[3] Hereditary head of the house of Rozhaki whose seat was the ancient Bitlis Castle and descended from Sharafkhan Bidlisi, Bedir Khan was born in Cizre (now in Turkey) of Azizan family.

[6] During his first term as Mir, he soon established a regional control strong enough, that allowed him to deny his support to the Ottoman Sultan during the Russo-Turkish War between 1828 and 1829.

[8] Bedir Khan was proud of the security he brought to the region, that under his leadership, banditry had disappeared and caravans were able to cross his territory in safety.

In 1832, thousands of Yazidis were killed in the Shekhan area by Bedir Khan Beg in cooperation with the Kurdish Soran prince Muhammad Pasha of Rawanduz.

Following the Battle of Nizip in 1839, in which Bedir Khan took part for the Ottoman side,[12] he emerged as the dominant Kurdish ruler in central Kurdistan.

[15] As it was known that he had planned the modernization of his troops by creating cross-tribal militias constituted by soldiers of several tribes and that the friday sermons were shouted in his name, the central Ottoman Government decided to end the emerging independence movement of Bedir Khan.

[16] Following the Battle of Nizip, Bedir Khan allied himself with Han Mahmud of Müküs and Nurullah Bey of Hakkari in 1840 to a triple alliance.

[19] After Nurullah Bey unsuccessfully attempted to subdue the Nestorians led by Shimun XVII Abraham, he called for the assistance by Bedir Khan Beg.

[32] After Bedir Khan's hopes that he would be allowed to settle in Constantinople were not fulfilled, he and his entourage were sent to Heraklion, Crete, which at the time was governed by the Ottoman Empire.

[36] In September 1857, Sultan Abdul Majid changed his approach towards Bedir Khan, doubling his salary, and granting 43 of his followers to return to Kurdistan.