and Syria, Turkey, 1879, No. 10; 1880, Nos. 4 and 23; 1881, No. 6.
Correspondence relating to the Asiatic provinces of Turkey, Turkey,
1889, No. 1 (trial of Moussa Bey); continued, 1890, No. 1; 1890-91,
No. 1, and 1892, No. 1; 1889, No. 1; 1895, No. 1, Part I. (Events
at Sassoon and commission of enquiry at Mush), continued, Part II.;
1896, Nos. 3, 5, 6.
Correspondence respecting the Kurdish invasion of Persia, Turkey,
1881, No. 5.
Correspondence respecting the introduction of reforms in the Armenian
provinces of Asiatic Turkey, Turkey, 1896, No. 1; Correspondence
relative to the Armenian question, 1896, No. 2.
NOTES
[1] The following are my estimates of the mileage distances along
our route from Karakilisa to Akantz:--
Distances.
Karakilisa-Tutakh 23 miles
Tutakh-Köshk 11 ,,
Köshk-Patnotz 17 ,,
Patnotz-Akantz 36 ,,
--------
Total 87 miles.
[2] At the time of Taylor's journey (1868) there were some 13,500
Karapapakhs in the mutesarriflik of Chaldir, which comprised the
towns of Olti, Ardahan and Ardanuch. The mutesarriflik of Kars counted
12,900 of this people, and that of Bayazid 2500 (Archives of British
Consulate at Erzerum).
[3] Temperature at 9 P.M. 53° F., and at 6.30 A.M. 41°. None of my
readings at Karakilisa reached as high as the first of these, though
some were taken in the middle of the day.
[4] The comparison was also suggested to Koch, as he approached Sipan
from the side of Melazkert (Reise im pontischen Gebirge, p. 428).
[5] Upon my ascent of Sipan during my second journey it was ascertained
that the highest ridge of rock, as seen in this illustration, is
not actually the southern rim of the crater. It is merely the side
of the flat-topped mass of lava, upon which is situated the eastern
summit. The western summit is just visible in this illustration.
[6] Mignan tells us that he purchased a gelding at Sulimanieh which
carried him from Baghdad to Tiflis across Kurdistan in 16 days,
a distance of at least 800 miles (Winter Journey, etc., London,
1839). I have heard of similar feats in the East, but have not been
anxious to place the veracity of my informants to the test.
[7] La Turquie d'Asie, Paris, 1892, vol. ii. p. 710, "Tout près
d'Akantz, à 2 kilomètres vers l'est, se trouve une montagne qui
renferme une carrière de pierre calcaire, de 3 kilomètres d'étendue,
large d'environ 300 mètres. Le sommet de cette montagne se termine par
un vaste plateau couvert des ruines d'une ville antique nommée Zernak
qui fut très florissante. Les rues de la dite ville sont larges et
coupées à angle droit; on retire de ses édifices de belles pierres
siliceuses régulièrement taillées dont on se sert pour les nouvelles
constructions."
[8] Cuinet (op. cit.) goes quite astray in his statistics both of the
caza and town. He estimates the Mussulman inhabitants of the whole
caza at only 5129. Akantz and the villages between it and the lake
would alone contain as many or more.
[9] I do not think that Vivien de Saint Martin is justified in
supposing that the town which was destroyed by the Georgians in
A.D. 1209 was situated in a different locality from that occupied by
these ruins (Nouveau Dictionnaire de Géographie Universelle, Paris,
1879-95, sub voce Ardjiz).
[10] Schulz, in Journal Asiatique, Paris, 1840, series 3,
vol. ix. p. 322. Sayce, The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Van, in Journal
of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1882, vol. xiv. pp. 649 seq., and 1888,
vol. xx. pp. 3 and 19.
[11] According to Dr. Belck (Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft
für Anthropologie, etc., 1895, Heft VI. p. 599) the third tablet can
never have possessed an inscription.
[12] See especially Müller-Simonis, Du Caucase au Golfe Persique,
Paris, 1892, p. 393.
[13] Müller-Simonis, op. cit. pp. 292 and 555.
[14] Verhandlungen der B. G. für Anthropologie, 1898, Heft
VI. p. 591. These travellers add yet another name to the supposed
ruins, viz. that of Sirnakar.
[15] Verhandlungen der B. G. für Anthropologie, 1898, Heft VI. p. 573.
[16] See the extract from Ibn-Alathir in Fragments de géographes
et d'historiens Arabes et Persans inédits, by Defrémery, in Journal
Asiatique, Paris, 1849, series 4, vol. xiii. p. 518.
[17] Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie, vol. i. p. 136. We know
that Ani was a fairly populous town long after the date when it was
formerly supposed to have been deserted.
[18] Marco Polo, Yule's translation, London, 1874, vol. i. p. 47; and
"Merchant in Persia" in Italian Travels in Persia, Hakluyt Society,
London, 1873, p. 160. The other six castles were Tadvan, Vostan, Van,
Berkri, Adeljivas and Akhlat.
[19] Loftus, who visited Arjish in 1852, has collected the facts
relative to the inundation (Quarterly Journal of Geological Society,
London, 1855, vol. xi. p. 319).
[20] It may help to advance the study of the changes of level in
the waters of Lake Van if I record that at the time of our visit
(November 2) the island of Ktutz was almost a peninsula. The monks
told us that in a few weeks' time the long neck of sand which almost
joined it to the land would be exposed from end to end. In spring
the waters cover it.
[21] This rock, a specimen of which I brought home, may be described as
a compact limestone, largely consisting of foraminifera and fragments
of mollusca and other invertebrate organisms.
[22] The long pole shown in the picture projecting against the sky
serves as a lever for lifting the bucket.
[23] The measurements of the interior are as follows:--Pronaos, length
36 feet 2 inches by 34 feet 4 inches. Church proper, length to head of
apse, 40 feet 7 inches (25 feet 10 inches to the daïs supporting the
altar, and 14 feet 9 inches from the daïs to the wall of the apse);
breadth, 24 feet 8 inches.
[24] The reader of early travels in the East will be familiar with the
figure of the European watch and clock maker, to whom he is introduced
in some distant city of Asia.
[25] Strabo, xi. 529. This account exactly corresponds to the phenomena
presented by Lake Urmi, and it is impossible to apply it to Lake Van
as Ritter (Erdkunde, ix. p. 784) has done. It is quite true that
Strabo has already six chapters back mentioned and described the
former under the name of Spauta, which is quite likely a misprint for
Kapauta, a corruption of the Armenian name Kapotan, which, in turn,
is evidently derived from the Armenian word kapoyt, signifying blue
(Saint Martin, Mémoires, i. p. 59). In that passage he rightly places
the lake in the Atropatian Media; while in chapter 529 he speaks of
it under a different name, that of Mantiane, and says that it extends
as far as Atropatia. But that the Mantiane, as described by Strabo,
is not our Lake Van, and that the latter is in many respects most
faithfully portrayed by him under the name Thopitis in sentences
immediately following, there can, I think, be little doubt.
[26] Liddell and Scott, sub voce nitron.
[27] Pliny, Hist. Naturalis, vi. ch. 31, translated by Philemon
Holland, London, 1635. I have myself added the sentences in brackets.
[28] I have derived these particulars not from personal observation,
but for the greater part from the notices of Abich (Vergleichende
chemische Untersuchungen der Wasser des Caspischen Meeres, Urmia und
Van-See's, Mém. Acad. Sc. St. Petersburg, 1859, Series 6 math. et
phys. vol. vii. pp. 22 seq.); Loftus (Quarterly Journal Geological
Soc. London, 1855, vol. xi. pp. 306 seq.); and Mr. R. T. Günther
(Geographical Journal, November 1899, and Proceedings of the Royal
Society, October 1899).
[29] Brandt and Wagner quoted by Sieger (Die Schwankungen der
hocharmenischen Seen, Vienna, 1888, p. 22).
[30] Dr. W. Belck in Globus, 1894, vol. lxv. p. 302; A. Owerin in
Petermann's Mittheilungen, 1858, p. 471; Professor Hughes in Nature,
February 1898.
[31] The traveller journeying along the Güzel Dere on the way from
Van to Bitlis cannot fail to be impressed by the insignificance of
the water-parting between the small stream, called Sapor Su, tributary
to Lake Van, and the brooks which find their way to the Tigris.
[32] To the analysis of my sample by Mr. William Thorp I append that
of Dr. Serda of Strasbourg from one brought by M. Müller-Simonis from
Van and published on p. 258 of Du Caucase au Golfe Persique, Paris,
1892. I have also thought it well to include the analysis published
by Mr. Günther of the water of Lake Urmi. These will be found in the
appendix to this volume.
Small lakes impregnated with soda have been found along the south-east
foot of the Ararat fabric on the right bank of the Araxes. From sodas
so derived an excellent soap used to be made in Alexandropol, and,
for all I know, may be still manufactured there. The same practice is
related of the inhabitants of Van. See Abich's article (op. cit. pp. 32
seq.), and Loftus (op. cit. p. 320).
[33] It must, however, be noted that certainly in the case of Lake
Van no islands are found far from the shore. The last rise in level
took place about 1895; and in that year there was an earthquake
at Adeljivas. The inhabitants of Uran Gazi on the slopes of Sipan
assured us that this earthquake produced a rise in level of the Jil
Göl, adjacent to the village.
[34] The subject is fully discussed by Abich (op. cit.) and by
Dr. Sieger (Die Schwankungen der hocharmenischen Seen seit 1800,
Vienna, 1888, and Globus, 1894, vol. lxv. pp. 73-75). Notable
contributions have been made by Loftus (op. cit.), by Strecker
(Zeitschrift der Gesell. für Erdkunde, Berlin, 1869, pp. 549 seq.) and
by Dr. Belck (Globus, vol. lxiv. pp. 157 seq. and vol. lxv. pp. 301
seq.; Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Berlin, 1898, p. 414).
[35] It will, however, be observed that there is a discrepancy between
the condition of Lake Gökcheh and that of Lake Van during the seventies
and eighties. The testimony of General Schindler and of Dr. Rodler
is in favour of the view that Lake Urmi was in agreement with Lake
Van during the same period (Sieger, Die Schwankungen, etc., p. 18).
[36] Loftus, op. cit. p. 319.
[37] Globus, 1894, vol. lxv. pp. 301 and 303.
[38] Geographical Journal, November 1899, p. 513.
[39] Zeits. Gesell. f. Erdkunde, Berlin, 1869, vol. iv. p. 550.
[40] Indications of a similar rise in the norm of the level of
Lake Göljik in the southern peripheral region have been noted by
Prof. Josef Wünsch (Mitth. der K. K. geog. Gesellschaft, Vienna,
1885, vol. xxviii. pp. 15-17).
[41] Moses of Khorene, i. 18.
[42] Ibid. i. 3.
[43] See the memoir of Saint Martin by Brosset prefixed to
vol. xiii. of Lebeau's Histoire du Bas-Empire, and Saint Martin's
article in the Journal Asiatique for 1828.
[44] Journal Asiatique, Paris, 1828, vol. ii. series 2, pp. 160-188.
[45] Layard, Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, London,
1853, p. 394.
[46] "On the Inscriptions of Van," Journal of Royal Asiatic Society,
1848, vol. ix., two papers read by Dr. Hincks on 4th December 1847,
and 4th March 1848.
[47] Journal Asiatique, Paris, 1880, vol. xv. series 7, pp. 540-543.
[48] Professor Sayce's papers are contained in the Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xiv. 1882; vol. xx. 1888; vol. xxv. 1893;
vol. xxvi. 1894. They should be referred to in the first instance by
the student who wishes to penetrate further into the subject.
[49] To the names of Belck, Guyard, Lehmann, and Sayce, should be
added that of Professor D. H. Müller of Vienna, the author of several
papers on the subject, of which the most important is entitled "Die
Keilinschrift von Aschrut-Darga, entdeckt und beschrieben von Professor
J. Wünsch, publicirt und erklärt von Dr. D. H. Müller," Vienna, 1886.
[50] So we read in the newly-acquired text of the stele at Topsana
(Sidikan), near Rowanduz:--"Urzana, son of Shekikajana, fled to
Khaldia; I, Rusas (i.e. Rusas I. of Van) marched as far as the
mountains of Assyria" (Dr. Belck in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Berlin,
1899, p. 116). [The translation of this passage appears, however, to
have been altered by Messrs. Belck and Lehmann. See Sitzungsberichte
der K. K. Preuss. Akad., Berlin, June 1900. It would appear natural
that the Khaldians should have called their land after their god,
and Dr. Belck (loc. cit.) appears to entertain no doubt upon the
point. On the other hand Prof. Sayce informs me that he has never
found the name Khaldia in the Vannic inscriptions; and that in Assyrian
Khaldia signifies the god Khaldis.]
[51] Cedrenus, Hist. ii. 774.
