Kaza of Khizan – Demography

A heavily Armenian-populated county until the Hamidian massacres of 1894-1896, Khizan, also known as Khizanc [1] or Hizan, was situated southwest of Lake Van in the southeastern part of the vilayet (province) of Bitlis, known among Armenians as Baghesh. During the late Ottoman period, Khizan formed part of the sandjak of Bitlis (one of the vilayet’s prefectures of the same name) as a kaza (county). To the southwest, Khizan was bordered by the sandjak of Sgherd (Siirt) of the vilayet of Bitlis, and to the west by the vilayet’s homonymous central (merkez) county of Bitlis. To the north and east, Khizan was bordered by the kaza of Karchkan (Karçıkan) of the Van vilayet, whose territory in antiquity overlapped the westernmost part of the Rshtuniac (or Rshtunik) gavar (county) [2] of the Vaspurakan ashkhar (province) of Greater Armenia, an ancient Armenian kingdom which existed from the 4th century BC to the 5th century AD. For the most part, the territory of Khizan overlapped that of the Myus Ishayr gavar of the Mokq (Moks) ashkhar of the Kingdom of Greater Armenia. [3]

From the 5th century onward, Myus Ishayr was governed by various Armenian princes, becoming in the 10th century one of the fiefdoms of Gagik I Artsruni, the King of Vaspurakan. In 1021, as part of the Kingdom of Vaspurakan centered on Lake Van, Khizan came under the rule of the Byzantine Empire. In 1514, some three centuries after the Seljuks, a nomadic Turkmen tribe belonging to the Oghuz branch of Turks,intruded Asia Minor from the steppes of Inner Asia, Khizan was integrated into the eyalet of Van, forming a paşalık or pashadom, the area governed by a paşa, administered by the Kurdish clan of Sharafs. [4] Khizan’s chief town of the same name became the seat of Sharafkhan Bidlisi, the Kurdish emir of Bitlis. An Armenian manuscript written in 1476 reveals that the Seljuks made an early attempt to forcibly convert Khizan’s Christian Armenian population to Islam, to which the Armenians had offered the stoutest resistance, falling victims of a massacre that followed it. [5]

Describing Khizan as an area through which fast flowing streams rushed down, Yakout, a 13th-century Arab geographer and chronicler, mentioned Khizan under the name of “Hayzan”. [6] Ghukas Inchichian, an 18th-to 19th-century Armenian philologist and geographer, suggested that the name “Khizan” was a modification of the original Persian word seherxīzān, which translates literally as “waker at the crack of dawn” (in Armenian, kankhaharouic). [7] Grigor Khalatianc, an Armenian linguistics scholar and the author of the article Hin Hayastani mi qani ashkharhagrakan anounneri masin (On the question of several place names in ancient Armenia) published in 1900 in the journal Banaser, attributed the county’s name to the place name “Kirzan” or “Gouzan” in the area to the south of Lake Van, which first appeared in the Assyrian inscriptions and was later borrowed by the Armenian chroniclers as “Khizan”. [8]

Prior to the 1870s, Khizan was part of the vilayet of Van, and then, beginning from the 1880s, the kaza was incorporated into the vilayet of Bitlis. [9]During the late-19th early 20th century, the administrative division of the vilayet’s homonymous prefecture, the sandjak of Bitlis, has not changed much. According to Turkish author Danyal Tekdal’s research findings summarized in the “Table of Changes in the Administrative Structure of the Bitlis Province between 1888 and 1890”,which reflected the administrative and social structure of the vilayet of Bitlis during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II, Khizan formed part of the Bitlis sandjak along with Motkan (Mutki), Khlat (Ahlat), and Karchkan (Karçıkan). In the “Table of Changes in the Administrative Structure of the Bitlis Province between 1894 and 1897”, Khizan formed part of the Bitlis sandjak along with most of the kazas mentioned above, with the central (merkez) county of Bitlis now appearing instead of Karchkan. [10] In 1904, according to the Comprehensive Calendar of the Holy Savior Armenian Hospital published in Constantinople, the sandjak of Bitlis comprised of four kazas: Bitlis, Khlat, Khizan, and Motkan. [11] According to the figures compiled in 1919 by the British Foreign Office, which were based on estimates of various sources and not only on unreliable Turkish figures, the Armenian population of the sandjak in 1914 amounted to 71,000, and this is not counting the substantial number of Armenians forcibly Islamized during the Hamidian massacres. Along with 5,000 Syrians and Chaldeans and 1,000 other non-Muslims, the sandjak’s Christians were in clear majority over the Kurds and Turks, who totaled 73,000. [12]

Khizan’s principal town which, as noted above, shared the same name as the county, was located 34 kilometers southeast of Bitlis, the vilayet’s homonymous chief town. Referring to it as “Hayzan”, Yakout indicated that it was “one of the towns of Armina”, apparently implying that, at the time of his writing in the 13th century, the town had some prominence. This has been documented by the Armenian manuscripts dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries, which identified the town as one of historic Armenia’s manuscript-writing centers. [13] At the peak of its growth, apparently in the late 18th-early 19th century, the town was a large settlement that reportedly had 4,000-5,000 Armenian households. [14] Not far from it, on a hill on the right bank of the Khizani Get (Hizan Su) River, a tributary of the Eastern Tigris, stood an imposing medieval fortress. [15] Beginning from around the 1860s, however, the town of Khizan gradually declined, turning into an unsightly settlement, which became the seat of the kaymakam (governor of the sandjak)․ [16] At about that time, Karasu took over Khizan as the county’s principal town. [17]

Throughout the Middle Ages, Khizan was densely populated by the Armenians. However, as a consequence of prolonged Turko-Persian wars of the 15th-17th centuries, the influx of nomadic Kurdish tribes and the subsequent exodus of the sedentary Armenian population distorted the demographic character of the area. Especially in the period from 1860 to 1880, large numbers of Armenians had to leave their ancestral homes in Khizan to escape Kurdish violence. [18] As a result, Khizan’s territory has become “home” to several Kurdish tribal formations, which used the county’s alpine meadows in the summer and wintered in lowland areas outside the county. Gradually, as a result of settling in or near the Armenian settlements yearlong, a significant number of these nomadic tribes became sedentary. [19] Despite this demographic change do to the inflow of outsiders, in the 18th century, according to some estimates, there were still more than 1,200 Armenian households in Khizan. [20]

In the 1830s and 1840s, the Ottoman government pursued policies on centralization of power in the peripheries of the empire. The effects of centralization were felt especially hard by the Armenians of Khizan. Because local Kurdish beys were driven out and replaced by direct Ottoman authority, this government initiative created a power vacuum in the area. It was against this background of uncertain authority that the Crimean War of 1853-1856 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 were waged. Only because the Armenians were Christian, the Ottoman war experience fueled enmity and hatred toward them amongst Muslims, [21] despite the fact that Armenians were nowhere to be seen in these wars. Despite declining numbers due to Turko-Persian wars in the preceding centuries, the Armenians still held a significant numerical strength in most areas within the county up until the end of the 1870s. [22] Archimandrite Ghevond who, in 1877, put together “The List of Armenian villages of Van” (in Armenian, Vana hye gyugheri canke) while in Manchester, England, listed 109 Armenian localities in four of Khizan’s sub-counties: Khizan (Gavarner), Karkar, Sparkert, and Mamrtank. [23]A population per household table titled “The List of the total Armenian population of the Van-Tosp province” (in Armenian, Coucak Van-Tosp nahangi bolor hyeaser zhoghovrdoc), published in 1879 in the journal Arevelian Mamoul, identified 44 Armenian populated localities in only two of Khizan’s sub-counties, Gavarner and Shenadzor. [24] These sub-counties, or territorial units comprising a county, were known as yentagavarak in Armenian or nahiye in Turkish.

As a result of the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War and the famine that ensued, the number of Armenian populations decreased, with many families choosing to leave Khizan in the 1880s. [25] Seizing this opportunity, Kurds settled in villages formerly inhabited by Armenians. Gh. P. Nahapetianc, the author of the article “Khizan” published in the January 1884 issue of Massis, suggested that at the time of publication, Khizan had “more than 100 Armenian- and almost as many Kurdish-populated villages”. [26] However, sources from the period indicate that Armenian-populated villages were larger than the Kurdish ones. The population list compiled in 1881 by the Van Archdiocese of the Patriarchate at the behest of Emilius Clayton, the British Vice-Consul at Van, titled “The List of population of the Van province” (in Armenian, Coucak Vana nahangin zhoghovrdean), identified 6,415 Armenian inhabitants in Khizan (Gavarner), 3,568 in Sparkert, and 3,192 in Karkar. The number of newly settled Kurds (gyughabnak kurdk, as in the text) was 974 in Khizan (Gavarner), 1,651 in Sparkert, and 530 in Karkar, in total amounting to 3,155. For comparison, the number of Assyrians living in Karkar, according to the Archdiocese’s population list, amounted to 4,999. [27]

Despite the devastating consequences of the Crimean and Russo-Turkish wars in the middle and late 19th century, by the beginning of the Hamidian massacres in 1894, Khizan was “Armenian in character” in terms of ethnic composition, [28] while in terms of the area’s linguistic features, alongside the prevailing Armenian-speaking population, there were groups of Kurdish-speaking Armenians living in several villages across the kaza. [29] One such village was Kakolanc [Çalışkanlar] [30] in Khizan’s sub-county of Nzar (also known under the colloquial name Nzari azen, [31] apparently from Kurdish Nîzarê Azê). Three years prior to the massacres, in 1891, according to French geographer Vital Cuinet, there were 173 total localities in Khizan. [32] Over a decade later, in 1904, a Comprehensive Calendar of the Holy Savior Armenian Hospital suggested that there were 168 total localities in Khizan. [33] Cuinet’s and the Comprehensive Calendar’s figures would amount to 3,460 and 3,360 total households, respectively, if the average number of households per village suggested by Russian General Staff Colonel Vladimir Mayewski is applied.

The other major ethnic groups inhabiting Khizan were Kurds and Assyrians. In fact, some of the Armenian villages, particularly in the northern and northwestern part of the county, had Kurdish inhabitants. [34] Justin Shiel, an Irish army officer and diplomat, reported during his journey to Sgherd in 1836, that “in Hhazán […], a number of Kurd beys live in disorder and violence.” [35] In terms of occupational activities, the Armenians and Assyrians practiced agriculture, animal husbandry, and horticulture, [36] as well as cloth-making. James Henry Monahan, the British Vice-Consul in Bitlis, who in 1898 journeyed to areas adjacent to Khizan in the southwest, noted that the Armenian and Assyrian producers’ customers were primarily their Kurdish neighbors, who were dependent on these Christian groups, especially for textile products. Monahan observed that local Kurds, “with the exception of some of their women, are as a rule incapable of making anything”. [37] Writing in the early 1900s, Sukias Eprikian, an Armenian philologist, remarked that “in various Kurdish-populated villages of Khizan lived notable aghas, whose sole occupation was brigandry.” [38]

In the late 19th century, the major event that altered the demographic preponderance of the Armenians in Khizan was the Hamidian massacres, a series of widespread killings committed by Ottoman soldiers, militias, tribesmen, and ordinary Muslims, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Armenians over the course of three years beginning in 1894. Khizan’s sub-counties (see the text below for their names) were severely affected by these massacres. According to Khachatur III Shiroyan, the Catholicos of Aghtamar, in 1895, Kurds killed 400 Armenians in 40 localities of Khizan (a sub-county also appearing in the sources as Karasu, Kavar, Gavarner or Gyaverner in local parlance), 300 Armenians in 28 localities of Sparkert, 160 Armenians in 20 localities of Mamrtank, and 8 Armenians in 10 localities of Lower Karkar. As if brutality and killings were not enough, many Armenians, including village priests, were subjected to forced Islamization. Several of Armenian churches and monasteries were either destroyed or looted or converted to mosques. [39] Harassed by the Kurdish bands raiding from the southern parts of the kaza, the Armenians were reduced to survival, becoming vulnerable to out-migration. During the massacres, and even after the violence subsided by 1897, many Armenian families chose to relocate to safer areas. According to contemporary sources, their out-migration has assumed large proportions, [40] thus affecting the demographic balance in Khizan.

