the Patriarch of the Church of the East who had in the meantime taken refuge in Mosul. His attempts only led to the release of about 150, one of whom was the sister of the patriarch, while the rest were distributed as war booty between Kurdish Agha's and Mullahs. On August 3, the Kurdish forces had succeeded in "subduing the tribes and it was reported that 'still the slaughter is not yet ended, and several who have attempted to flee have been murdered...'". Then the invaders had turned "against the district of Tiyari, where they had succeeded in occupying the villages and indulged in the cruelest acts against its people". Even "those who had not opposed the Kurdish invasion had been treated in the same way as the fighters." The patriarch's mother's body was chopped into four pieces. Many women and young children "were taken captive to be sold as slaves." On 21 August 1843, the British consul Abbott reported on "the role of the Persian Kurds" in the massacres of Assyrian and Nestorian tribes. The "prime agitator for the attack from the Persian frontier was the 'Shaik'" of the Kurds of Bradost". The Kurdish tribes were "marching in large numbers directly to the Assyrian provinces." According to the wali of Mosul, the number of Kurdish soldiers was estimated at 100,000, although the Assyrians themselves are said to have estimated it at 70,000. The Kurdish soldiers were united from all across the Middle East. It was reported that the "killing and destruction continued apace. Corpses lay everywhere. The surviving men and women were forced to carry unbearable loads of booty for very long distances, while being lashed all along the way until they fell from torture and exhaustion". Ross wrote: “They were tortured in an awful manner to force them to expose what they call hidden treasures, while others were killing them just for entertainment and as sport and games'. The tribes "were all but encircled and left with no safe route to escape" the slaughter. Those that tried to flee had to take a route that passed through the hostile Kurds of Berwar. One group after another was caught and slaughtered "while trying to escape.” It is estimated by contemporary sources that the victims of the assault of 1843 numbered ten thousand, but according to Adoona, that figure "cannot represent the total victims of the attack". 1846 massacre Another