ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

In the mighty realm o f the Ottoman Caliphs, the Sunni majority
was not the only element in the Empire's populace. There
was also an important Shiite minority. Although the Shiites
were indeed much less strong numerically, they were nevertheless
very influential due to their structure and their secret societies
and denominations. The photo shows the sheik o f the
Shiite sect o f the Shebek from the region around Mossul, which
was one of the most important centers o f Ottoman power in
Mesopotamia.
His Holiness Patriarch Mar Addai II o f the "Church of the East"
(Nestorian) in Baghdad.
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A young Sabian from Baghdad. Mohammed cites the Sabians
explicitly in the Koran as "People of the book", like the Jews and
Christians.
The Nestorian Christians, who did not recognize the decision of
the Council of Ephesos to call Mary "Mother of God", would have
been totally rubbed out by the power of the Byzantine state and the
Greek Orthodox Church, had they not found protection and refuge
under the Zoroastrian Persians and later under the Ommiad,
Abbaside, and Ottoman Caliphs. Disaster did not befall them until
they, like the Armenians, made common cause with the Russians
and stabbed the Turks in the back during World War I. They were
forced to retreat from the Hakkari Mountains. The majority of
them, roughly 40,000 Nestorian Christians (they call themselves
"Church of the East"), live today in Iraq. Their present fate is
unknown.