Because data sources differ on the average household size in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire, where Armenians formed a significant number of local population, especially in the vilayets of Bitlis, Van, and Erzrum, in this study, seven will be used as an average number of members per household in rural areas, as derived by an arithmetic calculation of the population per household suggested by contemporary observers Teotoros Lapjinchian (Teodik) [41] and Hovhannes Ter-Martirosian (A-Do). [42] It is worth mentioning in this regard that Bishop Vahan Ter-Minassian (Partizaktsi), a Commissioner at the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople (thereafter “Patriarchate”) in the 1860s and 1870s, suggested eight as an average number of members per Armenian household in the rural areas of the Ottoman Empire. [43] By analogy to Partizaktsi, Mayewski put the average population per household in these areas at eight. For household counts, twenty will be used as an average number of households per village for the vilayet of Bitlis, as suggested by Mayewski. [44]

The data used for this study are drawn from primary sources covering a period of 37 years or from 1878 to 1915. Because these various sources provided conflicting household-and-population data, it was not deemed realistic to determine the accurate population size of the Armenians of Khizan. Nor does it seem possible to make such an attempt given large data discrepancy. However, the findings of this study suggest that prior to the Hamidian massacres, the Armenians accounted for a majority of population in Khizan. By 1913, however, the number of Kurdish-populated settlements rose. According to the Catholicosate of Aghtamar (thereafter “Catholicosate”), an independent See of the Armenian Apostolic Church that existed from the 12th to late-19th centuries and was based in the Church of the Holy Cross (Surb Khach) on the Aghtamar Island at Lake Van, of 180 total localities in Khizan, “80 were Armenian and the rest Kurdish”. [45] This rise in number of localities inhabited by the Kurds by 1913, who would typically settle in the villages populated by the Armenians, was a direct consequence of violence against and out-migration of Armenians during the last decades of the prior century.

This can be seen in the household-and-population data for Kurdish-populated villages of Khizan provided by Teodik, whose work explored, inter alia, Armenian populations in the Ottoman Empire in the years preceding the Armenian genocide in 1915. For Khizan, Teodik identified 11 villages, 178 households or 996 inhabitants in Karkar; 14 villages, 223 households or 1,234 inhabitants in Mamrtank; 22 villages, 1,489 households or 8,694 inhabitants in Khizan (Gavarner), and 26 villages, 423 households or 2,436 inhabitants in Sparkert. This brings the total of Kurdish-populated villages in four of Khizan’s nahiyes to 73, the total of households to 2,313, and the total of Kurdish population to 13,360. For the same four nahiyes during the pre-genocide period, the total of the Armenian-populated villages reported by Teodik was 73, the number of households 1,435, and the total of Armenian population 10,332. [46]

However, sources used for this study suggest that the Armenians of Khizan had a considerable numerical advantage prior to the Hamidian massacres. The population list put together in 1881 by the Van Archdiocese for British Vice-Consul Clayton produced a figure for the Armenian population in three of Khizan’s nahiyes—Khizan (Gavarner), Sparkert and Karkar—at 13,175. [47] The editorial Turkac Hayastan (Turkish Armenia) published in the July 1881 issue of Mshak, suggested that there was almost a five-fold numerical superiority of the Armenians over the Kurds in the four nahiyes adjacent to the southwestern shore of the Lake Van: Khizan (Gavarner), Karkar, Kecan (an area near the westernmost shore of the lake), and Karchkan. The total number of localities in these nahiyes was 113. The number of the Armenian population was reported as 22,713, and the number of Kurds as 4,668. [48] If these figures are divided by two to derive the rough number of Armenians and Kurds living in Khizan (Gavarner) and Karkar, two of the nahiyes forming part of Khizan proper, the resulting total would be 11,356 and 2,334 respectively.

In his statistical pamphlet, in the section “Statistics on population”, Mayewski tabulated around 60 villages in Khizan which, by the time his pamphlet saw the light of day in 1904, were listed as Kurdish settlements. However, their names indicate that many of these settlements were populated by Armenians before Kurds settled in them. One can see distinctly Armenian-sounding village names, such as Ardok, Barozhi tagh, Belkans, Ernik, Goranc [Erencik], Heshat, Hez [İçlikaval], Kapadzor [Topağaç], Kapars [Çayırlı], Kavarok, Kish, Koch [Uzuntaş], Otsou, Pandiz [Gelincik], Psenc [Harmandöven], Vasoukanc, etc․ [49] Some two dozen of these settlements, whose identification as localities populated by Armenians before the Hamidian massacres has been verified by other sources used for this study, are included in the village list below.

Of particular interest for the study of Armenian demographics of Khizan is the report of the expedition to Van of the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III led by archeologist and ethnographer Alexander Miller (thereafter “Miller’s report”). The expedition, which went to the Van province in May 1916, at a time when Armenians were massacred en masse during the genocide, prepared a list of local toponyms that contained the names of Ottoman counties, sub-counties, settlements, and the ethnic make-up of populations in these settlements. For Khizan, the report identified the following number of settlements with Armenian, Kurdish, and mixed Armenian and Kurdish populations: 13 for Khorors, 31 for Gavar (Gavarner), 29 for Shenadzor, 11 for Nzar, 16 for Karkar, 44 for Mamrtank, and 58 for Sparkert, with a total of 202 localities. Miller’s report provided the following breakdown of the ethnic composition in these localities:

• In Khorors: 2 Armenian and 1 formerly Armenian villages;
• In Gavarner: 6 Armenian, 2 mixed-population, and 6 formerly Armenian villages;
• In Shenadzor: 20 Armenian and 4 mixed-population villages;
• In Nzar: 1 Armenian village;
• In Karkar: 10 Armenian villages;
• In Mamrtank: 18 Armenian, 2 mixed-population, and 7 formerly Armenian villages; and
• In Sparkert: 30 Armenian and 9 formerly Armenian villages. [50]

Khizan’s village list in Miller’s report was drawn up by Poghos Makincian, who served as an interpreter in the expedition. It emerges from this list that the total number of localities in Khizan populated by Armenians on the eve of the genocide, stood at 89, the number of mixed Armenian and Kurdish populated villages at 8, and the number of villages formerly inhabited by Armenians at 23. If 89 is added to 4 (half of the number of villages with mixed population), the total comes to 93. When twenty for households per village and seven for members per household are applied to calculations, the total comes to about 13,020 Armenian inhabitants prior to 1915. The report also indicated that 23 formerly Armenian settlements were populated by Armenians forty, thirty-five and twenty years prior to 1916. These dates correspond to the period between the late 1870s and early 1880s, when the first cases involving outbreaks of Kurdish violence against Armenians became known, and 1894, the beginning of the Hamidian massacres.

If these 23 formerly Armenian settlements are added to 93, to calculate the number of Armenian settlements prior to the late 1870s-early 1880s and the Hamidian massacres in the mid-1890s, the total comes to 116. This would place the number of Armenian households at about 2,320. When multiplied by seven, the resulting total of 16,240 gives grounds to assume that Armenians constituted the majority population of Khizan in the late 19th century. In addition to known settlements that were formerly populated by Armenians, Miller’s report revealed several localities that were not found in other sources, these being: Bousakanc, Choumidzor, Harenganc, Krik, Sanamerik (Senamerik), Shegrenc, Stochin, Tazi, Ternand, and Vostink. [51] Beginning from 1915, the Armenian villages of Khizan were emptied of their indigenous inhabitants as a result of genocidal policies of the Ottoman state. Only a portion of the population managed to flee to the Russian advanced positions [52] and seek refuge in Russian Armenia and the Salmast (Salmas) county of Persia. [53]

The primary data sources used for this study, in the order of their publication dates, are given below.

• The book about several Armenian populated areas in the Ottoman Empire, including Khizan, written by Supreme Archimandrite Poghos Natanian, and published in 1878;
• The “Ante-mortem letter and survey by the late Catholicos Khachatur of Aghtamar, 19 December 1895” published in 1896 in Ararat, the journal of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin;
• The travel report to the kazas of Shirvan, Sgherd, and Eroun (İrun) of the Bitlis vilayet by James Henry Monahan, the British Vice-Consul in Bitlis, compiled in 1898;
• The statistical pamphlet published by Russian General Staff Colonel Vladimir Mayewski in 1904 (with households per village lists compiled in 1899);
• The geographical dictionary of historic Armenia compiled by philologist Sukias Eprikian in 1907;
• The brochure on the provinces of Van, Bitlis and Erzrum, written in 1912, and another one on events in Vaspurakan in 1914-1915, written in 1917, by Armenian statistician Hovhannes Ter-Martirosian (A-Do);
• The book on the history and existing condition of the Armenian Church written by Archbishop Malachia Ormanian, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople from 1896 to 1908, and published in 1913;
• Two versions of the statistical bulletin for the Khizan county (in Armenian, Vichakacuic-teghekagir Khizan gavari) drafted by the Catholicosate in 1913 respectively on July 26 (No. 555) and September 30 (No. 558), prepared for the 1913-1914 Patriarchate census, which contain Khizan’s Armenian population counts;
• The 1913-1914 Patriarchate census figures reproduced in Kévorkian & Paboudjian (1992), including figures from supplementary Patriarchate census data available to these co-authors; and
• The book about the sufferings of the Armenian clergy during the genocide composed by Armenian writer Teotoros Lapjinchian (Teodik) in 1921.

Some additional information was supplied by Archimandrite Ghevond, as mentioned above, the author of the “List of Armenian villages of Van”, Tadevos Hakobyan, Stepan Melik-Bakhshyan, and Hovhannes Barseghyan, the authors of the “Dictionary of Toponymy of Armenia and Adjacent Territories”, Miller’s report of 1916, Armenian periodicals Massis and Mshak published in Constantinople and Tiflis, respectively, Armenian journals Arevelian mamoul, Banaser and Luma, published in Smyrna, Paris and Tiflis, respectively, and testimonies of genocide survivors found in the collection of documents edited by Amatuni Virabyan titled Hayots ceghaspanutyune Osmanyan Turqiayum. Verapratsneri vkayutiounner (Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey: The Testimony of Survivors).

