Yarsanism

                          

The Yarsan or Ahl-e Haqq (Kurdish: یارسان‎, Yarsan,^[1][2] Persian: اهل حق‎‎ Ahl-e Haqq "People of Truth") is a syncretic religion founded bySultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran.^[3] The total number of members is estimated at around 500,000^[4] or 1,000,000,^[5] primarily found in western Iran and eastern Iraq, mostly ethnic Goran Kurds,^[6][7][8] though there are also smaller groups of Persian, Lori, Azeri and Arab adherents.^[9] Some Yarsanis in Iraq are called Kaka'i. Yarsanis are also found in some rural communities in southeastern Turkey.^[10]

The Yarsan have a distinct religious literature primarily written in the Gorani language and partly in Persian. However, few modern Yarsani can speak or read Gorani (a Northwestern Iranian language belonging to the branch Zaza-Gorani) as their mother tongues are Southern Kurdish and Sorani Kurdish, which belong to the other two branches of the Kurdish language family.

The Sarli living near Eski Kalak are adherents, as Edmonds (1957: 195) surmised and Moosa (1988: 168) observed. Their central religious book is called the Kalâm-e Saranjâm, written in the 15th century based on the teachings of Sultan Sahak.

Up to the 20th century, the Yarsani faith was strictly for Kurds who were born into it, called checkedea ("a drop of"), as opposed to individuals who married into a Yarsani family, called chasbedea ("attached"). Adherents today are mainly found among the Kurdish tribes of the Guran, Qalkhani, Bajalani and Sanjabi, located in western Iran, forming approximately a third of the population in the religiously diverse Kermanshah Province.There are some groups located around Kirkuk in Iraq. The Arabic-speaking adherents are based in the Iraqi cities of Mandali, Baqubah, and Khanaqin.^[12][13] According to Encyclopædia Britannica, "The chief source of information about the Ahl-e Haqq is the Firqan al-Akhbar, written in... early 20th century by Hajj Nematollah"