[52] Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie, vol. i. pp. 131 and
138. Cp. Moses of Khorene, iii. 35, "inhabiting Van in the province of
Dosp" with the title of the king in the inscriptions "king of Biaina
inhabiting the city of Dhuspas."
[53] Professor Sayce makes the suggestion (Journal of Royal Asiatic
Society, 1882, vol. xiv. p. 394). The expression Bitani seems to
have been loosely used; but it appears to have been applied to the
peripheral region south of Lake Van, and it may survive in the name
of the river Bohtan.
[54] Messrs. Belck and Lehmann adopt a later date, viz. c. 1000
B.C. See Verhandlungen der Berl. Gesell. für Anthropologie, 1898,
p. 569.
[55] Recently discovered by Messrs. Belck and Lehmann (Verhandlungen
der Berl. Gesell. für Anthropologie, 1898, p. 574).
[56] Great confusion has been caused by the fact that the Assyrians
had no distinctive names for the two great lakes. The subject
is elucidated by Schrader (Die Namen der Meere in den assyrischen
Inschriften, Abh. Berl. Akad. Wiss., 1877, Berlin, 1878, pp. 169 seq.;
Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, 1886, pp. 81 seq.; Sitzungsberichte
der K. Pr. Ak. Wiss. Berlin, 1890, pp. 321 seq.) and by Dr. Belck in
Verhandlungen (ut supra), 1894, p. 485.
[57] See Vol. I. Ch. XXI. p. 423.
[58] I retain the former spelling of the names of Shamshi-Hadad and
Hadad-nirari.
[59] An admirable account of the operations of Tiglath-Pileser III. is
given by Professor Lehmann in the Verhandlungen der Berl. Gesell. für
Anthropologie, 1896, pp. 321 seq. The scheme of the defences of
the Vannic kings is ably elucidated by Dr. Belck (Zeitschrift für
Assyriologie, 1894, vol. ix. p. 350, note).
[60] His next successor, Ispuinis, is styled king of Nairi in the
Kelishin inscription and king of Biaina in that of Ashrut Darga. The
succeeding monarchs are kings of Biaina, inhabiting the city of Dhuspas
(Van).
[61] The best account of the Shamiram-Su or canal of Menuas is that
given by Dr. Belck (Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 1892, pp. 137 seq.). I
am under the impression that the greater part of the waters of the
canal still find their way to the quarter of Van called Shamiram.
[62] Perhaps Dr. Belck, to whose penetration this discovery is due,
has a little exaggerated his point when he assumes the necessity of an
interval of 5 kilometres between the former site of the garden town
and the rock of Van (Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, 1894, p. 350). It
would seem, rather, that the present quarter of Shamiram represents
a portion of the old settlement as watered by the Menuas canal.
[63] "Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the
nations, prepare the nations against her (sc. Babylon), call together
against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashchenaz ..." (Jeremiah
li. 27). The latter kingdom seems to have been situated between the
Medes at Hamadan and the Minni.
[64] It must always be remembered that such enterprises are due with
us to the energy of individuals, rarely encouraged and inspired by
our learned societies or assisted financially by our Government. I
trust, however, that the trustees of the British Museum will awake to
the fact that excavations of the most comprehensive order can now be
conducted in Armenia, and that the soil is practically virgin. With
the assistance of the German Embassy at Constantinople Messrs. Belck
and Lehmann were enabled not only to dig down the hill of Toprak Kala
to the solid rock, but also, as it would appear, to transport their
finds to Berlin.
[65] I cannot discover that any report of these excavations has ever
been published. But, since writing this chapter, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam's
book, Asshur and the Land of Nimrod (New York, 1897), has come into my
hands. Mr. Rassam's excavations on the hill of Toprak Kala took place
in 1880, and some account of them may be found in his work, pp. 377-8.
[66] For the excavations at Toprak Kala the various writings of
Messrs. Belck and Lehmann should be consulted (Verhandlungen der
Berl. Gesell. für Anthropologie, 1895, pp. 612 seq., and 1898, pp. 578
seq. Cp. also Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, 1894, pp. 356 and 357,
note). For the canal and the city of Rusas or New Dhuspas see their
remarks in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 1892, pp. 141 seq.; Verh. der
Berl. Gesell. für Anth. 1892, pp. 477 seq.; 1893, pp. 220, 222, 223;
1898, p. 576; Zeitschrift für Assyr. 1894, pp. 349 seq., and 1899,
p. 320.
[67] This is evidently the older form of the legend of Semiramis in
Armenia. The Christian hierarchy softened down or obliterated the
coming to life again of Ara.
[68] The name of this goddess only occurs in one inscription,
viz. Sayce, No. XXIV.; and it is interesting to observe that this is an
inscription of Menuas. The name is written ideographically like that
of Istar in Assyrian and is rendered Saris by Professor Sayce. It is
noticeable that Sariduris or Sarduris is the name borne by three of
the Vannic kings.
[69] The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Van, Journal of Royal Asiatic
Society, 1882, vol. xiv. p. 678. The languages are Babylonian,
Persian and "Protomedic," placed in parallel columns.
[70] Professor Sayce (Early Israel, London, 1899, pp. 238-239) adopts
this date and considers that the classical writers confounded the
Scythians with the Medes. A priori this view would seem probable,
having regard to the natural evolution of the history of the times.
[71] According to Herodotus (vii. 73) the Armenians were Phrygian
colonists and were armed in the Phrygian fashion. The view of the
ancients seems to have been that the Phrygians, as well as the Asiatic
Thracians, had migrated from Europe into Asia Minor.
[72] Herodotus, i. 72 and 194; v. 49 and 52. In the catalogue of the
satrapies of the empire of Darius Armenia is joined with the unknown
district of Pactyica (iii. 93). In the Behistun inscriptions of Darius,
the Persian and Scythic texts everywhere employ Armenia for the more
ancient Assyrian title Urardhu.
[73] For the certain identification of the Alarodians with
the inhabitants of the kingdom of Urardhu or Ararat, see
Sir. H. Rawlinson's essay in Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. iv. p. 245.
[74] Herodotus, iii. 94, and cp. vii. 79.
[75] Ibid. i. 104.
[76] Professor Rawlinson would identify the Saspeires with the Iberians
of later writers (Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. iv. p. 233). In view of
the prevailing opinion that the old Vannic language has some affinity
with modern Georgian, this identification is most interesting. Ispir
is situated on the threshold of the northern peripheral region,
on the river Chorokh.
[77] Xenophon, Cyropædeia, bk. iii. chs. 1, 2 and 3.
[78] Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 1892, p. 131; Verhandlungen der
Berl. Gesell. für Anthropologie, 1892, p. 487, 1895, pp. 578 seq.,
1896, p. 320; Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, 1894, pp. 82 seq., and
p. 358, note 1.
[79] Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, translated
by C. R. Markham, Hakluyt Society, London, 1859.
[80] Xenophon, Anabasis, iv. ch. 3, v. ch. 5, vii. ch. 8.
[81] The remarks of Layard (Nineveh and its Remains, London, 1849,
vol. i. p. 257) and Badger (The Nestorians and their Rituals,
London, 1852, pp. 177 seq.) serve to illustrate the complexity of
this question.
[82] Compare the remarks of Sir H. Rawlinson (Rawlinson's
Herodotus, iv. p. 248) and of Professor Lehmann (Verhandlungen der
Berl. Gesell. für Anthropologie, 1895, p. 580).
[83] Vol. I. Ch. XVI. p. 286.
[84] Xenophon, Cyropædeia, bk. iii. ch. ii. 23.
[85] Verhandlungen der Berl. Gesell. für Anthropologie, 1898,
p. 591. I would especially refer my reader to Dr. Belck's remarks
upon this subject in the same publication, 1895, p. 606.
[86] While this chapter is going through the press some further
articles by Drs. Belck and Lehmann come into my hands. These deal with
their recent journeys and researches in Armenia (Sitzungsberichte
der K. P. Ak. Wiss. Berlin, 1899, pp. 116 seq. and pp. 745 seq.;
the same publication for 1900, pp. 619 seq.).
[87] Messrs. Belck and Lehmann commence the sequence: 1. Lutipris,
2. Sarduris I., 3. Arame, 4. Sarduris II., thus attributing to their
Sarduris I. the inscriptions which record the construction of the
walls from the rock of Van to the harbour. They suppose a Sarduris
II., son of Arame, as the antagonist of Shalmaneser II., and suggest
that Sarduris I. was the contemporary of Ashur-nasir-pal II. (885-860
B.C.) (Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, 1897, p. 201). This arrangement
throws back Lutipris to about 900 B.C. They promise us an essay
upon the subject (see Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für
Anthropologie, 1894, p. 486; Z. Assyr. 1897, pp. 200, 201, 202). At
present I do not feel convinced by the grounds they have brought
forward. No inscriptions of this Sarduris II. have been discovered;
nor does any mention appear to be made of works by a predecessor of the
same name or by Arame in the inscriptions near the Tabriz gate at Van
which they have discovered (see under Ispuinis infra). Of Lutipris no
inscriptions exist; he is only known as the father of Sarduris. Pending
further enquiry the hypothesis of Professor Sayce seems to me to hold
the field: "I am more inclined to conjecture that Sarduris I. was
the leader of a new dynasty; the ill success of Arrame in his wars
with the Assyrians forming the occasion for his overthrow ... the
introduction of a foreign mode of writing into the country looks
like one of those innovations which mark the rise of new dynasties
in the East. The consolidation of the power of Darius Hystaspis was,
we may remember, accompanied by the introduction of the cuneiform
alphabet of Persia" (J.R.A.S. 1882, p. 406). To this I should like
to add that it seems consonant with the true order of events that
not until after the defeat of Arame was the site of Van most happily
selected as a sure stronghold against Assyrian attacks--a choice which
was largely instrumental in producing the extraordinary development
of the northern kingdom under Ispuinis, Menuas, and Argistis.
[88] May Arzasku have been situated in the great plain at the southern
foot of the Ararat system, now known as the district of Alashkert? The
inscription of Shalmaneser runs: "From Dayaeni (which Dr. Belck
identifies with the district about the modern Delibaba) I struck
camp and approached Arzasku, the capital of the Urardhian Arame. The
Urardhian Arame was filled with fear ... and deserted his city. To the
mountains Adduri he fled up; behind him I followed; a great battle I
fought in the mountains.... Arame was compelled, in order to save his
life, to take refuge in an inaccessible mountain." Dr. Belck suggests
that Adduri may have been the name applied by the Khaldians to Ararat
and the Ararat system; and that it may survive in the modern Akhury
or Arguri (V. Anth. 1893. p. 71).
[89] V. Anth. 1896, pp. 323 and 325. The translation is, however,
open to question.
[90] The inscription is contained on one face of a recumbent stone
which can with difficulty be distinguished from the boulders lying
round. The stone has been well shaped and dressed. The characters have
been much mutilated by the figure of a cross which has been incised
upon the face of the stone. The first line evidently contains the
name of Sarduris, while the second was probably occupied by that
of Argistikhinis, or the son of Argistis. In line 7 a conquest is
recorded, and in line 8 occurs the name of Alusia. Professor Sayce
has kindly supplied this brief account of the contents, and I trust
that he will publish the text.
[91] Arakel, ap. Abich, Geolog. Forsch. in den kauk. Länd. Vienna,
1882, part ii. p. 440.
[92] Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie, i. 138.
[93] Moses of Khorene, ii. 8.
[94] Ibid. ii. 19.
[95] Faustus of Byzantium, iv. 55.
[96] Vol. I. Ch. XVIII. pp. 357, 359.
[97] Merchant in Persia (Italian Travels in Persia, Hakluyt Society,
1873, pp. 179 seq.). The Kurd is called Zidibec.
[98] Von Hammer, Geschichte des Osm. Reiches, iii. 145.
[99] Ritter, Erdkunde, ix. 980. But the date he gives, viz. 1636,
will not suit the chronology.
[100] Brant in Journal of R. Geog. Soc. 1841, vol. x.
[101] Taylor in archives of the British Consulate at Erzerum. Report of
March 18, 1869. The estimates of Jaubert in 1805 (Voyage en Arménie,
etc. p. 138), and of Layard in 1850 (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 392),
appear to have reference to the walled town only. The former counts
15,000 to 20,000 souls, the majority Armenian. The latter says
that Van may contain from 12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants. Shiel's
figure for the population, including the suburbs, in 1836, of
12,000 people, "of whom 2000 are Armenians," is plainly in error
(J.R.G.S. 1838, vol. x.). Vital Cuinet (La Turquie d'Asie, Paris, 1892,
vol. ii. pp. 654, 691), whose statistics I have seldom found reliable,
includes 500 Jews in the population of Van--the remnant of the colony
transported thither by the Arsakid Tigranes. My enquiries in several
quarters elicited replies that no Jews were known to inhabit either
the town or the caza, but that there were 25 families at Bashkala.