Of these, Mayewski supplied households-per-village data on Khizan he had gathered during a trip to the vilayet of Bitlis in 1899. It should be noted here that in the section titled Statisticheskie dannye o naselenii (Statistics on population) of his pamphlet, the Armenian-populated villages of Kharkhoc, Khakev, Mahmtenk, Mandoyenc, Proshenc, Pakhour, Li, Nam, Khavous, Anapat, Yeghanc, and Norshen, were listed, by mistake or perhaps by design, as localities populated by the Kurds.This oversight, as well as the fact that several Kurdish or mixed-population localities that Mayewski tabulated, lay outside of administrative borders of Khizan, affected the total of 1,347 households that he counted at the end of his village list. This incorrect total, in turn, affected the percentage ratio between the Armenian and Kurdish populations of the county, which in Mayewski’s pamphlet amounted to 43 and 57 respectively. [54] In the village list below, the household numbers for the localities which Mayewski tabulated as Kurdish will be listed as Armenian because most other sources indicate that they were populated entirely by Armenians.

Mayewski claimed that the numerical data for “more than half” of his Khizan village list were “of unquestioned accuracy”. These data were communicated to him by a local Armenian priest who not only knew from memory all the Armenian villages, but also the number of households in each village. Without stumbling once, the priest recited the names of 25 Armenian localities in Khizan (Gavarner), 30 localities in Sparkert, and 19 localities in Mamrtank. When Mayewski asked to repeat some figures in order to verify the accuracy of information, the priest, having noticed a shade of doubt in Mayewski’s look, willingly repeated the village names and the number of households per village without ever making a mistake. [55] As can be understood from the information proffered by this priest, at the time of preparation of Mayewski’s statistical pamphlet in 1904, there were 74 entirely Armenian-populated localities in three of Khizan’s nahiyes. If twenty, Mayewski’s average number of households per village for the Bitlis vilayet, is used for calculations, the total comes to 1,480 Armenian households or 10,360 inhabitants.

In the footnotes to households-per-village tables appearing in his brochure Vani, Bitlisi yev Erzrumi Vilayetnere (The Provinces of Van, Bitlis and Erzrum),A-Do indicated that he obtained data from an unspecified statistical bulletin prepared by the Catholicosate. Because his brochure was published in 1912, A-Do evidently could not utilize data from the bulletin that the Catholicosate had drafted in 1913. What immediately catches the eye is that A-Do’s household counts are substantially higher number-wise than the ones reported in the Catholicosate’s 1913 bulletin. [56] This suggests that A-Do might have used data from an older bulletin, apparently dating back to the period prior to the Hamidian massacres. Therefore, it is against this background that A-Do’s figures presented in this study must be seen.

The number and names of territorial units comprising Khizan vary in data sources. Natanian, for one, chose to assign two such unites, Eroun and Asorik, to Khizan. [57] However, other source material indicates that Eroun was a yentagavarak in the vilayet of Bitlis adjoining Khizan, while Asorik was supposedly a village group (in Armenian, gyughakhumb) of Eroun where large numbers of Armenian-speaking Assyrians lived.Thus the name, Asorik, from the ethnonym Asoriner in Armenian. Nahapetianc similarly assigned Eroun to Khizan and identified Yeghegis and Karnek as separate territorial units comprising the county. [58] However, other source material suggests that Yeghegis was a locality in Karchkan, while Karnek (or Karni) was supposedly a locality or a gyughakhumb in Shirvan (Şirvan), a sandjak in the vilayet of Bitlis adjacent to Khizan in the southwest.According to the Ottoman government’s unit classification, which was provided by Teodik, Khizan consisted of the nahiyes of Sparkert, Nemiran, and Khizan proper (Boun Khizan in the text). [59] Of these, Nemiran was probably a Kurdish name variant of an area in Mamrtank or the entire nahiye of Mamrtank.

Natanian identified seven sub-counties in what he called Boun Khizan, or Khizan proper: Khizan, Shenadzor, Spaykert, Nzar, Mamrtank, Eroun, and Asorik. [60] Nahapetianc suggested the following nine sub-counties: Karkar Oukeyan, Yeghegis, Kedronakan (Central) Khizan, Eroun, Nzar, Shinidzor, Spahayut (Sparkert), Karnek, and Mamrtank. [61] Eprikian mentioned six sub-counties: Lower Karkar, Shenadzor, Sparkert, Mamrtank, Nzar, and Khorors. [62] Teodik concurred with Eprikian’s unit classification. [63] Mayewski tabulated village populations in four sub-counties: Khizan, Sparkert, Mamrtank, and Lower Karkar. [64] A-Do (1912) suggested three sub-counties: Mamrtank, Sparkert, and Khizan, identifying Karkar as a separate unit in the southwestern edge of the Bitlis sandjak. [65] His household-and-population count for Karkar can be found in his other brochure published in 1917. [66] The Catholicosate listed seven sub-counties: Lower Karkar, Shenadzor, Sparkert, Mamrtank, Nzar, Gavarner, and Khorors. [67] The Patriarchate suggested the following seven sub-counties: Karasu (Khizan or Gavarner), Shenadzor, Lower Karkar, Sparkert, Mamrtank, Nzar, and Khorors. [68] Miller’s report identified the following seven sub-counties: Khorors, Kavar, Shnidzor, Nazar-Az, Karkar, Mamrtan, and Sparkert. [69]

Given the discrepancy in the number and names of the territorial units comprising Khizan, this study will provide data on Armenian populations in the following seven sub-counties, to which both the Catholicosate and the Patriarchate had referred:

• Lower Karkar,
• Gavarner,
• Shenadzor,
• Sparkert,
• Mamrtank,
• Nzar, and
• Khorors.

As noted above, one of the earliest known population estimates for Khizan is the population list compiled by the Van Archdiocese for British Vice-Consul Clayton in 1881, which placed the total number of Armenians living in three of Khizan’s nahiyes at 13,175. [70] This figure is in sharp contrast with an estimate produced ten years later, in 1891, by Cuinet, who placed the total population of the kaza of Khizan at 23,070, of whom 17,422 were Kurds, 869 Jacobite Syrians, 475 Yezidis, and only 4,304 Armenians. [71] As a general observation, Cuinet’s figures cannot be an accurate reflection of the size of the Armenian populations in the Ottoman Empire, as the author is believed to have made extensive use of Ottoman salnamés, government annuals for the state and provinces containing statistical data on population, which had a tendency to increase the numbers of Muslims and subsequently decrease the numbers of Christians.

One such salnamé for 1892 for the vilayet of Bitlis stated that of 13,984 inhabitants, 8,264 were Muslim, while 5,720 were Armenian. [72] Thus, according to this official Ottoman source, Armenians constituted almost 41 percent of the total population of the county. Given that the Ottoman authorities resorted to territorial-administrative manipulations aimed at portraying the Armenian presence in the eastern vilayets of the empire as puny as possible after the 1878 Treaty of Berlin referred to them as “provinces inhabited by the Armenians,” [73] the percentage of Khizan’s Armenian population might well have been higher. Basing his observations on the work by Natanian published in 1878, Eprikian, writing in 1907, indicated that before 1880, Khizan had about 1,200 Armenian households. [74] When multiplied by seven, the resulting total comes to about 8,400 inhabitants. Eprikian indicated that, by 1907, the number of Armenian households had dwindled by nearly half due to massacres and out-migration and was estimated at a little more than 600 households in some 100 localities. [75]

Archbishop Malachia Ormanian, on the other hand, suggested that, in 1912, there were 25,000 Armenian parishioners under the jurisdiction of the Khizan Diocese of the Catholicosate, living in 64 localities. [76] It is hard to say whether this figure was an overstatement. Understandably, the number of parishioners might not reflect the actual number of inhabitants. Archbishop Ormanian’s figure is substantially close to an estimate produced by the Khizan Diocese, which put the number of Armenians, before mass killings and forced deportations of the Armenians by the Ottoman state began in 1915, at 28,500. This figure is derived from the table titled “Comparative statistics of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire before and after deportations” (in Armenian, Baghdatakan vichakagrutioun hye bnakchutian Osmanean Kaisrutean medj teghahanutene aradj yev verdj), which was produced on April 1, 1921, and first appeared in vol. 16 of Amenoun Tarecuice, a yearbook compiled by Teodik in 1922. [77]

As noted above, according to the Catholicosate’s statistical bulletin, in 1913, “there were 180 total localities in Khizan, of which 80 were Armenian and the rest Kurdish”. [78] But, for some reason, in the table that provided a breakdown of nahiyes, the statisticians counted 75 Armenian localities. Of these, 10 were in Lower Karkar, 17 in Shenadzor, 26 in Sparkert, 11 in Mamrtank, 2 in Nzar, 7 in Gavarner, and 2 in Khorors. It must be pointed out here that Armenian settlements, where sedentary lifestyle was commonplace, were more populous than those in which the Kurds came to live. Besides, as the statisticians noted, many of Armenian settlements, now populated by the Kurds, were deserted by their former inhabitants in the face of Kurdish pillaging and violence. According to the 1913-1914 Patriarchate census which, as noted above, used the data supplied by the Catholicosate, on the eve of the genocide, there were “no fewer than 76 Armenian localities, with a combined population of 8,207”. [79] Kévorkian & Paboudjian, in whose work the Patriarchate census figures are found, apparently upgraded the number of localities from 75 to 76, using supplementary Patriarchate census data available to them.

The 1913 Catholicosate’s statistical bulletin for Khizan has come down to us in two variants: one drafted on July 26 (No. 555), and the other one on September 30 (No. 558). On the surface, the two variants look almost identical. However, a closer look reveals discrepancies in content and population counts. Most notably, the September 30 variant lacks village-by-village population statistics for the Shenadzor nahiye. Therefore, in the village per nahiye list below, in those cases where numbers of households per village and/or numbers of inhabitants per household diverge in their counts, the latest of the two variants, No. 558, will be used. The household-and-population summaries in these two variants also contain certain discrepancies and inconsistencies. For instance, in the July 26 variant, the total number of households is reported as 981, while in the September 30 variant as 990. In the July 26 variant, the total Armenian population is estimated at 7,628 inhabitants, while in the September 30 variant at 8,178.

A-Do, whose households-per-village and population-per-household figures, as noted above, were obtained from a statistical bulletin prepared by the Catholicosate, in his 1912 brochure reported 87 Armenian villages for Khizan (Gavarner), Mamrtank, Sparkert, and Karkar, which contained 1,700 households or 11,900 inhabitants. In this brochure, the breakdown of the total household-and-population figure by four nahiyes is as follows. In Khizan (Gavarner): 23 villages, 489 households, 3,423 inhabitants. In Mamrtank: 16 villages, 208 households, 1,456 inhabitants. In Sparkert: 29 villages, 533 households, 3,731 inhabitants. In Karkar: 19 villages, 470 households, 3,290 inhabitants. [80]

Like A-Do, Teodik also obtained data from a statistical bulletin of the Catholicosate, one that has been icomposed in 1914. [81] Teodik reported “more than 80 Armenian-populated villages”, [82] in effect agreeing with the Catholicosate’s count. However, for some reason, the figures shown in his book do not exactly match up with those appearing in Catholicosate’s bulletin. For Khizan (Gavarner), Mamrtank, Sparkert, Shenadzor and Karkar, Teodik reported 90 Armenian and 16 mixed Armenian and Kurdish populated villages, which contained 1,635 Armenian households or 11,732 inhabitants. The breakdown by nahiyes is as follows. In Khizan (Gavarner): 16 Armenian localities, 12 mixed-population localities,
407 Armenian households, 2,746 Armenian inhabitants. In Mamrtank: 15 Armenian localities, 0 mixed-population localities, 255 Armenian households, 1,820 Armenian inhabitants. In Sparkert: 26 Armenian localities, 2 mixed-population localities, 356 Armenian households, 2,770 Armenian inhabitants. In Shenadzor: 17 Armenian localities, 200 Armenian households, 1,400 Armenian inhabitants. In Lower Karkar: 16 Armenian localities, 2 mixed-population localities, 417 Armenian households, 2,996 Armenian inhabitants. [83] For the other twonahiyes, Nzar and Khorors, Teodik reported 27 households for the villages of Bast and Sori in Nzar, and 60 households for Shen and Hye Herit in Khorors. In addition, he identified 7 localities in the Gavarner gyughakhumbof the Khizan (Gavarner) nahiye, which contained 98 Armenian households. In view of these additions, it is fair to adjust Teodik’s figure of 90 localities to 101 which, in the years preceding the genocide, contained 1,820 households or 13,027 inhabitants.

