The hills north and east of Jazirat ibn Umar are Kurdish tribal country: the Bukhti (whose name survives in Bohtan) and the Bashnawi, who had long held the castle of Finik above the Tigris near the town under their own lords.
They deal with Jazirat ibn Umar and Mosul as neighbours rather than subjects.
Who holds it
- Name
- the Bashnawi lords of Finik and the Bukhti chiefs: names for 1200 not pinned
- Title
- Kurdish castle lords
- Confidence
- low
General knowledge of Yaqut (Finik, castle of the Bashnawi Kurds near Jazirat ibn Umar) and Ibn al-Athir; not re-checked in this run.
Overlord
None effective; Sanjar Shah of Jazirat ibn Umar claims the neighbourhood.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing; Jazirat ibn Umar's lord holds only the valley.
Customs
Clan chiefs holding castles; pastoral and mountain farming.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Tribal names and Finik from the geographers; nothing dated to 1200.
On the map: Approximate.
Primary sources for Jazirat ibn Umar
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Complete History, Izz al-Din Ibn al-Athir (about 1200 to 1231, at Mosul). The widest Muslim narrative for the years 596 to 597 AH (1199 to 1201): al-Adil's entry into Cairo and his taking of the sultanate from his nephew al-Mansur Muhammad early in 1200, the quarrels of the Ayyubid princes at Damascus, Aleppo and Hama, the Nile failure and the great famine of Egypt, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah and the Jazira under Gokbori and the Artuqids, Baghdad under the caliph al-Nasir, the Khwarazmshah Tekish's death in 1200 and Muhammad's accession, the Ghurid wars in Khurasan, the Eldiguzids and Georgia, the Almohads in the west, and the Seljuks of Rum in passing. Read online
Sources and studies
- TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, 'Cizre'
- Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi'l-ta'rikh, tr. D.S. Richards, The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period, Part 3 (589-629/1193-1231), Ashgate 2008 (read for 589-594; later years via the works below)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.