"دليل بلاد فارس. مجلد II" [و‎‎٢‎٣‎٦] (٧٠٦/٤٧٦)

NAZ—NES
459
NAZLtt—
A stream rising in the mountains west of Lake Urumieh, Azarbaijan,
and flowing into the lake a few miles north of Urumieh. It is crossed
by a good brick bridge of four arches between Guchl and Urumieh en route
from Tasuj.— {Gerard.)
NEM—
A rich valley in western Kirmanshah between Gavarra and Biaban on the
road to Zuhab.— (Rawlinson.)
NESTORIANS—
The Nestorian Christians of the Turko-Persian highlands have been
estimated at anything between 100,000 and 200 , 000 , the latter being the
more correct, in all probability. By far the greater number are Turkish
subjects, the Nestorian population of Azarbaijan being only some 44,000;
see calculations at end of this article. They themselves, however, neither
accept nor employ the name Nestorians, refusing to accept the general origin
attributed to them, viz., the descendants of the sect founded by Nestorius,
Patriarch of Constantinople, who was excommunicated and banished foi
holding heretical opinions in A. D. 431. The sect took refuge in Persia
and spreading their tenets throughout the east converted Piaster John and
established 25 sees, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Pacific. They
were far in advance of the Western Christians in number and influence, when
Timur the Great Tartar fell upon them, and their scattered and decimated
fragments fled to the mountain fastnesses north of Mesopotamia, which they
have since held, descending by degrees to the plains of Mosul on the one side
and those stretching towards the Urumieh basin on the other. They claim to
be the spiritual progeny of St. Thomas and St. Jude, and while they common
ly call themselves Syrians, are styled by the Moslems, Nasrani or Nazarenes*
The genealogy of these people is impossible of exact solution ; they speak
a dialect of ancient Syriac intermingled with a good many Arabic, Kurdish,
Turkish, and Persian words.
There are at present three branches of Syrian Christians; ( 1 ): the old
Nestorians, under Mar Shimun ; ( 2 ): the old Chaldeans under the Patriarch
of Babylon; (3): the new Chaldeans under Mar Elia Melus of Mosul.
The first-named are the most numerous and are supposed to number 100,000 ;
60,000 in Turkey and 40,000 in Persia. In an article of this nature it will
be sufficient to confine oneself to the Old Nestorians, under Mar Shimun.
The Mar Shimun who nominally unites in his own person both the spiritual
and temporal functions of government over his flock, has long resided in the
mountainous village of Kochannis near Julamerk in Turkish territory,
he appoints the lay ruler of each district and the spiritual heads of the various
villages : in time past his authority was absolute, but in recent times since these
districts have begun to be seriously governed by the Porte, the authority
of the Mar Shimun has sensibly diminished. During the Kurdish outbreak
of Badar Khan Beg in 1843, the occupant of the Patriarchate fled into Persian
territory, to Urumieh. Since his return to Kochannis he has become a
- pensioner of the Turkish Government, receiving £12 a month. The Maliks
no longer obey the Mar Shimun and hie authority in spiritual matters is