Armenia 100 Years Ago

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Some stuff from the online version (1911encyclopedia.org) of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, published in 1911. The online version is badly scanned (and they can't even spell encyclopaedia correctly!), so I have corrected the text where the mistakes are obvious.

 

NB:, it must have been written before 1909, since the massacres of the 1890s are mentioned, but not those of 1909.

Edited November 5, 2004 by abcdefghij

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KARS,

 

A fortified town of Russian Transcaucasia, in the province of Kars, formerly at the head of a sanjak in the Turkish vilayet of Erzerum. It is situated in 40 37' N. and 43 6' E., 185 m. by rail S.W. of Tiflis, on a dark basalt spur of the Soghanli-dagh, above the deep ravine of the Kars-chai, a sub-tributary of the Aras. Pop. (1878), 8672; (1897), 20,891. There are three considerable suburbs: Orta-kapi to the S., Bairam ***** to the E., and Timur ***** on the western side of the river. At the N.W. corner of the town, overhanging the river, is the ancient citadel, in earlier times a strong military post, but completely commanded by the surrounding eminences. The place is, however, still defended by a fort and batteries. There is a l0th century cathedral, Kars being the see of a bishop of the Orthodox Greek Church. Coarse woollens, carpets arid felt are manufactured.

 

During the 9th and l0th centuries the seat of an independent Armenian principality, Kars was captured and destroyed by the Seljuk Turks in the nth century, by the Mongols in the 13th, and by Timur (Tamerlane) in 1387. The citadel, it would appear, was built by Sultan Murad III. during the war with Persia, at the close of the 16th century. It was strong enough to withstand a siege by Nadir Shah of Persia, in 1731, and in 1807 it successfully resisted the Russians. After a brave defence it surrendered on the 23rd of June 1828 to the Russian general Count I. F. Paskevich, 11,000 men becoming prisoners of war. During the Crimean War the Turkish garrison, guided by General Williams (Sir W. Fenwick Williams of Kars) and other foreign officers, kept the Russians at bay during a protracted siege; but, after the garrison had been devastated by cholera and food had utterly failed, nothing was left but to capitulate (Nov. 1855). The fortress was again stormed by the Russians in the war of 1877-78, and on its conclusion was transferred to Russia.

 

See Kmety, The Defence of Kars (1856), translated from the German; H. A. Lake, Kars and our Captivity in Russia (London, 1856); and Narrative of the Defence of Kars (London, 1857); Dr Sandwith, Narrative of the Siege of Kars (London, 1856); C. B. Norman, Armenia and the Campaign of 1877 (London, 1878); Greene, Russian Army and its Campaigns in Turkey (1879).

 

 

KARS

 

A province of Russian Transcaucasia, having the governments of Kutais and Tiflis on the N., those of Tiflis and Erivan on the E., and Asiatic Turkey on the South and West. Its area amounts to 7410 sq. m. It is a mountainous, or rather a highland country, being in reality a plateau, with ranges of mountains running across it. The northern border is formed by the Arzyan range, a branch of the Ajari Mts., which attains altitudes of over 9000 ft. In the south the Kara-dagh reach 10,270 ft. in Mount Ala-dagh, and the Agry-dagh 10,720 ft. in Mount Ashakh; and in the middle Allah-akhbar rises to 10,215 ft. The passes which connect valley with valley often lie at considerable altitudes, the average of those in the S.E. being 9000 ft. Chaldir-gol (altitude 6520 ft.) and one or two other smaller lakes lie towards the N.E.; the Chaldir-gol is overhung on the S.W. by the Kysyr-dagh (10,470 ft.). The east side of the province is throughout demarcated by the Arpa-chai, which receives from the right the Kars river, and as it leaves the province at its S.E. corner joins the Aras. The Kura rises within the province not far from the Kysyr-dagh and flows across it westwards, then eastwards and north-eastwards, quitting it in the north-east. The winters are very severe. The towns of Kaghyshman (4620 ft.) and Sarykamish (7800 ft.) have a winter temperature like that of Finland, and at the latter place, with an annual mean (35 F.) equal to that of Hammerfest in the extreme north of Norway, the thermometer goes down in winter to 40 below zero and rises in summer to 99. The annual mean temperature at Kars is 40-5 and at Ardahan, farther north, 37. The Alpine meadows (yailas) reach up to 1000 ft. and afford excellent pasturage in spring and summer. The province is almost everywhere heavily forested. Firs and birches flourish as high as 7000 ft., and the vine up to above 3000 ft. Cereals ripen well, and barley and maize grow up to considerable altitudes. Large numbers of cattle and sheep are bred. Extensive deposits of salt occur at Kaghyshman and Olty. The population was 167,610 in 1883 and 292,863 in 1897. The estimated population in 1906 was 349,100. It is mixed. In remote antiquity the province was inhabited by Armenians, the ruins of whose capital, Ani, attest the ancient prosperity of the country. To the Armenians succeeded the Turks, while Kurds invaded the Alpine pasturages above the valley of the Aras; and after them Kabardians, Circassians, Ossetes and Kara-papaks successively found a refuge in this highland region. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, when this region was transferred to Russia by the treaty of Berlin, some 82,750 Turks emigrated to Asia Minor, their places being taken by nearly 22,000 Armenians, Greeks and Russians. At the census of 1897 the population consisted principally of Armenians (73,400), Kurds (43,000), Greeks (32,600), Kara-papaks (30,000), Russians, Turks and Persians. The capital is Kars. The province is divided into four districts, the chief towns of which are Kars (q.v.), Ardahan (pop. 800 in 1897), Kaghyshman (3435) and Olty.

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BITLIS, or BETLIS (Arm. Paghesh)

 

The chief town of a vilayet of the same name in Asiatic Turkey, situated at an altitude of 4700 ft., in the deep, narrow valley of the Bitlis Chai, a tributary of the Tigris. The main part of the town and the bazaars are crowded alongside the stream, while suburbs with scattered houses among orchards and gardens extend up two tributary streams. The houses are massive and well built of a soft volcanic tufa, and with their courtyards and gardens climbing up the hillsides afford a striking picture. At the junction of two streams in the centre of the town is a fine old castle, partly ruined, which, according to local tradition, occupies the site of a fortress built by Alexander the Great. It is apparently an Arab building, as Arabic inscriptions appear on the walls, but as the town stands on the principal highway between the Van plateau and the Mesopotamian plain it must always have been of strategic importance. The bazaars are crowded, covered across with branches in summer, and typical of a Kurdish town. The population numbers 35,000, of whom about 12,000 are Armenians and the remainder are Kurds or of Kurdish descent.

 

Kurdish beys and sheiks have much influence in the town and wild mountain districts adjoining, while the Sasun mountains, the scene of successive Armenian revolutions of late years, are not far off to the west. The town was ruled by a semi-independent Kurdish bey as late as 1836. There are some fine old mosques and medresses (colleges), and the Armenians have a large monastery and churches. There are British, French and Russian consuls in the town, and a branch of the American Mission with schools is established also. The climate is healthy and the thermometer rarely falls below 0 Fahr., but there is a heavy snowfall and the narrow streets are blocked for some five months in the year.

