Among them was Ibrahim Pasha, a Kurdish Emir whose dominion included a region extending from Diyarbakır to Aleppo, and who fought alongside Muhammad Ali against the Ottomans and their allies from the Shammar tribe in Jazira.
[4] Despite the failure of Muhammad Pasha in his Syrian campaign, the events showed the vulnerability of the Ottomans and encouraged Kurdish aghas to try and increase their control in the region.
"[9] On 27 January 1842, Canning wrote to the foreign secretary, Lord Aberdeen, informing him that the Nestorians have been subdued by a "Kurdish Bey" acting in concert with the Ottomans.
[9] War broke out in Hakkari in 1839 between Nurullah, brother of the former Emir, who governed from Bash Qal'a, and Suleyman his nephew whose capital was in Gullamerk.
[12] In early 1843, Nurullah sent for a meeting with the patriarch and the latter apologized using the weather, his religious duties, and the presence of a guest, the British missionary George Badger, as a pretence.
[13] Once Badger left, Nurullah renewed his alliance with the Badr Khan and Ismail Pasha, and requested permission from the Vali of Mosul to subjugate the Christians.
[16] Hormuzd Rassam tried using his influence with the Vali of Baghdad Najib Pasha to pressure Badr Khan for the release of prisoners, which included close relatives of the Patriarch of the Church of the East who had in the meantime taken refuge in Mosul.
[18] On August 3, Kurdish forces had succeeded in "subduing the tribes and it was reported that 'still the slaughter is not yet ended, and several who have attempted to flee have been murdered...'".
The surviving men and women were forced to carry unbearable loads of booty for very long distances, while being lashed all along the way until they fell from torture and exhaustion".
Ross wrote: "They were tortured in an awful manner to force them to expose what they call hidden treasures, while others were killing them just for entertainment and as sport and games'.
As Ismael lay severely wounded, he defiantly declared, "This arm has taken the lives of nearly twenty Kurds; and, had God spared me, as many more would have fallen by it!"
[15] However, a few managed to escape by crossing the Upper Zab river and to avoid being chased, they destroyed the Lezan bridge behind them on the orders of Mar Shimun.
[2] This massacre received international attention through western press; it also woke European politicians and public opinion to the plight of Christians.
[21] The Kurdish massacres were a precursor to the later incursions which ended both the autonomous status which the Assyrian tribes enjoyed, and that which the Kurds in the mountainous areas had as well.