With regard to any special elements in the population of the town and
caza of Van I was informed as follows:--There may be some few score
Circassians; but there is no regular Circassian settlement here. The
Armenians are practically all Gregorians. Of Chaldæan Christians,
whether adherents of their old faith or converts to Roman Catholicism,
only a few stray individuals would be found in the town of Van. But
I was informed of a settlement of them--Nestorians--about the shores
of Lake Archag, north-east of Van.
[102] Du Caucase au Golfe Persique, Paris, 1892, p. 190.
[103] One lira or Turkish pound contains 100 piastres and is equal
to 18 shillings.
[104] I append the names and situations of the Armenian
schools. Private schools are marked with a P.
===================+========+========+===================================
| No. of | No. of |
Name of School. | Male | Female | Where situated.
| Pupils | Pupils |
===================+========+========+===================================
1. Arakh | 450 | 150 | Arakh quarter of the gardens.
2. Norashen | 300 | ... | Norashen quarter of the gardens.
3. Yisusean | 200 | 100 | Walled city.
4. Hankusner | ... | 250 | Hankusner quarter of the gardens.
5. Sandukhtean | ... | 150 | Norashen ,, ,, ,,
6. Khach-poghan | 155 | ... | Central avenue of gardens.
7. Lusavorchean P.| 90 | 30 | ,, ,, ,,
8. Haykavank | 85 | 15 | Haykavank quarter.
9. Paragamean P. | 50 | 25 | Norashen quarter of gardens.
10. Pusantean P. | ... | 75 | ,, ,, ,,
11. Lukasean | 45 | 10 | Norshen-Sufla quarter of gardens.
+========+========+
| 1375 | 805 |
===================+========+========+===================================
[105] The text of the slab in this mosque (which he calls the Kurshun
mosque) has been copied and published by Dr. Belck in the Zeitschrift
für Assyriologie, 1892, vol. vii. pp. 257 seq. See also Verhandlungen
der Berl. Gesell. für Anthropologie, 1898, pp. 570, 575 (Sayce,
No. LXXX., Journal R.A.S. 1894, p. 707).
[106] For the cuneiform inscriptions in Surb Paulos (Boghos) see
Schulz's Memoir, pp. 298-99; Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 400 (I
do not know why he calls it the church of St. Peter and St. Paul);
Verhandlungen der Berl. Gesell. für Anthropologie, 1898, pp. 570
and 573, and Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, 1899, p. 320. They are
being subjected to fresh examination by Messrs. Belck and Lehmann
(Sayce, Nos. XXXI. and XXXII.). In addition to these I noticed
a mutilated inscription on a stone in the doorway of Surb Vardan
(see Verh. Anthrop. 1898, p. 572), and two inscribed slabs in the
apse of the ruined Surb Petros, one in fair preservation (Sayce,
No. XLVIII.). I was unable to penetrate into the chapel of Surb Sahak,
into the walls of which similar fragments of the stelai of the Vannic
kings have been inserted (Sayce, Nos. XLV. and XLVI.).
[107] The most detailed, as well as the most lucid and impressive,
account of the Gurab, or rock of Van, is still that of Schulz (Journal
Asiatique, 1840, vol. ix. ser. iii. pp. 264 seq.). But the remarks of
Layard (Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 395 seq., with woodcuts of the rock
chambers), Tozer (Turkish Armenia, London, 1881, pp. 347 seq.) and
Müller-Simonis (Du Caucase au Golfe Persique, Paris, 1892, pp. 246
seq.) may be consulted. The only entrance to the citadel is by a
path which is conducted up the western declivities of the rock from
a point closely adjacent to the gate called Iskele in the north-west
angle of the fortified town. In Schulz's time this path ascended
in a north-easterly direction between a double row of modern walls,
composed for the most part of mud. After following these walls for
some little distance it arrived in front of a solid wooden door,
studded with large nails and strengthened by bars of iron. This
gate afforded access to the castle, and was never opened except by
an express order from the Pasha. The castle enclosure was flanked by
walls of greater height and solidity than those without; it contained
a number of modern buildings, such as barracks, a small mosque, and
a powder magazine. Mr. Tozer was shown a very deep naphtha well in
this neighbourhood, running down vertically into the rock. The oil,
which he describes as a brown, half liquid mixture, could be reached
by means of a pole. The house of the commandant and the prison
are situated within the enclosure, where may be seen a number of
old bronze cannons, curiously ornamented and quite obsolete. Schulz
describes the antiquities upon this portion of the rock as consisting
of two groups of cave chambers. 1. The southern front of a mass of
rock which immediately adjoins the most elevated part of the whole
formation--that part which lower down displays the tablet of Xerxes,
and which is crowned by the powder magazine--has been hewn down in a
vertical direction for a space of about 60 feet. Nearly in the centre
is situated an open doorway, surmounted by a smaller aperture to admit
light. Both openings have been damaged by human hands, evidently with
intention; and no trace of any ornaments or inscriptions remains. The
doorway conducts into a vaulted cave chamber, some 45 feet long and 25
feet high. The rock has been less carefully worked than in the case
of the caves of Khorkhor. Nearly in front of the entrance, a second
doorway in the opposite wall gives access to a smaller apartment,
20 feet long and 10 feet broad, called the Neft Koïou or spring of
naphtha, the fumes of which fill the room. At the time of Schulz's
visit this inner chamber was nearly filled up by a structure in
kiln-burnt bricks and very hard mortar, of which the purpose was not
apparent. 2. Quite close to the Neft Koïou, in the block of limestone,
adjoining it on the left hand, which rises from the tablet of Xerxes
to the powder magazine, may be seen a hole of irregular shape and
some 3 feet in diameter, through which one crawls into a group of
five rock chambers, of which the largest is 30 feet long and 20 feet
broad. The walls of these caves are rudely fashioned, without ornament
or niches. In one of them Schulz found human bones.
Perhaps the most remarkable and certainly the most famous series of
such excavations upon the rock of Van are known by the name of the
caves of Khorkhor. They are situated in the steep south-west side of
the mass, overlooking a garden which in Schulz's time belonged to the
Pasha, but which is now in a desolate and weed-grown condition. The
garden bears the same name as the caves--a name of which the etymology
is neither Armenian nor Turkish, and which, according to Professor
Sayce, may perhaps be taken back to the word Kharkhar, signifying to
excavate, found in Vannic texts (J.R.A.S. 1882, p. 572). The chambers
are visited from the same side as the citadel, and at first by the
same path. The remains of steps and of even spaces, hewn out of the
rock, suggest that one of the principal approaches to the platform
in antiquity was taken by this way. But, after following this avenue
for some little distance, you turn to the right, leave the stairs,
and clamber along the side of the rock, until you emerge through a
fissure upon the southern face and see the garden at your feet. From
here a staircase of twenty steps, almost obliterated in some places,
slopes along the face of a mass of precipitous crags, in which is
placed the entrance to the chambers. The limestone has been carefully
flattened and polished, and is covered with inscriptions outside. At
the commencement of the stair is seen a little grotto, containing a
seat which commands fine views over town and plain. On the right of
the grotto is a long inscription in three columns, separated from one
another by vertical lines. It has suffered not a little from the impact
of cannon balls; but is still in a fairly legible condition. It records
the conquests of Argistis I. (Sayce, Nos. XXXVII. XXXVIII. XXXIX.). The
continuation of this record is found a little further on, at the end of
the stair, and after turning an angle of the rock. It is incised upon
the outer face of the polished limestone about the doorway to the caves
(Sayce, Nos. XL.-XLIV.; see also Hyvernat's memoir in Müller-Simonis,
op. cit. p. 531). This aperture, some 6 feet by 5 feet in dimensions,
leads into a chamber 32 feet long, 19 feet broad, and 10 1/2 feet
high, which again communicates with four lesser rooms. The walls are
hewn out with extraordinary care, and ten niches or oblong recesses,
3 feet high and 2 feet broad, are distributed over the sides of the
principal apartment about 3 1/2 feet above the ground. Incisions with
holes in the centre are placed in the spaces between each pair of
niches, and may have held metal lamps. The floor has been excavated
in two places into squares a few inches deep. The smaller rooms
are furnished with recesses similar to those described. One of them
adjoins a space resembling the head of a pit or shaft, which, however,
has been completely filled in with rubble. It probably represents a
subterraneous communication with a spring which gushes from the foot
of the rock in the garden below.
The remaining excavations and inscriptions are disposed as follows over
the circumference of the ridge:--1. East of the Khorkhor, but on the
same south face, and approached from the side of the gate of Tabriz,
you easily recognise a partly natural and partly artificial platform,
fairly high up on the rock. A spacious doorway connects this ledge
with a cave of which the dimensions, according to my own measurements,
are 31 feet by 21 feet. This chamber communicates with three smaller
grottos, one approached by a door in the wall opposite the entrance,
and the other two by similar apertures in the adjacent walls. The
three subsidiary rooms are long and narrow. The one opposite the
entrance contains a daïs and steps at its narrow west end; and that
on the left hand is furnished with recesses at each extremity. Lower
down on the side of the rock one observes a small aperture to which
it is possible to gain access. It only measures some 4 feet by 3
feet. In the stone above has been hewn a long but shallow recess,
about 3 feet in width. One wonders whether it may have been destined
to receive a coffin. The hole gives access to a chamber 23 feet 7
inches in length and 14 feet in breadth. Three sides are furnished
with recesses 2 feet 6 inches in depth, placed 3 feet 4 inches from
the ground. 2. Inscription on the rock near the gate of Tabriz, much
effaced, but copied and deciphered by Messrs. Belck and Lehmann. It
contains the names of the kings Menuas and Ispuinis, together with
those of the father of Ispuinis, Sarduris, and his grandson Inuspuas
(Verhandlungen der Berl. Gesell. für Anthropologie, 1898, pp. 571,
575). The same travellers mention the discovery by them of three
new inscriptions on the ridge, which appear, however, to be of minor
importance (ibid. p. 571). 3. On the northern face of the rock, not far
from the Tabriz gate and below the line of fortifications, are situated
two artificial recesses at an interval of about twenty paces. That on
the right contains a long inscription upon the wall which is on your
left as you stand within the recess; it records conquests by Sarduris
II. (Sayce, No. XLIX.). This grotto bears the name of Khazane-Kapusi or
gate of treasure. 4. On the same side, a short distance further west,
and upon a surface which has been hewn down vertically and flattened,
are seen three tablets incised into the rock, one of them being on a
level with the base of the ridge. Each member of the group contains
an inscription; and the three inscriptions have one and the same
text. It is of Menuas, and appears to commemorate a restoration of
the tablets by that monarch (Sayce, No. XX.). 5. On the same side,
near the summit, and almost directly above the grotto Khazane Kapusi
(Hyvernat ap. Müller-Simonis, op. cit. p. 548), is a large cave, at
present comprised within the fortifications, and inaccessible from
below. On the right of the entrance is an inscription of King Menuas,
purporting that a series of chambers were constructed by him as tombs
in this place (Sayce, No. XXI.).
[108] The Armenian gentleman in whose company I visited the locality
regarded Ak Köpri as a Turkish misnomer for Ak Karapi, a word which
he derived from Kar, a stone, and Ap, narrow way in Armenian. The
word would signify the narrows of the white crag, or the narrow
way separating the crag from the hill. That is a sample of Armenian
etymologies. Another derivation is from Ak Kirpi, the white hedgehog.
[109] Sayce, No. V. It is an inscription of Ispuinis and Menuas,
and is known locally as Meher Kapusi (the gate of Meher, derivation
unknown) or Choban Kapusi (the shepherd's gate; so called from a
shepherd to whom the "Open Sesame" of the treasure-house, which the
slab is supposed to seal, is said to have been revealed in sleep. He
entered; but forgot the talisman, and never returned).
[110] Since I have mentioned the name of Daniel Vardapet it is
only just that I should add that he stated to me that the press had
been hired.
[111] The inside dimensions of this chapel are: extreme length from
recess to recess, 38 feel 7 inches, and extreme breadth, 30 feet.
[112] See Vol. I. Ch. XVI. p. 237.
[113] The statement of Layard (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 409) that the
church is a modern edifice is scarcely correct, and is quite erroneous
if it be taken to include the inner sanctuary or chapel.
[114] For the history of the mediæval kings of Vaspurakan who
flourished in the tenth century, I would refer my reader to
Vol. I. Ch. XVIII. of the present work, to the second volume of
Chamchean (History of Armenia, translated by Avdall, Calcutta, 1827,
pp. 65 seq.) and to Saint Martin's translation of the history of John
Katholikos, who was an eye-witness of the events which he records
during this period, and one of the principal actors in them (Paris,
1841. See the index, sub voce Gagig). The vivid narrative of the last
of these writers transports us into that distant age. The eagle which
was the emblem of the princes of the Artsruni dynasty appears to have
been connected with the ancient prerogative of their family to be
the bearers of the golden eagle before the king (see Saint Martin,
Mémoires sur l'Arménie, vol. i. p. 424). I have already related how
the present ruler of the Armenian Church has taken revenge upon the
last of the kings of this dynasty for his cowardly cession of his
dominions to the Byzantine emperor (see Vol. I. Ch. XVI. p. 237).