 

A good road runs southward down the pass, passing after a few miles some large chalybeate and sulphur springs. Roads also lead north to Mush and Erzerum and along the lake to Van. Postal communication is through Erzerum with Trebizond. Tobacco of an inferior quality is largely grown, and the chief industry is the weaving of a coarse, red cloth. Manna and gum tragacanth are also collected. Fruit is also plentiful, and there are many vineyards close by.

 

The Bitlis vilayet comprises a very varied section of Asiatic Turkey, as it includes the Mush plain and the plateau country west of Lake Van, as well as a large extent of wild mountain district inhabited by turbulent Kurds and Armenians on either side of the central town of Bitlis, also some of the lower country about Sairt along the left bank of the main stream of the Tigris. The mountains have been little explored, but are believed to be rich in minerals, iron, lead, copper, traces of gold and many mineral springs are known to exist.

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ERZERUM, or ARZRUM (Arm. Garin)

 

The chief town of an important vilayet of the same name in Asiatic Turkey. It is a military station and a fortress of considerable strategical value, closing the roads from Kars, Olti and other parts of the frontier. Several important routes from Trebizond and various parts of Anatolia converge towards it from the west.

 

It is situated at the eastern end of an open bare plain, 30 m. long and about 12 wide, bordered by steep, rounded mountains and traversed by the Kara Su, or western Euphrates, which has its source in the Dumlu Dagh a few miles north of that town, which lies at an elevation of 6250 ft. above sea-level, while the near hills rise to 10,000 feet. The scenery in the neighbourhood is striking, lofty bare mountains being varied by open plains and long valleys dotted with villages. Just east of the town is the broad ridge of the Deveboyun (Camel’s Neck), across which the road passes to Kars. To the south is the Palanduken range, from which emerge numerous streams, supplying the town with excellent water. In the plain to the north the Kara Su traverses extensive marshes which afford good wildfowl-shooting in the spring.T he town is surrounded by an earthen enceinte or rampart with some forts on the hills just above it, and others on the Deveboyun ridge facing east, the whole forming a position of considerable strength.

 

The old walls and the citadel have disappeared. Inside the ramparts the town lies rather cramped, with narrow, crooked streets, badly drained and dirty; the houses are generally built of dark grey volcanic stone with flat roofs, the general aspect, owing to the absence of trees, being somewhat gloomy. The water-supply from Palanduken is distributed by wooden pipes to numerous public fountains. The town has a population of about 43,000, including about 10,000 Armenians, 2000 Persians and a few Jews. It has a garrison in peace of about 5000 men. It is the seat of the British consulate for Kurdistan, and there are other European consulates besides an American mission with schools.

 

The great altitude accounts for very severe winter cold, occasionally 100 to 25 below zero F., accompanied by blizzards (tipi) sometimes fatal to travellers overtaken by them. The summer heat is moderate (59 to 770) There are several well-built mosques (none older than the 16th century), public baths, and several good khans. There are Armenian and Catholic churches, but the most beautiful building is a medresse erected in the 12th century by the Seljuks, with ornamental doorway and two graceful minarets known as the Chifte Minare. Situated on the main road from Trebizond into north-west Persia, the town has always a large caravan traffic, principally of camels, but since the improvement of communications in Russia this has declined. A good carriage-road leads to the coast at Trebizond, the journey being made in five or six days.

 

There are also roads to Kars, Bayazid, Erzingan and Kharput. Black-smiths and coppersmiths work is better here than in most Turkish towns; horse-shoes and brasswork are also famous. There are several tanneries, and Turkish boots and saddles are largely made. Jerked beef (pasdirma) is also prepared in large quantities for winter use. The plain produces wheat, barley, millet and vegetables. Wood fuel is scarce, the present supply being from the Tortum district, whence surface coal and lignite are also brought; but the usual fuel is tezek or dried cow-dung. The bazaars are of no great interest. Good Persian carpets and similar goods can be obtained. Erzerum is a town of great antiquity, and has been identified with the Armenian Garin Kalakh, the Arabic Kalikale, and the Byzantine Theodosiopolis of the 5th century, when it was a frontier fortress of the empire hence its name Erzen-er-Rum. It was captured by the Seljuks in 1201, when it was an important city, and it fell into Turkish possession in 1517. In July 1829 it was captured by the Russian general Paskevich, and the occupation continued until the peace of Adrianople (September 1829). The town was unsuccessfully attacked by the Russians on the 9th of November 1877 after a victory gained by them a short time previously on the Deveboyun heights; it was occupied by them during the armistice (7th of February 1878) and restored to Turkey after the treaty of Berlin. In 1859 a severe earthquake destroyed much of the town, and another in November 1901 caused much damage.

 

The Erzerum vilayet extends from the Persian frontier at Bayazid, all along the Russian frontier and westward into Anatolia at Baiburt and Erzingan. It is divided into the three sanjaks of Bayazid, Erzerum, and Erzingan. It includes the highest portion of the Armenian plateau, and consists of bare undulating uplands varied by lofty ranges. The deep gorges of the Chorokh and Tortum streams north of the town alone have a different appearance, being well-wooded in places. Both arms of the Euphrates have their rise in this country as well as the Aras (Araxes) and the Chorokh (Acampsis). It is an agricultural country with few industries. Besides forests, iron, salt, sulphur and other mineral springs are found. Some of the coal and lignite mines in Tortum have been recently worked to supply fuel for Erzerum. The population is largely Armenian and Kurd with some Turks (Moslems 500,000, Christians 140,000).

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ERZINGAN, or ERZINJAN (Arsinga of the Middle Ages)

 

The chief town of a sanjak in the Erzerum vilayet of Asiatic Turkey. It is the headquarters of the IV. army corps, being a place of some military importance, with large barracks and military factories. It is situated at an altitude of 3900 ft., near the western end of a rich well-watered plain through which runs the Kara Su or western Euphrates. It is surrounded by orchards and gardens, and is about a mile from the right bank of the river, which here runs in two wide channels crossed by bridges.

 

One wide street traverses the town from east to west, but the others are narrow, unpaved and dirty, except near the new government buildings and the large modern mosque of Hajji Izzet ***** to the north, which are the only buildings of note. The principal barracks, military hospital and clothing factory are at Karateluk on the plain and along the foot-hills to the north 3 miles off, one recent addition to the business buildings having electric power and modern British machinery; some older barracks and a military tannery and boot factory being in the town. The population numbers about 15,000, of whom about half are Armenians living in a separate quarter. The principal industries are the manufacture of silk and cotton and of copper dishes and utensils. The climate is hot in summer but moderate in winter.

 

A carriage-road leads to Trebizond, and other roads to Sivas, Karahissar, Erzerum and Kharput. The plain, almost surrounded by lofty mountains, is highly productive with many villages on it and the border hills. Wheat, fruit, vines and cotton are largely grown, and cattle and sheep are bred. Water is everywhere abundant, and there are iron and hot sulphur springs. The battle in which the sultan of Rum (1243) was defeated by the Mongols took place on the plain, and the celebrated Armenian monastery of St Gregory, the Illuminator, lies on the hills 11 m. S.W. of the town.

