The Armenians had good relations with the EuropeanCrusader states, but the CrusaderCounty of Edessa would advance against the Armenians in Adıyaman. Political leaders in Adıyaman were also victims of assassinations by Edessa. The wife ofKogh Vasil founded an army to protect the area from Edessa as well, but Edessa ultimately captured the area. Close relations between the Armenians and theCrusader states, however, continued untilNur ad-Dincaptured the area in 1150. The area came under the rule ofTimurtash of theArtuqids for his support for Nur ad-Din and later theSeljuks from the beginning of the 13th century. The locals failed at removing the rulership ofKilij Arslan II during the late 12th century. In the subsequent period, the area was fought over between theMamluk Sultanate and theArmenian Kingdom of Cilicia, changing hands between the two until it finally came under permanentMamluk control.[8]
Ottoman SultanSelim I captured the area during theOttoman–Mamluk War in 1516–1517. In the firstdefter of the area in 1519, it was mentioned that theKurdishReşwan tribe populated the area. Documents from 1524 and 1536 also contain records of the Reşwan tribe living in the area. The tribe was engaged in agriculture after having had a nomadic lifestyle.[9]
Evliya Çelebi visited the city in the 17th century and described the agricultural life.[10]
At the beginning of the 19th century, most Armenians lived near the castle of Adıyaman city and mostly made their living through shop keeping and trading. In the villages, they were involved inagriculture andanimal husbandry. The local Armenians welcomed American missionaries approaching them during the 19th century at first, but prevented them from converted them later on. Some of theGregorian Armenians did however convert to Protestantism and the missionaries ultimately divided the local Armenian community.Ainsworth visited the town of Adıyaman in the 1842 and mentioned that the town contained 800 Muslim households and 300 Armenian households and that it had severalmosques but nochurches. After his visit to the town, he visited the Kurdish village of Kerkunah in the outskirts and afterwardsKâhta, where he mentioned that a Kurdish rebellion was taking place.[11] Most of the rural areas spokeKurdish in 1882, whileTurkish was prevalent in Adıyaman town.[12]
Armenian nationalism increased among the Armenians by the end of the century and most of the Armenian population fell victim to theArmenian genocide in 1915. There are, however, still some Armenians aroundKâhta.[8]
The area was part ofMamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet as Behisni, Hasanmansur and Kahta districts. These three districts had a total population of 99,439 in 1914 of which93.4% was Muslim and6.6% Christian.[13]
The names of 224 villages in Adiyaman Province wasTurkified as part of the campaign to remove any mention of Kurdishness in the country.[14] In 1932, the whole region was chiefly populated by Kurds.[15] The province had a population of 208,755 in 1955 of which99.8% adhered toIslam and0.2% toChristianity.[16] In 1960, the province had a population of 233,717 of which99.7% was Muslim and0.3% Christian.[17] In 1965, the population increased to 267,277 of which99.8% was Muslim and0.2% Christian.[18] The Turkish authorities put the province underState of emergency (OHAL) in the early 1990s as part of theKurdish–Turkish conflict.[19]
Out of the 339 villages in the province, 296 are populated by Kurds while the remaining 43 are populated by Turks. In terms of religious affiliation, 293 of the villages have an Hanafi population, 80 villages with an Alevi population and two villages are reported to having aShafi'i population.[29]
The majority of the population isHanafiKurdish,[30][31] with a significantKurdish Alevi population.[32] One estimate from 2014 places the Alevi population at 11%.[33] The province is generally morepious than other Kurdish areas in Turkey[34] and has been a hotspot for radicalization andIslamism in recent years (seeDokumacılar).[35] Historian Şahidin Şimşek argued that Hanafi adherents in the province had been manipulated by the state to believe thatKurdish nationalism equated to Alevism. Another theory points at the poverty in the province.[36]
The Kurdish tribes in the province include the Alikan, Atman, Balyan, Belikan tribe, Bêzikan, Birîmşa, Bîstikan, Canbegan, Celikan, Dêrsimî, Dirêjan, Gewozî, Hevêdan, Heyderan, Hûriyan, Izol, Kawan, Kerdizan, Kîkan, Kirvar, Mirdesan, Molikan, Mukriyan, Pîrvan, Reşwan, Şavak,[37] Sinemilli, Sînanka,Şêxbizin and the Teşikan tribe.[38][39]
The Alevis of the western districts ofBesni,Gölbaşı andTut are Turkmen and Kurdish.[40]
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