According to the Ottoman census of 1914, Khizan had a population of about 70 percent Muslims and 30 percent Armenians. [84] In the “best” traditions of the Ottoman Turkish state, however, the size of the kaza’s non-Muslim population might have been likely underestimated by the authorities and the actual proportion of the Armenian population might thus have been 50 percent or higher. [85] A census carried out by the Ottoman authorities prior to World War I placed the number of Muslims, predominantly the Kurds, in Khizan at 11,624 and the number of Armenians at 5,023. [86] This latter figure, which was taken as a basis in a communication sent on May 14, 1914 from the British High Commissioner in Constantinople to the Foreign Office in London, represents the official Ottoman statistics which were often seen as incomplete and unreliable. [87] Conversely, the September 30 (No. 558) version of the Catholicosate’s statistical bulletin suggested 8,178 Armenians in Khizan in 1913. Further, a census carried out by the Patriarchate on the eve of the First World War produced a figure of 8,207. [88]

Another Ottoman source, found in the collection of documents titled “Armenian Activities in the Archive Documents, 1914-1918,” indicated that, in 1915, the number of Armenians of Khizan, who were to be “relocated and transferred” as the source chose to call forced deportations, was recorded in Ottoman registries at 4,980. [89] Published by the Turkish General Staff, these registries were drawn up after the Ottoman government, on May 31, 1915, ordered “relocation and transfer” of the Armenians residing in areas near the frontlines in the Decree No. 326758/270 titled “The coercive political circumstances necessitating the relocation and transfer of the Armenians”. In the view of the authorities, the Armenians “were jeopardizing movements of the Ottoman army units.” [90] Although Khizan’s Armenian peasants had no capacity to “jeopardize” the movements of the army units, many of them were mandated to join the convoys of deportees that were set out on death marches to southern vilayets or, as the decree chose to say, be “transferred to their allocated places in comfort [emphasis added]”. [91] In 1915, approximately 6,000 Armenians from Khizan managed to flee to the Russian lines. [92] This figure brings into question the credibility of the total number of the Armenians of Khizan placed at 5,023 by the pre-war Ottoman census and at 4,980 by the 1915 Ottoman deportation registries. According to genocide survivors Toros Hovannissian and Avetis Oumroyan (the latter was a native to the village of Verin Hyuruk in Sparkert which, he claimed, had 400 Armenian inhabitants), there were 47 total villages in Sparkert alone, of which 27 were entirely Armenian populated. [93] This brings the number of Armenian households to 540 and the number of inhabitants to 3,780 in only one of Khizan’s nahiyes.

Unless otherwise mentioned, all households and/or inhabitants in the village per nahiye list below were reported by data sources as being Armenian or formerly Armenian. In cases when two or more primary sources supplied similar village population data, only one source (or a combination of sources) or, in the absence thereof, a randomly selected secondary source, will be listed, to avoid repetition. In addition to village name variants mentioned below, there were less common colloquial variants, which are omitted from the list. In fact, as Eprikian contends, “many village names in Khizan had undergone spelling alterations after the 1858 population census”. [94] A few Armenian villages, especially those near which prominent monasteries stood, had nearby farmsteads, called agarak in Armenian, that in Turkish likely bore the name mezra (Arabic for “hamlet”) or its variations, mezre or mzren.

Listed below are localities in Khizan, which were either entirely populated by Armenians or had a large number of Armenian households or were formerly inhabited by Armenians, along with their present-day Turkified names placed in brackets. In cases where verification of the conformity of former village names with their present-day names yielded no results, other known names, including ones that had been in use before they were Turkified starting from the 1920s onwards as part of a state-backed program of Turkification of the original Armenian toponyms in Turkey, as well as some Kurdish name variants, are offered, wherever possible.

Ales, Hales, Als, Hals, Hayls [Özlüce]

Lat: 38°15'17.04"N, Lng: 42°40'11.73"E

A-Do (1912): 8 households; A-Do (1917): 7 households or 60 inhabitants; Eprikian: 10 households in 1858; Ararat: 8 households; Mayewski: 4 households; Hakobyan et al.: 10 households or 31 inhabitants in the 1850s; Catholicosate: 5 households or 45 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 7 households or 60 inhabitants.

Arghou, Harghou, Argou, Arkhou, Argho, Argo [other known names Ergu, Ergü]

Approximate location: Lat: 38°15'20.23"N, Lng: 42°36'35.86"E

A-Do (1912): 13 households; A-Do (1917): 8 households or 75 inhabitants; Eprikian: 12 households in 1858; Ararat: 12 households; Mayewski: 9 households; Catholicosate: 8 households or 70 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 8 households or 75 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Gozal: 33 households.

Berdak, Pertak [İncirli]

Lat: 38°15'37.84"N, Lng: 42°36'16.60"E

Hakobyan et al.: 10 households in the late 19th century; Lumá: 2 households in 1900 (10 households in 1885); A-Do (1912): 5 households․

Berkri, Pergri [Kaymaklı]

Lat: 38°16'16.51"N, Lng: 42°39'18.75"E

A-Do (1912): 33 households; A-Do (1917): 25 households or 200 inhabitants; Eprikian: 29 households in 1858, 19 households in 1896; Ararat: 13 households; Mayewski: 27 households; Hakobyan et al.: 29 households or 142 inhabitants in the 1850s; Catholicosate: 16 households or 107 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 25 households or 200 inhabitants; Teodik: 25 Armenian households․

Chakronc, Charkranc, Chakran [Çakırkaya, other known name Çakıran]

Lat: 38°15'7.60"N, Lng: 42°38'14.60"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Harbonc, Harbenc, Harbinc, Arbenc, Arpenc, Harpenc, Habenc [other known names Arpinis, Arpanis]

Approximate location: Lat: 38°16'46.18"N, Lng: 42°38'18.56"E

A-Do (1912): 36 households; A-Do (1917): 30 households or 282 inhabitants; Eprikian: 20 households in 1858; Ararat: 32 households; Mayewski: 27 households; Catholicosate: 17 households or 160 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 30 households or 282 inhabitants.

Hokordzu, Houkourdzu, Houkourtsu, Hougourtsu, Houghourtso, Hakourcu, Hyurkyutsu, Ourkurtsu [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

It may be that this village was also known under the name of Horqurkin, Herqyurkin, Hyurqyurkin. Because this cannot be reliably verified, both village names are placed in a single entry. Household-and-population figures for Hokordzu: A-Do (1917): 9 households or 70 inhabitants; Catholicosate: 12 households or 90 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 9 households or 70 inhabitants. Household figures for Horqurkin: A-Do (1912): 15 households; Ararat: 18 households.

Khndzorut [Tatlısu]

Lat: 38°14'31.99"N, Lng: 42°40'59.13"E

A-Do (1912): 13 households; A-Do (1917): 20 households or 130 inhabitants; Eprikian: 18 households in 1858; Ararat: 25 households; Mayewski: 27 households; Catholicosate: 15 households or 150 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 20 households or 130 inhabitants; Teodik: 20 Armenian households․

Kondos, Goundous, Kondous, Kudiz [Köklü]

Lat: 38°15'31.36"N, Lng: 42°37'25.25"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in the early 20th century, according to Miller’s report, was already inhabited by the Kurds.

Koursi, Boursi, Kurci [other known name Korsi]

Approximate location: Lat: 38°16'35.59"N, Lng: 42°39'46.09"E

Mayewski: 11 households․

Nernis, Nernes, Lernes, Lernis [Dağören] 

Lat: 38°15'34.93"N, Lng: 42°38'20.81"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in the early 20th century, according to Miller’s report, was already inhabited by the Kurds.

Ofs, Ovs, Oves, Hovs [Kayadeler]

Lat: 38°15'20.97"N, Lng: 42°37'44.51"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in the early 20th century, according to Miller’s report, was already inhabited by the Kurds.

Tacou, Tacon, Tocou, Tasou [Örgülü]

Lat: 38°14'17.31"N, Lng: 42°39'3.06"E

A-Do (1912): 59 households; A-Do (1917): 64 households or 400 inhabitants; Eprikian: 33 households in 1858; Ararat: 45 households; Mayewski: 45 households; Catholicosate: 40 households or 350 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 64 households or 400 inhabitants; Teodik: 64 Armenian households; Hakobyan et al.: 65 households in 1915․

Tyuno, Tyun, Tum [present name unknown]

Approximate location: Lat: 38°16'21.09"N, Lng: 42°39'10.27"E

An Armenian-populated locality until the mid-19th century, which by the early 20th century, according to Hakobyan et al., was already inhabited by Kurds.

Yeghegs, Yeghegnis, Yeghikis, Aghakis, Akhkis [Çevrecik]

Lat: 38°16'33.58"N, Lng: 42°39'11.99"E

This village was the administrative center of the Lower Karkar nahiye. [95] A-Do (1912): 65 households; A-Do (1917): 56 households or 400 inhabitants; Eprikian: 48 households in 1858; Ararat: 60 households; Mayewski: 50 households; Catholicosate: 40 households or 400 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 56 households or 400 inhabitants; Teodik: 56 Armenian households․

Ampis [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

Natanian։ 20 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878.

Anapat, Anabad [Tuğlu]

Lat: 38°12'17.63"N, Lng: 42°33'4.41"E

Natanian։ 12 households in 1858, 4 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 10 households or 95 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 22 households; Mayewski: 15 households; Catholicosate: 12 households or 100 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 12 households or 130 inhabitants.

Andenc, Andens, Antenc, Andiac, Andienc, Antyanc, Andyanc, Antic, Andyac, Anghenc [Gökçe]

Lat: 38°13'36.26"N, Lng: 42°26'20.82"E

Natanian։ 15 households in 1858, 8 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 7 households or 54 inhabitants; Eprikian: 20 households in 1895; A-Do (1912): 42 households, Mayewski: 14 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 8 households or 60 inhabitants․

Betamin, Beytam, Beytami, Beytamin, Beytamour, Bedamin, Peytami, Petamin, Peytam [Gayda, other known name possibly Tekke]

Lat: 38°10'34.24"N, Lng: 42°23'30.01"E

Natanian։ 10 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 11 households or 70 inhabitants․
 

Brounc, Brouns, Prouns, Pryuns, Bronis [Gökçimen]

Lat: 38°13'23.47"N, Lng: 42°22'39.85"E

Natanian։ 16 households in 1858, 13 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 19 households or 110 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 34 households; Mayewski: 15 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 15 households or 150 inhabitants.

