The publication of this book would not have been possible without the involvement of numerous individuals and institutions. First and foremost, the National Science Centre in Poland merits particular recognition for the financial support of my research project from 2020 to 2025, under the research grant entitled The Georgian Yezidis: The Specific Character of the Diaspora and Its Relations With the Iraqi Homeland (No. 2019/33/B/HS2/00397), which I carried out at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Warsaw when Prof. Maciej Ząbek was its director. Secondly, I must mention the Akhtiarate of Georgia and Sarhad Yezdikhan, whose head, Akhtiar Pir Dima (Dimitri Pirbari) has supported me, along with the representatives of the Yezidi Spiritual Council of Georgia, from the very beginning of my work on this book.
My research was mainly conducted in Georgia, home to the Yezidi diaspora, whose history and life I have undertaken to describe here. During this time, I also made numerous visits to Armenia, Turkey, Iraq, and Germany, where I sought answers to the question of the route taken by the Yezidis from northern Mesopotamia to the South Caucasus, how their diaspora is perceived by other Yezidi communities, and why they continue to migrate. In each of these places, I was welcomed with tremendous support and selfless help from both the Yezidis themselves and the local institutions.
The person to whom I owe the most gratitude is the aforementioned Pir Dima. Throughout the years of work on this book, I have not only benefited from his vast knowledge, traces of which can be found across these pages, but I have also enjoyed his friendship. In fact, he is the one who should be writing this book about his people; and he would certainly do it better than I have, for there is no one more competent to do it at present. I have no doubt that the only reason he has not taken up the task is that he finds it difficult to reconcile his role as an Akhtiar, clergyman, academic, lecturer, and initiator of the many projects he coordinates. Pir Dima shared with me not only his knowledge, but also the materials about his community that he had collected over the years, which I was eager to use and which, thanks to the fact that some of them are published in this book, I hope will survive longer and be available to other researchers, as well as to the Yezidis interested in their own past. I have no doubt that whenever he shared those materials with me, it was not so much out of his liking for the author, but more out of love for his Yezidi people, as he saw it as an opportunity to bring their history and achievements to a wide readership. I hope that this book will, at least in part, fulfil his aspiration to preserve what is valuable in the history of the Yezidis in Georgia. However, I am aware that my perspective on Soviet policy and the Soviet era may be disappointing to him, given that our views on that period diverge.
Thanks to the trust and kindness of Pir Dima, I also had the opportunity to use the rich collections of the Library at the House of the Yezidis and the Archives of the Yezidi Spiritual Council of Georgia, and to watch the activities of the International Yezidi Theological Academy. A special word of thanks is also due to the students of the Academy – Sarkis Agoyan, Badr Choloyan, Maksim Darveshyan, Elias Güli, Songul Hamid, Sherivan Hassan, Achin Khalaf, Khareb Sheikh Nabo (Chikhnabo), Nino Pirbari, Sherwan Serement, Sükrü Sevim, Artur Shakhnamati, Kniaz Tamoev, Boris Tamoyan – not only for their congeniality and the fact that they agreed to give me interviews, but above all for their inspiring thirst for knowledge and their commitment to their own culture, which should be the envy of all non-Yezidis.
During my research in Georgia, I could also count on the selfless help of Sheikh Rostom Amadov, Mijewir Sheikh Nuri Shekhnamati, Sheikh Qadir (Aloyan), Kerim Amoev, Sheikh Badri, Pir Agit Mirzoev, Sheikh Mame Shamsani, Temuri Kuliani, Suliko Simaev, Yuriy Smoyev, Teimuraz Shamoian as well as the ex-Yezidi Murid, Father Maadai, and many more interlocutors who agreed to devote their time to be tormented with my lengthy questions. Their extensive answers allowed me to better understand the peculiarities of the Yezidi community and to enrich this book with relevant quotes.
Although most of the people who have contributed to this book are Yezidis, my thanks must also go to many non-Yezidis, especially the Georgians. Firstly, to my wonderful friends Lika Batiashvili and Giorgi Nadareishvili. Secondly, to the staff of the National Library of Georgia, who were invariably willing to help me and, despite the risk of losing their eyesight when trying to read the order slips I had filled in Russian and Georgian, the suffocating dust when searching for archive numbers of old newspapers and books, and the strain on their spines when delivering them to the reading room, always managed to find the invaluable material that has made this book possible.
The gratitude I want to express here is not limited to those residing in Georgia. Separate thanks are due to Pir Maxim Darveshyan of Armenia and the Yezidis associated with Mala Yezidiya in Oldenburg: Sahap Dag, Ilyas Yanç, Bedel Feqir Haji, Sheikh Xwededa Adani, Gülistan Ibrahim, Miran Oke. The aforementioned individuals willingly shared their knowledge and thoughts with me with remarkable kindness. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to Sheikh Farhad Baba Sheikh, Ghazwan Saleem Aswad, Faleh Hassan Jumaa, and Aliya Yaqdhan Jameel, who graciously offered their assistance to me in collecting material for the book in Iraq.
One of the side-effects of my research was the establishment of the “International Journal of Yezidi Studies” in collaboration with other individuals interested in Yezidism. I have always been able to count on their help, be it obtaining material for this book, factual and linguistic advice, or simply human kindness. Of these, I would particularly like to thank my Austrian friend Peter Nicolaus, as well as Majid Hassan Ali, Rustam Rzgoyan, Giorgi Sanikidze and Gevorg Dzhalilov. Let me also mention Agata Sadza, a linguist from the University of Łódź, who revised the entire book – refining my English, ensuring consistency in both content and terminology, and endeavouring to temper my conservative inclinations so as, despite my aversions to contemporary ideological trends, to adapt the text to the current standards of the English language.
Most of all, however, I would like to thank my wife, Magdalena Rodziewicz, who has been with me every step of the way, from research and discussion to struggling with the English language and Polish medical care, and who has not only supported me, but also bravely put up with my neglect of domestic matters and my frequent travel.
To all of these people I owe my thanks and gratitude. Writing this book, however, has involved more than the pleasure of gaining knowledge and getting to know so many wonderful people and places, first and foremost the beautiful city of Tbilisi. As I was conducting my research, two important events took place, which have also left their mark on my work. On 24 November 2022, Sheikh Nadir, who treated me with almost paternal kindness whenever I visited the Yezidi temple, died in a tragic accident in Tbilisi. A year earlier, in the early morning of 16 July 2021, when I happened to be in Georgia, my father, Andrzej Rodziewicz, died in Poland. I very much regret that I could not be with him at that time. Instead, on that very day, I had a lecture on Stoicism for the students of the International Yezidi Theological Academy. It was undoubtedly the most difficult lecture of my life and at the same time one of the most valuable lessons I have received myself. May the Lord grant them eternal rest and may the eternal light shine upon them forever and ever!
Kukowo, 6 June 2025