[115] The following are the intermediate distances along the track
according to my estimates:--Van to Artemid, 8 miles; Artemid to
Vostan, 15 miles; Vostan to Akhavank (Iskele), 8 miles; Akhavank
(Iskele) to Enzakh, 13 1/2 miles; Enzakh to Kindirantz, 17 miles;
Kindirantz to Garzik, 9 miles; Garzik to Sach, 16 miles; Sach to
Bitlis, 11 miles--Total, 97 1/2 miles.
As far as the promontory of Surb the path either leads over little
plains interposed between the lake and the mountains, or crosses the
rocky spurs which descend from the range into the waters, forming
promontories. Of these spurs the most formidable is that which is
scaled beyond Enzakh (Pass, 7600 feet); but the descents to the plains
of Kindirantz and Surb are both long and arduous. Beyond Surb the
track for the first time follows along the base of an almost vertical
parapet of mountain, rising immediately from the water's edge. This
romantic course is pursued for some distance west of Garzik; when the
lake is left behind, the Güzel Dere is entered, and you pass almost
imperceptibly from the basin of Lake Van into that of the Tigris. It
now only remains to cross from the Güzel Dere into the valley of
Bitlis, which is done by way of the Bor Pass, 7490 feet.
On the whole the route along the southern shore of Lake Van is by no
means an easy one. The principal difficulties to an engineer occur
between Enzakh and the Güzel Dere.
[116] The compiler of the index to Ritter's Erdkunde confuses this
Artemid with the Artemita hê en tê Babylônia of Strabo xi. 519,
which, according to Ritter (ix. 508), is probably identical with
the Artemita in Apolloniatis of Isidorus Charax (Mansiones Parthicæ,
c. 2 in Geographi Græci Minores, Paris, 1882), and is to be sought
in the district watered by the river Diyala, which joins the Tigris
near Baghdad. An Armenian Artemita is mentioned by Ptolemy (c. 13,
section 21, and c. 8, section 13, edit. Nobbe, Leipzic, 1843).
Schulz tells us that the present village was in his time
sometimes called Atramit (he himself writes it Artamit) "par une
transposition de lettres qui rappelle un nom fort significatif dans
l'ancienne mythologie orientale" (Journal Asiatique, 1840, ser. 3,
vol. ix. p. 310). The same traveller was rewarded for his researches
in the vicinity by some interesting finds.
In a little valley about 1 1/4 miles west of the village (une demi
lieue), and about a hundred paces from the lake (environ une centaine
de pas au dessus du lac), among a quantity of blocks of stone,
fallen from the hill above, he discovered a cuneiform inscription,
engraved upon one of these blocks. Professor Sayce translates this
inscription as follows:--"Belonging to Menuas of the mother Taririas,
this monument the place of the son of Taririas she has called" (The
cuneiform inscriptions of Van, Journal R. Asiatic Society, London,
1882, vol. xiv. p. 529). Dr. Belck, on the other hand, would render
it:--"This abode, which belongs to Tarias, daughter of Menuas, is
called the palace of Tarias" (Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft
für Anthropologie, 1895, p. 608).
At a little distance from this block Schulz found another inscription,
which, owing to exposure to damp, was scarcely distinguishable. He
describes it as being engraved on a large stone on the left hand of
an ancient aqueduct, built up of several layers of massive stones,
several five or six square feet in height. They are irregular in
shape and not connected by cement; but are held together by their
own weight. The conduit which they enclose is square in form, and
of sufficient height and breadth to enable one to stand up inside
it. Schulz endeavoured to penetrate within it, but was unable to
proceed further than some twenty paces, the passage being obstructed
by a large block which had fallen in from the colossal wall (Schulz,
op. cit. p. 313).
The hillside above this little valley separates it, he goes on to
say, from a kind of upper terrace, over which runs the way from
Van to Vostan, among masses of rock, detached from the adjacent
heights. Between these rocks flows the Shamiram Su, an artificial
channel which has its source some nine leagues south of Van, and which,
after passing through the gardens of Artemid, has been conducted to
the immediate neighbourhood of the city, where it debouches into
the lake. So far as Schulz was able to follow its course, it was
nowhere embanked by masonry (ibid. p. 313). It was on this terrace,
at a distance of 1 1/4 miles (une demi lieue) from Artemid in a
south-westerly direction, immediately by the side of this Shamiram
Su, and on the road between Van and Vostan, that he discovered the
important inscription which reads according to Professor Sayce:--"To
the children of Khaldis the gracious Menuas, the son of Ispuinis,
this memorial has selected. Of Menuas the memorial he has named
it. To the children of Khaldis, the multitudinous, belonging to
Menuas, the king powerful, the king of multitudes, king of the land
of Biainas, inhabiting the city of Dhuspas. Menuas says--whoever
this tablet carries away, whoever removes the name, whoever with
earth destroys, whoever undoes this memorial; may Khaldis, the
air god, the sun god, the gods him in public, the name of him, the
family of him, the land of him, to fire and water consign" (Sayce,
op. cit. pp. 527-28). Messrs. Belck and Lehmann render the word
translated by Prof. Sayce as memorial: canal, aqueduct. The rock upon
which the inscription was found is known under the name of Kiziltash
from its reddish hue.
In the village of Artemid itself Schulz saw the remains of the wall of
an ancient edifice on the summit of the cliff. According to Armenian
tradition it was formerly a residence of the Armenian kings. Below it
he found an ancient conduit (Schulz, ibid. p. 311). I have summarised
Schulz's account afresh because Ritter's summary of it (Erdkunde,
x. 294) misled me.
The inscription on the Kiziltash has been photographed by
M. Müller-Simonis, and reproduced in his book (Du Caucase au Golfe
Persique, Paris, 1892, p. 252). Professor Sayce conjectures that
these inscriptions served to commemorate the completion of the works
connected with the Shamiram Su, and even goes so far as to suggest
that the monuments erected by Queen Taririas may have given rise to
the traditions about a great queen which in the course of time became
transferred to the mythical Semiramis (op. cit. p. 529).
Dr. Belck has within recent years found four more inscriptions in or
near Artemid which have been translated by Sayce (Journal R. Asiatic
Soc. 1893, pp. 8 seq.). Two are without importance; the remaining
two are in the sense of the inscription on the Kiziltash, and are
therefore canal inscriptions.
Among the notices of Artemid contained in the works of travellers,
a few useful remarks may be gleaned. Shiel (Journey in 1836) tells
us that in his time it was a large Armenian village of about 350
houses. Brant (1838) speaks of it as populous, and alludes to the
quantity of fruit which was grown there. He approached it from the
side of Vostan and the Anguil Su, after crossing which he came upon
the Shamiram Su, which he describes as an open canal, supported by
a wall in some places. Schulz was impressed by the squalor of the
houses; according to him it was peopled half by Armenians and half by
Mussulmans; the latter dwelt below the cliff, on the border of the lake
(Schulz, op. cit. p. 310). Ussher (before 1865) calls it an Armenian
village, and adds--"The flat summit of the rocky hill, on the slope of
which the village stood, was surrounded by an ancient wall, built of
huge stones laid one upon another without mortar or cement of any kind,
and resembling somewhat in appearance Cyclopean remains" (From London
to Persepolis, London, 1865, p. 324). Müller-Simonis (op. cit. p. 270)
speaks of the "grandes substructions du caractère le plus ancien"
which support the Shamiram Su at a certain point three-quarters of
an hour on the further side of Artemid, coming from Van.
[117] See Fig. 108, p. 2.
[118] For Mahmudia and a striking photograph of the castle there,
see Binder (Au Kurdistan, Paris, 1887, pp. 123 seq.).
[119] The course of the Shamiram Su has been followed and described by
Dr. Belck (Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Berlin, 1892, pp. 137 seq.). It
is carried across the Anguil Su or Khoshab by means of a conduit,
made of wood, which spans the stream.
[120] Clarified fat or butter, which is generally used for cooking
purposes in the East.
[121] I would refer my reader for further information concerning
the origin of the patriarch etc. of Akhtamar to Ritter (Erdkunde,
vol. x. p. 261), and to the authorities there cited.
[122] An inscription over the door of the narthex is to the effect
that it was constructed by Thomas, Katholikos of Akhtamar, in the
year of the Armenian era, 1212 (A.D. 1762).
[123] In the geography ascribed to Vardan, a work of the thirteenth
century (translated by Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie,
vol. ii. p. 429), it is said of Akhtamar: "On y trouve l'admirable
monastère de la croix bâti par Kagig, roi des Ardzrouniens." According
to Chamchean, quoted by Saint Martin (op. cit. vol. i. p. 140), the
monastery was founded in A.D. 653 by a prince of the Reshtuni family,
named Theodore.
We are informed by Thomas Artsruni (ninth century) that King Gagik
brought the stone for building this church all the way from the
province of Aghznikh, extending to the Tigris and now comprised within
the vilayet of Diarbekr.
[124] Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, London, 1853, pp. 199 and 414. I
would ask my reader to compare the illustration of the bronze bull's
head with the head in my photograph (Fig. 141) on the right hand or
north of the furthest recess of the apse.
[125] But the stone which Layard saw in the portico has probably been
removed to the library.
[126] Of these one was circular in form. If it be the same as Sayce's
No. XXIX. (op. cit. vol. xiv. p. 537) it is an inscription of Menuas
recording a visit to the island.
[127] Ussher (op. cit. p. 332) tells us that the Kurds had carried
off many manuscripts which they destroyed from sheer wantonness,
using the covers to make soles for their boots.
[128] I will not attempt to explain or reconcile with one another the
maps of Kiepert, Cuinet, and Glascott (Journal R.G.S. 1840, vol. x.),
and the surveys of Hommaire de Hell (Extrait du Voyage en Turquie,
etc., Paris, 1859) and others. Such is the ignorance of one's guides
that one cannot do more than question them closely as to the names
of villages and put down the information without much confidence in
its exactness. What is true of the names of villages is also true
of mountains. That portion of the range which lies on the west of
Mount Ardos is named Karkar in Kiepert's map; a friend of mine who
had travelled in the country knew it under the name of Varkar. I was
not made acquainted with either of these names.
[129] Cuinet places the population of Kindirantz at 4064 souls,
which is absurd. Nor are there any Jews in the place. His statistics
for the caza include 600 gypsies and some Yezidis; but the Kaimakam
assured me that 100 was a better figure for the gypsies, while he
was not aware of the presence of any Yezidis.
[130] It does not pretend to be more than a very rough sketch plan. It
indicates the various mahallas or quarters.
[131] Merchant in Persia, in Italian Travels in Persia, Hakluyt
Society, London, 1873, p. 157.
[132] Tavernier, edition of Paris, 1679, vol. i. book iii. p. 303.
[133] Fleurian, Estat présent de l'Arménie, Paris, 1694.
[134] Grammatica e vocabulario della lingua Kurda composti
dal P. Maurizio Garzoni, Roma, 1787. See Ritter, Erdkunde,
vol. ix. pp. 628, 630.
[135] Abulfeda quotes Ibn Hauqual and Azizi to the effect that Bitlis
was a small and prosperous town seven parasangs distant from Akhlat. He
adds that in his time it was surrounded by a semi-ruinous wall.
[136] Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie, vol. i. p. 103.
[137] Shiel in Journal R.G.S. 1838, vol. viii. p. 73.
[138] Macdonald Kinneir, Journey through Asia Minor, Armenia, and
Kurdistan, London, 1818, pp. 393 seq.
[139] Brant in J.R.G.S. vol. x. pp. 379 seq.
[140] Archives of British Consulate at Erzerum.
[141] In detail the figures are: Mussulmans, 27,673; Gregorian
Armenians, 15,317; Armenian Catholics, 130; Armenian Protestants,
647; Syrians, 342. Males and females are given separately in the rough
census on which these statistics repose; and, owing to the difficulty
of access to the women, the latter are always in an apparent minority.
[142] Vital Cuinet (La Turquie d'Asie, Paris, 1892) gravely asserts
that there exist 283 scholastic establishments in the vilayet of
Bitlis, with 309 teachers and 18,858 pupils of either sex!
[143] Boré, Corr. et Mémoires, Paris, 1840, vol. i. pp. 398, 399.
[144] Rhétoré, Les Missions Catholiques, Paris and Lyons, 1881,
pp. 565-567.