 

Erzingan occupies the site of an early town in which was a temple of Anaitis. It was an important place in the 4th century when St Gregory lived in it. The district passed from the Byzantines to the Seljuks after the defeat of Romanus, 1071, and from the latter to the Mongols in 1243. After having been held by Mongols, Tatars and Turkomans, it was added to the Osmanli empire by Mahommed II. in 5473. In 1784 the town was almost destroyed by an earthquake.

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BAIBURT

 

A town of Asiatic Turkey, on the direct carriage road from Trebizond to Erzerum, situated on both banks of the Churuk river, which here traverses an open cultivated plateau (altitude, 5100 ft.), before turning east. It is the chief place of a kaza under Erzerum; the bazaar is poor, and there is no special industry in the town, The houses run up the hillsides on both banks of the river to a considerable height. On an isolated mass of rock, on the left bank, is the old castle, with extensive walls partly ruined, built originally by the Armenians and restored by the Seijuks. The principal gate with some Arabic inscriptions stands at the S.W. corner. There are remains of a vaulted chamber, a Christian church, a mosque and two covered staircases to the river. A fine view is seen from the summit over the plain and the Pontic ranges to the north. The population numbers 10,000, mostly Turkish with some Armenians. The place was occupied by the Russians under General Paskevich during their invasion of 1829, and was the farthest point westward then reached by them.

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MUSH

 

The chief town of a sanjak of the same name of the Bitlis vilayet of Asiatic Turkey, and an important military station. It is situated at the mouth of a gorge in the mountains on the south side of the plain, the surrounding hills being covered with vineyards and some oak scrub. There are few good houses; the streets are ill-paved and winding, while the place and its surroundings are extremely dirty. The castle, of which there are some remains, is said to have been built by Mushig, an Armenian king of the province Daron, who founded the town. A khan, with two stone lions (Arab or Seljuk) in bas-relief, deserves notice, but the bazaar is poor, although pretty embroidered caps are produced. Good roads lead to Erzerum and Bitlis. There are 1400 (I think a zero may be missing here) inhabitants, consisting of Kurds and Armenians, about equally divided. The climate is healthy but cold in winter, with a heavy snowfall. Mush is the seat of the Gregorian and Roman Catholic Armenian bishops and some American mission schools. Some miles to the west at the edge of the plain is the celebrated monastery of Surp Garabed or St John the Baptist, an important place of Armenian pilgrimage.

 

Mush plain, 35 m. long by 12 broad, is very fertile, growing wheat and tobacco, and is dotted with many thriving Armenian villages. The Murad or eastern Euphrates traverses the western end of the plain and disappears into a narrow mountain gorge there. Vineyards are numerous and a fair wine is produced.

 

Wood is scarce and the usual fuel is tezek or dried cow-dung. There are several sulphur springs, and earthquakes are frequent and sometimes severe. It was on the plain of Mush that Xenophon first made acquaintance with Armenian houses, which have little changed since his day.

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EGIN (Armenian Agn, the spring)

 

An important town in the Mamuret el-Aziz vilayet of Asiatic Turkey (altitude 3300 ft.). Pop. about 20,000, fairly equally divided between Armenian Christians and Moslems. It is picturesquely situated in a theatre of lofty, abrupt rocks, on the right bank of the western Euphrates, which is crossed by a wooden bridge. The stone houses stand in terraced gardens and orchards, and the streets are mere rock ladders. Egin was settled by Armenians who emigrated from Van in the 11th century with Senekherim. On the 8th of November 1895 and in the summer of 1896 many Armenians were massacred here.

 

 

ARABGIR, on ARABKIR (Byz. Arabraces)

 

A town of Turkey Asia in the Mamuret el-Aziz or Kharput vilayet, situated at the confluence of the eastern and western Euphrates, but 10 miles from the right bank of the combined streams. Pop. put 20,000, of which the larger half is Mussulman. It is connected with Sivas by a chausse, prolonged to the Euphrates. Its inhabitants are enterprising and prosperous, many of them leaving their native city to push their fortunes elsewhere, while those that remain the greater part is employed in the manufacture of silk and cotton goods, or in the production of fruit. e present town was built at a comparatively recent date; about 2 m. north-east is the old town, now called Eski-Shehr, en (c. 1021) to Senekhenim of Armenia by the emperor Basil II. contains the ruins of a castle and of several Seljuk mosques. The Armenian population suffered severely during the massacres 1895.

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KHARPUT

 

The most important town in the Kharput (or Mamuret el-Aziz) vilayet of Asia Minor, situated at an altitude of 4350 ft., a few miles south of the Murad Su or Eastern Euphrates, and almost as near the source of the Tigris, on the Samsun-Sivas-Diarbekr road. Pop. about 20,000. The town is built on a hill terrace about 1000 ft. above a well-watered plain of exceptional fertility which lies to the south and supports a large population. Kharput probably stands on or near the site of Carcathiocerta in Sophene, reached by Corbulo in A.D. 65. The early Moslem geographers knew it as Hisn Ziyad, but the Armenian name was Khartabirt or Kharbirt, whence Kharput. Cedrenus (9th century) writes XdpTrore. There is a story that in 1122 Joscelin (Jocelyn) of Courtenay, and Baldwin II., king of Jerusalem, both prisoners of the Amir Balak in its castle, were murdered by being cast from its cliffs after an attempted rescue. The story is told by William of Tyre, who calls the place Quart Piert or Pierre, but it is a mere romance.

 

Kharput is an important station of the American missionaries, who have built a college, a theological seminary, and boys and girls schools. In November 1895 Kurds looted and burned the Armenian villages on the plain; and in the same month Kharput was attacked and the American schools were burned down. A large number of the Gregorian and Protestant Armenian clergy and people were massacred, and churches, monasteries and houses were looted. The vilayet Kharput was founded in 1888, being the result of a provincial rearrangement, designed to ensure better control over the disturbed districts of Kurdistan. It has much mineral wealth, a healthy climate and a fertile soil. The seat of government is Mezere, on the plain 3 m. S. of Kharput.

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More to come, later.

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KHARPUT

 

The most important town in the Kharput (or Mamuret el-Aziz) vilayet of Asia Minor, situated at an altitude of 4350 ft., a few miles south of the Murad Su or Eastern

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Carcathiocerta in Sophene, reached by Corbulo in A.D. 65. The early Moslem geographers knew it as Hisn Ziyad, but the Armenian name was Khartabirt or Kharbirt, whence Kharput.

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In Armenian it is Kharberd.

The greeks ahve called it Kjarbodeh and the Assyrians- Qordberd.

 

There are several thoughts about the origin of the name, all the way to the asinine (mine, you wills see).

The -berd part is easy, it simply means castle, fortress. The first syllable has for a long time been interpreted as "qar/stone". Another is that the town is located where once there was a village named Khar. (2nd millenium BC). However of late it has been established that in the Hurrian language "khar" means road and the castle built on that road was known as Khar-berd.

 

Here is the asinine. The fact that "khar" means ass/donkey in Farsi, was the town named "khar-berd" to man ass-castle?

 

I told you it was asinine!! :)

 

Very good topic steve?. Keep it coming.

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In Armenian it is Kharberd.

The greeks ahve called it Kjarbodeh and the Assyrians- Qordberd.

