First of all I apologize for my really bad english.
It will be easier for me to write in french but Mr Milhomme is probably not able to read it although he has a french name (Acadian descent ?).
I think there’s some bad informations about the Alma Sakaïan’s native birthplace.
- Kulp is in the west of Sasun mountains, South of former Baghesh/Bitlis Vilayet, far from Kharpert/Harpout/Elazig
- I didn’t found a former armenian village near Kulp which had a name that really looks like to Argun.
I don’t understand who is the ‘author’ who wrote that Arghana is Alma’s birthplace in 1976. What kind informations he had? Is it only because Ergani the modern kemalist turkish name looks like to Argun?
Where is Arghana ? There’s was two towns called Arghana and Arghana-Madèn in the late period of the ottoman empire in the vilayet of Dyarbekir both in the same valley in the sandjak of Arghana-Madèn in the the caza of Arghana-Madèn to be more precise. In 1914 there’s was still 38 640 armenians in this sandjak, northwest to the vilayet, in 50 towns and villages and they had 53 churches and 5 monasteries.
Arghana was a fortress that gave its name to the town of Arghana built later, next to this stronghold on the main road from Kharpert to Amid/Dyarbékir. In 1914 it had 7150 inhabitants of whom 3100 were Armenians according to the census made by the armenian church in 1913/1914 and displayed in Kevorkian and Paboudjian’s book. There was two armenian churches in Arghana, Saint-Serge and Saint-Sauveur and a monastery Sainte-Mère-de-Dieu [Holy mother of God] Partsrahayéats (built in 1433) close to the fortress. The Kemalist turkish name is Ergani. The ottoman name was Arghana from the armenian original name Arghni. Hewsen (AAHA , p 314) gives two modern (and maybe dialectal) armenian names Arhni and Arzni also given by Kevorkian. The town of Arghni was already existing during the fifth century A.D.
Arghana-Madèn was a new-town built at the end of the seventeenth century by armenian refugees from the surrounding villages on the right side of the river Arghana/Tigris. There’s was 3 300 armenians inhabitants in the town in 1914, two churches, Saint-Serge and Notre-Dame, and two schools. Today the name has been reduced to ‘Maden’ that is a turkish suffix I guess. I have no skill in turkish, but it seems that "Maden" means mines in turkish.
http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/letters/l894.htm
Not far from there on the right side of the Keban was Keban-Madèn at the otttoman time where there was mines too.
All the figures and facts above are from LADLEOALVDG p 403,404
There’s another place in the former vilayet of Kharpert in the caza of Keban(-madèn) which has a name that looks like to Argun. The modern turkish name is Arguvan and it’s not in Armenia proper because it’s further to the west than the Eufrates river. In 1914 Arguvan had 400 armenian inhabitants with 80 families, a church, a school with 70 pupils and was an isolated armenian settlement in this area, the closest was Keban. (LADLEOALVDG, p 375)
This village, a former town called Argaoun, was a stronghold of the Paulician sect, mainly made up with Armenians, during the ninth century A.D. like Thephrike/Devrig which had still 4 000 armenians inhabitants in 1914 that is to say a third of the town’s population (ASSALA, 81-110)
You can find Arguvan on this map north to Malatya/Melitene and west to Keban
http://www.adiyamanli.org/MapofTurkey/c6.htm
To conclude I’m not sure that Ergani/Arghana/ Arghni could be Argun for three reasons at least :
1) Ergani is a turkish name. Many names has been changed after the genocide to give them a turkish look. A famous case is Aght’amar place of an armenian Katholikosate prior to 1915 on an island of the Van’s lake which is now « Akdamar » that has a turkish signification I has forgotten. What is the the meaning of « Ergani » in turkish ? I don’t know but I don’t think that Alma Sakaïan could mispronounced the armenian name of her birthplace (gh has to be pronounced ‘rrr’ in armenian language)
2) Arghana was not a village but a small-town.
3) Arghana was in the vilayet of Dyarbekir, not in in the vilayet of Kharpert although the distance beetween Kharpert/Elazig and Arguvan is not shorter than the distance between Kharpert and Arghana.
So are you sure that Arghana is Alma Sakaïan’s birthplace ? Who gives you the names of Arghana and Argun ? Which one had been given or written by Alma Sakaïan herself ?
The books I used to carry out my « research » :
- Armenia, an historical atlas (AAHA) – Robert H. Hewsen – University of Chicago press – 2001
- Les Arméniens dans l'Empire ottoman à la veille du génocide (LADLEOALVDG) – Raymond H. Kévorkian, Paul P. Paboudjian – Editions d’Art et d’histoire, Arhis - 1992
- Armenian Sebastia/Sivas and Lesser Armenia – Edited by Richard G. Hovannisian – Mazda publishers - 2004
