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Shabaks in a 2005 demonstration.
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Shabak is a people, a religion and a language, belonging to northern Iraq. More specifically, they live in the region of Mosul, and are united in culture and language, but they cover more than one ethnic group and among them there is more than one religion.
People
Their numbers are very hard to assess, being between 60,000 and 400,000 spread among 35 villages, of which Ali Rach, Yangija, Khazna and Talara are the largest. LookLex uses the number 100,000 to assess their number, but this is highly uncertain.
Throughout their history, the Shabaks have been considered a low class in the Iraqi society, although there are few reports of persecution, despite them being defined outside the Ahl al-Kitab, the book people. Still, during recent decades, the Shabak have faced the hardship of being dislocated, as an initiative of the central Iraqi authorities to destroy their cultural identity.
A common theory, is that the Shabak are of Turkmen origins, and migrants from Persia in the 17th century.
A large part of the Shabak are also related to the Kurds. Their name is a reflection of their ethnic diversity, in Arabic 'shabak' means "intertwine" and subgroups of the Shabak are known as Gergari, Bajalan, Hariri and Mosul.
Languages / Iranian / Zaza-Gorani
Language
Their language is ranked with the Zaza, meaning that they speak a form of Zazaki. It has similarities with Kurdish, but has taken many elements from Turkish, Persian and Arabic.
Religions /
Religion
A large part of the Shabak community are noted for a unique religion, which they themselves will say is Islam, but which has every characteristic of an independent religion. They even have their own sacred book known as Buyruk, written in Turkmen. The Shabak faith does contain elements of Islam, as well as Christianity and other religions. There is a close affinity between the Shabak and the Yazidis, and Shabaks perform pilgrimage to Yazidi shrines.
A considerable part of Shabaks are Muslims, and according to the scarse information, they are Sunnis. Rough estimates make 70% of them Shabak believers, 30% Muslims.
History
17th century: Probable immigration of the Shabak from Persia into the Nineveh plain of Mesopotamia.
1952: The Shabak is recognized as a distinct ethnic group.
1980's: About 22 villages, 3000 families are dislocated to the north of Iraq.
2003: Kurdish troops move into Shabak areas, and come to define them as "Kurd Shabaks."
2005: Shabaks demonstrate for being treated as an independent group. Gunmen from the KDP shoot at the crowd, injuring several.