 

There are several thoughts about the origin of the name, all the way to the asinine (mine, you wills see).

 

Here is the asinine. The fact that "khar" means ass/donkey in Farsi, was the town named "khar-berd" to man ass-castle?

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Ahhh, I've heard that - and that when someone in the 1850s told the Turks that the name of their town might actually mean castle-of-the-asses they were so horrified and embarassed (since asses are considered to be unclean animals) that they demanded a new name for the new town being built in the valley - which is why it's called Elazig and not Yeni-Harput!

 

I didn't know that Egin meant spring, though. But doesn't surprise me since there is a huge, and never ceasing, cascading spring of ice-cold water that flows out of hole in the mountain at the upper edge of the town. Mmmmmmm .... sweet Kemaliye water. Almost makes their pig-ignorant police worth putting-up with.

 

 

More....

Edited November 5, 2004 by abcdefghij

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SIVAS

 

One of the largest and most important vilayets of Asia Minor, lying between 38 30 and 41 N. and 35 30 and 39 E. It is rich in mineral wealth: silver, lead, copper, iron, manganese, arsenic, alum, salt and coal; and has several hot and cold mineral springs, and large forests of fir, pine, beech and oak. The climate is good, the average elevation of the province being over 3500 ft., and the soil fertile. Wheat and barley are largely grown on the plateau, and in the lower districts there are extensive fruit orchards and vineyards. The port of the vilayet is Sainsun (q.v), whence a road runs through Amasia, Tokat, and Sivas to Kharput; but Sivas is also connected by road with the minor Black Sea ports, Unieh, Ordu and Kerasund. The rates for transport are, however, prohibitive. Angora is the nearest railway point. -

 

SIVAS (ancient Megalopolis-Sebasteia), altitude 4420 feet, is also the name of the chief town of the vilayet (and of a sanjak of the same name). It is situated in the broad valley of the Kizil Irmak, on one pf its right bank tributaries, the Murdan Su. Population is over 43,000, fully two-thirds Mussulman. The climate is healthy but severe in winter. Coarse cotton cloth and woollen socks are manufactured.

 

The medresses (colleges), built in the i3th century by the Seljuk sultans of Rum, are amongst the finest remains of Moslem art in Asia Minor. In one of them is the tomb of its founder, Izz ud-din Kai Kusl. (1210-1219). Near the town is the Armenian monastery of the Holy Cross, in which are kept the throne of Senekherim and other relics. There are several Armenian churches of interest, a flourishing American mission with church and schools, and a Jesuit mission.

 

Under Diocletian Sebasteia became the capital of Armenia Minor, and in the 7th century that of the Sebasteia Theme. Justinian rebuilt the wails and, under the Byzantine emperors, it was second only to Caesarea in size and wealth. In 1021 Senekherim, king of the Armenian province of Vaspuragan (Van), ceded his dominions to Basil II., and became the Byzantine viceroy of Sebasteia and the surrounding country. This position was held by his successors until the town fell into the hands of the Turkomans after the defeat of Romanus II. by the Seljuks (1071). After having been ruled for nearly a century by the Danishmand amirs, it was taken (1172) by the Seljuk sultan of Rum, and in 1224 was rebuilt by Sultan Ala-ed-din Kaikobad I. In 1400, when captured by Timur, the city is said to have had 100,000 inhabitants, and to have been famous for its woollen stuffs. On this occasion the bravest defenders were massacred, and 4000 Armenians were buried alive. Mahommed the Conqueror restored the citadel, and the place has ever since been an important Ottoman provincial capital.

 

Early in the 19th century, like all other Ottoman towns, it was terrorized by janissaries, with whom Mahmud II commissioned the great Dere Bey of Yuzgat, Chapan Oglu, to deal in 1818. The news of his drastic success provoked a dangerous riot in Stambul, which postponed by some years the final tragedy of the janissaries. From 1880 to 1882 Sivas was the residence of the British military consulgeneral for Asia Minor; but it has now only an American viceconsulate.

 

Mechithar, the founder of the Mechitharists (q.v.) and of the famous monastery at Venice, was born (1676) at Sivas.

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MECHITHARISTS

 

A congregation of Armenian monks in communion with the Church of Rome. The founder, Mechithar, was born at Sebaste in Armenia, 1676. He entered a monastery, but under the influence of Western missionaries he became possessed with the idea of propagating Western ideas and culture in Armenia, and of converting the Armenian Church from its monophysitism and uniting it to the Latin Church. Mechithar set out for Rome in 1695 to make his ecclesiastical studies there, but he was compelled by illness to abandon the journey and return to Armenia. In 1696 he was ordained priest and for four years worked among his people. In 1700 he went to Constantinople and began to gather disciples around him. Mechithar formally joined the Latin Church, and in 1701, with sixteen companions, he formed a definitely religious institute of which he became the superior. Their Uniat (NB: scan is messed up here - I think that is the word) propaganda encountered the opposition of the Armenians and they were compelled to move to the Morea, at that time Venetian territory, and there built a monastery, 1706. On the outbreak of hostilities between the Turks and Venetians they migrated to Venice, and the island of St Lazzaro was bestowed on them, 1717. This has since been the headquarters of the congregation, and here Mechithar died in 1749, leaving his institute firmly established. The rule followed at first was that attributed to St Anthony; but when they settled in the West modifications from the Benedictine rule were introduced, and the Mechitharists are numbered among the lesser orders affiliated to the Benedictines. They have ever been faithful to their founders programme. Their work has been fourfold:

(1) they have brought out editions of important patristic works, some Armenian, others translated into Armenian from Greek and Syriac originals no longer extant;

(2) they print and circulate Armenian literature among the Armenians, and thereby exercise a powerful educational influence;

(3) they carry on schools both in Europe and Asia, in which Uniat Armenian boys receive a good secondary education;

(4) they work as Uniat missioners in Armenia. The congregation is divided into two branches, the head houses being at St Lazzaro and Vienna. They have fifteen. establishments in various places in Asia Minor and Europe. There are some 150 monks, all Armenians; they use the Armenian language and rite in. the liturgy.

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KARA-HISSAR SHARKI (Eastern Kara-Hissar)

 

Also called Shabin Kara-Hissar from the alum mines in its vicinity, the chief town of a sanjak of the same name in the Sivas vilayet of Asia Minor. Population is about 12,000, two-thirds Mussulman. It is the Roman Colonia, which gradually superseded Pompeys foundation, Nicopolis, whose ruins lie at Purkh about 12 miles W. (hence Kara-Hissar is called Nikopoli by the Armenians). In later Byzantine times it was an important frontier station, and did not pass into Ottoman hands till twelve years after the capture of Constantinople.

 

The town, altitude 4860 ft., is built round the foot of a lofty rock, upon which stand the ruins of the Byzantine castle, Maurocastron, the Kara Hissar Daula of early Moslem chroniclers. It is connected with its port, Kerasund, and with Sivas, Erzingan and Erzerum, by carriage roads.

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TOKAT (Armenian Evtoghia, ancient Dazimon)

 

The chief town of a sanjak of the same name in the Sivas vilayet of Asia Minor. It is situated in the Sivas-Samsun chausee, altitude 2280 feet, at the mouth of a rocky glen which opens out to the broad valley of the Tozanli Su, a tributary of the Yeshil Irmak.

