Index

Part 1 Introduction

Part 2 - Perri, Charsanjak, Dersim & The Armenian Village

Part 3 - Kharpert Regions & the Cities of Kharpert & Elazig

	Kharpert Regions
	Plain of Kharpert
	Kharpert Vilayet & Sanjak
	Kharpert City
	Elazig City
	The Keban & Karakaya Dams

Part 4 - The Armenians &  Armenian Language

Part 5 - Historical Armenia and the Plateaus, Mountains
            & Rivers

Part 6 - Wilsonian Armenia, Armenian SSR & the Republic
             of Armenia

Part 7 - The Republic of Turkey

References

Part 3
Kharpert Regions &
the Cities of Kharpert & Elazig

Kharpert Regions

Armenians from Kharpert, including the Poochigians, often referred to themselves as "Kharpertsi."   Kharpert refers to more than one geographic location, and the Poochigians came from the vilayet (province) of Kharpert. 

Kharpert, also called Kharberd, Kharput, Kharpoot, Harpert, Harpoot, Harput, Harpout, Harpouth, Elazig, Elaziz, Mamuret el Aziz, Mamuret-ul-Aziz, Mamurelulaziz, refers to any of the following geographical areas:

(1)  geographical plain of Kharpert,

(3)  Kharpert valley

(2)  vilayet (province) of Kharpert,

(3)  sanjak of Kharpert, and

(4)  ancient city of Kharpert

Plain of Kharpert

The ancient city of Kharpert was located on what was known as "the plain of Kharpert."  The plain of Kharpert, with an altitude of over 3,000 feet, marks the western boundary of a series of plateaus in the Armenian highlands.   Throughout the highlands, there is a marked contrast between the plateaus and the peripheral mountains (Lynch Vol. 2, 390). 

According to Lynch, "a fairly level country extends from the territory of Kharpert eastwards to the confines of Palu.  The Murad River wanders in many channels over the expanse, approached at an interval which is always diminishing by the Tauric barrier." (Lynch Vol. 2, 390)

Kharpert Vilayet & Sanjak

During the Ottoman rule of historical Armenia, there were six provinces (vilayets, eyalet) in historical Armenia: Erzurum, Bitlis, Van, Diyarbekir, Sivas and Kharpert (Mamuret ul-Aziz) (Shaw 201).  The area was traditionally referred to as the "Six Vilayets" or the "Six Provinces" in Ottoman Anatolia. (Lynch Vol. 2, 413)

According to Lynch, about the year 1890, the vilayet (province) of Kharpert included two sanjaks: Sanjak Kharpert (with 85,000 Armenians and a total population of 206,756) and the Sanjak Dersim (with 8,000 Armenians and a total population of 70,000).   The Vilayet Kharput had a total population of 276,756, including 93,000 Armenians; 182,000 Moslems; 1,334 Greeks; and 422 others (Lynch Vol. 2, 412-413).   Lynch noted, "The figures for the 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" (Lynch Vol. 2, 413).

When discussing the Armenian population, Lynch later said that since the statement about the 1890 population, the number of Armenians have been reduced by the massacres of 1895.  He stated that 500 Armenians in Kharput were "butchered."  He continued, "Reliable figures are wanting for the losses in human life throughout the country districts of the vilayets of Van, Bitlis and Kharput.  But they must have been considerable and whole villages were wiped out."  (Lynch Vol. 2, 412)

According to George Mouradian, In 1912, there were 168,000 Armenians in the province of Kharput.  Because of the massacres and deportations of World War I, today there are very few Armenians left in later years. (Mouradian 104)"

According to the Armenian patriarchal statistics, in 1912, there were 2,100,000 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and a total of 1,018,000 Armenians in the six provinces of Turkish Armenia (Hovannisian 234-235).

Kharpert City

The ancient city of Kharpert (Harput) was located in the sanjak of Kharpert,  vilayet of Kharput, and on the plain of Kharpert during the Ottoman rule of historical Armenia. Kharput had a long, eventful history, and its significance effectively ended in the 19th and 20th centuries with the Armenian massacres, a series of earthquakes, and the building of Elazig. 

Guarded by its photogenic castle, Kharput was an important way-station on the Silk Road to and from China and India (Brosnahan 655). 