[145] The Sources of the Euphrates, in Journal R.G.S. 1895,
pp. 173 seq. Mr. Ainsworth conjectures that the water of this well,
which he describes as a crater fountain having a basin 220 feet in
circumference, comes from Lake Van. I should doubt it. The same careful
observer is not quite right in speaking of it as "the source" of the
Kara Su. It is no doubt one of the sources, but the Morkh Su, already
mentioned, is the first of these westward-flowing streams. For further
particulars in regard to the pool of Norshen see Chap. XVIII. p. 317
of the present volume.
[146] I am indebted to the excellent Yusuf, dragoman of the British
Consulate at Erzerum and my friend from childhood, for a copy and
translation of this inscription: "In the name of God, the merciful and
most compassionate, this is the tomb of the great emir, Melik-ul-Umara,
Karanlai Agha, who was taken from this place of corruption to the
place of mercy and immortality, a Moslem, believer in one God, on
the 5th day of Ramazan in the year 689."
[147] My photograph of the belle of Gotni displays such a lack of
good features that I must refrain from reproducing it for fear of
belying my impression. In its place I offer a picture of one of the
best-looking of her less flourishing comrades.
[148] It would probably be safe to say that the Armenian element
predominates in the plain proper, and the Kurdish element
in the villages bordering upon the plain along the southern
border range. Writing in 1838, Consul Brant reported as follows:
"In the whole plain of Mush there are not any Mohammedan peasants
intermingled with the Armenians: a fact which would clearly point out
this country as belonging rather to Armenia than to Kurdistan; indeed
the tent-dwelling Kurds are evidently intruders, and the stationary
Kurds, it cannot be doubted, belonged originally to the nomad race"
(J.R.G.S. 1840, vol. x. p. 347).
[149] I refer the reader with some hesitation to Cuinet's account
of this monastery (La Turquie d'Asie, Paris, 1892, vol. ii. p. 584,
vilayet de Bitlis). See also Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie,
vol. ii. pp. 431, 467.
[150] Brant in Journal R.G.S. 1840, vol. x. p. 351. Koch in the forties
estimated the population at 1000 Mohammedan and 415 Armenian families,
or a total of about 8000 souls (Reise im pontischen Gebirge, etc.,
Weimar, 1846, p. 405).
[151] Archives of the British Consulate at Erzerum.
[152] For the Catholics of Mush and Mush plain, see Boré
(Correspondance et Mémoires, Paris, 1840, vol. i. p. 398), and
Smith and Dwight (Missionary Researches in Armenia, London, 1834,
p. 429). They have evidently increased in numbers since the time of
these writers.
[153] The subject is discussed by Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. x. p. 816.
[154] Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie, vol. i. p. 102.
[155] This total is distributed, according to my estimates, as
follows:--
Mush-Surb Karapet 25 miles
Surb Karapet-Gumgum 28 1/2 ,,
Gumgum-Khinis 24 ,,
Khinis-Kulli 23 1/2 ,,
Kulli-Mejitli 13 ,,
Mejitli-Hasan Kala 22 1/2 ,,
Hasan Kala-Erzerum 23 ,,
-------------
Total 159 1/2 miles.
[156] I should like to refer my reader to Mr. Ainsworth's valuable
book (Travels and Researches in Asia Minor, etc., London, 1842,
vol. ii. p. 383) for a description of the two interesting old bridges
which he found, one spanning the Murad, some distance east of our
ford, and the other a former bed of the Kara Su. See also Koch,
Reise im pontischen Gebirge, etc., Weimar, 1846, pp. 410, 411.
[157] The head man in a Christian village is called kiaya, and in a
Moslem village mukhtar. He is responsible to Government. There is no
official chief of agglomerations of villages, like the Russian Pristav.
[158] The accepted average elevation of the plain of Mush appears to
be 4200 feet. The readings of my barometers agree fairly well with
this figure.
[159] I have already mentioned the presence of gypsies in the caza
of Garchigan. I did not meet with any during my first journey.
[160] See the account of Zenobius of Glak as given in the pages of
Ritter (Erdkunde, vol. x. pp. 553 seq. and 703), and of Langlois
(Collection des historiens de l'Arménie, Paris, 1867, vol. i. pp. 344
seq.). Zenobius is reputed to have been the first bishop of this
monastery.
I must add that the work purporting to have been written by Zenobius
and called History of Taron, from which Ritter quotes and which
is translated in Langlois--and which the monks of Surb Karapet
prize so highly--is regarded by modern scholars as a collection
of legends made in the eighth or ninth centuries, and valueless
as a historical document (see Gelzer, Die Anfänge der armenischen
Kirche, in Verhandlungen der könig. Sächs. Gesellschaft der Wiss. zu
Leipzig, phil.-hist. Klasse, 1895, p. 123). A much more trustworthy
account of the doings of St. Gregory in this neighbourhood is
that given in the Agathangelus treatise. I have summarised it in
Vol. I. Ch. XVI. pp. 295, 296.
[161] For some account of the doings of all these worthies
see the history of John Mamikonean (translated in Langlois,
op. cit. vol. i. pp. 361 seq.).
[162] The older names are Glak Vank (from its first abbot), and
Innaknean Vank (nine sources).
[163] The moment that I placed my route on my map, I discovered
that not the chaoush but my compass had misled me. The direction,
as plotted, was quite wrong, as also were the shoots to known
landmarks. Happily I was able to fix the position of Dodan with some
confidence during my second journey; and the route has been adjusted
accordingly. It is evident that the rocks of the plateau behind Surb
Karapet must be heavily charged with magnetite.
[164] From Norshen in the east to the passage out of the Murad at
Gurgur is a distance of about forty-five miles. Brant, adopting
different results, and possibly different measurements, ascribes to
the plain of Mush a length of "nearly forty miles" (J.R.G.S. 1840,
vol. x. p. 352).
[165] This altitude was ascertained, and the natural features,
described with so much hesitation in the present chapter, were
elucidated during the second journey (see Ch. XXI.).
[166] Brant, op. cit. pp. 347 seq.
[167] But I must record the fact that the people of Bashkent, when
asked the name of their plain, replied, Khinis ova.
[168] I have not reproduced my photograph of Khamur, for a view of
which I may refer my reader to Ch. XII. Fig. 177, p. 252.
[169] In Consul Brant's time (1838) Khinis belonged to the pashalik
of Mush, and was supposed to contain no more than 130 houses. It is
described as "a most wretched town" (op. cit. p. 345).
[170] I have decided, after all, not to reproduce this photograph.
[171] It is interesting to compare Brant's account of Kulli in
1838. His words are:--"It formerly contained a great many Armenian
families. I was told that 200 emigrated to Georgia, and only
about 15 Mohammedan families now reside among extensive ruins"
(op. cit. p. 344). In 1893 the transformation has been completed,
and Kulli has become a Kurdish village. The successive steps of the
process, which is of general application, may be defined as follows:
1. Emigration or disappearance of Armenians (friends of Turkey make
excuses).
2. Lapse into barbarism: enrolment of Hamidiyeh (friends of Turkey
exult).
3. Standing nuisance at the doors of Russia (a heavy calm).
4. Russian conquest (Turkey disappears, her friends having preceded
her).
[172] See Ritter (Erdkunde, vol. x. pp. 390 seq.), and Brant
(op. cit. p. 341). Hamilton (Researches in Asia Minor, etc., London,
1842, vol. i. p. 185) throws doubt upon the popular belief that this
and similar castles were built by the Genoese; but I know not upon
what foundation he may have based his scepticism.
[173] Which, by the way, is, I believe, made in England out of
cloth. Quousque tandem!
[174] I will again cite Brant's account, written in 1838:--"The
greater portion of the Armenian peasantry emigrated into Georgia when
the Russian army evacuated Turkey, after the peace of Adrianople; in
consequence of which emigration, the population of the villages has
been much diminished, and there is a great deal of ground uncultivated
for want of hands" (op. cit. p. 341).
[175] The season was, it is true, rather exceptional. But it is a
noteworthy fact that all these great plains--Mush, Khinis, Pasin--were
without snow at this advanced date. Already in March the snow begins
to melt.
[176] Brant estimates the distance between Hasan Kala and Erzerum
at only eighteen miles (op. cit. p. 341). If he is speaking of the
distance by road he makes, I think, a considerable error. My own
estimate is twenty-three miles.
[177] The cone of Sheikhjik was visited by Dr. Wagner in the forties
and has been described by him at some length (Reise nach Persien,
Leipzig, 1852, vol. i. pp. 231 seq.).
[178] Smith and Dwight, Missionary Researches in Armenia, London,
1834, p. 62.
[179] The Jesuit father, Thomas Charles Fleurian (Estat présent de
l'Arménie, Paris, 1694, 8vo, p. 81), speaks of Erzerum as "capitale
de la haute Arménie sous la domination du Grand Seigneur ... une
fort grande ville ... fort peuplée et fort riche; c'est le centre du
commerce de tous ces païs-là. Les caravanes qui vont de Perse à Alep,
ou à Smirne, ou à Constantinople; ou celles qui viennent de ces mêmes
endroits en Perse passent toutes à Erzerom."
[180] Tournefort, Voyage au Levant, Paris, 1717, vol. ii. p. 279, and
cp. Schillinger, Persianische und Ost-Indianische Reise, Nürnberg,
1707, 8vo, p. 81. It is a relief to read the warm sentiments of
Tournefort towards Mr. Prescot (such was the name of the British
agent) in contrast to the verjuice with which our contemporary French
travellers think it their duty to steep their pens when speaking
of English enterprise or its agents in distant lands. The contrast
enables us to measure the difference between the France of Louis
XIV. and that of the Presidents.
[181] Brant in Journal R.G.S. 1836, p. 201.
[182] Smith and Dwight in op. cit. p. 64. There were also 645 families
of Armenian Catholics and 50 of Greeks. The remainder were Mussulmans.
[183] C. F. Neumann, Geschichte der Uebersiedlung von 40,000 Armeniern
welche im Jahre 1828 aus der Persischen Provinz Adebaidschan nach
Russland anwanderten (from Russian of S. Glinka), Leipzig, 1834, 8vo.
[184] Brant, loc. cit. It is generally supposed that not less than
60,000 Armenians, headed by their bishop, accompanied the retirement
of Paskevich's army.
[185] Smith and Dwight, op. cit. p. 441.
[186] The plain of Erzerum may be said to commence on the west at
the village of Titgir.
[187] The excursion to the Dümlü Dagh is a favourite one in summer. The
sources of the Kara Su, or Western Euphrates, have been visited and
described by Wagner (Reise nach Persien, Leipzig, 1852, vol. i. pp. 237
seq.) and by Strecker (Zeitschrift für Erdkunde, Berlin, 1869, pp. 159
seq.). For a catalogue of the various species of birds found in the
marshes of the Kara Su or in the neighbourhood of Erzerum see Curzon,
Armenia, London, 1854, chap. x. pp. 143 seq.
[188] For the citadel and old walls of Erzerum the following works
may be consulted:--Reyse von Constantinopel, etc., by the Hoch
Edelgeborener Herr Heinrich von Poser und Gross-Nedlitz, Jena, 1675,
4o; Tournefort, Voyage au Levant, Paris, 1717, vol. ii. pp. 260 seq.;
Morier, Journey through Persia, Armenia, etc., London, 1812, pp. 320
seq.; Macdonald Kinneir, Journey through Asia Minor, Armenia, etc.,
London, 1818, pp. 366 seq.; Hamilton, Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus
and Armenia, London, 1842, vol. i. pp. 178 seq.; Texier, Description de
l'Arménie, Paris, 1842, part i. pp. 68 seq.; Koch, Reise im pontischen
Gebirge und türkischen Armenien, Weimar, 1846, pp. 274 seq., and Curzon
and Wagner in operibus citatis. Koch informs us of a Cufic inscription
on the watch-tower in the citadel which was copied by his companion,
Dr. Rosen. He adds that it would be published in due course.
[189] Dalyell in Journal R.G.S. 1863, p. 235; Dove, Zeitschrift
für Erdkunde, Berlin, 1859, p. 67. The older travellers mention the
circumstance that the houses in Erzerum were constructed of wood. Now
they are all built of stone.
[190] I would refer my reader to the accounts of Hamilton, Texier,
Curzon, Koch and Tozer.
[191] The Merchant in Persia, who travelled in the early part of
the sixteenth century, noticed the emblem of an eagle with two heads
and two crowns on the buildings of Diarbekr, once the capital of the
Ortukids, and mistook it for the imperial arms. See the translation of
his work by Charles Grey (Italian Travels in Persia, Hakluyt Society,
London, 1873).
[192] Koch, Reise im pontischen Gebirge, etc., Weimar, 1846, p. 284.
[193] Hamilton was informed by his guide that the Chifteh Minareh
itself was built by a Sultan of Iran "570 years ago." That was in
1836. The same traveller speaks of a building in Erzerum somewhat
resembling Chifteh Minareh but with one minaret only. It seems to be
the same as that described by Texier under the name of Mourgo-Serai. I
was assured that no such edifice exists at the present day.