 

It rose to importance under the Seljuks. Population is about 30,000, two-thirds Mussulman. The industries are the manufacture of copper utensils and yellow leather, and the stamping of colours on white Manchester cotton. Near Tokat copper pyrites, with iron and manganese, kaolin and coal are found; but most of the copper worked here comes from the mines of Keban Maden and Arghana Maden, on the upper Euphrates and Tigris.

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SAMSUN (ancient Amisus)

 

The chief town of the Janik sanjak of the Trebizond vilayet of Asiatic Turkey, situated on the S. coast of the Black Sea between the deltas of the Kizil and Yeshil Irmaks. Population is about 15,000, two-thirds Christian.

 

It is connected by metalled roads with Sivas and Kaisarieh, and by sea with Constantinople. It is a thriving town, and the outlet for the trade of the Sivas vilayet. Steamers lie about 1 mile from the shore in an open roadstead, and in winter landing is sometimes impossible.

 

Its district is one of the principal sources of Turkish tobacco, a whole variety of which is known as "Samsun". Samsun exports cereals, tobacco and wool. Both exports and imports are about stationary, the Angora -railway having neutralised any tendency to rise.

 

Amisus, which stood on a promontory about 15 m. N.W. of Samsun, was, next to Sinope, the most flourishing of the Greek settlements on the Euxine, and under the kings of Pontus it was a rich trading town. By the 1st century A.D. it had displaced Sinope as the N. port of the great trade route from Central Asia, and later it was one of the chief towns of the Comneni of Trebizond. There are still a few remains of the Greek settlement.

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TREBIZOND (Gr. Trapezus)

 

A city of Asia Minor, situated on the Black Sea, near its south-eastern angle. From the time of its foundation as a Greek colony to the present day it has always been a considerable emporium of commerce, and it was for two centuries and a half the capital of an empire. Its importance is due to its command of the point where the chief trade route from Persia and Central Asia to Europe, over the table-land of Armenia by Bayezid and Erzerum, descends to the sea. Its safety also was secured by the barrier of rugged mountains (7000 to 8000 ft.) which separates its district from the rest of Asia Minor. So complete is the watershed that no streams pass through these ranges, and there is hardly any communication in this direction between the interior of Asia Minor and the coast. For the same reason, together with its northern aspect, the climate is humid and temperate, unlike that of the inland regions, which are exposed to great extremes of heat in summer and cold in winter.

 

The position which was occupied by the Hellenic and medieval city is a sloping table of ground (whence the original name of the place, Trapezus, the Table-land), which falls in steep rocky precipices on the two sides, where two deep valleys, descending from the interior, run parallel at no great distance from one another down to the sea. The whole is still enclosed by the Byzantine walls, which follow the line of the cliffs and are carried along the sea-face; and the upper part of the level, which is separated from the lower by an inner cross wall, forms the castle; while at the highest point, where a sort of neck is formed between the two valleys, is the keep which crowns the whole. On each side, about half-way between the keep and the sea, these ravines are crossed by massive bridges, and on the farther side of the westernmost of these, away from the city, a large tower and other fortifications remain.

 

The area of the ancient city is now called the Kaleh, and is inhabited by the Turks; eastward of this is the extensive Christian quarter, and beyond this again a low promontory juts northward into the sea, partly covered with the houses of a well-built suburb, which is the principal centre of commerce.

 

The harbour lies on the eastern side of this promontory, but it is an unsafe roadstead, being unprotected towards the north-east and having been much silted up, so that vessels cannot approach within a considerable distance of the shore. From here the caravans start for Persia, and at certain periods of the year long trains of camels may be seen, and Persian merchants conspicuous by their high black caps and long robes. The route which these caravans follow is a chaussee as far as Erzerum, but this in places is too much broken to admit of the transit of wheeled vehicles. The railway by Batoum to Baku by way of Tiflis has tended greatly to turn the channel of commerce from Trebizond into Russian territory, since it helps to open the route to Erivan, Tabriz and the whole of Persia.

 

The total population of the place amounts to about 40,000, of whom 22,000 are Moslems and 18,000 Christians. Great Britain and all the larger European states have consulates there.

 

The vilayet, of which Trebizond is the chief town, consists of a long irregular strip of coast country, the eastern half of which is deeply indented and mountainous.

 

History: the city of Trapezus was a colony of Sinope, but it first comes into notice at the time of the Retreat of the Ten Thousand, who found repose there. Notwithstanding its commercial importance, the remoteness of its position prevented it from being much known to fame either in the Hellenic or the early medieval period; its greatness dates from the time of the fourth crusade (1204), when the Byzantine Empire was dismembered and its capital occupied by the Latins. During the confusion that followed that event Alexius Comnenus escaped into Asia, and, having collected an army of Iberian mercenaries, entered Trebizond, where he was acknowledged as the legitimate sovereign, and assumed the title of Grand Comnenus. Though only twenty-two years of age, Alexius was a man of ability and resolute will, and he succeeded without difficulty in making himself master of the greater part of the southern coast of the Black Sea. The empire thus founded continued to exist until 1461, when the city was taken by Mahommed II.

 

The cause of this long duration, and at the same time the secret of its history, is to be found in the isolated position of Trebizond and its district, between the mountains and the sea, which has already been described. By this means it was able to defy both the Seljuks and the Ottomans, and to maintain its independence against the emperors of Nicaea and Constantinople. But for the same reason its policy was always narrow, so that it never exercised any beneficial influence on the world at large. It was chiefly in the way of matrimonial alliances that it was brought into contact with other states. The imperial family were renowned for their beauty, and the princesses of this race were sought as brides by Byzantine emperors of the dynasty of the Palaeologi, by Western nobles, and by Mahommedan princes; and the connections thus formed originated a variety of diplomatic relations and friendly or offensive alliances.

 

The palace of Trebizond was famed for its magnificence, the court for its luxury and elaborate ceremonial, while at the same time it was frequently a hotbed of intrigue and immorality. The Grand Comneni were also patrons of art and learning, and in consequence of this Trebizond was resorted to by many eminent men, by whose agency the library of the palace was provided with valuable manuscripts and the city was adorned with splendid buildings. The writers of the time speak with enthusiasm of its lofty towers, of the churches and monasteries in the suburbs, and especially of the gardens, orchards and olive groves. It excited the admiration of Gonzales Clavijo, the Spanish envoy, when he passed through it on his way to visit the court of Timur at Samarkand (Clavijo, Historia del grail Tamorlan, p. 84); and Cardinal Bessarion, who was a native of the place, in the latter part of his life, when the city had passed into the hands of the Mahommedans, and he was himself a dignitary of the Roman Church, so little forgot the impression it had made upon him that he wrote a work entitled The Praise of Trebizond, which exists in manuscript at Venice.

 

Little was known of the history of the empire of Trebizond until the subject was taken in hand by Professor Fallmerayer of Munich, who discovered the chronicle of Michael Panaretus among the books of Cardinal Bessarion, and from that work, and other sources of information which were chiefly unknown up to that time, compiled his Gcschichte des Kaiserthums von Trapezunt (Munich, 1827).

