Jaff

The Jaff people (also Jahf, Jaaf, Jaf, Caf or جاف) are native to the northern and central Zagros area, which is divided between Iran and Iraq. The Jaff tribe originated in the year 1114 by Kurdish King Zaher Beg Jaff. The Jaff dialect (called Jaffi) is part of Sorani, a south-southeastern branch of Kurdish language family. The region inhabited by this tribe is southwest of Sanandaj all the way to Javanroud, and also areas around the city of Sulaimaniyah in Southern Kurdistan. Once nomadic, the Jaffs have more recently settled into a predominantly agricultural way of life and are often known as the most educated and intellectual tribe of the Kurds. They are the biggest Kurdish tribe in the Middle East.

Total population of the tribe is estimated at 3 to 5 million people in both Iraq and Iran. At present, they are settled mainly in Sulaimaniya Governorate of Iraq, especially Halabja and Kalar as well as in the Kermanshah region of Iranian Kurdistan.

The tribe is believed to have its origins in the early seventeenth century. In spite of the signing of the Treaty of Zuhab of 1639 between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid , which defined the frontiers between the two powers, the members of the Jaf tribe continued to cross the border from side to side in search of pastures . 7 These displacements were "a constant focus of tension" in the area. 7 With an important nucleus in Halabja -the Jaf would have repopulated this city in the eighteenth century, the 9th century during which much of them left their settlements in Iran, Settled in Ottoman lands dominated by the Baban has been cited as one of the main tribal groups in this border territory.

The West began ties with the Jaff tribe during World War I, when Ely Bannister Soan established contact. After the war, the tribe opposed Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji, as well as Great Britain’s failure to grant Kurdish autonomy in Iraq.

Saddam Hussein's chemical attack on Halabje on March 16, 1988 killed at least 5,000 people and injured or sickened 7,000 more. The majority of these victims were Jaff tribe members.

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