Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII is the current Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, succeeding his uncle Shimun XX Paulos, who had died from tubercolosis in a British refugee camp in Mesopotamia, in 1920. After growing up during the harsh Weltkrieg, which would see the extermination of hundreds of thousands of Assyrians at the hands of Turkish and Kurdish irregulars during the Assyrian Genocide, Shimun XXI EshaI is more than determined to lead his troubled people into a brighter future.
After the end of the war, mainly due to British insistence during the negotiations that would lead to the signing of the Jerusalem Accords of April 1920, the Assyrians got their own autonomy zone within the Ottoman Empire: The foreign-protected Basra Vilayet, where they, at least on paper, can freely practice their religion and handle their own affairs. However, since the British Revolution, the collapse of the British Empire and the withdrawal of British troops to India, Ottoman influence in the Basra Vilayet is rising again, slowly undermining the hard-earned Assyrian autonomy; Should the OPP centralization efforts continue, confrontation in the Tigris–Euphrates river valley is more than certain.
History[]
Early Life[]
Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII was born as Eshai d'Mar Shimun on 26 February 1908 in Qodchanis in the mountainous Van Vilayet in Eastern Anatolia. He was raised with great care and received the necessary theological and liturgical training by the late Mār Yōsip Khnanisho, the Assyrian Metropolitan of Shemsdin and his uncle.
In 1914, the beginning of the Weltkrieg plunged Eastern Anatolia into chaos: During the Assyrian Genocide, hundred thousands of Assyrians were killed or displaced by Ottoman irregulars on behalf of the Turkish nationalist Young Turk leadership; Many survivors fled down to Mesopotamia into British-controlled territory, where they found a safe haven for the time being. Many would live under harsh conditions in crowded British-financed refugee camps, and so did the young Eshai d'Mar Shimun, who had found shelter near Baquba north of Baghdad.
During this so-called Assyrian Tragedy, the Ottomans managed to deal serious blows to the Assyrian people and especially to the Assyrian Church: In March 1918, Catholicos-Patriarch Shimun XIX Benyamin, who had been in charge since 1903 and had fled to the shores of Lake Urmia in Persia following the genocide, was killed by a Kurdish chieftain and his successor, Catholicos-Patriarch Shimun XX Paulos, died from tubercolosis in a refugee camp in Mesopotamia only two years later. With no other successor avalable, it became clear that Eshai d'Mar Shimun, nephew of the two former Catholicos-Patriarchs and mere 12 years old at the time, would succeed as the head of the Assyrian Church as Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII. He was ordained as Patriarch in 1920 by several high-ranking Assyrian scholars while still interned at Baquba.
Catholicos-Patriarch & Head of the Assyrian Autonomy in Basra[]
As per the terms of the Jerusalem Accords of April 1920, an Assyrian autonomy zone was established on British insistence at Basra Vilayet; Ten thousands of refugees were evacuated from the camps around Baghdad and marched down southwards into the Mesopotamian river valley. Many would die during this long and consuming "Assyrian Exodus", which is often compared to the famous Old Testament story about the Babylonian exile.
The British proposed that the autonomy would be lead by an "Assyrian Council" under the guidance of the Catholicos-Patriarch; Security would be guaranteed by British forces from Kuwait and the Raj and by so-called "Assyrian Levies", built on top of the volunteer divisions that fought in the war. However, as Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII was only a juvenile at that time, his position as Head of the Assyrian Autonomy remained symbolical at that time and he was taken to England instead, where he was, with the support of the Anglican Church, properly educated and became fluent in English. This would change in 1925, when the outbreak of the British Revolution forced him to return to Basra, now a mature and highly-educated young man.
With the collapse of the British Empire, British troops withdrew from Basra Vilayet and full Ottoman control was restored over the province. While special Assyrian privileges were abolished by the Sublime Porte, Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII managed to personally negotiate an agreement with the government that left the Basra Vilayet relatively untouched by OPP centralization attempts. Even though his father and his aunt remained the most important figures within the Assyrian movement, Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII's prestige was drastically increased when he became official liason between the Ottoman government and the Assyrian community in Basra via the Millet system.
Now however, in the 1930s, the financially recovering Ottomans are slowly trying to revoke the last remaining bits of Assyrian autonomy and reinstall an administration in Basra which is truly loyal to the government. Radical underground organisations pushing for Assyrian independence have already formed and established contact with British authorities in Bombay, among them the XXH, which Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII is a honorary member of. Should Mustafa Kemal Pasha's Turkish nationalist rhetorics and centralization efforts increase and threaten the hard-won freedom of the Assyrians, the Catholicos-Patriarch will not hesitate to defend his people against encroachment from Constantinople - If necessary, with violence.