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ARMENIA (old Persian Armina, Armenian...
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See also:ARMENIA (old See also:Persian Armina, Armenian Hayasdan, or Hayq)
, the popular See also:modern name of a See also:district See also:south of the See also:Caucasus and See also:Black See also:Sea, which formed See also:part of the See also:ancient Armenian See also:kingdom
.
The name, which first occurs in the ,See also:cuneiform See also:inscriptions of See also:Darius Hystaspis, supplanted the earlier Urardhu, or See also:Ararat, but its origin is unknown
.
In its widest extent See also:Armenia stretched from 370 to 49° E. See also:long., and from 372° to 4110 N. See also:lat.; but this See also:area was never, or only for a brief See also:period, See also:united under one See also: The more important lakes are Van, 5100 ft., about twice the See also:size of the Lake of See also:Geneva, and See also:Urmia, 4000 ft., both See also:salt; See also:Gokcha or Sevan, 587o ft., discharging into the Aras; and Chaldir, into the See also:Kars Chai . The aspect of the plateau is dreary and monotonous . The valleys are wide expanses of arable See also:land, and the hills are for the most part grass-covered and treeless . But the gorges of the Euphrates and Tigris, and their tributaries, cannot be surpassed in wildness and grandeur . The See also:climate is varied . In the higher districts the See also:winter is long and the See also:cold severe; whilst the summer is See also:short, dry and hot . In Erzerum the temperature ranges from -22° to 84° F., and See also:snow sometimes falls in See also:June . In the valley of the Aras, and in the western and See also:southern districts; the climate is more moderate . Most of the towns See also:lie high, from 4000 to 6000 ft . The villages are usually built on See also:gentle slopes, in which the houses are partially excavated as a See also:protection against the severity of the See also:weather . Many of the See also:early towns were on or near the Araxes, and amongst their ruins are the remains of churches which throw See also:light on the See also:history of See also:Christian See also:architecture in the East . Armenia is See also:rich in See also:mineral See also:wealth, and there are many hot and cold mineral springs . The vegetation varies according to the locality . Cereals and See also:hardy fruits grow on the higher ground, whilst See also:rice is cultivated in the hot, well-watered valley of the Araxes . The summer is so hot that the See also:vine grows at much higher altitudes than it does in western See also:Europe, and the See also:cotton See also:tree and all southern See also:fruit trees are cultivated in the deeper valleys . On the See also:fine pasture lands which now support the flocks of the Kurds, the horses and mules, so celebrated in ancient times, were reared . See also:Trout are found in the rivers, and a small See also:herring in Lake Van . The See also:country abounds in romantic scenery; that of the district of Ararat especially has been celebrated by patriotic historians like See also:Moses of Chorene and See also:Lazarus of Pharb . See also:Population.—Accurate See also:statistics cannot be obtained; but it is estimated that in the nine vilayets, which include See also:Turkish Armenia, there are 925,000 Gregorian, See also:Roman See also:Catholic and See also:Protestant Armenians, 645,000 other Christians, roo,000 See also:Jews, Gypsies, &c., and 4,460,000 Moslems . The Armenians, taking the most favourable estimate, are in a See also:majority in nine kazas or sub-districts only (seven near Van, and two near See also:Mush) out of 159 . In See also:Russian Armenia there are 960,000 Armenians, and in See also:Persian Armenia 130,000 . According to an estimate made by General Zelenyi for the Caucasus See also:Geographical Society (Zapiski, vol. xviii., See also:Tiflis, 1896, with See also:map), the population of the nine Turkishvilayets, Erzerum, Van, See also:Bitlis, See also:Kharput (Mamuret-el-Aziz) . Diarbekr, See also:Sivas, See also:Aleppo, See also:Adana and See also:Trebizond, was 6,000,000 (Armenians, 913,875, or 15 o-/0; other Christians, 632,875, or I I %; and Moslems, 4,453,250, or 74 %) . In the first five vilayets which contain most of the Armenians, the population was 2,642,000 (Armenians, 633,250, or 24 %; other Christians, 179,875, or 7 %; and Moslems, 1,828,875, or 69%); and in the seven Armenian kazas the population was 282,375 (Armenians, 184,875, or 65 %; other Christians, r000, or o.3 %; and Moslems, 96,500, or 34.7 %) . In 1897 there were 970,656 Armenians in Russia, of whom 827,634 were in the provinces of See also:Erivan, See also:Elisavetpol and Tiflis . The See also:total number of Armenians is estimated at 2,900,000 (in Turkey, 1,500,000; Russia, 1,000,000; Persia, 150,000; Europe, See also:America and East Indies, 250,000) . History.