About Yarsanika
Yarsanika is a community-driven, ethically governed, subscription-based digital database designed to preserve, protect, and provide tiered access to the sacred texts, oral histories, musical repertoires, and historical imagery of the Yārsān religious community.
Yarsanika is a community-driven, ethically governed, subscription-based digital database designed to preserve, protect, and provide tiered access to the sacred texts, oral histories, musical repertoires, and historical imagery of the Yārsān religious community.
As a historically marginalized, oral-based tradition practiced primarily in Western Iran and parts of Iraqi Kurdistan, the Yārsān faith lacks a centralized repository for its cultural materials. This project aims to establish a secure digital platform that balances cultural sensitivity, long-term preservation, and scholarly engagement.
We support academic researchers, legal advocates, and cultural scholars working on minority rights, oral traditions, and sacred music, while ensuring that access is controlled through ethical review and identity verification to protect community integrity and prevent unauthorized circulation of esoteric content.
Project Objectives
Create high-quality digital versions of Yārsān sacred and cultural materials through scanning, transcription, and archiving with the highest preservation standards.
Provide a subscription-based platform with ethical review and identity verification for scholars, lawyers, and researchers.
Offer interactive tools for highlighting, annotating, and commenting on sacred texts and other materials for scholarly engagement.
Consult with community leaders and embed protocols that honor restrictions on sacred and initiatory materials.
Support the use of oral histories for asylum cases, religious minority advocacy, and scholarly research.
Maintain community-led oversight to ensure cultural protocols are honored and sacred materials are protected.
The Yārsān faith, also known as Ahl-e Haqq or Kākāʾī, is a syncretic religion established in the late 14th century in Western Iran. It is practiced primarily by Kurds in Kermanshah Province of Iran and in parts of Iraqi Kurdistan.
As a historically marginalized, oral-based tradition, the Yārsān faith has faced significant challenges in preserving its cultural heritage. The religion emphasizes the divine nature within each individual and incorporates elements of reincarnation, divine manifestation, and a cyclical view of history.
Sacred music, played on the tanbur (a long-necked lute), is central to Yārsān religious practice, and the tradition has a rich heritage of oral histories and sacred texts transmitted through generations.
The community has faced persecution and displacement, making the preservation of their cultural materials not only academically significant but also critical for legal advocacy and human rights documentation.
Our Ethical Framework
All decisions regarding access levels, content inclusion, and usage policies are made in consultation with Yārsān community leaders and religious authorities to ensure cultural protocols are honored.
Our tiered access system ensures that the most sacred and sensitive materials are only available to verified researchers who have demonstrated legitimate academic or legal need and cultural sensitivity.
All access requests undergo ethical review by a board that includes community representatives, ensuring research goals align with community values and benefit the Yārsān people.
We prioritize access for legal advocates working on asylum cases and religious minority rights, recognizing the urgent need for documented evidence of Yārsān religious practices and persecution.
Join Our Mission
Help us preserve and protect the cultural heritage of the Yārsān community while supporting academic research and legal advocacy for religious minorities.