They lived around
Kermanshah in present-day
Iran but were expelled towards
Ottoman Kirkuk by
SafavidIsmail I in the 16th century. Many members of the tribe would later migrate towards Anatolia.[5]
Etymology
It is believed that the name of the tribe is a compound of the two words
sheikh and Bazan. The latter is the name of the region near
Sulaymaniyah where they were exiled to before relocating to
Anatolia decades after.[6] The name appears in different spellings in Ottoman documents.[7]
History
The tribe was caught between the
many wars between the Ottomans and the Safavids in
Kurdistan and were forced to leave towards Kirkuk by the Safavids after failed negotiations between Shah Ismail and Şêxbizinî leader Qazî Hûseyîn. The reason for the exile was the religious beliefs of the tribe since they were
Sunni. Entering
Ottoman Kurdistan, they were tolerated by Sultan
Selim I since he was attempting to gather support from Sunni Kurdish tribes against the Safavids.[5][8] Due to the support from the Şêxbizin during the
Battle of Chaldiran, the tribe received privileges including the liberty to settle wherever they wanted. This allowed members of the tribe to migrate upward towards Anatolia after temporarily staying in
Palu.[9] By the end of the 18th century, the tribe lived in
Haymana during the winter and around
Antalya,
Samsun and
Aydın in the summer.[10]
In his work on
Kurdish tribes in 1908,
Mark Sykes mentioned the Şêxbizin tribe near
Kirkuk which numbered around 4,000 families. He wrote:
A great and warlike tribe, turbulent and fierce. Noted robbers. Great horsemen. Very intelligent, make
Martini–Henry rifles. Live in villages in winter, dwell in tents in the vicinity of their villages in spring.[11]