—The history of Armenia has been largely influenced by its See also:physical features . The See also:isolation of the valleys, especially in winter, encouraged a tendency to separation, which invariably showed itself when the central See also:power was weak . The rugged mountains have always been the See also:home of hardy mountaineers impatient of See also:control, and the See also:sanctuary to which the lowlanders fled for safety in times of invasion . The country stands as an open See also:doorway between the East and the West . Through its long valleys run the roads that connect the Iranian plateau with the fertile. lands and protected harbours of Asia Minor, and for its See also:possession nations have contended from the remotest past . The See also:original inhabitants of Armenia are unknown, but, about the See also:middle of the 9th See also:century s.c., the See also:mass of the See also:people belonged to that great See also:family of tribes which seems to have been See also:Ethnology. spread over western Asia and to have had a common non-See also:Aryan See also:language . Mixed with these proto-Armenians, there was an important Semitic See also:element of See also:Assyrian and See also:Hebrew origin . In the 7th century B.C., between 64o and 60o, the country was conquered by an Aryan people, who imposed their language, and possibly their name, upon the vanquished, and formed a military See also:aristocracy that was constantly recruited from Persia and See also:Parthia . Politically the two races soon amalgamated, but, except in the towns, there was apparently little intermarriage, for the peasants in certain districts closely resemble the proto-Armenians, as depicted on their monuments . After the Arab and Seljuk invasions, there was a large See also:emigration of Aryan and Semitic Armenians to See also:Constantinople and See also:Cilicia; and all that remained of the aristocracy was swept away by the See also:Mongols and See also:Tatars . This perhaps explains the' diversity of type and characteristics amongst the modern Armenians . In the recesses of See also:Mount See also:Taurus the peasants are tall, handsome, though somewhat See also:sharp-featured, agile and brave . In Armenia and Asia Minor they are robust, thick-set and coarse-featured, with straight black See also:hair and large hooked noses . They are See also:good cultivators. of the See also:soil, but are poor, superstitious, ignorant and unambitious, and they live in semi-subterranean houses as their ancestors did 800 years B.C . The townsmen, especially in the large towns, have more See also:regular features—often of the Persian type . They are skilled artisans, bankers and merchants, and are remarkable for their See also:industry, their See also:quick intelligence, their aptitude for business, and for that enterprising spirit which led their ancestors, in Roman times, to See also:trade with See also:Scythia, See also:China and See also:India . The upper classes are polished and well educated, and many have occupied high positions in the public service in Turkey, Russia, Persia and See also:Egypt . The Armenians are essentially an See also:Oriental people, possessing, like the Jews, whom they resemble in their exclusiveness and widespread See also:dispersion, a remarkable tenacity of See also:race and See also:faculty of See also:adaptation to circumstances . They are frugal, sober, industrious and intelligent, and their sturdiness of See also:character has enabled them to preserve their See also:nationality and See also:religion under the sorest trials . They are strongly attached to old See also:manners and customs, but have also a real See also:desire for progress which is full of promise . On the other See also:hand they are greedy of gain, quarrelsome in small matters, self-seeking and wanting in stability; and they are gifted.with a tendency to exaggeration and a love of intrigue which has had an unfortunate See also:influence on their history . They are deeply separated by religious See also:differences, and their mutual jealousies, their inordinate vanity C See also:Longitude East 42° of See also:Greenwich See also:Railways : r...-~- Capitals of Vilayets &c e D 44 A 33* their versatility and their See also:cosmopolitan character must always be an obstacle to the realization of the dreams of the nationalists .
The want of courage and self-reliance, the deficiency in truth and honesty sometimes noticed in connexion with them, are doubtless due to long See also:servitude under an unsympathetic See also:government
.
The early history of Armenia, more or less mythical, is partly based on traditions of the Biainian See also:kings (see ARARAT), and is Ancient interwoven with the See also:Bible narrative, of which a know-kingdom. ledge was possibly obtained from See also:captive Jews settled
in the country by Assyrian and Babylonian monarchs
.
