The kaza was located in the valley of the river Melas (Trk.: Tohma Çayı).
Population
In 1910, the kaza of Darende had 19,287 inhabitants, of which 9,650 were Armenians, 8,669 Turks and 968 Kurds.[1] According to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Armenian pre-war population was just 3,983 inhabitants in two of the kaza’s 46 localities: the administrative seat Darende (2,000 Armenians) and the neighboring village of Ashoti (1,100).
Town of Tarent
Situated on the banks of the Melas (Tokhma) river, the center of the kaza of Darende / Tarent on the eve of World War I had a population of 4,000 (500 households). The inhabitants were engaged in grain cultivation, gardening, handicrafts and trade. Tarent had two Armenian churches (St. Astvatsatsin – Holy Mother of God, St. Trinity) and a school. [2]
Destruction
“We do not know anything at all about the circumstances under which the Armenian population of the kaza of Darende was eliminated. The fact that it lies on the road between Gürün and Malatia, however, suggests that it was dealt a fate similar to that meted out to the Armenians of its northern neighbor.”[3]