Daronc, Daronis, Darenc, Daronic, Taronc, Taronis, Tarounc, Doroc [Altınoluk]

Lat: 38°13'23.91"N, Lng: 42°21'38.70"E

Natanian։ 30 households in 1858, 18 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 29 households or 229 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 38 households; Mayewski: 30 households; Hakobyan et al.: 38 households or 300 inhabitants in the early 20th century; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 30 households or 250 inhabitants.

Ekou, Yekou, Egou, Hekou, Igo, Aygedzor [Akbıyık]

Lat: 38°11'56.79"N, Lng: 42°20'37.73"E

Natanian։ 20 households in 1858, 8 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 12 households or 78 inhabitants; Eprikian: 20 households in 1895; Mayewski: 9 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 5 households or 30 inhabitants․

Hegin, Hedin [Yolbaşı]

Lat: 38°11'2.92"N, Lng: 42°23'53.98"E

A-Do (1912): 21 households․

Kapan [other known name Gaban]

Approximate location: Lat: 38°13'11.04"N, Lng: 42°23'31.91"E

This village has likely been incorporated in the boundaries of the present-day town of Hizan (see Karasu Nerkin below). Natanian։ 15 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 7 households or 31 inhabitants; Hakobyan et al.: 20 households in the early 20th century.

Karasu Verin, Gharasu Verin, Karasu, Verin Karasu, Verin Garasu [other known name Yukarıkarasu]

Approximate location: Lat: 38°13'16.66"N, Lng: 42°24'33.11"E

This village has likely been incorporated in the boundaries of the present-day town of Hizan (see the following entry). Beginning in the mid-19th century, this village was the administrative center of the Gavarner nahiye. [96] Natanian։ 40 households in 1858, 10 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 22 households or 128 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 25 households; Eprikian: 30 households in 1895; Mayewski: 20 households; Hakobyan et al.: 50 households in 1914; Catholicosate: 10 households or 110 inhabitants; Patriarchate: 20 households or 200 inhabitants.

Karasu Nerkin, Gharasu Nerkin, Karasu, Nerkin Karasu, Nerkin Garasu [Hizan, other known name Aşağıkarasu]

Lat: 38°13'32.00"N, Lng: 42°25'38.23"E

Natanian maintains that a tradition has it that the village had 500 Armenian households in the past, [97] likely before the early 19th century. Natanian։ 69 households in 1858, 5 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 31 households or 196 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 18 households (elsewhere in the text, 50 households); [98] Mayewski: 12 households; Catholicosate: 20 households or 200 inhabitants; Patriarchate: 10 households or 110 inhabitants.

Kelaman, Kemalan [Keklik]

Lat: 38°10'2.61"N, Lng: 42°20'55.14"E

Natanian: 16 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878․

Khazoukonc, Khazoukan, Khaghoukanc, Khaghouakanc, Khazoukanc, Khaghekanc, Khaghoukan, Khachoukanc, Khachkourkan, Khachouk [Ağaçlı]

Lat: 38°10'20.67"N, Lng: 42°23'59.12"E

Natanian։ 10 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 5 households or 25 inhabitants.

Khizan, Hayzan, Hizan [other known name Kayalar]

Lat: 38°10'3.53"N, Lng: 42°23'5.55"E

Until the mid-19th century, the town of Khizan was the administrative center of the Gavarner nahiye. [99] Hakobyan et al.: 2,000 inhabitants in the early 19th century; Natanian։ 50 households in 1858, 1 household in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 5 households or 25 inhabitants.

Khoup yev Khopan [Kaşıklı or Kaşıklar]

For Khop: Lat: 38°12'48.20"N, Lng: 42°21'40.38"E
For Khopan: Lat: 38°21'49.27"N, Lng: 42°36'23.60"E

Khoup yev Khopan was apparently a settlement consisting of two villages located very close to each other, thus Khoup and Khopan. Household-and-population figures for both villages: Arevelian mamoul: 12 households or 75 inhabitants. For the village name Khoup (Khoub, Khop): Natanian։ 30 households in 1858, 3 households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 9 households; Eprikian: 10 households in 1895; Mayewski: 12 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 10 households or 65 inhabitants․ Hakobyan et al. suggest that Khoup was larger and more populous in the past and had some prominence as it was reported as one of historic Armenia’s late medieval manuscript-writing centers. [100] For the village name Khopan (Khoupanc, Khopanc): Natanian: 10 households in 1858, 2 households in 1878․

Kolmas, Kormas [Durak]

Lat: 38° 9'29.85"N, Lng: 42°22'31.36"E

Natanian: 10 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878․

Midjtagh, Midjtakh, Mishtagh, Midjintagh, Midjin Tagh [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

Natanian։ 8 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 3 households or 38 inhabitants; Hakobyan et al.: an Armenian-populated locality until the 1910s.

Paladzor, Palacor, Palasar, Palasor, Palsor, Palsar, Balasor, Balasour, Palasour, Baredzor [Çiçekli]

Lat: 38°12'25.93"N, Lng: 42°22'49.00"E

Natanian։ 100 households in 1858, 1 household in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 3 households or 24 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 8 households; Eprikian: 10 households in 1895; Mayewski: 21 households.

Pars, Bars [Ürünveren]

Lat: 38°11'4.67"N, Lng: 42°33'2.81"E

Natanian։ 10 households in 1858, 1 household in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 8 households or 53 inhabitants; Eprikian: 10 households in 1895.

Pater, Patyar [Koçlu]

Lat: 38°11'17.00"N, Lng: 42°22'30.07"E

Natanian։ 12 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878.

Taghik, Taghek [Yazmalı]

Lat: 38°12'24.90"N, Lng: 42°23'3.10"E

Mayewski: 12 households.

Tsough, Choukh, Sough [Akbaş]

Lat: 38°16'14.13"N, Lng: 42°27'33.96"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Aghyan [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

A-Do (1912): 3 households; Patriarchate։ 3 households or 29 inhabitants.

Azger, Azgor, Atskor, Aggor, Aghzar, Agzar, Akhzar [Yığınkaya]

Lat: 38°14'22.60"N, Lng: 42°31'15.36"E

Natanian։ 25 households in 1858, 4 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 6 households or 42 inhabitants.

Brnashen, Prnashen [Akçevre]

Lat: 38°11'20.58"N, Lng: 42°34'48.43"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Di, Ti, Tghi, Tkhi [Bağbaşı]

Lat: 38°12'4.40"N, Lng: 42°31'5.39"E

Natanian։ 40 households in 1858, 26 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 39 households or 281 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 38 households; Eprikian: 60 households in 1895; Mayewski: 28 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 29 households or 250 inhabitants․

Hamoukanc [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

According to Miller’s report, in the early 20th century, the village was a mixed Armenian and Kurdish populated locality.

Hyurdjouk, Hyurchonk, Hyurchouk, Hourchouk, Horchonk, Hordjonk, Hodjonk, Horchok, Herchok [Verimli]

Lat: 38° 9'50.30"N, Lng: 42°29'40.32"E

Natanian։ 15 households in 1858, 4 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 14 households or 103 inhabitants; Eprikian: 5 households in 1895; Catholicosate: 5 households or 18 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 5 households or 28 inhabitants.
 

Kakvanis, Kavkanis, Kakvanes, Kakvanc, Kakavanis [Keçeli]

Lat: 38°10'42.82"N, Lng: 42°34'16.69"E

Natanian։ 20 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 3 households or 21 inhabitants.

Kasr, Ghasr, Qasr, Kasir, Kasr gyugh [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

Natanian։ 8 households in 1858, 3 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 10 households or 60 inhabitants; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 3 households or 15 inhabitants․

Katinok, Kadinouk [possibly Kilimli]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

Arevelian mamoul: 9 households or 60 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 18 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 10 households or 60 inhabitants․

Khakev, Khagev, Kharkev, Khakiv, Khakif [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

Natanian։ 30 households in 1858, 17 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 22 households or 186 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 36 households; Eprikian: 40 households in 1895; Mayewski: 30 households; Catholicosate: 20 households or 215 inhabitants; Patriarchate: 20 households or 250 inhabitants.

Khavous, Khatsous, Khadzous, Hazouz, Khatsour, Hazour [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

Natanian։ 22 households in 1858, 7 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 13 households or 92 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 12 households; Eprikian: 10 households in 1895; Mayewski: 10 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 7 households or 50 inhabitants․

Kharkhoc, Kharkhonc, Khorkhoc, Kharhoc, Harhoc, Kharkhot, Khorkhor [Yapağı]

Lat: 38°11'30.92"N, Lng: 42°35'37.75"E

Natanian։ 50 households in 1858, 26 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 35 households or 236 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 24 households; Mayewski: 40 households; Catholicosate: 25 households or 210 inhabitants; Patriarchate: 25 households or 200 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Avetis Ter-Nersessian: 42 households.

Li, Li gyugh, Lchi [Akdik]

Lat: 38° 9'10.63"N, Lng: 42°29'5.03"E

Natanian։ 100 households in 1858, 5 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 28 households or 146 inhabitants; Eprikian: 10 households in 1895; Mayewski: 12 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 7 households or 55 inhabitants․

Mahmtenk, Mahmedanc, Mahmetenk, Mahmtanc, Mahmudenc, Mahmutenc, Mahmedenc, Mamdencgegh [Mahmutlar]

Lat: 38°11'25.41"N, Lng: 42°34'42.80"E

Natanian։ 20 households in 1858, 10 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 10 households or 98 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 30 households; Mayewski: 8 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 14 households or 87 inhabitants․

Mandoyenc, Mantenc, Mandenc, Mantoenc [Örenbaşı]

Lat: 38°11'28.51"N, Lng: 42°35'12.84"E

Natanian։ 10 households in 1858, 7 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 6 households or 54 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 22 households; Eprikian: 20 households in 1895; Mayewski: 10 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 8 households or 70 inhabitants.

Nam, Nam gyugh, Nam-Khatsous [Ballıca]

Lat: 38°10'41.38"N, Lng: 42°32'18.07"E

The village consisted of two localities laying close together, one was Nam and the other Khatsous (other known names Nan and Haroz). Arevelian mamoul: 5 households or 62 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 9 households; Mayewski: 8 households; Hakobyan et al.: 10 households in the early 20th century; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 8 households or 60 inhabitants․

Norshen, Norashen, Nor Shen [Karakoyun]

Lat: 38°11'24.35"N, Lng: 42°33'50.21"E

Natanian։ 20 households in 1858, 15 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 13 households or 110 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 10 households; Eprikian: 20 households in 1895; Mayewski: 20 households; Catholicosate: 12 households or 110 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 12 households or 120 inhabitants.

Pakhour Verin, Pakhor Verin, Bakhour Verin, Bakhour [Yukarıaksüt]

Lat: 38°10'2.63"N, Lng: 42°32'9.33"E

Natanian։ 22 households in 1858, 8 households in 1878; A-Do (1912) stated there were 17 households without specifying upper or lower locality; Eprikian: 10 households in 1895; Mayewski stated there were 25 households without specifying upper or lower locality; Catholicosate and Patriarchate stated there were 12 households or 86 inhabitants without specifying upper or lower locality.

Pakhour Nerkin, Pakhor Nerkin, Bakhour Nerkin, Bakhor [Aşağıaksüt]

Lat: 38°10'35.81"N, Lng: 42°32'53.68"E

Natanian։ 7 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; Hakobyan et al.: 17 households in the early 20th century; Arevelian mamoul stated there were 14 households or 90 inhabitants without specifying upper or lower locality.

