Azordats-por(Ազորդաց փոր) was the southernmost canton of the province of
Tayk
Tayk ( hy, Տայք, Taykʿ) was a historical province of the Kingdom of Armenia, one of its 15 (worlds). Tayk consisted of 8 cantons:
* Kogh
* Berdats por
* Partizats por
* Tchakatk
* Bokha
* Vokaghe
* Azordats por
* Arsiats por
There ...
in the kingdom of Armenia. it corresponds with the modern province of
Tortum in the republic of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. It was under the control of the
Mamikonian noble family in the kingdom of Armenia, later passing to the rule of the
Bagratuni princes of Tayk. The Bagratids line of Tayk converted to
Chalcedonian Christianity and many of the Armenian villages and towns of the region became Chalcedonians. Later under Georgian rule, the Armenian Chalcedonian bishops joined the Georgian
Catholicos and became part of the
Georgian Orthodox Church
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...
while still retaining the use of Armenian in their liturgy while fully adopting the
Byzantine rite.
The region was under the rule of the
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
Samtskhe atabegate
The Samtskhe-Saatabago or Samtskhe Atabegate ( ka, სამცხე-საათაბაგო), also called the Principality of Samtskhe (სამცხის სამთავრო), was a Georgian feudal principality in Zemo Kartli, ru ...
until the Ottoman Empire conquered the region in 1550. In the mid 17th century, a certain mullah Jaffar put heavy taxes on the region which enticed most of the Chalcedonian Armenians to convert to
Sunni Islam. The Muslim Armenians, having switched
millets
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets als ...
through religious conversion, eventually adopted a
Hemshin identity and began identifying as Hemshins even though they were not Hamshens. "Hemshins" still make up a predominant portion of the population in the Tortum region today.
References
{{reflist
Geographic history of Armenia
History of Artvin Province