Between 1893 to 1898, H. F. B. Lynch undertook two separate journeys in Armenia.  In Lynch's book, Armenia Travel and Studies, he refers to the city of Kharpert and says,

The town is built on a hill, not far south of the Murad, on the northern confines of the plain; and the old castle overlooks the expanse at a difference in level of about 1,000 feet.

Various estimates assign a population of from 13,000 to 25,000 souls to this ancient Armenian borough; and although the Armenians are in great minority in the city, they have a large preponderance among the inhabitants of the surrounding region.  It has been estimated that not less than 130 to 150 villages are situated in this vicinity.

The vine flourishes and is cultivated at this moderate elevation; and the dwellings are for the most part constructed of mud and brick with two storeys, in striking contrast to the unhealthy underground burrows in which the peasantry cheat the rigour of an Armenian winter over the greater portion of the area of the tableland.  Pear and plum trees grace the outskirts of the settlements, and the mulberry grows in such profusion that the silk crop is often of considerable value.

Kharpert has become a centre of American missionary effort--on the whole a salutary and civilising influence in these lands.  Their educational activities are represented by a well-equipped institution founded in 1876 and bearing the name of Armenia College.  Thither flock the Armenian youth from all parts of the country, to grow up beneath the example of the most progressive of Western peoples.   Within recent years the value of that example has somewhat diminished in their eyes, owing to the impunity with which the organisers of Palace policy in Constantinople have applied the torch to the property of American citizens and the ban of the censor to the loftiest creations of Western literature. (Lynch Vol. 2, 390-391)

Today, the ancient Kharput (Harput), 1,280m (4,200 feet) above sea level, is 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) to the northeast of the modern-day city of Elazig (Brosnahan 655).  Diana Drake, the author of her 1997 publication, Exploring Turkey, describes Kharput (Harput) as "now almost derelict."   She continues to say, "Just 100 years ago Harput had 800 shops, 10 mosques, 10 religious schools, 8 churches, 8 libraries, 12 hans (inns), and 90 baths, but its population moved down to Elazig when the new town was built, prompted partly by earthquakes in the region" (Drake 225).

In 1998, the Poochigian group visited Elazig and then Kharpert, where the Armenian church is built partially underground in the mountain.  John Poochigian commented, "We climbed through a hole, about the size of a refrigerator, that led into the church."  John continued, "Kharpert College, which was located on the side of a Mountain, no longer exists.  The College was replaced with housing and apartments."

Modern-day attractions in the ancient city of Kharpert include the remains of an Armenian church, the Church of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana Kilisesi), the Byzantine Fortress, and the Arap Baba Turbesi, a Seljuk work (Brosnahan 656).   Several mosques of the Seljuk period remain (Focus Multimedia, Eastern Anatolia).

As a result of the Genocide, Kharpert's Armenian population was either massacred or they fled their homeland for refuge in other locations in the world.  In the 19th century, the city of Kharpert also suffered destruction from several earthquakes.  Following the Genocide and the earthquakes, what was left of of Kharpert's remaining population deserted the ancient city and relocated in the newly constructed city of Elazig.

Elazig City

After the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the city of Elazig replaced "Harput," which for many centuries was the principal town in the region. (McDonagh 551)

"The old city of Kharpert is now Elazig," says Dr. John Poochigian, Jr., who visited Kharpert and Elazig in 1998.  "Today, what they refer to as "Harput" is an area on the top of a mountain, which is surrounded by the city of Elazig," continues Dr. Poochigian. (John Poochigian, Jr.)

Elazig (EHL-lah-zuh, population 200,000, is a new town, only founded in the 19th century at a place called Mezraa. Elazig, located in the upper Euphrates (Firat) region, is a Eastern Anatolian city and province.  It's altitude is 1067 meters above sea level and is located at Longitude: 39°14' E  and  Latitude: 38°41' N (Elazig).   The provincial capital of Elazig was founded by Sultan Abdul Aziz and named Mamuret el-Aziz or Alaziz.  This was changed to Elazig after the establishment of the Turkish Republic (McDonagh 551).  Elazig is also called Elaziz, Elazid, Elazýð, Alaziz, Mamuret el-Aziz, Mamuret-ul-Aziz and Mamurelulaziz.

