Sayfo; Village of Mor Bobo

Village of Mor Bobo 

The village of Mor Bobo is located approximately 4 kilometers east of the city of Nisibin and roughly 10 kilometers south of the Mar Malke monastery in the vicinity of Beth Debe village. Mor Bobo is identified as a Syriac Orthodox village in 1850, and at this time, the population consisted of 50 families, totaling approximately 300 individuals. The village was served by two priests, identified as Eugene and John, and fell under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the archbishop residing at the Mor Malke monastery. It was named after Mor Bobo, which reflects its historical Christian identity. A monastery in the vicinity also bears the name of Mar Bobo and is listed among the monastic sites of Tur-’Abdin.

During the events of the Sayfo genocide from 1915 to 1924, Mor Bobo played a unique role as a place of sanctuary due to the actions of its local Kurdish protector. The village was owned by Sarokhan, who was the chief of a subsection of the Haverkan tribe and belonged to the Chalabiyo branch. Sarokhan defied the genocidal directives of the Ottoman central government, and when the Turkish government sent Qaddur Bey, the leader of the Al-Khamsin militia, to threaten Sarokhan and order him to eliminate the Christians in his village, Sarokhan refused to comply. Instead, he warned the Syriac Christians of the imminent danger and provided asylum to refugees fleeing from other villages. To guard against surprise attacks by Ottoman forces or hostile tribes, Sarokhan’s men surrounded Mount Izlo and set fires to provide visibility at night. Despite pressure to attack, Sarokhan facilitated the survival of the village population by eventually escorting them to the village of Beth Debe, where they survived the broader atrocities.

After the atrocities of 1915, survivors relocated to neighboring safe points such as Beth Debe, and the village of Mor Bobo was among those that maintained a Syriac presence through the mid-twentieth century before the broader migration of the community.