Pesoyenk, Besoyenk, Pesoyenc, Besoyenc [Ağılözü]

Lat: 38°11'22.60"N, Lng: 42°31'7.81"E

Natanian։ 12 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; Eprikian: 50 households in 1895.

Proshenc, Broshenc [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

This village was the administrative center of the Shenadzor nahiye. [101] Natanian։ 20 households in 1858, 7 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 19 households or 133 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 15 households; Eprikian: 20 households in 1895; Mayewski: 22 households (appearing on Mayewski’s list as “Rusenc”); Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 10 households or 80 inhabitants․

Shiriz, Shirez [Akşar]

Lat: 38°10'4.20"N, Lng: 42°29'10.28"E

Hakobyan et al.: 32 inhabitants in the 1850s; Natanian։ 10 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 3 households or 32 inhabitants.

Sten, Stin [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

According to Miller’s report, in the early 20th century, the village was a mixed Armenian and Kurdish populated locality.

Surbkhach, Surb Khach, Subkhach, Supkhach, Surpkhach, Surb Khach gyugh [Bereket]

Lat: 38°12'50.49"N, Lng: 42°30'3.20"E

Natanian։ 22 households in 1858, 15 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 27 households or 141 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 20 households; Mayewski: 23 households; Hakobyan et al.: 30 households or 150 inhabitants in the early 20th century; Catholicosate: 12 households or 80 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 13 households or 100 inhabitants.

Yeghanc, Yeghuns, Yeghundz, Yeghunc, Yeghonc, Yezanc, Yeghvanc [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

Natanian։ 10 households in 1858, 6 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 12 households or 95 inhabitants; Eprikian: 10 households in 1895; Mayewski: 5 households; Hakobyan et al.: 5 households in the early 20th century; Catholicosate: 5 households or 45 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 6 households or 60 inhabitants.

Arndjik, Arnchik, Harenchik, Harndjik, Hanenchik [Oğlaklı]

Lat: 38° 5'9.91"N, Lng: 42°35'20.10"E

Hakobyan et al.: 63 households in the early 20th century; Ararat: 20 households; Mayewski: 21 households; Lumá: 20 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 8 households or 90 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 25 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 9 households.

Arors, Hourors, Hour vors, Horors [present name unknown]

Lat: 38° 9'22.13"N, Lng: 42°38'24.58"E

Hakobyan et al.: 10-12 Armenian households in the 1870s.

Badrananc, Badranc, Badrakans, Patranc, Patrans, Batrank [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

Hakobyan et al.: 13 households in 1895; Ararat: 14 households; Mayewski: 13 households; Lumá: 10 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 15 households or 100 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 15 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 12 households.

Bazmenic, Bazenic, Bazenc, Bazonic, Bazhenc, Pazenc, Baghenc, Paghenc [present name unknown]

Lat: 38° 7'39.61"N, Lng: 42°34'27.10"E

This village may no longer exist. Natanian։ 20 households in 1858, 18 households in 1878; Eprikian: 21 households in 1895; Ararat: 20 households; Mayewski: 24 households; Lumá: 14 households; Hakobyan et al.: 21 households in 1910; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 20 households or 120 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 80 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 17 households.

Bazenic vank, Pazenic vank, Paznic vank [other known name Vank]

The location of this village cannot be determined. 

An agarak near the village of Bazmenic where the Bazenic Holy Mother of God (Surb Astvatsatsin) monastery stood. Mayewski: 25 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 4 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 3 households.

Bouns, Pouns, Pyunc [Derince]

Lat: 38° 7'33.74"N, Lng: 42°37'14.41"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Chazhvan, Chachvan, Zhazhvank, Chazhvan, Chazhzan, Djachvan, Chashvan, Tsatsvank [Koyunlu]

Lat: 38° 9'54.93"N, Lng: 42°40'5.81"E

A-Do (1912): 50 households; Eprikian: 50 households in 1895; Ararat: 30 households; Mayewski: 40 households; Lumá: 40 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate։ 35 households or 300 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 50 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 45 households.

Chornan, Chornanc, Churin, Chorinas [Akça]

Lat: 38° 6'50.03"N, Lng: 42°37'38.28"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Dalas, Dalars, Talars, Talyars [Elmacık]

Lat: 38°10'27.36"N, Lng: 42°36'52.41"E

A-Do (1912): 15 households; Ararat: 12 households; Lumá: 10 households; Hakobyan et al.: 21 households in 1907; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 12 households or 100 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 25 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 12 households.

Dasht, Tasht, Dashtak [present name unknown]

Lat: 38° 7'46.79"N, Lng: 42°38'5.27"E

This village has likely been incorporated into the modern village of Kalkanlı (see the following entry). Natanian։ 25 households in 1858, 6 households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 13 households; Eprikian: 8 households in 1895; Ararat: 12 households; Hakobyan et al.: 40 households in the late 19th century; Lumá: 10 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 10 households or 90 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 20 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 10 households.

Djradjah, Cherachakh, Chrachakh, Cherchagh [Kalkanlı]

Lat: 38° 7'42.98"N, Lng: 42°37'50.59"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds. Hakobyan et al. suggest that the village name derives from djour + djah, in Armenian, respectively, water and torch. A tradition speaks about a pious Armenian villager who had the ability to start the fire with water.

Dzmen, Tsmen, Matadzmen, Matcmen, Matsmen, Cmen, Matakmen [possibly Cevizli]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

Natanian։ 30 households in 1858, 16 households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 20 households; Eprikian: 20 households in 1895; Ararat: 16 households; Mayewski: 13 households; Lumá: 15 households in 1900 (20-15 households in 1870); Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 7 households or 73 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 12 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 9 households.

Geghis, Keghis, Kighis, Gyughis, Keghes [Çatakdeğirmen]

Lat: 38° 8'50.88"N, Lng: 42°35'44.15"E

Hakobyan et al. suggest that in the past, apparently before the early 19th century, the village was larger and more populous. [102] Hakobyan et al.: 212 inhabitants in the 1850s; Natanian։ 25 households in 1858, 3 households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 9 households; Ararat: 13 households; Mayewski: 11 households; Lumá: 5 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 2 households or 11 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 20 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 10 households.

Geghisvank [possibly Mezre, Mzren]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

An agarak near the village of Geghis where the Geghsu Saint Cyricus (Surb Kirakos) monastery stood. Mayewski: 14 inhabitants․

Girvis, Givris, Gevres, Gerves, Gvers [Ekintepe]

Lat: 38° 8'38.08"N, Lng: 42°31'43.59"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Hand, And [Ortaca]

Lat: 38° 8'50.44"N, Lng: 42°37'5.24"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Handi mezre, Mezre, Mzren [other known names Mezrei End, Mezreient]

Lat: 38° 8'46.76"N, Lng: 42°36'45.95"E

An agarak just west of the village of Hand. A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Hargin, Harkin, Hargenc, Harginc, Aragil, Khargen, Khart, Gorki [Çavuşlar or Çavuşlu]

Lat: 38°10'5.80"N, Lng: 42°36'18.95"E

Ararat: 5 households; Hakobyan et al.: 9 households in the 1850s, 5 households in 1909; Mayewski: 6 households; Lumá: 5 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 4 households or 32 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 12 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 5 households.

Hoghand, Oghand, Hoghant, Aghand, Dzoghand, Yughant [possibly Yoğurtlu]

Approximate location: Lat: 38°18'14.98"N, Lng: 42°66'67.02"E  

Hakobyan et al.: 14 households or 101 inhabitants in the 1850s; Natanian։ 20 households in 1858, 7 households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 11 households; Ararat: 13 households; Mayewski: 15 households; Catholicosate: 13 households or 40 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 13 households or 90 inhabitants; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 20 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 11 households.

Hotsoum, Odzoum [Sürücüler]

Lat: 38° 5'17.41"N, Lng: 42°35'54.37"E

According to Miller’s report, the village was populated by Armenians until the 1880s.

Aparank [Kayaş, other known names Varas, Varaz, Veraz, possibly Vank]

Lat: 38° 1'29.09"N, Lng: 42°37'32.71"E

It is likely that this village has been known under the names of Varas and Vank (in Armenian, “monastery”). Hakobyan et al. identified Varas as an Armenian populated locality which housed a church. For the village name Aparank: Natanian 60 households in 1858, 3 households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 18 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 9 households or 70 inhabitants. For the village name Varas (Vank): Mayewski: 5 households.

Arat, Harat, Harout, Herat, Harit [Kuşluca]

Lat: 38° 3'48.01"N, Lng: 42°39'24.37"E

Hakobyan et al.: 6 households or around 50 inhabitants in the 1850s; Natanian։ 10 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 9 households; Mayewski: 10 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 10 households or 70 inhabitants.

Avendank, Avendanc, Avendac, Avndanc, Avndac, Avndonc, Havndac, Havndanc, Havntanc, Havtanc, Hovntanc, Havendo [other known name Hevından]

The location of this village cannot be determined. 

Natanian։ 17 households in 1858, 1 household in 1878; A-Do (1912): 6 households; Mayewski: 8 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 3 households or 20 inhabitants.

Bvan, Pvan, Povan [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined. 

Natanian։ 18 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878. According to Miller’s report, in the early 20th century, the village was populated by Armenians.

Dimanc, Dimac, Timans, Temanc [Göktepe, other known names possibly Tivos, Tivas]

Lat: 38° 0'31.25"N, Lng: 42°34'49.85"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Garnoc, Karnoc, Karna, Garna, Karno [Aybattı]

Lat: 38° 3'16.62"N, Lng: 42°37'43.50"E

Natanian։ 25 households in 1858, 1 household in 1878; A-Do (1912): 15 households; Mayewski: 26 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 11 households or 75 inhabitants.

Gomer, Komer, Gyumir [Arapağa]

Lat: 38° 1'55.53"N, Lng: 42°37'24.92"E

Arevelian mamoul: 29 households or 185 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 6 households․

Gtanc, Ktanc, Gitanc [Akçakonak]

Lat: 38° 1'14.49"N, Lng: 42°36'7.93"E

Natanian։ 30 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 4 households.

Guzenc, Gugenc, Gughenc, Kuzenc, Gezanc, Kezanc [Yurtiçi]

Lat: 38° 4'29.77"N, Lng: 42°39'51.36"E

Natanian։ 12 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 12 households; Mayewski: 8 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 6 households or 70 inhabitants.

Harak [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined. Possibly not far from the village of Aparank (Varas).

According to Miller’s report, in the early 20th century, the village was populated by Armenians.

Harmous, Haramous, Horamous [Koşluca]

Lat: 38° 3'31.21"N, Lng: 42°39'8.32"E

A-Do (1912): 1 household․

Harsmogh [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined. 

Natanian։ 18 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878․

Havakhos, Havakhous, Hakhavous, Hakhanc [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined. 

Natanian։ 12 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878․ According to Miller’s report, in the early 20th century, the village was populated by Armenians.

Hetins, Hetenc, Endisa, Yendisa, Yendias [Sarpkaya]

Lat: 38° 4'29.63"N, Lng: 42°37'34.36"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Hopoun, Hopon [Döküktaş]

Lat: 37°59'48.95"N, Lng: 42°37'58.58"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in the early 20th century, according to Miller’s report, was already inhabited by the Kurds.

Hzmik, Hezmik, Izmik, Hizzhik, Khizzhik [Yenicik]

Lat: 38° 2'5.57"N, Lng: 42°34'34.28"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in the early 20th century, according to Miller’s report, was already inhabited by the Kurds.