The modern-day city of Elazig "lies on a plain in the shadow of a mountain crowned with the ancient city of Kharpert's citadel, an important Seljuk and Ottoman cultural and academic center" (Republic of Turkey, Eastern Anatolia).

Today, Elazig is a farming center and university town with its Euphrates University (Firat Universitesi).  Elazig's importance as an entrepot (a commercial center where goods are received for distribution and trans-shipment) ended when the Keban Lake (See The Keban Dam) cut it off from main roads to the north and east (Brosnahan 654).  

Viticulture, the cultivation of grape vines and grape-growing is important in the region around Elazig (Broshahan 654).  Elazig is surrounded by vineyards and gardens.  Tekel, the government spirits company, raises vineyards around Elazig to produce the dark red grapes called okuzgozu (ox-eye), from which Buzbag wine is made, and the long white kecik memesi (goat teat) grapes (Broshahan 654 & McDonagh 551). 

The town of Elazig has a large number of pastahanler, pastry shops, which are filled with cakes and pastries (McDonagh 551). 

Today, attractions around Elazig include Lake Hazar, 16 miles (25 kilometers) south of Elazig.  The Buzluk Cave, 7 miles (12 kilometers) northeast, remains cool in the summers and warm in the winters (Republic of Turkey, Eastern Anatolia).

North of Elazig, the fortress of Pertek, built in the Middle Ages, is still in good condition today.  High mountains encircle Tunceli, 83 miles (133 kilometers) north of Elazig.  In the Munzur Valley National Park near Ovacìk, 37 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of Tunceli, there is amazing scenery and trout-filled streams fishing streams according to Focus Multimedia.. (Focus Multimedia)

Continental climate prevails in the city of Elazig and surrounding area.  Characteristics of continental are hot and dry summers,and cold and harsh winter (Ameritech).  For today's Weather Conditions and Forecast for Elazig, Turkey, see Infoseek' s Weather Outlook.

The Keban & Karakaya Dams

The city of Elazig is surrounded by Keban and Karakaya dams and Lake Hazar (Elazig).  The hydroelectric generator capacity in thousands of megawatts for the Karakaya Dam on the Western Euphrates (Firat) is 7,354 and the  Keban Dam on the Western Euphrates (Firat) is 5,800 (Ameritech).

In the 1960's, the creation of the Keban Dam (Keban Baraji), north-west of Elazig, caused the flooding of the valleys to the north (Brosnahan 655).   The Keban and Karakaya Dams on the Firat River (Western Euphrates) have created huge artificial lakes, which have altered the surrounding environment and contributed to the growth and general appearance of this rapidly developing city. The city of Elazig resembles a peninsula.  These artificial and natural lakes have a considerable effect on the climate of the city.

Before the new lake was created by the Keban Dam, an archaeological rescue project excavated many likely sites.   According to Diana Drake, the author of Exploring Turkey,

The Keban Dam was the first of a series of dams to be built on the River Euphrates, designed to bring electricity and irrigation to neglected parts of the country. With its construction, however, 50 known archaeological sites were flooded, most of them early Bronze Age settlements that might have contributed important evidence about man's first settled existence in Anatolia after he had stopped his nomadic wandering and hunting. Five foreign archaeological teams, all self-financed, excavated as many of these sites as possible before the flooding in 1974. (Drake 225)

The artifacts uncovered are in Elazig's Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum (Elazig Arkeoloji ve Ethnografya Muzesi) on the campus of Euphrates University (Firat Universitesi) (Brosnahan 655).  The museum has a collection of objects found in rescue digs made between 1968 and 1974 at sites to be flooded by the Keban Dam project.  Objects include ivories, jewelry and gold ornaments. The museum also has a large collection of pottery, statuettes, stelae, mirrors, bronze objects, marble statues and architectural fragments and coins from the prehistoric era to the Byzantine period.  The ethnographic material includes embroidery, kilims, carpets, household utensils and female dresses and ornaments from the surrounding area. (McDonagh 551)

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Part 4 - The Armenians &
The Armenian Language

Last Updated 07/09/99