Toponym
“Melet was the name of a village and town, but also the name of one of the seven provinces [kazas] in the Nicopolis (Sebinkarahisar) region of Pontos. Currently named Mesudiye (or Hamidiye) the earlier Greek names were Meletios, Melet or Milas (Mελέτιος, Μελέτ, Μήλας). The name was probably derived from the Melanthios River (Melet Irmak) which runs through it and down to Ordu. Matuasco is also another name associated with it.
The Melanthios River (Melet Irmak) springs from the sides of Karagiol (Καραγκιόλ) [Trk.: Karagöl] and Karadağ (Καραντάγ) and flows to the valley of Mesudiye and travels towards Ordu and to the east of Ordu it empties into the Black Sea. The name Melanthios is believed to derive from the Greek word μελάνη (ink) to describe the dark and shady color of its waters. The river is said to pass through dense and shady forests hence its dark color.”[1]
Christian Population
According to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, there lived 627 Armenians in three localities of the kaza, maintaining three churches and two schools with an enrolment of 75 children.[2] The Armenian population was essentially concentrated in the administrative seat of the kaza, Me(h)sudiye (Armenian pop. 140) and in Karamahmud (pop. 350).
“The Centre of Asia Minor Studies names Melet as one of the seven provinces [kazas] of Nicopolis (Sebinkarahisar) and that it consisted of 31 Greek villages, one of thοse being Mesudiye (Hamidiye). The Encyclopaedia of Pontian Hellenism says that Melet was a village in the Melanthios province in the Diocese of Nicopolis and that the village consisted of 70 Greek families.
The Encyclopedia says Mesudiye as a town in the Melanthios province which consisted of 2,000 residents. The town was created in 1856 after the Crimean War from the immigration of steel-miners and others from Chaldia, people from Ordu (Kotyora) and Fatsa, as well as those who moved there from the Melanthios province.
Of the 2,000 residents residing in Mesudiye, 1,500 were Turkophone Greeks, a small number were Greek speaking Greeks and the remainder were Turkish and Armenian. The Greek section of the town comprised two churches: Saints Konstantinos and Eleni and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. There was also a Greek school and a high-school which was built by the benefactor Konstantinos Tapinos.”[3]
Greek settlements of the kaza Mesudiye
Μεσουντιέ (Χαμιντιέ) – Mesudiye
Αϊγούταμου – Aygoutamou
Αντώνογλου – Antonoğlu
Ασκιτίρ – Askitir
Γιαφσάν – Yiafsan
Καράπελεν – Karapelen
Κατράν – Katran
Κιζίλτερε – Kiziltere
Κίρτσαλι – Kirtsali
Κιοπετέν – Kiopeten
Μαντέν – Maden
Μαλγότς – Malyots
Μοναχού – Monahou
Μαζιρά – Mazira
Μιχάλτσουρουμού – Mihaltsouroumou
Μουζαμάν – Mouzaman
Μουσουλού – Mouzoulou
Μπαϊρακλί – Bayrakli
Πιτσαχτσί – Pitsakhtsi
Πιρίκ – Pirik
Τάστεπε – Tastepe
Τάμαλα – Tamala
Τσακ(ιον) – Tsak(ion)
Τσαμλούχ – Tsamlouk
Τσαρούχ – Tsarouk
Τσαχμάν – Tsakhman
Τσιχαρτάν – Tsikhartan
Τσοράχ – Tsorakh
Φάλτατσα – Faltatsa
Φιαζ – Fiaz
Φόστερε – Fostere[4]
Destruction
The kaza’s Armenian population was massacred and deported late in June 1915 by the kaymakam, Nafi Bey, who held his post from 9 April 1914 to 19 July 1916.[5]
The Greeks of the kaza Mesudiye “were exiled and killed during the years 1916-1923. Very few survived and made their way to Greece.”[6]