Introduction:In the spring of 1891, dressed in their special clothes, the Kurdish leaders proclaimed their loyalty to Sultan Abdülhamid II. Named after the sultan, the indoctrination of the Kurdish tribal cavalry unit (Hamidiye) into the Ottoman fold was met with protests from both foreign and domestic observers over the nature of the unit. Early critics of the Hamidiye questioned the militia's discipline and sincerity. The Hamidiye light cavalry regiments were an irregular militia composed of selected Kurdish tribesmen under the command of the sultan's trusted brothers, Sakir Pasha and Zeki Pasha. Historically, the Kurds have always been wary of the Ottomans' intentions, but those who volunteered quickly understood the benefits of belonging to the militia. The advantages included the possession of modern firearms, immunity from all civil laws, and the military rank bestowed on their leaders, but the real advantage for the Kurds was the opportunity to advance their goals. Objections from foreign and domestic observers concerned activities for which the militias were later linked to violence, land grabbing, and lawlessness. Klein asks: “under what conditions does the state give power to a group it would prefer to suppress, and does this undermine the state's authority in the region? What are the factors that would allow the state to consider forming these undisciplined militias? nationalist-revolutionaries working against the state. The Armenian threat was considered not only a threat to the state, but also to much of the government's agenda. The Hamidiye would be renamed the Tribal Light Cavalry Regiments, but other than the name, nothing really changed. Similar to the sultan's visions, the “Young Turks” wanted to “Turkify” the Kurds in the Ottoman sphere. There were both supporters and opponents of this policy, mainly in the Kurdish kingdom. Those who ultimately supported the policy, mainly the Kurdish peasants and Armenians, came to oppose it later and those who were in opposition, predominantly the benefactors of the old Hamidiye regiments, came to support the new policies. The new government has failed to modernize and provide better facilities, just like its predecessor. The power structure in the borderlands remained the same. Works Cited Klein, Janet. The margins of the Empire: Kurdish militias in the Ottoman tribal zone. Stanford University, 2011. Print.