Mountainous Dersim Map of Dersim; author: Major Louis Edmund Harington Molyneux-Seel (Former British Vice Consul, Van, Turkey, died on 6 January 1915 in Belgium); source: Molyneux-Seel, Louis Edmund Harington: “A Journey in Dersim”, Geographical Journal, 44/1 (1914), pp. 49-68. “The Dersim is a rather indefinitely defined region lying in the north from Harput, between the east and west branches of the Euphrates River. It does not include all of that area, but that part of it that is inhabited solely by Kurds in their native mountain districts. The plain around Erzingian [Erzincan], the Armenian region about Chemishgezek [Çemişgezek], and the somewhat more [...]
Archives: Regions
Our CPT for the regions
Kaza Tepürke / Pötürge / Pütürge / Փութուրկե (Շիրո) – P’ut’urke (Shiro)
Toponym and administration Since the Syriac Saint Bar Savmo Monastery was the center “where the cross was carried”, it is assumed that Kurds named it ‘Pütür gah’ (‘the place of the Cross’). Previously, it has also been known as Shiro (1710), but in 1917 Pütürge / Pûtürge became the official name of the mountain administrative district, which was established in 1877, with the town of Imrum as its administrative seat.[1] Population According to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, there lived 679 Armenians in the village of Vartenik on the eve of the First World War. They maintained a church and a school for 120 [...]
Kaza Keban Maden – Կապան Մադեն
Keban / Kapan Maden at the Maden River (Аuthor: Klaus-Peter Simon, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35897990) Toponym In Armenian, Kapan Maden literally means ‘mountain pass’ (kapan – ‘passage’), whereas in Turkish ‘maden’ means ‘mine’, relating to the silver, zinc, copper, lead, coal and other mines of that region. The place is also mentioned as Kapan, or Kepan-Maden versions. It is usually identified with the ancient city of Lusatarich, which was also called Lustarich or Lusavorich (‘illuminator’). Other varieties of the toponym are Kapan madan, Kapan-maten, Kapan-meten, Keban, Keban-maden, K’epan-maden, or Kepan-maten. An Ancient Mining Region Kapan Maden has significant reserves of silver, copper, lead, coal, which have been [...]
Kaza Akn – Ակն / Agn / Ağın / Eğin / Kemaliye
Ecumenical Genocide Memorial, Berlin: Commemorative Plate for Akn Toponym The name Akn (Western Armenian Agn) probably originated from the name of the river Aknaghbyur flowing through the city. The Turkish placename Eğin derives from the Western Armenian version Agn. Administration Under Ottoman rule, the kaza belonged to the provinces of Erzurum, Sivas and Mamuret ül-Aziz (Mezre-Harput). Akn Town: The Halajian family (source: Noubarian Library, Paris; ANI Armenian Research Center, http://www.aniarc.am/2017/10/30/akn-western-armenia-hushamadyan-2017-october/) Population In 1914, the kaza of Akn boasted an Armenian population of 16,741, living in 25 villages and towns and maintaining 25 churches, three monasteries and 20 schools, attended by 1,300 children.[1] A part of the Armenian population [...]
Maserte / ܡܥܨܪܬܐ MAʿṣARTE / Ma’ṣartā / Ömerli
Toponym The Syriac place-name ‘Ma’ṣartā’ (‘Ma’asarto’; Western Syriac pronunciation: Ma’asarte; Trk.: Maserte) means ‘wine press’. It is later mentioned by Theophylact Simocatta and George of Cyprus as Matzaron (Grk.: Ματζάρων, Latin: Mazarorum). The present name Ömerli (introduced in 1960) is derived from the name of the Mhallami tribe Ömeryan. The entrance of the Syrian Orthodox Mor Gewergis (Circis) church in Ma’asarte / Maserte / Ömerli (2014; © Saro Gorgis) Population Maserte / Ma’asarte today is „a district town 20 kilometers northeast of Mardin on the border of the Mhallami (Muhallemi) area. Here lived 300 Syriac Orthodox Christians with a parish church, Mar Gewergis [Trk., Arab: [...]