Sinjār

Sinjar lies at the foot of a long mountain ridge rising above the plains west of Mosul. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries it prospered under Turkoman, Zengid and Ayyubid rulers, while the mountain became an important home of the Yazidi community. Springs and villages along the ridge sustained settlement in a region surrounded by dry steppe, and the heights offered refuge in times of danger.

During the sixteenth century Sinjar became caught between Ottoman and Safavid powers. Yazidi communities later faced repeated attacks by provincial armies. In 1715 the Ottoman governor of Baghdad led a campaign against them in Sinjar, and the government of the district was entrusted to the Tayy Bedouin. The mountain remained central to Yazidi life and memory despite the violence that accompanied struggles for control of the region.