The legendary kings are but faint echoes of the kings of Biainas; the See also:story of See also:Semiramis and Ara is but another See also:form of the myth of See also:Venus and See also:Adonis; and tradition has clothed See also:Tigranes, the reputed friend of See also:Cyrus, with the transient See also:glory of the opponent of See also:Lucullus
.
The fall of the Biainian kingdom, perhaps over-thrown by See also:Cyaxares, was apparently soon followed by an See also:immigration of Aryan (Medo-Persian) races, including the progenitors of the Armenians
.
But they spread slowly, for the "Ten Thousand," when See also:crossing the plateau to Trebizond, 401—400 B.C., met no Armenians after leaving the villages four days' See also:
Pompey brought Rome into delicate relations with Parthia
.
Armenia, although politically dependent upon Rome, was corrnected with Parthia by geographical position, a common language and faith, Under
later
intermarriage and similarity of arms and See also:dress
.
It had See also:Empire. never been Hellenized, as the provinces of Asia Minor
had been; the Roman provincial See also:system was never applied to it; and the policy of Rome towards it was never consistent
.
The country became the See also:
In 632 the victories of See also:Heraclius restored Armenia to the Byzantines; but the war that followed the Arab invasion, 636, See also:left the country in the hands of the caliphs, who set over it Arab and Armenian governors (ostikans)
.
One of the governors, the Bagratid Ashod I., was crowned king of Armenia by the See also:caliph Motamid, 885, and founded a See also:dynasty which ended with Kagig II. in 1079
.
A little later the Ardzrunian Kagig, See also:governor of Vaspuragan or Van, was crowned king of that See also:province by the caliph Moktadir, 908, and his descendants ruled at Van and Sivas until 1080
.
The Bagratids founded dynasties at Kars, 962-1080, and in See also:Georgia, which they held until its absorption, 18or, by Russia
.
From 984 to 1085 the country from Diarbekr to Melasgerd was ruled under the See also:suzerainty first of See also:Arabs then of Byzantines and See also:Seljuks, by the Mervanid dynasty of Kurds, called princes of Abahuni ('Airaxovvfjs)
.
The Arab invasion drove many Armenian noblemen to Constantinople, where they inter-married with the old Roman families or became soldiers of for-tune
.
Artavasdes, an Arsacid, usurped the Byzantine See also:throne for two years; See also:Leo V., an Ardzrunian, and See also: For more than three centuries after the See also:appearance of the Seljuks, Armenia was traversed by a long See also:Medieval See also:succession of See also:nomad tribes whose one aim was to secure partition. good pasturage for. their flocks on their way to the richer lands of Asia Minor . The cultivators were driven from the plains, See also:agriculture was destroyed, and the country was seriously impoverished when its ruin was completed by the ravages and wholesale butcheries of Timur . Many Armenians fled to the mountains, where they embraced See also:Islam, and inter-married with the Kurds, or See also:purchased See also:security by paying black-See also:mail to Kurdish chiefs . Others migrated to Cappadocia or to Cilicia, where the Bagratid Rhupen had founded, 1080, a small principality which, gradually extending its limits, became the kingdom of Lesser Armenia . This Christian kingdom in the midst of Moslem states, hostile to the Byzantines, giving valuable support to the leaders of the See also:crusades, and trading with the great commercial cities of See also:Italy, had a stormy existence of about 300 years . See also:Internal disorders, due to attempts by the later See also:Lusignan kings to make their subjects conform to the Roman Church, facilitated its See also:conquest by Egypt, 1375 . The memory of Kiligia (Cilicia) is enshrined in a popular See also:song, and at Zeitun, in the recesses of Mount Taurus, a small Armenian community has hitherto maintained almost See also:complete See also:independence . After the See also:death of Timur, Armenia formed part of the territories of the See also:Turkoman dynasties of Ak- and Kara-Kuyunli, and under theirmilder rule the seat of the Catholicus, which, during the Seljuk invasion, had been moved first to Sivas, and then to Lesser Armenia, was re-established, 1441, at See also:Echmiadzin . In 1514, the Persian See also:campaign of See also:Selim I. gave Armenia to the Osmanli See also:Turks, and its reorganization was entrusted to Idris, the historian, who was a Kurd of Bitlis . Idris found the rich arable lands almost deserted, and the mountains ~naer urkey. bristling with the castles of independent chieftains, of Kurd, Arab and Armenian descent, between whom there were long-See also:standing feuds . He compelled the Kurds to See also:settle on the