Yezidi People and Indian Connection

The Yazidis (Yezidi, Êzidî; Persian: ایزدی ‎‎ ɪzadi) are a Kurdish religious community whose ancient religion is linked to Zoroastrianism and ancient Indian religions. Yazidis live primarily in Iraq, where they make up an important minority community. Estimates of the size of these communities vary significantly, between 70,000 and 500,000. They are particularly concentrated in northern Iraq in the Nineveh Province. The two biggest communities are in Shekhan, northeast of Mosul, and in Sinjar, at the Syrian border

Yezidis celebrating the Fast of Sacrifice by lighting fires

Religious Belief

The Yazidis are monotheists believing in God as creator of the world, which he has placed under the care of seven holy beings or angels, the chief of whom is Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. The Peacock Angel, as world-ruler, causes both good and bad to befall individuals, and this ambivalent character is reflected in myths of his own temporary fall from God's favor, before his remorseful tears extinguished the fires of his hellish prison and he was reconciled with God.

Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel

Their belief builds on Sufi mystical reflections on the Jinn Iblis, who proudly refused to violate monotheism by worshiping Adam and Eve despite God's expressed command to do so. Because of this connection to the Sufi Iblis tradition, some followers of other monotheistic religions of the region equate the Peacock Angel with their own unredeemed evil spirit Satan, which has incited centuries of persecution of the Yazidis as "devil worshippers." Persecution of Yazidis has continued in their home communities within the borders of modern Iraq, under fundamentalist Sunni Muslim revolutionaries.

A Yezidi Elder at a Temple

Indian Connection

The concept of Melek Taus or the Peacock Angel is most likely based on the ancient mythological Hindu God - Kartikeya, the son of Shiva. He is also known as Murugan or Subramaniam in South India. Notice that he rides on a Peacock and the peacock clutches a snake in his claw. 

This concept is aligned with the trident holding Shiva (Western Devil). For a Yezidi to say they worship the Devil is understandably difficult. It is their reputation as infidels - as genuine "devil worshippers" - that has led to their fierce persecution over time, especially by Muslims. Saddam Hussein intensified this suppression. But some Yezidi do claim that Melek Taus is "the Devil". One hereditary leader of the Yezidi, Mir Hazem, said: "I cannot say this word [Devil] out loud because it is sacred. It's the chief of angels. We believe in the chief of angels."

Hindu God Kartikeya

This relates directly to the Yezidi symbols at the temple of Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir at Lalish,  Soon after the Earth was created it began to shake violently. Tawsi Melek was then dispatched to Earth to stop the planet’s quaking, as well as to endow it with beauty and abundance. When Tawsi Melek descended to Earth, he assumed the form of a glorious peacock – a bird full of the seven primary and secondary colors. Landing in a place now known as Lalish, Tawsi Melek transferred his peacock colors to the Earth and endowed it with a rich flora and fauna.

Indian symbols at Yezidi Temple with Peacock Lamp

Tawsi Melek then traveled to the Garden of Eden to meet Adam. The first human had been created without a soul, so Tawsi Melek blew the breath of life into him. He then turned Adam towards the Sun, symbol of the Supreme Creator. Then Eve was created and their seed stored in a sealed jar and then after an incubation period opened them. Their offspring known as Shehid bin Jer, “Son of Jar,” grew quickly, married, and had offspring. His descendants are the Yezidis. 

Ancient Yezidi Temple for Melek Taus and Snake

The Yezidi reverence for birds - and snakes - might also be extremely old. Excavations at ancient Catalhoyuk, in Turkey, show that the people there revered bird-gods as long ago as 7000BC. Even older is Gobekli Tepe, a megalithic site near Sanliurfa, in Kurdish Turkey (Sanliurfa was once a stronghold of Yezidism). The extraordinary temple of Gobekli boasts carvings of winged birdmen, and images of buzzards and serpents.

Ancient Temple at Lalish

The Yezidi honor sacred trees. Women must not cut their hair. Marriage is forbidden in April.  Like Hindus, they believe in reincarnation. Like ancient Mithraists, they sacrifice bulls. When they pray they face the sun, like Zoroastrians. They profess to revile Islam, but there are strong links with Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam.

Baba Sheikh lighting up the sacred fire

Caste System

The Yezidis are divided strictly into castes, who cannot marry each other. The system was updated and revised by Sheikh Adi, who established the current strata of classes. At the top of this hierarchy is the Yezidi Prince, the “Mîr,” and just below him is the Baba Shiekh, the Yezidi “Pope.”

Baba Sheikh anointing a Yezidi girl with religious mark, like Hindu Tilak

The Sheikh caste is the highest and most honored of the three castes; as mentioned, the highest offices within the Yezidis are drawn from it. Sheikh is an Arabic word that denotes a ruler, elder of a tribe, or a revered holy man. This seems similar to the Indian Kshatriya (Khatri) caste.

A Yezidi Sheikh with Indian style moustache

The members of the Pir Caste are descended from Peer Alae, a holy man who had lived during the time of Sheikh Adi and was blessed with miraculous powers. Pirs are also said to be descended from the 40 or 42 disciples of Sheikh Adi. A Pir, which is a Kurdish word meaning “elder". This group seems similar to the Indian Brahmin caste.

A Yezidi Peer with uncut hair like the Sikhs

The Murid Caste consists of the majority of Yezidis. The Murid Caste is the caste of “commoners” who generally do not serve the function of priest.

Yezidi Murid worshiping at the Temple

The Beauty of Yezidi People

The Yezidis are originally Aryan and has retained a fairer complexion, blonde hair and blue eyes by only marrying within the community. 

A Yezidi Beauty after rescue by Kurdish Army

This beauty has attracted the attention of ISIS barbarians, who have kidnapped as many of the blonde haired Yazidi girls that they could find, in order to defile them and produce fair-skinned off-springs.

A Yezidi mother with her baby

Jalila is one of the luckiest Yazidi women alive. When the men from Isis (like many of Isis’s enemies, she prefers to call them Da’esh, an irreverent play on their Arabic acronym) swooped into her village in Sinjar last August, she was one of the thousands of women and girls taken away to be sold into domestic or sexual slavery. In May, however, she happened to be in a house in Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria when American soldiers arrived in Black Hawk helicopters, killing a Tunisian Isis member called Abu Sayyaf and rescuing his young Iraqi wife.

Yezidi girl rescued from the ISIS

Help Needed

The Yezidi people need help from the world in order to survive the annihilation planned by ISIS. Ravinder Singh, a Sikh from Khalsa Aid, a non-profit aid group has ventured in dangerous region of Syria and Iraq to help out the Yezidis. 

Ravinder Singh from Khalsa Aid, a Sikh Relief Agency with a Yezidi friend

His efforts need to be highlighted and supported if the Yezidi are to survive this genocidal onslaught by the fanatic ISIS.

Yezidi refugee from Sinjar

The Kurds have also come forward to provide shield to their kin - Yezidis. The Kurdish army is protecting the Yezidi minority from the nefarious design of ISIS.

Kurdish Army protecting the Yezidi families

Lets hope, one day, the Yezidi people will be able to celebrate their freedom and enjoy their unique and ancient heritage.

Yezidi women in traditional attire