Kodjk, Kochk [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined.

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds. Mayewski suggested that the village consisted of upper and lower localities. [107]

Kones, Konis, Gonis, Kounes [Konak or Konuk]

Lat: 38° 4'46.01"N, Lng: 42°40'13.10"E

Natanian։ 15 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 10 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 5 households or 35 inhabitants.

Maydan, Medan [Meydan]

Lat: 38° 2'44.24"N, Lng: 42°37'28.68"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in the early 20th century, according to Miller’s report, was already inhabited by the Kurds.

Midja, Mesha, Misha, Mecha, Midjagegh [Besili]

Approximate location: Lat: 38° 3'50.79"N, Lng: 42°37'46.74"E

Hakobyan et al.: 107 inhabitants in the 1850s; Natanian։ 40 households in 1858, 2 households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 11 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 6 households or 40 inhabitants.

Mout, Mut, Moud, Mot, Mout gyugh [Mut]

Lat: 38° 4'16.98"N, Lng: 42°39'33.13"E

Natanian։ 20 households in 1858, no Armenian households in 1878; Hakobyan et al.: 16 households or 106 inhabitants in the 1850s, 8-10 households in 1915; A-Do (1912): 10 households; Mayewski: 7 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 6 households or 40 inhabitants.

Nakhandz, Naranc, Narginc [Konaklar]

Lat: 38° 6'38.75"N, Lng: 42°34'52.79"E

A-Do (1912): 1 household; Hakobyan et al. identify this village as an Armenian-populated locality until 1915.

Ov, Ova, Hov, Huve [present name unknown]

Lat: 38° 1'48.17"N, Lng: 42°32'29.75"E

Natanian։ 30 households in 1858, 3 households in 1878; Hakobyan et al.: 22 households in the 1850s; A-Do (1912): 30 households; Mayewski: 6 households․

Parkanc, Barkan, Barkanc, Barganc [present name unknown]

Lat: 38° 1'48.59"N, Lng: 42°37'46.58"E

Natanian։ 30 households in 1858, 2 households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 10 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 3 households or 10 inhabitants.

Segh, Sez, Sekh, Tsegh, Cegh, Ceg [present name unknown]

The location of this village cannot be determined. 

Natanian։ 60 households in 1858, 4 households in 1878; A-Do (1912): 40 households; Mayewski: 31 households; Hakobyan et al.: 60 households in the early 20th century; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 22 households or 110 inhabitants.

Bast, Past, Baght [Oymapınar]

Lat: 38° 5'27.39"N, Lng: 42°29'55.31"E

According to Hakobyan et al., this Armenian-populated village was the largest settlement in the Nzar nahiye. [108] Hakobyan et al.: 60-100 households supposedly in the early 20th century; Natanian։ 120 households in 1858, 25 households in 1878; Lumá: 60 households; A-Do (1912): 60 households; Ararat: 60 households; Catholicosate and Patriarchate: 20 households or 185 inhabitants; Teodik: 27 households for both Bast and Sori villages; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 60 households.

Berdagh, Perdakh, Pertagh [Akyazı]

The location of this village cannot be determined. 

Natanian։ 12 households in 1858, 2 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 6 households or 37 inhabitants; Eprikian: 10 households in 1895; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 18 households.

Kakolanc, Kakula, Kyakula [Çalışkanlar]

Lat: 38° 7'34.57"N, Lng: 42°28'19.67"E

Hakobyan et al. suggest that there were two homonymous localities not far from each other. [109] A Russian military topographic map compiled in 1916 similarly shows two localities under the same name of “Kyakula”. [110]

Hakobyan et al.: 15 households in the early 20th century.

Khochapur, Kholapur, Khalapur, Khlorpung [Yolbilen]

Lat: 38° 7'8.32"N, Lng: 42°28'53.32"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Mazra Az [Deliklitaş, possibly Deliktaş]

Lat: 38° 8'2.83"N, Lng: 42°25'43.53"E

The lower locality of the village Nzar or Az (see the following entry).

Nzar, Nezari azen, Az [Ekinli]

Lat: 38° 8'6.68"N, Lng: 42°25'1.88"E

The village was the administrative center of the Nzar nahiye. [111] Mayewski suggested that the village of Nazar (spelling as in the text) consisted of upper and lower localities․ [112] Miller’s report also identified two localities: Az and mezre Az. Hakobyan et al.: 60 households in the late 19th century.

Sori, Savra, Sorik, Sori gyugh, Sorou, Sourem, Sourik, Sourin, Sovori, Sauri, Suori [Gedik]

Lat: 38° 6'8.78"N, Lng: 42°32'4.30"E

Natanian։ 50 households in 1858, 6 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 34 households or 195 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 12 households; Eprikian: 25 households in 1895; Ararat: 10 households; Mayewski: 15 households; Lumá: 6 households in 1900 (50 households in 1870s-1880s); Catholicosate: 7 households or 30 inhabitants; Patriarchate։ 27 households or 215 inhabitants; Teodik: 27 households for both Sori and Bast villages; Genocide survivor Toros Hovannissian: 40 households; Genocide survivor Avetis Oumroyan: 10 households.

Sorii vank, Soro vank, Soroyvank [possibly Mezre, Mzren]

Approximate location: Lat: 38° 6'29.18"N, Lng: 42°29'58.13"E

An agarak near the village of Sori where the Sorii Holy Mother of God (Surb Astvatsatsin), otherwise known as Hzaru Surb Astvatsatsin, monastery stood. Mayewski: 18 inhabitants․

Aghor, Agor, Akhor, Agur [Yoğurtlu]

Lat: 38°16'18.26"N, Lng: 42°27'1.56"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Govpik, Goulpik, Ghoulpik, Koulpik [Süttaşı]

Lat: 38°15'33.32"N, Lng: 42°25'59.23"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Hye Herit, Hye Hrit, Hrit, Erit, Kharit, Kharitianc, Khariteanc, Khorid, Khorat [Çökekyazı]

Lat: 38°16'14.14"N, Lng: 42°22'31.89"E

There was a Kurdish-populated village close by. In order to distinguish the two localities, the Armenian one was called Hirit Hıristiyan and the Kurdish one Hirit Islam. Natanian։ 100 households in 1858, 20 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 49 households or 305 inhabitants; Mayewski: 50 households; Catholicosate: 25 households or 200 inhabitants; Teodik: 60 households for both Hye Herit and Shen villages.

Khorors, Khoros, Khoroz, Horoz [Horozdere]

Lat: 38°15'21.57"N, Lng: 42°27'6.16"E

A formerly Armenian-populated locality, possibly until the mid-19th century, which in 1899, according to Mayewski, was already inhabited by Kurds.

Shen, Shen gyugh [Aladana]

Lat: 38°17'48.04"N, Lng: 42°24'25.43"E

Natanian։ 80 households in 1858, 12 households in 1878; Arevelian mamoul: 42 households or 296 inhabitants; A-Do (1912): 18 households; Catholicosate: 35 households or 300 inhabitants; Teodik: 60 households for both Shen and Hye Herit villages; Genocide survivor Gevorg Amirkhan: 60 households or 447 inhabitants.

Houshamadyan thanks Jelle Verheij for providing contemporary photographs of villages in the Khizan region. For more details, visit his website: https://www.jelleverheij.net/

