Upon my eyes, welcome to Mavana!
Mavana is the name of the capital village of Tergavar, a tribal district in the Urmia region of Northwestern Iran.
Mavana, according to my family’s oral tradition, fittingly comes from the word for an abode or dwelling place in Assyrian.
The major village of Mavana served as a stopping point for travellers and nomads, a refuge for Assyrians fleeing villages destroyed and annexed by encroaching fanatically pro-Ottoman Muslim Kurdish tribes, and for Kurdish converts to Christianity alike. In 1907, the district fell to the Ottomans and their Kurdish allies, and although it changed hands a few times in the ensuing struggle of the Great War, the events of that period marked a definite end to authentic Assyrian village life for our people, as it did for the wider Assyrian population.
My paternal lineage is from the villages of Alvach and Mavana, both in the Urmia region of Iran. My maternal lineage is from Mavana, including the famed Shmuelkhan of Mavana, son of the renowned Sarhang Beijan, chief of the Tergavar clan and leader of the only Christian tribal cavalry unit in the service of the Qajar Dynasty. I also have some Armenian and Pontian Greek ancestry from Julamerk, the capital of Hakkari.
Over a decade ago now, my late grandmother showed me the iconic family photo of our clan on horseback that you see on our main page. I had so many questions. What were our ancestors wearing a century ago? Why did it look so different to the unsightly costumes being touted as ‘traditional’ Assyrian clothes today? Was it possible for me to see, and perhaps even own and wear, clothes and a dagger as they did?
This was the beginning of my interest in Assyrian tribal history ever since, and particularly in Assyrian material culture- a field that has been sorely neglected until now. I have a particular interest in silversmithing, a traditional Assyrian craft which I practice, as well as in the khanjar; the native dagger of Mesopotamia, of which my family collected many examples until the sack of our village and their deaths.
Over the years, many people have asked me the same questions I had when I embarked on this ongoing journey, and after many years of careful curation and research, it’s my pleasure to share the my discoveries in the world of Assyrian ethnographica with you.
It is my hope that this website and the content presented in other mediums will serve as an abode for the study of Assyrian tribal history and ethnography, as well as that of neighbouring peoples- most notably our Kurdish neighbours and compatriots- just as our village served as a sanctuary until a century ago.
Here you will find articles pertaining to all that is authentically Assyrian. Articles on identity, tribal life and customs, on how our ancestors farmed and fought, lived and died, their Christian faith, historical artefacts and traditional wares, and guides on making traditional wares with authentic materials and techniques yourself. Perhaps even the occasional item for sale. I have a number of publications in the pipeline which will be made available in the not too distant future, as well. Thank you for visiting. I hope my work is of interest to you.
Bani (Banipal) Mikhael Varda
