Ecumenical Genocide Memorial, Berlin: Commemorative Plate for Mardin The sancak Mardin consisted of the five kazas of Mardin, Midyat, Cizre, Nusaybin (Nisibin), and Savur (Sawro). [...]
Archives: Regions
Our CPT for the regions
Kaza Hemşin / Համշէն – Hamshen
In the first half of the 16th century, Hamshen (Trk.: Hemşin) was under Ottoman rule. A manuscript copied in 1531 informs us that Armenian boys were taken for the devşirme (child levy) from ‘Trebizond, Hamshen, Sper and Baberd… to the shores of the lake of Van, and who can describe the misery and tragedy of the parents’.[1] At least until the midst of the 17th century, Hemshin (Arm.: Hamshen) was an Ottoman border district, presumably with unconsolidated power. Hamshen / Hemşin People of Armenian origin According to a 2005 international conference, the overall figure of this diverse ethno-linguistic group of people [...]
Sancak Lazistan / Rizounta – Ριζούντα / Rize
Source: http://www.efxinospontos.org/images/pontosphotos/places/rizos.jpg Lazistan (Laz: ლაზონა / Lazona, ლაზეთი / Lazeti, ჭანეთი / Ç’aneti; Ottoman Turkish: لازستان, Lazistān) was the Ottoman administrative name for the sancak, under Trebizond Vilayet, comprising the Laz or Lazuri-speaking population on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. Administrative Division After the Ottoman conquest of the Trebizond Empire and later Ottoman invasion of Guria in 1547, the Laz populated area known as Lazia became its own distinctive area (sancak) as part of the eyalet of Trabzon, under the administration of a Governor (vali) who governed from the town of Rizaion (Rize) under the title of ‘Lazistan Mutasserif‘. The Lazistan [...]
Kaza Gümüşhane / Argyroupolis – Αργυρούπολη
Gümüshane: Panorama view (1911; Ottoman post-card; source: http://www.eskiturkiye.net/2723/gumushane#lg=0&slide=0) The Mining Center of Pontos: The ‘Silver City’ of Argyroupolis Argyroupoli(s) (Grk: Αργυρούπολη, Trk.: Gümüşhane) is a town located 80 km south of Trebizond in Pontos, and was the capital town of the historic province of Chaldia. It is located in the eastern Black Sea region at about 1150 m above sea level. Gümüşhane was founded in the narrow valley of the river Harşit Çayı (Grk.: Philabonites), which separates the Zigana Mountains from the Gümüşhane mountains. The city was established around 700 B.C. as the settlement of Thyra (Grk.: Θύρα) by Ionian Greeks who [...]
Kaza Tirebolu – Tireboli / Tripolis – Τρίπολις
Ecumenical Genocide Memorial, Berlin: Commemorative Plate for Tripolis (Tirebolu) Tripolis (Tirebolu; source: http://www.efxinospontos.org/images/pontosphotos/places/Tripolis.JPG) Toponym The Greek place name Tripoli(s) means ‘three cities’. In Roman times this included Tripolis proper, Andoz (near Espiye today), Bedrama (Örenkaya) and Ayana (today’s Tirebolu), which was the administrative unit name in the period. The location of Ayana, where the present district center is located, must be the city of Isxopolis mentioned by Strabon (1st century). Ayana Castle is the castle in the town center, still marked in French as ‘Saint Jean’. Under Ottoman rule the toponym was Turkified; for 1515 the place name Direboli (Tireboli, Tirebolu) or Triboli [...]