2 - “Savage Swarms” (1890–1908)

Summary

Chapter 2 foregrounds locusts and the seminomadic Kurdish group known as the Millî between 1890 and 1908. In a shift from the policies of previous years, the Ottoman state created light cavalries known as the Hamidiye Brigades. Typically seen as co-opting Kurdish groups in defense against Russian invasion or Armenian rebellion, the Hamidiye also encompassed the Millî under the leadership of Ibrahim Pasha, who actually pushed south into the Jazira. The chapter traces how provincial borders became invoked alongside the environmental border of the desert in clashes between the Millî and the Shammar. All the while, locusts created conditions favorable to pastoralists. Locusts also forced people to move and, in other cases, offered a plausible justification for nomadic encroachment on the landholdings of urban notables. The chapter concludes with the death of Ibrahim Pasha, and the new political era it seemed to portend, even as locusts continued their work on the edge.