| ولايت وان Vilâyet-i Van | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire | |||||||||
| 1875–1922 | |||||||||
.svg) The Van Vilayet in 1900 | |||||||||
| Capital | Van[1] | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• Muslim, 1914[2] | 179,982 | ||||||||
• Armenian, 1914[2] | 67,792 | ||||||||
• Jewish, 1914[2] | 1,383 | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1875 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1922 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Turkey | ||||||||
TheVilayet of Van[1] (Ottoman Turkish:ولايت وان,romanized: Vilâyet-i Van;Armenian:Վանի վիլայեթ,romanized: Vani vilayet) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of theOttoman Empire. At the beginning of the 20th century, it reportedly had a population of about 400,000 and an area of 15,000 square miles (39,000 km2).[1]Van Vilayet was one of thesix Armenian vilayets and held, prior to theArmenian genocide duringWorld War I, possessed a majorityArmenian population, as well asKurdish,Assyrian andAzeri minorities.
In 1875, theeyalet of Erzurum was divided in six vilayets:Erzurum, Van, Hakkari,Bitlis, Hozat (Dersim) and Kars-Çildir. In 1888, by an imperial orderHakkari was joined to the vilayet of Van, andHozat toMamuret ul-Aziz.[3]
As the border province of the north-eastern frontier, towards both theRussian Empire andQajar Iran, it contained a number of garrisons. It was divided into the Sanjak of Van and theSanjak of Hakkari and covered the present-day provinces ofVan,Hakkari and parts ofŞırnak,Muş andBingöl ones.
During theCaucasus campaign ofWorld War I, the Russians planned to invade the province after the breakdown of theOttoman Army's offensive into Russia. The invasion threat led theCommittee of Union and Progress to begin theArmenian genocide out of fear that Armenians in Van would support theRussian Caucasus Army.[4]
_2.664_Van_Vilayet.jpg)
At the beginning of the 20th century, Van Vilayet reportedly had an area of 15,440 square miles (40,000 km2), while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 376,297.[5] The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered.[5]
Based on the official1914 Ottoman Census, the population of Van province consisted of 179,422 Muslims and 67,797 Armenians.[6] The Ottoman Census figures include only male citizens, excluding women and children.[citation needed] According toArmenian Patriarch of Constantinople, the corrected estimates for Van province (including women and children) was; 313,000 Muslims, 130,000 Armenians, and 65,000 others, includingAssyrians.[7]
Vilayet of Van lay along thePersian frontier between the vilayets ofErzurum andMosul. The northernsanjak comprised open plateau country N. and E. of the lake (with a largeArmenian agricultural population andKurdish seminomad tribes occupied chiefly in cattle and sheep raising), also of several fertile districts along the south shore of the lake. The southern sanjak was entirely mountainous, little developed and having the tribes only partly under government control. This comprised most of the upper basin of theGreat Zab, with the country of theHakkariAssyrians and many districts inhabited byKurdish tribes, some of them largenomad tribes who descended for the winter to the plains of theTigris.
The mineral wealth of the vilayet was never fully explored, but was believed to be great. There werepetroleum springs at Kordzot, deposits oflignite at Sivan (now Avnik village in Bingöl) and Nurduz, severalhot springs at Zilan Creek and Julamerk (NowHakkari). Excellenttobacco was grown inShemsdinan for export toPersia.
Sanjaks of the Vilayet:[8]
Historically, the Van Vilayet producedmillet.[9] The economic center of the province was the city ofVan. It was also a majorwine producer. Bothwine andbrandy were made in small amounts. The vilayet also producedflax andhemp.[10] Van also had a majorsheep herding industry. As of 1906, there were over 3 millionsheep in the vilayet. As of 1920, those numbers were reduced.[11]Beekeeping was done bypeasants, withhoney being frozen and sold.[12] The area also producedcoal,lead,copper andborax,orpiment,gas,granite,lime,chalk,gypsum,gold, andsalt.[13]
Media related toVan Vilayet at Wikimedia Commons
| .svg) | |||||||||||||
