BADJWAN

(Badjalan, Badjuran)

   The Badjwan are a small Kurdish community living some 45 kilometers southeast of Mosul who profess Ahl-i Haqq or Kakai beliefs and are thus sometimes referred to as a ghulat, or extremist Shiite sect. They speak a Gurani dialect. The Badjwan are closely identified with the Shabak but are tribally organized while the latter are not. Intermarriage between the two communities and others of similar beliefs has somewhat blurred distinctions between them in recent years.