 

From time to time the emperors of Trebizond paid tribute to the Seljuk sultans of Iconium, to the grand khans of the Mongols, to Timur the Tatar, to the Turkoman chieftains, and to the Ottomans; but by means of skilful negotiations they were enabled practically to secure their independence. We find them also at war with many of these powers, and with the Genoese, who endeavoured to monopolise the commerce of the Black Sea.

 

The city was several times besieged, the most formidable attack being that which occurred in the reign of Andronicus I, the second emperor, when the Seljuks, under the command of Melik, the son of the great sultan Ala-ed-din, first assaulted the northern wall in the direction of the sea, and afterwards endeavoured to storm the upper citadel by night. They failed, however, in both attempts; and in the latter, owing to the darkness, and to the occurrence of a violent storm which suddenly swelled the torrents in the ravines, their force was thrown into inextricable confusion, and they were compelled to abandon their camp and make the best of their escape from the country. So great was the strength of the fortifications that Mahommed II. might have experienced much difficulty in reducing it, had it not been. for the pusillanimous conduct of David, the last emperor, who surrendered the place almost unconditionally.

 

Ancient Memorials:

 

Several interesting monuments of this period remain at Trebizond in the form of churches in the Byzantine style of architecture. One of these is within the area of the old city, viz, the church of the Panaghia Chrysokephalos, or Virgin of the Golden Head, a large and massive but excessively plain building, which is now the Orta-hissar mosque. On the farther side of the eastern ravine stands a smaller but very well proportioned structure, the church of St Eugenius, the patron saint of Trebizond, now the Yeni Djuma djami, or New Friday mosque. Still more important is the church of Haghia Sophia, which occupies a conspicuous position overlooking the sea, about 2 miles west of the city. The porches of this are handsomely ornamented, and about 100 ft. from it rises a tall campanile, the inner walls of which have been covered in parts with frescoes of religious subjects, though these are now much defaced.

 

But the most remarkable memorial of the middle ages that exists in all this district is the monastery of Sumelas, which is situated about 25 miles from Trebizond, at the side of a rocky glen, at a height of 4000 ft. above the sea. Its position is most extraordinary, for it occupies a cavern in the middle of the face of a perpendicular cliff 1000 ft. high, where the white buildings offer a marked contrast to the brown rock which forms their setting. It is approached by a zigzag path at the side of the cliff, from which a flight of stone steps and a wooden staircase give access to the monastery. The valley below is filled with the richest vegetation, the undergrowth being largely composed of azaleas and rhododendrons. An. antiquity of 1500 years is claimed for the foundation of the monastery, but it is certain that the first person who raised it to importance was the emperor Alexius Comnenus III of Trebizond; he rebuilt it in 1360, and richly endowed it. The golden bull of that emperor, which became thenceforth the charter of its foundation, is still preserved; it is one of the finest specimens of such documents, and contains portraits of Alexius himself and his queen. The monastery also possesses the firman of Mahommed II by which he accorded his protection to the monks when he became master of the country.

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SIS (ancient Sision or Siskia, later Fiaviopolis or Flavias)

 

The chief town of the Khozan sanjak of the Adana vilayet of Asiatic Turkey, situated on the left bank of the Kirkgen Su, a tributary of the Jibun (Pyramus) and at the south end of a group of passes leading from the Anti-Taurus valleys to the Cilician plain and Adana. It was besieged by the Arabs in 704 but relieved by the Byzantines. The Caliph, Motawakkil took it and refortified it; but it soon returned to Byzantine hands. It was rebuilt in 1186 by Leo II., king of Lesser Armenia, who made it his capital. In 1374 it was taken and demolished by the sultan of Egypt, and it has never recovered its prosperity. It is now only a big village of some 3000 inhabitants.

 

It has had, however, a great place in Armenian ecclesiastical history from the times of St Gregory the Illuminator to our own. Gregory himself was there consecrated the first Catholicus in A.D. 267, but transferred his see to Vagarshabad (Echmiadzin, Etchmiadzin), whence, after the fall of the Arsacids, it passed to Tovin. After the constitution of the kingdom of Lesser Armenia, the catholicate returned to Sis (1294), the capital, and remained there 150 years. In 1441, Sis having fallen from its high estate, the Armenian clergy proposed to remove the see, and on the refusal of the actual Catholicus, Gregory IX., installed a rival at Echmiadzin, who, as soon as Selim I. had conquered Greater Armenia, became the more widely accepted of the two by the Armenian church in the Ottoman empire. The Catholicus of Sis maintained himself nevertheless, and was supported in his pretensions by the Porte up to the middle of the 19th century, when the patriarch Nerses, declaring finally for Echmiadzin, carried the government with him.

 

In 1885 Sis tried to declare Echmiadzin schismatic, and in 1895 its clergy took it on themselves to elect a Catholicus without reference to the patriarch; but the Porte annulled the election, and only allowed it six years later on Sis renouncing its pretensions to independence. The present Catholicus has the right to prepare the sacred myron (oil) and to preside over a synod, but is in fact not more than a metropolitan, and regarded by many Armenians as schismatic. The lofty castle and the monastery and church built by Leo II, and containing the coronation chair of the kings of Lesser Armenia, are interesting.

[Arpa]

I didn't know that Egin meant spring, though. But doesn't surprise me since there is a huge, and never ceasing, cascading spring of ice-cold water that flows out of hole in the mountain at the upper edge of the town. Mmmmmmm .... sweet Kemaliye water. Almost makes their pig-ignorant police worth putting-up with.

More....

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Egin is the turkified variant of the original Armenian Akn/Agn. This phenomenon is common where the Armenian A (as in aha) is bent to sound like E as in bed..

Most likely named such after the Aknaghbyur (curiously another redundant name as ag/akn means spring and so does aghbyur) river through it.

The village of Akn, besides being famous for its delicious and abundant water is also famous for producing many Armenian celebrities, the likes of Arpiarian, Metsarents, Siamanto, Chobanian, Minas Cheraz and Galenterian, even though K Zohrab was born in Polis his parents were from Akn. It is surprising that the Turks did not translate the name as they did in the case of Byurakn to Bingoel and Sev Berd into Kara Hissar, as the latter means black fortress in both languages and the former- one thousand springs, even if they translated spring into lake. The reason for that is that all those volcanic springs form their own lakes before flowing down. Not to forget the modern Armenian town of Byurakan where the famous observatory is located, here also the town is named for its many springs.

 

As to the meaning of agn/akn/ag/ak go to Language.

Edited November 6, 2004 by Arpa

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Egin is the turkified variant of the original Armenian Akn/Agn. This phenomenon is common where the Armenian A (as in aha) is bent to sound like E as in bed..

Most likely named such after the Aknaghbyur (curiously another redundant name as ag/akn means spring and so does aghbyur)  river through it.

The village of Akn, besides being famous for its delicious and abundant water is also famous for producing many Armenian celebrities, the likes of  Arpiarian, Metsarents, Siamanto, Chobanian, Minas Cheraz and Galenterian, even though K Zohrab was born in Polis his parents were from Akn.

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I'll post a picture of the Egin "akn", as soon as I get my scanner to work - scsi card is playing up.