[194] Samuel of Ani in Migne, Patrologiæ cursus completus, series
Græca, Paris, 1857, vol. xix. p. 706.
[195] See also Vol. I. Ch. XVI. p. 261.
[196] Procopius, de bell. Pers. lib. i. c. 10. The student must be
careful to distinguish this Theodosiopolis from the fortress of the
same name on the Khabur. The letter of the emperor to the patriarch
Isaac is given by Moses of Khorene, lib. iii. c. 57.
[197] Moses of Khorene, lib. iii. c. 59. Thousands of eggs are still
collected in these marshes during spring by the inhabitants of the
plain of Erzerum. The hot springs mentioned are evidently those of
Ilija, a good hour's drive to the west of Erzerum.
[198] Nöldeke, article "Persia" in Ency. Brit. 9th
edit. vol. xviii. p. 611; Procopius, de Edificiis, iii. c. 5.
[199] Procopius in loc. cit. In the time of Justinian the frontier
of Roman Armenia skirted the Persian frontier from the city of Amida
(Diarbekr) as far as Theodosiopolis (ibid. iii. c. 1).
[200] Indgidgean, ap. Neumann, quoted by Ritter, Erdkunde,
vol. x. p. 759.
[201] Issaverdens, Armenia and the Armenians, Venice, 1878, p. 109.
[202] Indgidgean in op. cit.
[203] Cedrenus, edit. Bekker, p. 463; see Gibbon, Decline and Fall,
ch. liv.
[204] Constantine Porphyrogenitus, de Adm. Imp. c. 45.
[205] Von Hammer, Geschichte des Osm. Reiches, vol. i. p. 25.
[206] Kyriakos, ap. Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. x. p. 760.
[207] Travels of Evliya, translated by Von Hammer, London, 1850,
vol. ii. p. 108.
[208] Abulfeda, Annales, edit. Reiske, iv. p. 367. For a plan
and account of the ruins of the southern Arzen see Taylor in
J.R.G.S. vol. xxxv. pp. 26 seq. Evliya speaks of four towns bearing
the name of Erzen, viz. Erzen in Mesopotamia, Erzen Akhlat, Erzen Rum,
commonly called Erzerum, and Erzenjan (Von Hammer's translation,
ii. 202). The word Erzen or Arzen is discussed by Boré, Corr. et
Mémoires, Paris, 1840, vol. i. pp. 184 seq. Strecker (Zeitschrift für
Erdkunde, Berlin, 1869, pp. 152, 153) seeks to identify our Artze or
Artsn with the site of the modern village of Karars near the right
bank of the Kara Su or Euphrates, north-west of Erzerum.
[209] Cedrenus, pp. 772, 773. He speaks of Artze as a kômopolis in
the neighbourhood of Theodosiopolis which is described as a strong
fortress. A vivid contemporary and native account of the sack of Artze
is furnished by the Armenian historian, Aristakes of Lastivert. See
Prudhomme's translation in the Revue de l'Orient, Paris, 1863,
vol. xvii. pp. 275 seq.
[210] Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie, vol. i. p. 68; Tournefort,
Voyage du Levant, Paris, 1717, vol. ii. p. 276.
[211] Erzerum is also known to Armenian writers under the name
of Karnoy Kaghak (Kalak) or town of Karin, from which the name of
Kalikala, used by Arabic authors, is probably derived.
D'Anville is certainly in error when he seeks to identify
Theodosiopolis with Hasan Kala in Pasin.
[212] Since writing this description, General Sir Charles Wilson's
most admirable Handbook for Asia Minor (London, Murray, 1895)
has come into my hands. He gives the distance between Erzerum
and Trebizond, measured in miles along the chaussée, at 199 1/4
miles. Another account makes the total 196 1/2 miles. I enquired
in official circles at Erzerum whether there were extant any exact
record of the distance; a search was made in the archives with a
negative result. A certain proportion of the milestones are still
erect; but many have disappeared, the course of the road has been
changed in places, and the milestones have been replaced, probably
in an arbitrary manner. My own record, which is based on careful
estimates of pace and time, is as follows:--Erzerum--Ashkala, 33
miles; Ashkala--Pirnakapan, 10 miles; Pirnakapan--Southern Kop Khan,
2 miles; Southern Kop Khan--Kop Pass, 5 1/2 miles; Kop Pass--Northern
Kop Khan, 5 1/3 miles; Northern Kop Khan--Maden Khan, 6 1/2 miles;
Maden Khan--Baiburt, 10 3/4 miles; Baiburt (bridge)--Varzahan,
6 miles; Varzahan--Osluk Khan, 6 miles; Osluk Khan--Khadrak, 8
miles; Khadrak--Vavuk Pass, 4 1/2 miles; Vavuk Pass--Murad Khan,
10 1/3 miles; Murad Khan--Lower Gümüshkhaneh, 16 1/4 miles; Lower
Gümüshkhaneh--Ardasa, 16 1/2 miles; Ardasa--Southern Zigana hamlet,
9 1/2 miles; Southern Zigana village--Zigana Pass, 4 1/2 miles; Zigana
Pass--Upper Hamsi Keui, 10 1/8 miles; Upper Hamsi Keui--Jevizlik,
15 1/4 miles; Jevizlik--Trebizond, 20 miles. Total, 199 3/4 miles. A
carriage (victoria) can be obtained in Trebizond. Such a vehicle,
drawn by two horses, together with a cart for the luggage with a team
of three, costs for the whole journey £13 : 10s. But, if I may offer
a recommendation to the traveller, it is to render himself independent
of the chaussée by purchasing horses and riding. Large deductions from
the mileage may be made in this way, and the jolting avoided which is
inseparable from a metalled road kept in bad repair. Indeed wheeled
traffic is as yet quite an anomaly both in Turkey and in Persia. On the
other hand, it is extremely difficult to buy good horses in Trebizond,
although they may be readily purchased in Erzerum.
[213] According to Strecker (Zeit. Erdk. Berlin, 1869, vol. iv. p. 147)
the Serchemeh Chai has a shorter course and brings less water than the
Kara Su. I should consider that of these two uppermost constituents
of the Frat, the former has the greater average volume.
[214] The basin of Ashkala has been treated in its geological aspects
by Abich in his usually masterly manner (Geologische Forschungen in
den kaukasischen Ländern, Vienna, 1882, pt. ii. sect. 1, pp. 100 seq.).
[215] Macdonald Kinneir (Journey through Asia Minor, etc., London,
1818, p. 358) seems to have mistaken this Terjan range for that on the
south of the Murad. He is respectfully followed by the laborious Ritter
(Erdkunde, vol. x. p. 743). But that erudite geographer, to whom we
owe so much, should have been more careful to qualify the statement
(p. 741) that the range which is crossed by the Kop Pass constitutes
the "Nordbegrenzung des armenischen Plateaulandes." A few months'
personal travel would have stood him in good stead after all his
minute analysis of the works of travellers.
[216] But one of them has already been drawn by Layard (Nineveh and
Babylon, p. 7); and I here reproduce a photograph taken during our
second journey, which shows some interesting examples of old Armenian
tombstones with rams' heads in the cemetery of Varzahan (Fig. 173).
[217] For the stages see Ch. XI. p. 240. The route is shown on my map.
[218] Not that all the people one meets of distinctively Greek
type are Christians. Especially in the valleys most remote from the
coast, as in that of the Kharshut, the inhabitants of Greek race have
largely been converted to Mohammedanism, or have become Mohammedan for
prudential or worldly motives. So complete has been the transformation
in some places, that, when I asked my host at Besh Kilisa--a man whose
physiognomy showed him to be a typical Greek--to what nationality
he belonged, he replied "Osmanli." A section of the inhabitants of
Hamsi Keui--a village south of the Zigana--represent a transitional
stage. Their children are baptized, but a mollah recites prayers over
them. They bear a Mohammedan and a Christian name, as, for instance,
that of Ahmed Apostolos. When they die the papa and the mollah dispute
the corpse. They have neither church nor mosque. When they meet a
Greek they bid him kallispera, and, when a Mohammedan, merhaba.
[219] The following are the stages:--Jevizlik--Sumelas, 10 1/2
miles; Sumelas across the Kazikly Dagh to Tashköpri, 11 miles;
Tashköpri viâ Tshörak Khan and across the Kitowa Dagh to Mezere Khan,
18 1/4 miles; Mezere Khan to Baiburt, 17 1/2 miles. From Baiburt
the summer road to Erzerum viâ the Khosabpunar Pass may be taken,
the stages being:--Baiburt--Maden Khan, 10 3/4 miles; Maden Khan to
Khosabpunar village on the south side of the pass (8600 feet), 28
miles; Khosabpunar village viâ Maimansur to Erzerum, 29 miles. Total
distance from Trebizond by this route, 145 miles, as against the 199
miles of the chaussée. See Ch. X. p. 225.
[220] The following are my estimates of the mileage distances
along our route to Khinis: Erzerum--Palandöken Pass, 7 1/4 miles;
Palandöken Pass--Madrak, 8 miles; Madrak--Khedonun, 11 1/2 miles;
Khedonun--Kherbesor, 8 3/4 miles; Kherbesor--Ali Mur, 7 miles; Ali
Mur--Khinis, 18 miles. Total, 60 1/2 miles. Such estimates throughout
this work are based on pace and on time occupied; and the results
have been checked by the positions fixed by cross bearings.
[221] The illustration was taken from a hill near Khedonun, almost
in the centre of the basin-like area. But the appearance both of
basin and of mountain are substantially the same from the Palandöken
Pass. I may refer my reader to the similar landscape taken in winter
(Ch. VIII. Fig. 161).
[222] See Ch. VIII. p. 188.
[223] The following were our stages to Tutakh:--Khinis--Dedeveren,
17 miles; Dedeveren--Gunduz, 8 miles; Gunduz--Gopal, 9 miles;
Gopal--Rashan, 8 1/4 miles; Rashan--Alkhes, 23 1/2 miles, several
of which might have been saved; Alkhes--Tutakh, 18 1/2 miles. Total,
84 1/2 miles.
[224] See Ch. VIII. p. 178.
[225] The subject is discussed, Vol. I. Ch. XXI. pp. 422 seq.
[226] The stages are as follows:--Tutakh--Gargalik, 12 1/2 miles;
Gargalik--Melazkert, 24 3/4 miles. Total, 37 1/4 miles.
[227] The calculation is based on the difference between the level
of the lake (5637 feet) and that of the Murad at the old bridge of
Melazkert (5174 feet). Both levels were taken with the boiling-point
apparatus.
[228] The fall between Tutakh and Melazkert can only amount to about
100 feet.
[229] This Yusuf Pasha is not the same as the Yusuf Bey who received
me at Köshk (see Ch. II. p. 16).
[230] The original name is Manazkert, which the Turks have corrupted
into Melazkert. In the older name there perhaps lurks that of Menuas,
the Vannic king, who reigned in the ninth century before Christ
(see Ch. IV. p. 71).
[231] Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie, vol. i. p. 251.
[232] I have transcribed my impressions, as written on the spot. But
it is possible that the present aspect of the walls as well as the
bridge may be due to the Mohammedan rulers of Melazkert. The great
tower in the citadel may well be later than the eleventh century. Still
there can be little doubt that the work was carried out by Armenians,
and in harmony with the original plan.
Unfortunately almost all the inscriptions have disappeared. We
observed a slab of calcareous stone inserted in the north wall, and
engraved with an Arabic inscription, but it was much obliterated. A
slab of the same material, and in the same condition, containing
an inscription, probably in the Syriac character, is built into the
Kaimakam's house. We were told that a number of inscriptions had been
abstracted by the son-in-law of Raouf Pasha, Vali of Erzerum.
Outside the citadel, lying upon the ground, we examined a
well-preserved cuneiform inscription, engraved upon two sides of
a block of granitic rock, unlike any stone found here. I was under
the impression that it had already been discovered and translated;
so we did not take a copy. I now find that we should have done well
to copy it. Scheil (Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et à
l'archéologie égypt. et assyr., Paris, 1896, vol. xviii. pp. 75-77)
describes and translates an inscription which, he says, was recently
discovered at Melazkert by the district engineer, but he does not
mention the exact locality. It is an inscription of Menuas, recording
a restoration.
Within the citadel, near our encampment, one of those large stones
which have been elsewhere described, incised with the elaborate
traceries of an Armenian cross, was seen among the debris. It was in
excellent preservation, having only recently been dug out in situ.
[233] Our stages were:--Melazkert--Demian, 10 miles; Demian--Akhlat
(Erkizan), 20 1/2 miles.
[234] Coracias garrulus, belonging to a family closely allied to the
kingfishers and bee-eaters. But what hideous names have been given
to this beautiful bird!