vacant lands, and divided the country into small sanjaks which in the plains were governed by Turkish officials, and in the mountains by See also:local chiefs . This policy gave See also:rest to the country, but favoured the growth of Kurd influence and power, which by 1534 had spread westwards to See also:Angora . Armenia was invaded by the Persians in 1575, and again in 1604, when Shah Abbas transplanted many thousand Armenians from Julfa to his new capital See also:Isfahan . In 1639, the province of Erivan, which included Echmiadzin, was assigned by treaty to Persia, and it remained in her hands until it passed to Russia, 1828, under the treaty of Turkman-chai . The Turko-Russian War of 1828-29, which advanced the Russian frontier to the Arpa Chai, was followed by a large emigration of Armenians from Turkish to Russian territory, and a smaller See also:exodus took See also:place after the war of 1877-78, which gave See also:Batum, Ardahan and Kars to Russia . In 1834 the independent power of the Kurds in Armenia was greatly curtailed; and risings under Bedr See also:Khan See also:Bey in 1843, and Sheik Obeidullah in 1880, were firmly suppressed . After the capture of Constantinople, 1453, Mahommed II. organized his non-Moslem subjects in communities, or millets, under ecclesiastical chiefs to whom he gave See also:absolute authority in See also:civil and religious matters, and in criminal Arredan offences that did not come under the Moslem religious ans. law . Under this system the Armenian See also:bishop of See also:Brusa, who was appointed patriarch of Constantinople by the See also:sultan, became the civil, and practically the ecclesiastical See also:head of his community (Ermeni See also:millet), and a recognized officer of the imperial government with the See also:rank of See also:vizier . He was assisted by a council of bishops and See also:clergy, and was represented in each province by a bishop . This imperium in imperio secured to the Armenians a recognized position before the law, the See also:free enjoyment of their religion, the possession of their churches and monasteries, and the right to educate their See also:children and See also:manage their municipal affairs . It also encouraged the growth of a community See also:life, which eventually gave See also:birth to an intense longing for See also:national life . On the other hand it degraded the priesthood . The priests became See also:political leaders rather than spiritual guides, and sought promotion by See also:bribery and intrigue . See also:Education was neglected and discouraged, servility and treachery were See also:developed, and in less than a century the people had become depraved and degraded to an almost incredible extent . 
After the issue, 1839, of the haft-i-sherff of Gul-khaneh, the tradesmen and artisans of the capital freed themselves from clerical control . Under regulations, approved by the sultan in 1862, the patriarch remained the See also:official representative of the community, but all real power passed into the hands of clerical and See also:lay See also:councils elected by a representative See also:assembly of 140 members . The " community," which excluded Roman Catholics and Protestants, was soon called the " nation," " domestic " became " national " affairs, and the " representative " the " national " assembly . The connexion of "Lesser Armenia "with the Western See also:powers led to the formation, 1335, of an Armenian fraternity, " the Unionists," which adopted the dogmas of the Roman church, and at the council of See also:Florence, 1439, was Roman Ca¢tho/Ics. entitled the " United Armenian Church." Under the millet system the unionists were frequently persecuted by the patriarchs, but this ended in 1830, when, at the intervention of See also:France, they were made a community (Katoluk millet), with their own ecclesiastical head . The Roman Catholics, through the See also:works issued by the See also:Mechitharists at See also:Venice, have greatly promoted the progress of education and the development of Armenian literature . They are most numerous at Constantinople, Angora and See also:Smyrna . The Protestant See also:movement, initiated at Constantinople by See also:American missionaries in 1831, was opposed by the patriarchs rotes- and Russia . In 1846 the patriarch anathematized all tants . Armenians with Protestant sympathies, and this led to the formation of the " Evangelical Church of the Armenians," which was made, after much opposition from France and Russia, a community (Protestant millet), at the instance of the See also:British See also:ambassador . The missionaries afterwards founded colleges on the See also:Bosporus, at Kharput, See also:Marsivan and See also:Aintab, to See also:supply the needs of higher university education, and they opened good See also: |