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ERIVAN

 

A government of Russia, Transcaucasia, having the province of Kars on the W., the government of Tiflis on the N., that of Elisavetpol on the N. and E., and Persia and Turkish Armenia on the S. It occupies the top of an immense plateau (6000-8000 ft.). Continuous chains of mountains are met with only on its borders, and in the E., but the whole surface is thickly set with short ridges and isolated mountains of volcanic origin, of which Alagoz (14,440 ft.) and Ararat (16,925 ft.) are the most conspicuous and the most important. Both must have been active in Tertiary times.

 

Lake Gokcha (540 sq. miles) is encircled by such volcanoes, and the neighbourhood of Alexandropol is a volcanic amphitheatre, being entirely buried under volcanic deposits. The same is true of the slopes leading down to the river Aras; and the valley of the upper Aras is a stony desert, watered only by irrigation, which is carried on with great difficulty owing to the character of the soil.

 

The government is drained by the Aras, which forms the boundary with Persia and flows with great velocity down its stony bed; the fall being 17 to 22 feet per mile in its upper course, and 9 feet at Ordubad, where it quits the government, while lower down it again increases to 23 feet.

 

Many of the small lakes, filling volcanic craters, are of great depth. Timber is very scarce. A variety of useful minerals exists, but only rock-salt is obtained, at Nakhichevan and Kulp. The climate is extremely varied, the following being the average temperatures and mean annual rainfall at Alexandropol (alt. 5078 ft.) and Aralykh (2755 ft.) respectively: year 42, January 12, July 65, mean rainfall I6~2 in..; and year 53, January 20.5, July 79, rainfall 6-3 in. The population numbered 829,578 in 1897 (only 375,086 women), of whom 82,278 lived in the towns. An estimate in 1906 gave a total of 909,100. They consist chiefly of Armenians (441,000), Tatars (40%), Kurds (49,389), with Russians, Greeks and Tates. Most of the Armenians belong to the Gregorian (Christian) Church, and only 4020 to the Armenian Catholic Church. The Tatars are mostly Shiite Mussulmans, only 27,596 being Sunnites; 7772 belong to the peculiar faith of the Yezids.

 

While barley only can be grown on the high parts of the plateau, cotton, mulberry, vines and all sorts of fruit are cultivated in the valley of the Aras. Cattle-breeding is extensively carried on; camels also are bred, and leeches are collected out of the swamps and exported to Persia. Industry is in its infancy, but cottons, carpets, and felt goods are made in the villages. A considerable trade is carried on with Persia, but trade with Asia Minor is declining. The government is divided into seven districts: Erivan, Alexandropol, Echmiadzin (chief town: Vagarshapat), Nakhichevan, Novobayazet, Surmali (chief town: Igdyr), and Sharur-daralagoz (chief town: Norashen). The principal towns are Erivan (see below), Alexandropol (32,018 inhabitants in 1897), Novobayazet (8507), Nakhichevan (8845), and Vagarshapat (3400).

 

ERIVAN, or IRWAN, in Persian, Rewan

 

A town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, situated in 40 14 N., 44 38 E., 234 m. by rail S.S.W. of Tiflis, on the Zanga river from which a great number of irrigation canals are drawn. Altitude, 3170 ft. Population (1873) 11,938; (1897) 29,033. The old Persian portion of the town consists mainly of narrow crooked lanes enclosed by mud walls, which effectually conceal the houses, and the modern Russian portion is laid out in long ill-paved streets. On a steep rock, rising about 600 feet above the river, stand the ruins of the 16th-century Turkish fortress, containing part of the palace of the former Persian governors, a handsome but greatly dilapidated mosque, a modern Greek church and a cannon foundry. One chamber, called the Hall of the Sardar, bears witness to former splendour in its decorations. The finest building in the city is the mosque of Hussein Au Khan, familiarly known as the Blue Mosque from the color of the enamelled tiles with which it is richly encased. At the mosque of Zal Khan a passion play is performed yearly illustrative of the assassination of Hussein, the son of Ali. Erivan is an Armenian episcopal see, and has a theological seminary.

 

The only manufactures are a little cotton cloth, leather, earthenware and blacksmiths work. The fruits of the district are noted for their excellence especially the grapes, apples, apricots and melons.

 

Armenians, Persians and Tatars are the principal elements in the population, besides some Russians and Greeks.

 

The town fell into the power of the Turks in 1582, was taken by the Persians under Shah Abbas in 1604, besieged by the Turks for four months in 1615, and reconquered by the Persians under Nadir Shah in the 18th century. In 1780 it was successfully defended against Heraclius, prince of Georgia; and in 1804 it resisted the Russians. At length in 1827 Paskevich took the fortress by storm and in the following year the town and government were ceded to Russia by the peace of Turkman-chai. A Tatar poem in celebration of the event has been preserved by the Austrian poet, Bodenstedt, in his Tausend und em Tage im Orient (1850).

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ECHMIADZIN, or ITSMIADSIN

 

A monastery of Russian Transcaucasia, in the government of Erivan, the seat of the Catholicus or primate of the Armenian Church. It is situated close to the village of Vagarshapat, in the plain of the Aras, 2840 feet above the sea, 12 miles W. of Erivan and 40 N. of Mount Ararat. The monastery comprises a pretty extensive complex of buildings, and is surrounded by brick walls 30 ft. high, which with their loopholes and towers present the appearance of a fortress. Its architectural character has been considerably impaired by additions and alterations in modern Russian style.

 

On the western side of the quadrangle is the residence of the primate, on the south the refectory (1730-1735), on the east the lodgings for the monks, and on the north the cells. The cathedral is a small but fine cruciform building with a Byzantine cupola at the intersection. Its foundation is ascribed to St Gregory the Illuminator in 302. Of special interest is the porch, built of red porphyry, and profusely adorned with sculptured designs somewhat of a Gothic character. The interior is decorated with Persian frescoes of flowers, birds and scroll-work. It is here that the Catholicus confers episcopal consecration by the sacred hand (relic) of St Gregory; and here, every seven years he prepares with great solemnity the holy oil which is to be used throughout the churches of the Armenian communion.

 

Outside of the main entrance are the alabaster tombs of the primates Alexander I., Alexander II., Daniel (1806) and Narses (1857), and a white marble monument, erected by the English East India Company to mark the resting-place of Sir John Macdonald Kinneir, who died at Tabriz in 1830, while on an embassy to the Persian court.

 

The library of the monastery is a rich storehouse of Armenian literature (see Brosset’s Catalogue de la bibliothque d’Etchmiadzin, St Petersburg, 1840). Among the more remarkable manuscripts are a copy of the gospels dating from the 10th or 11th century, and three bibles of the 13th century. A type-foundry, a printing-press and a bookbinding establishment are maintained by the monks who supply religious and educational works for their co-religionists.

 

To the east of the monastery is a modern college and seminary, Half a mile to the east stand the churches of St Ripsime and St Gaiana, two of the early martyrs of Armenian Christianity; the latter is the burial-place of those primates who are not deemed worthy of interment beside the cathedral. From a distance the three churches form a fairly striking group, and accordingly the Turkish name for Echmiadzin is Uch-Kilissi, or the Three Churches.