[235] The credit of whatever information we already possess is due,
among modern travellers, almost exclusively to Englishmen. I may cite
Brant (Journal R.G.S. 1840, vol. x. pp. 406 seq.), Layard (Discoveries
in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, London, 1853, pp. 24 seq.),
and Tozer (Turkish Armenia, London, 1881, pp. 315 seq.). The last of
these writers does not appear to have read Layard's account, which
would have saved him some lengthy speculations. Ritter (Erdkunde,
vol. x. p. 326) may also be consulted.
[236] The white stone which may be seen inserted in the masonry of some
of the tombs at Akhlat is not a true marble, but a compact limestone,
easy to chisel. It must have been brought from a distance, perhaps
from the opposite shore of the lake, as we met with no such stone in
situ during our wanderings.
[237] I am indebted to my friend, Mr. E. Denison Ross, for careful
translations of these and the following inscriptions.
[238] Brant (op. cit. p. 407) attests its existence at the time of
his visit.
[239] Woodcuts of this tomb are given by Layard (op. cit. p. 24)
and by Müller-Simonis (op. cit. p. 313).
[240] Madavantz belongs to the caza but not to the casaba, or home
district, of Akhlat.
[241] Geography, attributed to Vardan ap. Saint Martin, Mémoires sur
l'Arménie, vol. ii. p. 429. One of these monasteries contained the
leather girdle of St. Gregory, and another was consecrated by the
saint himself.
[242] Constantine Porphyrogenitus, de Adm. Imp. c. 44, in
vol. iii. p. 196 of the Bonn edition.
[243] Lane-Poole, Mohammedan Dynasties, London, 1894, p. 118.
[244] Deguignes, Hist. des Huns, Paris, 1756, vol. i. p. 253;
Lane-Poole, op. cit. p. 170.
[245] Saint Martin, quoting Chamchean, Hist. vol. iii. p. 221.
[246] Layard (op. cit. p. 26) mentions a local tradition that all
these tombs were built by Sultans of the Ak-Kuyunli (White Sheep)
and Kara-Kuyunli (Black Sheep) Turkomans. The inscriptions show that
this cannot be the case. The Venetian traveller Barbaro, who visited
the country during the first half of the fifteenth century, found it
in the possession of the horde of the Black Sheep. They were driven
out by the rival horde of the White Sheep under Uzun Hasan (1466-1478).
Layard speaks of Bayindar as a known sultan of the White Sheep horde,
I know not upon what authority.
[247] Von Hammer, Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches,
vol. iii. p. 143. Akhlat appears to have contained the tombs of some
of the ancestors of the Ottoman ruling House (ibid. note to p. 144
on p. 676).
[248] The Merchant in Persia (Travels of Italians in Persia, Hakluyt
Society, London, 1873, p. 160), who visited Armenia in the first
quarter of the sixteenth century, describes it as follows:--"This
Calata (sic) was anciently a large city, as can be seen by the
buildings, but is now reduced to a small fortress."
[249] The accuracy of the results obtained with our Steward telemeter
was well tested on Nimrud by these cross-readings from salient points
along the edge of the crater. The principal credit, however, for the
excellent measurements, taken under great difficulties, owing to the
uneven surface of the ground, is due to Captain Elliot, who was ably
seconded by Mr. Oswald.
[250] Among craters similar in character to Nimrud the best comparison
would seem to be afforded by the Crater Lake of Oregon (Cascade
range). The average diameter of this crater is a little more than 5
1/2 miles, and while the inner slopes around the lake are precipitous,
those facing outwards to the platform upon which the crater is reared
are gentle. The highest point is 8200 feet above the sea, and the
lake has a depth of 2000 feet (see J. S. Diller, American Journal
of Science, 1897, p. 165). The well-known craters in the Sandwich
Islands are much smaller than Nimrud, the largest, Kilauea, having
a maximum diameter of 2 1/2 miles.
[251] Or it may merely represent the terminal walls of lava streams.
[252] A single paragraph in an article by Major Clayton, R.A., entitled
"The Mountains of Kurdistan" (Alpine Journal, Aug. 1887), is the
only account known to me of the interior of the Nimrud crater. Brant
confines himself to the following grotesque description (Journal
R.G.S. 1840, vol. x. p. 378):--"The Nimrud range (sic) runs nearly
north and south, but at its southern extremity is terminated by a
cross range (sic), called the Kerkú Tágh, running east and west."
[253] Merchant in Persia, Travels of Italians in Persia, Hakluyt
Society, London, 1873, p. 159.
[254] The name Rava is sometimes applied to this plateau.
[255] The Kaimakam of Akhlat, who knows the district well, assured us
that there was a permanent outlet. Layard, on the other hand, speaks of
an intermittent one (Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon,
London, 1853, p. 21). I regret that I am unable to express certainty
on the point. In the case of Lake Bulama, however, I am able to vouch
for the fact that its waters find their way to the Murad.
[256] The following are the approximate distances along the route
described in this chapter:--Tadvan to Norshen, 12 3/4 miles; Norshen
to Nazik, 23 1/2 miles; Akhlat to Adeljivas, 15 miles.
[257] Oswald took several careful observations of the dip of these
limestones. The norm was 50° south by east.
[258] The best account of Adeljivas is that of Tozer (Turkish Armenia,
London, 1881, p. 335). The width of the enclosure is given by him
as 250 yards, on the side of the shore. The parallel lines of walls
descend into the water. Within the enclosure "one ancient mosque with
a minaret remains, and also part of another considerable building. The
mosque, which is now used as a storehouse for corn, appears to be
of the same date as those in the castle of Akhlat; it is massively
built of stone, with but little ornament, and its arches are pointed
and slightly ogived." Müller-Simonis has a nice woodcut (Du Caucase
au Golfe Persique, Paris, 1892, p. 301).
[259] This is the height of the village of Uran Gazi.
[260] It would require a series of very careful observations to
determine whether this eminence--which I shall call the eastern
summit--or the western summit of Sipan be the higher. By boiling-point
we obtained the following results:--Eastern summit (4th August),
13,590 feet; western summit (5th August), 13,714 feet. But these
readings were taken on different days. On the other hand, the aneroid
registered:--Eastern summit (4th August), 13,650 feet; eastern summit
(5th August), 13,790 feet; western summit (5th August), 13,754
feet. At present the question must be left open--and indeed it is
not of much importance.
[261] Such ziarets exist upon almost all the prominent mountains,
great or small, in this part of Armenia. The custom no doubt comes
down from an epoch of Nature-worship.
[262] It will be recognised from the above description that the summit
of Sipan is much more basin-like than that of Ararat. Sipan probably
possessed a crater in the proper sense. That of Ararat is so much
worn down that it can scarcely be said to exist.
Sipan appears to have been built up by successive lava streams,
which became more and more viscous, until that finally emitted had
no power to flow at all, and merely welled up, forming the circular
mass on the east. The lava composing that mass is spongy and glassy,
a glassy mica-andesite. The narrow ridge, upon which we camped, and
which may represent the northern rim of the old crater, consists of a
slabby rhyolite with impure obsidian; it is covered up with cindery
slag. The western summit and surrounding rock is made up of a lava
somewhat similar to that on Nimrud--a dull impure obsidian with
ill-developed spherulites; the flow structure is well marked. Tuffs
were nowhere to be seen. But a bastion on the northern side of the
mountain was cloaked with grey pumice sand.
The ascent of the mountain is described by Brant (J.R.G.S. 1840,
vol. x. pp. 409 seq.) and by Tozer (Turkish Armenia, pp. 327 seq.). But
they both largely underestimate the height. They appear to have been
misled by the fact that the highest points are free from snow in
midsummer; but the summit region in general is a mass of snow even
at that season. On Ararat such piles of rock, on which the snow has
been unable to obtain a footing, are found quite near the summit,
which is nearly 17,000 feet high.
[263] The list is divided into cazas and villages:--Adeljivas caza--1,
Uran Gazi; 2, Kogus. Van caza--3, Shikhare; 4, Shikhuna; 5, Azikare;
6, Pakis. Akhlat caza--7, Kholik; 8, Agjavireh; 9, Yogurtyemes; 10,
Develik; 11, Khanik. Melazkert caza--12, Serdut; 13, Yarelmish;
14, Kara Ali; 15, Simu. Bulanik caza--16, Gopo. Khinis caza--17,
Lekbudagh. Varto caza--18, Charbahur; 19, Charbahur Tepe; 20,
Akhpoghan; 21, Zirnek; 22, Budag; 23, Shekan; 24, Aineh. In addition
to these--I will not vouch for the spelling--there were, he said,
to be found Circassians on the side of Erzerum.
[264] The intermediate distances along the route described in this
chapter were as follows:--Uran Gazi viâ Leter and Lake Bulama to Gop,
32 miles; Gop to Charbahur, deviating to the confluence of the Bingöl
Su (Khinis) with the Murad, 52 3/4 miles; Charbahur to Gumgum, 6 3/4
miles; Gumgum to Gundemir, 9 1/4 miles. Total, 100 3/4 miles.
[265] Mytilus (Congeria) polymorphus.
[266] Layard (Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, London,
1853, p. 20) speaks of it under the name of the Lake of Shailu.
[267] The distances are as follows:--Gop to Karaogli (including
one considerable deviation), 12 3/4 miles; Karaogli to Shakhberat,
10 miles; Shakhberat to Charbahur, 30 miles. Total, 52 3/4 miles.
[268] A horse's knee would represent a depth of 1 foot 5 inches,
and a horse's girth 2 feet 9 inches.
[269] The lava may be described as a fine-grained augite-andesite, grey
in colour with distinct augite crystals. It is slightly scoriaceous
superficially.
[270] Existing literature on the subject is not satisfactory. I
may cite the following:--Koch, Reise im pontischen Gebirge, etc.,
Weimar, 1846, pp. 365 seq., and p. 333; Der Kaukasus, Landschafts-
und Lebens-Bilder, by the same author, published posthumously,
Berlin, 1882. See the chapter entitled "Der Berg der tausend
Seen." P. de Tchihatchef (1858), Asie Mineure, part iv., Geology,
Paris, 1867, vol. i. pp. 279-285; Kotschy, Reise von Trapezunt, etc.,
in Petermann's Mittheilungen, 1860; Strecker, Beiträge zur Geographie
von Hoch-Armenien, in Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu
Berlin, 1869, pp. 512 seq.; Radde in Petermann, 1877, pp. 411 seq. Of
these, Radde's article is the most reliable, and is, indeed, a valuable
contribution, so far as it goes. Abich has endeavoured to make the
best of these accounts. See Geologische Forschungen in den kaukasischen
Ländern, Vienna, 1882, part ii. sec. 1, p. 77, and pp. 87 seq.
[271] Strecker, op. cit. p. 516. This writer calls the western summit
Toprak Kala, or the earth castle.
[272] A fairly compact augite-andesite.
[273] W. Gifford Palgrave, in Nature, vol. v. 1871-72, p. 444; and
vol. vi. 1872, pp. 536 seq.
[274] Strecker (op. cit. p. 515) states that he found a stone three
feet long and two feet broad, inscribed with cuneiform characters,
lying on the ground in a depression east of Kara Kala. It was
surrounded by the gravestones of a little cemetery. For an account
of the inscription on our stone see Ch. IV. p. 73.
[275] See Geologische Forschungen in den kaukasischen Ländern, Vienna,
1882, vol. ii. pp. 7, 85, and 89.
[276] Both Oswald and myself had read Abich's account of this so-called
crater. He appears to regard it as a volcanic crater in the strict
sense. I am inclined to think that his drawing is very much exaggerated
(Geologische Forschungen in den kaukasischen Ländern, Vienna, 1882,
II. Theil, pp. 73 et seq.).
[277] For the stages see Ch. XI. p. 240.
[278] An account of this route which I have before me gives the
distance between Rizeh and Erzerum as only 119 miles. It leaves Ispir
(in the Chorokh valley) a little to the east.
[279] I must not omit to record the assistance which I have
received from the map of H. Kiepert, Provinces Asiatiques de l'Empire
Ottoman. The sheets which cover the Armenian country embody the results
of my predecessors, which have been compiled with great judgment. I
have also had access to two Russian maps embracing portions of the
country, (1) scale 10 versts = one inch, 1889, (2) scale 20 versts
= one inch, 1899. But the map of Kiepert with all its merit is
necessarily sketchy; and the last Russian map is flagrantly incorrect.
[280] See the map of Loftus in Quarterly Journal of the Geological
Society, vol. xi. London, 1855, p. 247.
[281] See the map of Abich in Geologische Forschungen in den
kaukasischen Ländern, Vienna, 1882, Atlas, Karte I.; and part
ii. p. 141.
[282] A fine view of the range at this point is displayed by Abich,
op. cit., Atlas table iii.
[283] Abich, op. cit. part ii. p. 155.
[284] Abich, op. cit. part ii. p. 160.
[285] E. Clayton, The Mountains of Kurdistan, in the Alpine Journal,
1887.