• [1] Non-Armenian readers should be aware that, in this study, the letter Ց ց appearing in Armenian village names and transliterated into C c, should be pronounced as a Z sound, as in the German word Zeitung, and not as an S sound or a K sound, as in the English words.
• [2] Mirakhorian, Manuel. Nkaragrakan oughevorutioun i hyeabnak gavars Arevelian Tachkastani [A Descriptive Journey to Armenian-populated Regions of Eastern Turkey]. (Constantinople: M.K. Sarian Publishing House, 1884), vol. 1, p. 97.
• [3] Hakobyan, Tadevos. Hayastani patmakan ashkharhagroutiun [Historical Geography of Armenia]. (Yerevan: Yerevan State University Press, 1984), p. 228.
• [4] Kévorkian, Raymond, and Paul Paboudjian. Les Arméniens dans l’Empire Ottoman à la veille du genocide. (Paris: ARHIS, 1992), p. 475.
• [5] Hakobyan, Tadevos, Stepan Melik-Bakhshyan, and Hovhannes Barseghyan. Hayastani ev harakits shrjanneri teghanounneri bararan [Dictionary of Toponymy of Armenia and Adjacent Territories], 5 vols. (Yerevan: Yerevan State University Press, 1986), vol. 2, pp. 730-731.
• [6] Idem, vol. 2, p. 730.
• [7] Inchichian, Ghukas. Ashkharagroutiun choric masanc ashkhari [The Geography of the Four Cardinal Points]. (Venice: Island of Saint Lazarus, 1806), vol. 1, p. 179.
• [8] Banaser, 1900, vol. 2, p. 284․
• [9] Haykakan Harc Hanragitaran [Armenian Question Encyclopedia]. (Yerevan: Armenian Encyclopedia Publishing House, 1991), p. 169.
• [10] Tekdal, Danyal. II. Abdülhamid döneminde Bitlis vilayeti (İdari ve sosyal yapı) [The Province of Bitlis in the Period of Abdul Hamid II (Administrative and Social Structure)] (PhD diss., Pamukkale Üniversitesi, 2018), pp. 35, 38.
• [11] Endardzak Oracuic Surb Prkchian hivandanoci Hayoc, 1904 [The Comprehensive Calendar of the Holy Savior Armenian Hospital, 1904] (Constantinople: H. Mateosian Publishing House, 1904), p. 228.
• [12] Appendix B: Populations Statistics of the Ottoman Empire, 1919. See Zamir, Meir. “Population Statistics of the Ottoman Empire in 1914 and 1919”, in Middle Eastern Studies 17, No. 1 (1981), p. 104.
• [13] Haykakan Sovetakan Hanragitaran [Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia]. (Yerevan: Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences, 1974-1986), vol. 5, p. 51.
• [14] Natanian, Poghos. Artosr Hayastani, kam, Teghekagir Balua, Karberdu, Charsanchagi, Chapagh Djuri, ev Erznkayu (haueluats est khndranac azgasirac Khizan gavar) [The Tears of Armenia, or a Survey of Balu, Kharberd, Charsanchak, Chapagh Djour, and Yerznka, with Additions Requested by the Patriotic People of the Khizan County] (Constantinople: unknown publisher, 1878), p. 187.
• [15] Haykakan Sovetakan Hanragitaran, vol. 5, p. 51.
• [16] Percy, Earl. Highlands of Asiatic Turkey. (London: Edward Arnold, 1901), p. 150.
• [17] Hakobyan et al., Hayastani ev harakits shrjanneri …, vol. 2, p. 731.
• [18] Eprikian, Sukias. Patkerazard bnashkharik bararan [The Illustrated Dictionary of Geography]. (Venice: St. Lazarus Press, 1907), vol․ 2, p. 170.
• [19] Verheij, Jelle. “‘The Year of the Firman’: The 1895 Massacres in Hizan and Şirvan (Bitlis vilayet)”, in Études arméniennes contemporaines 10 (2018), p. 129.
• [20] Haykakan Sovetakan Hanragitaran, vol. 5, p. 51.
• [21] Verheij, The Year of the Firman …, p. 131.
• [22] Haykakan Harc Hanragitaran, p. 169.
• [23] See Appendix 171 in Divan Hayots Patmutian. Harstaharoutiunner Tachkastanum [The Archives of Armenian History: Oppression in Turkish Armenia], vol. 13. (Tiflis: Gyout Aghayanc Publishing House, 1915), pp. 544-548.
• [24] Arevelian Mamoul, No. 6, June 1879, pp. 67-68.
• [25] Verheij, The Year of the Firman …, p. 133.
• [26] Massis, No. 3596, January 27, 1884․
• [27] Vichakagrutiounk Armeno-Kurdastani nahangac, Vaspourakan (The statistics of the Armenian-Kurdish provinces: Vaspurakan), in Massis, No. 3012, October 9 (21), 1881.
• [28] Verheij, The Year of the Firman …, p. 129.
• [29] Yeranyan, Gor. Edjer hye-krdakan patmutiounic, mas A [Episodes from Armenian-Kurdish History, Part A]. (Yerevan: Matenadaran Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, 2024), vol. 1, p. 336.
• [30] Hakobyan et al., Hayastani ev harakits shrjanneri …, vol. 2, p. 906.
• [31] Idem, vol. 3, p. 983; and Natanian, Artosr Hayastani …, p. 189.
• [32] Cuinet, Vital. La Turquie d’Asie: géographie administrative, statistique, descriptive et raisonée de chaque province de l’Asie-Mineure. (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1891), vol. 2, p. 566.
• [33] Endardzak Oracuic Surb Prkchian hivandanoci …, p. 228.
• [34] Verheij, The Year of the Firman …, p. 141.
• [35] Shiel, Justin. Notes on a journey from Tabríz, through Kurdistán, via Ván, Bitlis, Se’ert and Erbil, to Suleïmániyeh, in July and August, 1836. (London: Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 1838), p. 77.
• [36] Verheij, The Year of the Firman …, p. 131.
• [37] Monahan, James Henry. Report on a Journey in the Cazas Sherwan, Sairt, and Aroh, May and June 1898. (London: The National Archives of the United Kingdom, open access at www.jelleverheij.net/sources/1891---1900/journey-in-sherwan/), pp. 162, 165v.
• [38] Eprikian, Patkerazard bnashkharik bararan, vol․ 2, p. 173.
• [39] Aghtamara hanguceal Khachatur katoghikosi verjin tughtn yev teghekagire, 19 December 1895 [The Ante-mortem letter and survey by the late Catholicos Khachatur of Aghtamar, 19 December 1895], in Ararat, No. 29, May 5, 1896, p. 246.
• [40] Verheij, The Year of the Firman …, pp. 151-152.
• [41] Teodik. Koghkota Trqahye Hogevorakanoutyan yev ir Hotin Aghetali 1915 Tariin [The Calvary of Ottoman Armenian Clergy and its Flock’s Catastrophic Year of 1915]. (Tehran: S.N., 2014), p. 62.
• [42] A-Do. Vani, Bitlisi yev Erzrumi Vilayetnere [The Provinces of Van, Bitlis and Erzrum]. (Yerevan: Kultoura, 1912), p. 157.
• [43] Massis, No. 2813, February 5 (17), 1881.
• [44] Mayewski, Vladimir T. Voenno-statisticheskoe opisanie Vanskogo i Bitlisskogo vilayetov [The Military Statistics of the Van and Bitlis Provinces]. (Tiflis: Caucasus Military District Headquarters Press, 1904), Strategic Study, p. 26.
• [45] Vichakacuic-teghekagir Khizan gavari [The statistical bulletin for the Khizan county] Nos. 555 and 558, intro page.
• [46] Teodik, Koghkota Trqahye Hogevorakanoutyan …, p. 62.
• [47] Vichakagrutiounk Armeno-Kurdastani nahangac …, in Massis, No. 3012, October 9 (21), 1881.
• [48] Mshak, No. 121, July 3 (15), 1881.
• [49] Mayewski, Voenno-statisticheskoe opisanie …, Statistics on population, pp. 97, 100-101.
• [50] Ghushchyan, Lusine, and Hayk Hakobyan. Peterburgskoe Armenovedenie po arkhivnym materialam nachala XX veka [Saint Petersburg’s Armenian studies based on archival materials of the early 20th century] (Yerevan: Russian-Armenian University, 2023), pp. 25-26, 28, 32.
• [51] Idem, pp. 24-28, 31-33.
• [52] Kévorkian, Raymond. The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History. (London: A.R. Mowbray, 2012), p. 353.
• [53] Badalyan, Gegham. “Arevmtian Hayastani patmajoghovrdagrakan nkaragire Mets Yegherni nakhorein (mas VII-rd)” [A Historico-demographic Description of Western Armenia on the Eve of the Armenian Genocide, Part VII: The southeastern counties of the province of Bitlis], in Vem, No. 4 (56), 2016, pp. 8, 10, 12, 16, 18.
• [54] Mayewski, Voenno-statisticheskoe opisanie …, Statistics on population, p. 101.
• [55] Idem, p. 95.
• [56] A-Do. Vani, Bitlisi yev Erzrumi Vilayetnere, pp. 77, 93-95.
• [57] Natanian, Artosr Hayastani …, pp. 186-191.
• [58] Massis, No. 3596, January 27, 1884․
• [59] Teodik, Koghkota Trqahye Hogevorakanoutyan …, p. 63.
• [60] Natanian, Artosr Hayastani …, pp. 186-191.
• [61] Massis, No. 3596, January 27, 1884․
• [62] Eprikian, Patkerazard bnashkharik bararan, vol․ 2, p. 170.
• [63] Teodik, Koghkota Trqahye Hogevorakanoutyan …, p. 62.
• [64] Mayewski, Voenno-statisticheskoe opisanie …, Statistics on population, pp. 95-100.
• [65] A-Do, Vani, Bitlisi yev Erzrumi Vilayetnere, p. 91.
• [66] A-Do, Mets depqere Vaspurakanum 1914-1915 tvakannerin [The great events in Vaspurakan in the years 1914-1915] (Yerevan: Louys, 1917), p. 27.
• [67] Vichakacuic-teghekagir Khizan gavari No. 558, September 30, 1913․
• [68] Perhaps due to an error or typo that crept into the text, Kévorkian & Paboudjian, who reproduced the Patriarchate figures in their work, first mentioned six sub-counties but then enumerated seven units. See Kévorkian & Paboudjian, Les Arméniens dans l’Empire Ottoman …, p. 475.
• [69] Ghushchyan & Hakobyan, Peterburgskoe Armenovedenie ..., pp. 24-28, 31-33.
• [70] Vichakagrutiounk Armeno-Kurdastani nahangac …, in Massis, No. 3012, October 9 (21), 1881.
• [71] Cuinet, La Turquie d’Asie …, vol. 2, p. 567.
• [72] Salname-i Vilayet-i Bitlis 1310 [Salnamé of the Vilayet of Bitlis, 1892]. Provincial Document Printing Office, 1308 (1890).
• [73] Treaty between Great Britain, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Russia, and Turkey for the Settlement of Affairs in the East: Signed at Berlin, July 13, 1878, Article LXI.
• [74] Eprikian, Patkerazard bnashkharik bararan, vol․ 2, p. 174.
• [75] Idem, p. 173.
• [76] Ormanian, Malachia. Hayots Yekeghecin yev ir patmoutiune, vardapetoutiune, varchoutiune, barekargoutiune, araroghoutiune, grakanoutiune ou nerka kacoutiune [The Church of Armenia: Her History, Doctrine, Rule, Discipline, Liturgy, Literature, and Existing Condition]. (Constantinople: V. & H. Ter-Nersessian Publishing House, 1912), p. 208.
• [77] Teodik. Amenoun Tarecuice [A Yearbook for Everyone]. (Constantinople: M. Hovakimian Publishing House, 1922), vol. 16, p. 261.
• [78] Vichakacuic-teghekagir Khizan gavari, Nos. 555 and 558, intro page.
• [79] Kévorkian & Paboudjian. Les Arméniens dans l’Empire Ottoman …, p. 475.
• [80] A-Do, Vani, Bitlisi yev Erzrumi Vilayetnere, pp. 78, 92, 157․
• [81] Teodik, Koghkota Trqahye Hogevorakanoutyan …, p. 62.
• [82] Idem, p. 63.
• [83] Idem, pp. 62-63.
• [84] Karpat, Kemal. Ottoman Population, 1830-1914: Demographic and Social Characteristics. (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), pp. 174-175.
• [85] Verheij, The Year of the Firman …, p. 129.
• [86] Karpat, Ottoman Population …, p. 174.
• [87] Appendix A: Population Statistics of the Ottoman Empire, 14 March 1914, in Zamir, Population Statistics of the Ottoman Empire …, p. 92.
• [88] Kévorkian, The Armenian Genocide …, p. 277.
• [89] Tetik, Ahmet, ed. Arşiv belgeleriyle ermeni faaliyetleri, 1914-1918 Cilt I (1914-1915) [Armenian Activities in the Archive Documents, 1914-1918]. (Ankara: Genelkurmay Basım Evi, 2005), vol. 1, pp. 151, 163.
• [90] Idem, p. 134.
• [91] Ibid.
• [92] Kévorkian, The Armenian Genocide …, p. 353.
• [93] Virabyan, Amatuni, ed., Hayots ceghaspanutyune Osmanyan Turqiayum. Verapratsneri vkayutiounner [Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey: The Testimony of Survivors], vol. 2: The Bitlis Province. (Yerevan: Zangak-97, 2012), doc. 65, p. 103; idem, doc. 57, p. 96.
• [94] Eprikian, Patkerazard bnashkharik bararan, vol․ 2, p. 170.
• [95] Badalyan, Arevmtian Hayastani patmajoghovrdagrakan nkaragire (mas VII-rd) …, p. 17.
• [96] Idem, p. 8.
• [97] Natanian, Artosr Hayastani …, p. 186.
• [98] A-Do, Vani, Bitlisi yev Erzrumi Vilayetnere, pp. 92-93.
• [99] Badalyan, Arevmtian Hayastani patmajoghovrdagrakan nkaragire (mas VII-rd) …, pp. 7-8.
• [100] Hakobyan et al., Hayastani ev harakits shrjanneri …, vol. 2, p. 828.
• [101] Badalyan, Arevmtian Hayastani patmajoghovrdagrakan nkaragire (mas VII-rd) …, p. 10. 
• [102] Hakobyan et al., Hayastani ev harakits shrjanneri …, vol. 1, p. 830.
• [103] Badalyan, Arevmtian Hayastani patmajoghovrdagrakan nkaragire (mas VII-rd) …, pp. 11-12.
• [104] Idem, pp. 11, 14.
• [105] Hakobyan et al., Hayastani ev harakits shrjanneri …, vol. 2, p. 400.
• [106] Idem, vol. 4, p. 772.
• [107] Mayewski, Voenno-statisticheskoe opisanie …, Statistics on population, p. 100.
• [108] Hakobyan et al., Hayastani ev harakits shrjanneri …, vol. 1, p. 612.
• [109] Idem, vol. 2, p. 906.
• [110] Geoportal of the Russian Geographical Society (Military Topographical Department of the Russian General Staff, 1916), sheet 82.
• [111] Hakobyan et al., Hayastani ev harakits shrjanneri …, vol. 3, p. 983.
• [112] Mayewski, Voenno-statisticheskoe opisanie …, Statistics on population, p. 100.