 

The town of Vagarshapat dates from the 6th century B.C.; it takes its name from King Vagarsh (Vologaeses), who in the 2nd century A.D. chose it as his residence and surrounded it with walls. Here the apostle of Armenia, St Gregory the Illuminator, erected a church in 309 and with it the primacy was associated. In 344 Vagarshapat ceased to be the Armenian capital, and in the 5th century the patriarchal seat was removed to Dvin, and then to Ani. The monastery was founded by Narses II., who ruled 524-533; and a restoration was effected in 618. The present name of the monastery was adopted instead of Vagarshapat in the 10th century. At length in 1441 the primate George brought back the see to the original site.

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DIARBEKR (Kara Amid or Black Amid; the Roman Amida)

 

The chief town of a vilayet of Asiatic Turkey, situated on a basaltic plateau on the right bank of the Tigris, which here flows in a deep open valley. The town is still surrounded by the masonry walls of black basalt which give it the name of Kara or Black Amid; they are well-built and imposing on the west facing the open country, but almost in ruins where they overlook the river. A mass of gardens and orchards cover the slope down to the river on the S.W., but there are no suburbs outside the walls. The houses are rather crowded but only partially fill the walled area. The population numbers 38,000, nearly half being Christian, comprising Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Turkomans, Armenians, Chaldeans, Jacobites and a few Greeks. The streets are 10 feet to 15 feet wide, badly paved and dirty; the houses and shops are low, mostly of stone, and some of stone and mud. The bazaar is a good one, and gold and silver filigree work is made, peculiar in character and design. The cotton industry is declining, but manufacture of silk is increasing. Fruit is good and abundant as the rich volcanic soil is well watered from the town springs. The size of the melons is specially famous.

 

To the south, the walls are some 40 feet high, faced with large cut stone blocks of very solid construction, with towers and square bastions rising to 500 ft. There are four gates: on the north the Kharput gate, on the west the Rum, on the south the Mardin, and on the east the Yeni Kapu or new gate. A citadel enclosure stands at the N. E. corner and is now partly in ruins, but the interior space is occupied by the government konak.

 

The summer climate in the confined space within the town is excessively hot and unhealthy. Epidemics of typhus are not unknown, as well as ophthalmia. The Diarbekr boil is like the Aleppo button, lasting a long time and leaving a deep scar. Winters are frequently severe but do not last long. Snow sometimes lies, and ice is stored for summer use. Scorpions noted for the virulence of their poison abound as well as horse leeches in the tanks. The town is supplied with water both by springs inside the town and by aqueducts from fountains at Ali Punar and Ham ervat. The principal exports are wool, mohair and copper ore, and imports are cotton and woollen goods, indigo, coffee, sugar, petroleum, &c.

 

The Great Mosque, Ulu Jami, formerly a Christian church, occupies the site of a Sassanian palace and was built with materials from an older palace, probably that of Tigranes II. The remains consist of the facades of two palaces, 400 feet apart, each formed by a row of Corinthian columns surmounted by an equal number of a Byzantine type. Kufic inscriptions run across the fronts under the entablature. The court of the mosque is entered by a gateway on which lions and other animals are sculptured. The churches of greatest interest are those of SS. Cosmas and Damian (Jacobite) and the church of St James (Greek).

 

In the 19th century Diarbekr was one of the largest and most flourishing cities of Asia, and as a commercial centre it now stands at the meeting-point of several important routes. It is at the bead of the navigation of the Tigris, which is traversed down stream by keleks or rafts supported by inflated skins. There is a good road to Aleppo and Alexandretta on the Mediterranean and to Samsun on the Black Sea by Kharput, Malatia and Sivas. There are also routes to Mosul and Bitlis.

 

Diarbekr became a Roman colony in A.D. 230 under the name of Amida, and received a Christian bishop in A.D. 325. It was enlarged and strengthened by Constantius II, in whose reign it was taken after a long siege by Shapur (Sapor) II, king of Persia. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who took part in the defence, gives a detailed account of it. In the later wars between the Persians and Romans it more than once changed hands. Though ceded by Jovian to the Persians it again became annexed to the Roman Empire, and in the reign of Anastasius (A.D. 502) was once more taken by the Persians, when 80,000 of its inhabitants were slain. It was taken c. 638 by the Arabs, and afterwards passed into the hands of the Seljuks and Persians, from whom it was finally captured by Selim I. in 1515; and since that date it has remained under Ottoman rule. About 2 miles below the town is a masonry bridge over the Tigris; the older portion being probably Roman, and the western part, which bears a Kufic inscription, being Arab.

 

The vilayet of Diarbekr extends south from Palu on the Euphrates to Mardin and Nisibin on the edge of the Mesopotamian plain, and is divided into three sanjaks: Arghana, Diarbekr and Mardin. The headwaters of the main arm of the Tigris have their source in the vilayet.

 

Cereals, cotton, tobacco, rice and silk are produced, but most of the fertile lands have been abandoned to semi-nomads, who raise large quantities of live stock. The richest portion of the vilayet lies east of the capital in the rolling plains watered by tributaries of the Tigris. An exceptionally rich copper mine exists at Arghana Maden, but it is very imperfectly worked; galena mineral oil and silicious sand are also found.

[Arpa]

The Great Mosque, Ulu Jami, formerly a Christian church, occupies the site of a Sassanian palace and was built with materials from an older palace, probably that of Tigranes II. The remains consist of the facades of two palaces, 400 feet apart, each formed by a row of Corinthian columns surmounted by an equal number of a Byzantine type. Kufic inscriptions run across the fronts under the entablature. The court of the mosque is entered by a gateway on which lions and other animals are sculptured. The churches of greatest interest are those of SS. Cosmas and Damian (Jacobite) and the church of St James (Greek).

Tigris have their source in the vilayet.

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My Britannica which is much more recent than the above does have the monograph very similar, particularly the above paragraph is verbatim.

Note the highlight above.

It lends to a slight misconception. I say "slight" for a reason. Reading the above one would get the impression that Diayarbakir and Tigranakert are the same. There is a sizable diasporan community that idetify themselves as Dikrangerdtsi/Tigranakert-tsi and leave the impression that they are in fact from Tigranakert. Amid and Tigranakert were never the same. However there may be a valid reason why they do that. When Tigranakert (built by Tigran the Great) was finally destroyed many of its inhabitants were absorbed into the region of Diyarbakir, they not only brought the name with them they also continued to speak with the distinct dialect of Tigranakert. Many still do. The reason why I said "slight" misconception.

There is very little about Tigranakert except that it was located several tens of miles NW of Diyarbakir, best estimation is that it may have been where the Turkish town of Silvan is now. In fact it is said that several years ago the ruins could still be seen there. Before Tigran had his capital city built the place was known as the Town of Np(h)rkert, or Nrp(h)rkert.

Who and what is Np(h)r? Nephertiti?

Sme time ago a forumer had advanced the question if Antioch was not also a capital of Armenia (see the thread of "Mayraqaghaq" ) That impression arises from the fact that during the height of his conquest Tigran II was stationed at Antioch and he considered to make it his royal seat but decided agianst it considering the distance from the heart of Armenia.