[286] For some account of the geology of Azerbaijan see C. Grewingk,
Die geognostischen und orographischen Verhältnisse des nördlichen
Persiens, St. Petersburg, 1853.
[287] The best account of this country is that of J. G. Taylor,
J.R.G.S. vol. xxxviii. 1868. I may also refer my reader to two articles
by Dr. Butyka (Mitt. der K. K. geographischen Gesellschaft in Wien,
vol. xxxv. 1892, pp. 99-126 and 194-210), who has collected the scanty
notices of his predecessors and added his own experiences. I have made
use of some unpublished material in the preparation of this part of
my map; but it is far from satisfactory.
[288] See the inscription and translation by Professor Sayce
in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xiv. 1882,
No. XXXIII. p. 558.
[289] Tozer, Turkish Armenia and Eastern Asia Minor, London, 1881,
pp. 256 seq.
[290] H. Binder describes the route from Mosul through Amadia,
Julamerik, Kochannes and Mervanen to Van (Au Kurdistan, en Mésopotamie
et en Perse, Paris, 1887). See also W. F. Ainsworth, Travels in Asia
Minor, etc., London, 1842, vol. ii. pp. 179 seq., with geological
section from Mosul to Lake Urmi.
[291] For the geology of the Taurus between Diarbekr and Kharput
an article by W. Warington Smyth in the Quarterly Journal of the
Geological Society of London, 1845, vol. i. pp. 330 seq., may be
consulted. I do not understand his statement that the breadth of
the main ridge of Taurus between Arghana and Kharput is nearly 50
miles. Loftus (op. cit. p. 344) has drawn a geological section from
Bitlis through Sert to Jezireh-ibn-Omar. Like the Zagros, the range
may be said to consist in the main of nummulitic limestone.
[292] Abich, op. cit. part ii. p. 119 note.
[293] I cannot speak with certainty as to the geological nature of
the Pir Reshid Dagh.
[294] For Tendurek, which appears to be in a solfataric condition,
see Abich's article in the Bulletin of the French Geological Society,
2nd series, xxi. pp. 213 seq., and Letter from T. K. Lynch in
P.R.G.S. xiii. pp. 243, 244.
[295] The Miocene deposits are found in the valleys, e.g. in those
of the Frat (Western Euphrates) and Araxes.
An interesting fact has been brought to my notice by Mr. F. Oswald,
my friend and companion during my last journey. There may be seen
in the Tiflis Museum the remains of a mammoth which was discovered
in the lacustrine deposits of the Alexandropol district. Similar
remains had already been found in deposits of similar character and
age in the neighbourhood of Khinis by Colonel J. Shiel. These are in
the British Museum, where they have been christened Elephas armeniacus.
[296] See Blue-book, Turkey, No. 6, 1881, p. 127.
[297] The clause in the Berlin Treaty relating to the Armenians is
as follows:--Article 61. "La sublime Porte s'engage à réaliser sans
plus de retard les améliorations et les réformes qu'exigent les
besoins locaux dans les provinces habitées par les Arméniens et à
garantir leur sécurité contre les Circassiens et les Kurdes. Elle
donnera connaissance périodiquement des mesures prises à cet effet
aux puissances qui en surveilleront l'application."
The Armenian delegates to the Berlin Congress presented a memoir
to the European Plenipotentiaries in which they set forth their
cause. It is published by De la Jonquière in his Histoire de l'Empire
Ottoman, Paris, 1881, pp. 39-44. They also drew out a project for an
Organic Regulation to be applied to the new province. It was to be
administered by an Armenian Governor-General appointed by the Porte
with the consent of the Powers.
[298] The statistics of population were supplied by the Patriarch
Nerses to Mr. Goschen. They may be found in Blue-book, Turkey, No. 23,
1880, p. 274. Mr. Goschen, writing to Lord Granville on 15th July 1880,
says: "My strong feeling is that the Powers cannot commit themselves
to any plan until they know the real facts about the population. It
would not do to build on a mistaken basis, and I feel convinced that
no one has sure ground. The Patriarch's figures are as exaggerated
as those of the Porte on the other side. Again, how to deal with the
nomad Kurds? All must depend on the physical force of the two different
races and religions. If the Armenians should be in a minority it will
be dangerous to give them the same institutions which we should give if
they were in a majority, dangerous to themselves" (Blue-book, Turkey,
No. 6, 1881, p. 16). And, again, in another despatch of 23rd July:
"With regard to the actual project of reforms, the letter of the
Patriarch is conceived in such vague phrases that but little advantage
is to be derived from it in elucidating the problem to be solved"
(ibid. p. 20).
[299] See Lord Granville's despatch, 10th February 1881: "In
consequence of the objections raised by the German Government,
Mr. Goschen will not be instructed to put forward the Armenian Question
immediately on his return to Constantinople."
[300] The figures for the town and merkez-caza of Van are based on
my own knowledge. Those for the other cazas of Van sanjak are the
Turkish official figures for 1890, except in the case of Adeljivas
caza, where I have substituted a private estimate.
[301] The figures for Bitlis vilayet are the Turkish official figures
for 1893.
[302] The figures for Kharput sanjak are an estimate made for me by
Consul Boyajean of Diarbekr, at the instance of Consul R. W. Graves. I
had previously calculated that the Christians were in a majority in
that sanjak. The population of the Dersim sanjak has been estimated
from various sources. The estimate is little better than a guess.
[303] The figures for caza Palu have been furnished by Consul Boyajean.
[304] The Turkish official figures, as annexed to the British Consular
Trade Report for 1887, have been adopted for the vilayet of Erzerum.
Except in the cases of Van town and caza, and possibly in those of
vilayet Kharput and caza Palu, a large percentage might be added
to the figures above given in order to provide for the imperfect
registration of females. Under this head the figures for the other
cazas of Van might be increased by 10 per cent; those for Bitlis
vilayet by 13 per cent; and those for Erzerum vilayet by 7 per cent.
[305] The statistical area with which we are dealing for the Turkish
provinces measures 42,814 square miles. If we were to adopt the
area delimited by the Armenian delegates to the Berlin Congress,
the proportion of Christians to Mohammedans would be still smaller.
[306] It is interesting to compare these results, which were obtained
quite independently and before I had seen his estimate, with the
figures given by the late Mr. Taylor, for many years British Consul
for Erzerum and the surrounding country. Mr. Taylor knew the country
intimately, and had travelled extensively in it. On his figures are
based those which have been given by his successors in office, and
which appear in the Blue-books. After making the necessary deductions
for districts annexed to Russia since the date of Mr. Taylor's reports,
his estimate of the population, as adapted to the area with which
we are dealing, is as follows:--Turks, 348,350; Kurds, 466,982;
Christians, 352,657--total, 1,167,989. This estimate corresponds in
a satisfactory manner with mine, after we have made allowance for
information, either new or more complete, which has appeared with
reference to certain districts since Taylor's time. The census shows
that Taylor under-estimated the Turks who inhabit the northern cazas of
Erzerum vilayet. Taylor also placed the Kizilbash Kurds of the Dersim
at 110,000. Relying on more recent reports, I place them at 50,000.
[307] Consul Taylor, in alluding to the Kurds of the tableland,
has written to the following effect: "The Kurds inhabiting the
Erzerum districts, with the exception of the Hakkiari, were originally
immigrants from the vicinity of Diarbekr; and there is only one tribe,
the Mamakanlu--said to be descended from the Armenian Mamikoneans--who
are natives of the soil."
[308] This tax is known in the country under the name of kishlak,
or winter quarters.
[309] Vahan Vardapet, in an Armenian newspaper published in
Constantinople, the Djeridei Sharkieh, under date the 3/15 December
1886.
[310] See Curzon's Persia, vol. i. p. 548.
[311] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 493.
[312] 2 Kings xix. 37; Moses of Khorene, i. 23.
[313] Saint Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie, i. 163.
[314] Faustus of Byzantium, iii. 9.
[315] For instance the Kurdish Beys of Zokh believe themselves
to be descended from the dynasty of Sanasar. Again an Armenian
convent, called Norshen, is held in reverence by both the Armenian
and Kurdish inhabitants; and the name of that convent is believed to
be a corruption of Nor-Shirakan or New Shirak--a name applied to the
country by the earliest Armenian writers, Agathangelus (ch. cxxvi.) and
Faustus (v. 9).
[316] John Katholikos, ch. xxviii.
[317] See especially Turkey, No. I. 1895, parts i. and ii.
[318] It may be found among the archives of the British Consulate
at Erzerum.
[319] Chesney, Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates
and Tigris carried on by order of the British Government, London,
1850, 2 vols. folio with maps; Narrative of the Euphrates Expedition,
London, 1868, 8vo.
[320] "The preservation, so far as it is still possible, of the
integrity of Persia must be registered as a cardinal principle of
our Imperial creed." "I should regard the concession of a port upon
the Persian Gulf to Russia by any power as a deliberate insult to
Great Britain, as a wanton rupture of the status quo, and as an
intentional provocation to war; and I should impeach the British
Minister, who was guilty of acquiescing in such a surrender, as a
traitor to his country." "It (i.e. the aggression of Russia upon
South Persia and the Persian Gulf) can only be prosecuted in the
teeth of international morality, in defiance of civilised opinion,
and with the ultimate certainty of a war with this country that would
ring from pole to pole."--Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question,
London, 1892, vol. ii. pp. 603, 605, 465. May I, as a traveller,
take the present opportunity of contributing my mite of gratitude to
Lord Curzon for this considerable work?
[321] "The Amir of Afghanistan," Quarterly Review, January 1901,
p. 167.
[322] The General Assembly of the Armenian nation met regularly in
Constantinople until 1892. Some of the Provincial Assemblies still
continue their meetings. But the Constitution is practically in
abeyance owing to the strained relations at present existing between
the Palace and the Armenians.
[323] Comptes-rendus, Acad. des Sciences, Paris, 1847, xxi. p. 1111.
[324] Vergl. chem. Untersuch. d. Wässer d. casp. Meeres, Urmia
u. Van-Sees, Mém. Acad. Sc. St. Pétersbourg, 1859, Séries 6, math. et
phys. vol. vii.
[325] Müller-Simonis, P., Du Caucase an Golfe Persique, Paris, 1892,
p. 258.
[326] Loc. cit.
[327] Proc. Roy. Soc. lxv. p. 312, London, 1899.
[328] List of Sources.--British Museum Library catalogues; Royal
Geographical Society, catalogues and publications; Poole's Index
to Periodicals, 1848-96; Review of Reviews, Annual Index, 1890-99;
Catalogue of York Gate geographical library, Lond. 1886; Académie des
Sciences de St. Pétersbourg, Tableau général des publications (langues
étrangères), St. Pet. 1872. List of books in library of Tiflis Museum,
kindly compiled for the author by Dr. Radde. Petermann's Mittheilungen,
Gotha, 1855-1900; Bibliothèque Asiat. et Afric. (Ternaux-Compans H.),
Paris, 1841; Bibliotheca Geographica (1750-1856) (Engelmann,
W.), Leipz. 1858; Bibliotheca Orientalis (Zenker, J. T.),
vol. ii. Leipz. 1861; Catalogue de la Section des Russicæ,
St. Pet. 1873; Bibliographia Caucasica et Transcaucasica (Miansarov,
M.), St. Pet. 1874-76; Bibliographies Géog. spéciales (Jackson,
J.) Paris, 1881; Orientalische Bibliographie (Müller, A.), 1887-96,
Berlin, 1897; Bibliotheca Geographica (Baschin, O.), 1891-97, Berlin,
1899; Catalogue des livres de l'imprimerie arménienne de Saint-Lazare,
Venice, 1894.
Encyclopædias: Zedler, Leipz. 1732; Ersch. u. Gruber, Leipz. 1820;
M'Clintock and Strong, New York, 1867; Ency. Britannica, Lond. 1875-89;
Brockhaus, Leipz. 1882; Meyer, Leipz. 1885; Dictionnaire de
Géog. Paris, 1879-95; La Grande Encyclopédie, Paris, 1887 seq.;
Real-Ency. f. protestantische Theologie (article Armenien by Gelzer),
Leipz. 1897.
Special bibliographies: Dubois de Montpéreux, Voyage autour du Caucase,
Paris, 1839-43; Saint-Martin (V. de), Hist. des Découv. Géog. Paris,
1846; Müller-Simonis, Du Caucase au Golfe Persique, Paris, 1892;
Bibliographie analytique des ouvrages de M. F. Brosset (1824-79),
St. Pet. 1887.
Authorities quoted by Ritter, Die Erdkunde von Asien, Berlin, 1832-59;
Reclus, Nouv. Géog. Universelle, Paris, 1876-94; Lanier, L'Asie,
Paris, 1889.
End of Project Gutenberg's Armenia (Volume 2 of 2), by H. F. B. Lynch