to the general reader, and could in no way contravene the ends proposed by the Societies. In these volumes, therefore, will be found many occasional notices of the different places visited, the political, social, and religious condition of the inhabitants interspersed with a narrative of the usual incidents of travel, which, as when they occur, often serve to relieve the tedium of a journey, so when told frequently attemper the dryness of more important details. Moreover, in order to render a portion of this work serviceable as a guide-book to those whom business or pleasure may hereafter bring into Mesopotamia and Coordistan, the diary form has been adopted, and the distance from one locality to another recorded with an ever-recurring precision, which the fire-side reader may deem tedious, but which the actual traveller will often refer to with eagerness and satisfaction.
A melancholy interest will attach itself to the following pages on account of the details which they contain respecting the repeated massacre of the Nestorians by the barbarous Coords, the flight of the Patriarch Mar Shimoon, the captivity and sufferings of many of the Christians among the Moslems, their rescue, and the means adopted to restore them to their homes, and the venerable Patriarch to his ancient diocese. The part which the author was called upon to take, in relieving the necessities of the refugees and liberated captives, and in supporting the cause of the unfortunate Nestorians in various other ways, as also the full confidence which was placed in him by Mar Shimoon, who deputed him to transact the most important affairs touching the welfare of the whole Nestorian community, put him in possession of many facts relative to these disasters which have never yet been made public, and gave him a full insight into the political relations existing between the Patriarch and the Coordish Emeers of Hakkari, and into the intrigues which were set on foot by the Ottoman Porte to compass the subjection of the independent tribes.
Further, as the author resided in Mosul nearly a year after Mar Shimoon and many of his clergy and laity had sought refage in that city, he had abundant opportunity of acquiring from the best sources ample information respecting the civil and ecclesiastical government which had hitherto existed among the Nestorians. To the Patriarch and especially to his worthy and learned Archdeacon Kash'Auraha, who with his family were inmates of the author's house up to the date of his departure from Mosul, he is indebted for the statistics of the churches, clergy, and laity, belonging to his community. The correspondence which he afterwards kept up with Mar Shimoon, and his own researches during a second visit to the Nestorians in 1850, have enabled him to continue their history up to the present time, and to give a succinct narrative of the downfall of the confederate Coordish chiefs their enemies, and of the final establishment of the Ottoman rule over the mountain tribes of Central Coordistan.
The Syrian Monophysites, or Jacobites, will frequently come under notice in the ensuing pages, and a full account will be given of their present condition as a Christian sect; for although it formed no part of the author's instructions to make any researches among this people, yet he was thrown into circumstances where duty called him to assist in a struggle which is not yet ended between them and the dissenters from their body who have joined the communion of the Church of Rome. In so doing he was necessarily brought into friendly relations with their Patriarch and Bishops, and during his residence at Mosul, and when visiting the principal towns and villages inhabited by this people, he found many opportunities of labouring for their welfare; and although truth forbids that he should give a very favourable account of the state of religion and ecclesiastical discipline among them, yet he will ever cherish a pleasing recollection of the hospitality and kindness with which he was received, when they knew him to be a priest of the Church of England.
The efforts of Latin missionaries are frequently noticed in these volumes, the plans upon which their operations are based shown, and the chief causes of their success, and its results, considered. The history of the two modern communities, the Papal Syrian and Chaldean, is also given, together with the part which French political agents have acted, and are still acting, to forward the interests of the See of Rome throughout Turkey. Some remarks will also be made on the missions of Dissenting Societies in that empire, and the impolicy and mischief of their interference with ecclesiastical concerns proved, from the necessary tendency of their doctrines and principles to produce latitudinarianism in religious belief, and never-ending schisms, among the Christians of the East.
Familiar intercourse with the Yezeedees, or Devil Worshippers as they are sometimes called, afforded the author frequent opportunities for collecting many particulars respecting their social habits and customs, as also of their religious rites and ceremonies, which may throw light upon the origin of this singular people. Among these details will be found a description of the Melek Taoos, or Brazen Cock, no authentic account of which has hitherto been published, and of the processions and festivities connected with the worship of that idol. Having been fortunate enough to obtain from one of their Sheikhs the loan of the only MS. which they appear to possess bearing on their creed, the author was also enabled by the aid of this important document to fortify the hypothesis which connected the tenets of the modern Yezeedees with those of the ancient Magi of Persia, and the results of this investigation, if not perfect or satisfactory, may at least serve to guide the researches of future travellers and scholars.
The geography of the route as laid down in the map accompanying this work is almost entirely drawn up from personal notice. It has no claim whatever to scientific exactness, though pains have been taken to render it as correct as the means and capabilities of the author enabled him to make it. The position of many of the principal localities is borrowed from the labours of former travellers, who have fixed it by accurate astronomical observation, and chiefly from Ainsworth; but the intermediate spaces have been filled up with the aid of a compass, a good watch, a careful noting of the time spent in journeying from place to place, and particular attention to the general features of the country.
One word with regard to the occasional strictures passed upon the statements and opinions of other travellers through the districts visited by the author. He has gladly availed himself of the assistance which the result of their inquiries afforded him in his researches; but when they appear to have been misinformed, he has not hesitated, for the sake of truth and science, to correct them. He himself is doubtless open to the same criticism, and therefore without craving the indulgence of his readers to pass over his faults, (which, by the way, they are not a whit more likely to do for the asking,) he now leaves them to commence his narrative.