Malazgirt or Malâzgird ( ku, Melezgir; hy, Մանազկերտ, Manazkert; grc-x-medieval, Ματζιέρτη, Matziértē), historically known as Manzikert ( grc-x-medieval, Μαντζικέρτ, links=no), is a town in
Muş Province
Muş Province ( tr, Muş ili, Armenian: Մուշի մարզ, ku, Parêzgeha Mûşê) is a province in eastern Turkey. It is 8,196 km2 in area and has a population of 406,886 according to a 2010 estimate, down from 453,654 in 2000. The provin ...
in eastern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, with a population of 23,697 (year 2000). It is popularly known as the site where the
Battle of Manzikert
The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and th ...
was fought.
The current
District Governor is Emre Yalçın.
History
Founding
The settlement dates to the Iron Age. According to
Tadevos Hakobyan it was established during the reign of the
Urartian
Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushpa, ...
king
Menua
Menua ( ariations exist hy, Մենուա), also rendered Meinua or Minua, was the fifth known king of Urartu from c. 810 BC to approximately 786 BC. In Armenian, Menua is rendered as ''Menua''. The name Menua may be connected etymologically to t ...
(r. 810–785 BC).
The Armenian name ''Manazkert'' is supposedly shortened from ''Manavazkert'' ( hy, Մանավազկերտ),
[ Hakobyan, Tadevos Kh. ''«Մանզիկերտ»'' anzikert ]Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( hy, Հայկական սովետական հանրագիտարան, ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran''; ASE) publishing house was established in 1967 as a department of the Institute of History of the Armeni ...
. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1981, vol. 7, pp. 210-211. adopted in Greek as . The suffix ''-kert'' is frequently found in Armenian toponymy, meaning "built by". According to
Movses Khorenatsi
Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late an ...
, Manzikert was founded by Manaz, one of the sons of
Hayk
Hayk ( hy, Հայկ, ), also known as Hayk Nahapet (, , ), is the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation. His story is told in the '' History of Armenia'' attributed to the Armenian historian Moses of Chorene (Movses Khorenatsi ...
, the legendary and eponymous patriarch and progenitor of the
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
. After the demise of Urartu it passed into the hands of successive regional kingdoms and empires.
Medieval
The lands around Manzikert belonged to the Manavazyans, an Armenian ''
nakharar
''Nakharar'' ( hy, նախարար ''naxarar'', from Parthian ''naxvadār'' "holder of the primacy""նախարար" in H. Ačaṙean (1926–35), ''Hayerēn Armatakan Baṙaran'' (Yerevan: Yerevan State University), 2nd ed., 1971–79) was a heredi ...
'' family which claimed descent from Manaz, until AD 333, when King
Khosrov III Arshakuni of Armenia ordered that all members of the family be put to the sword.
He later awarded the lands to another family, the Aghbianosyans. Manzikert was a fortified town, and served as an important trading center located in the canton of Apahunik' in the
Turuberan
Turuberan ( hy, Տուրուբերան) was the fourth Armenian region that was part of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC to 387 AD. Then it was part of the Sassanid Empire, Byzantine Empire, Arab Caliphate, medieval Kingdom of Armenia, ...
province of the ancient
Kingdom of Armenia. Following the Arab invasions of Armenia in the 7th century, it also served as the capital of the
Kaysite
The Kaysite dynasty () was a Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled an emirate centered in Manzikert from c. 860 until 964. Their state was the most powerful Arab amirate in Armenia after the collapse of the ''ostikan''ate of Arminiya in the late 9t ...
''
emirate
An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...
'' from around 860 until 964. Manzikert was the site of the
Council of Manzikert The Council of Manzikert (or Manazkert) met in 726 to reconcile the Armenian Apostolic and Syriac Orthodox churches. It was convoked by the Armenian catholicos John of Odzun and attended by many Armenian bishops and six bishops of the Syriac chur ...
in 726.
After the Armenian revolt of 771–772, the Abbasid government encouraged the migration of Arab tribes to the region, which resulted in the settling of Arab tribes near Manzikert.
Under Abbasid rule, the city was a major center of commerce and industry and became one of the main cities in Asia Minor.
This flourishing lasted until around the 13th century.
In 968, the Byzantine general
Bardas Phokas captured Manzikert, which was incorporated into the Byzantine
katepanate of Basprakania (
Vaspurakan
Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...
). In 1054, the
Seljuk Turks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
made an
attempt to capture the city but were repulsed by the city's garrison under the command of
Basil Apocapes
Basil Apokapes (or Apocapes) (b 924-977) ( el, ) was a Byzantine general of the 11th century.
A descendant of the Apokapai family, an Armeno-Georgian noble clan, he was the son of the patrician Michael Apokapes or Abu K’ab, who had once serv ...
.
The
Battle of Manzikert
The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and th ...
was fought near the town in August 1071. In one of the most decisive defeats in
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
history, the Seljuk sultan
Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan was the second Sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. He greatly expanded the Seljuk territory and consolidated his power, defeating rivals to the south and northwest, and his v ...
defeated and captured Emperor
Romanus Diogenes
Romanos IV Diogenes (Greek: Ρωμανός Διογένης), Latinized as Romanus IV Diogenes, was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, was crowned Byzantine Em ...
, which led to the ethnic and religious transformation of Armenia and
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and the establishment of the
Seljuk Sultanate of Rum
fa, سلجوقیان روم ()
, status =
, government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262)
, year_start = 1077
, year_end = 1308
, p1 = By ...
and later the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and the
Republic of Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. The Seljuks pillaged Manzikert itself, killed much of its population and burned the city to the ground.
The city walls were substantially rebuilt during the 12th and perhaps 13th centuries under Seljuk rule.
The basic design is a
curtain wall with small semicircular towers projecting at intervals.
The walls appear to have remained completely intact until about the end of the 18th century.
Manzikert/Malazgirt was then successively part of
Ahlatshahs
The Shah-Armens (lit. 'Kings of Armenia', tr, Ermenşahlar), also known as Ahlatshahs (lit. 'Rulers of Ahlat', tr, Ahlatşahlar), was a Turkoman Sunni Muslim Anatolian beylik founded after the Battle of Manzikert (1071) and centred in Ahlat on t ...
(their rule was briefly interrupted by the
Kingdom of Georgia
The Kingdom of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამეფო, tr), also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic ...
),
Ayyubids
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin h ...
,
Sultanate of Rum
fa, سلجوقیان روم ()
, status =
, government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262)
, year_start = 1077
, year_end = 1308
, p1 = By ...
,
Ilkhanids
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
,
Karakoyunlu
Karakoyunlu ( ku, Têşberûn) is a town and district of Iğdır Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Part of the district forms the international border between Turkey and Armenia.
Statues with ram heads
Gravestones with ram heads ...
,
Timurids
The Timurid Empire ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani ( Chagatai: کورگن, ''Küregen''; fa, , ''Gūrkāniyān''), was a PersianateB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006 Turco-Mongol empire ...
,
Akkoyunlu and
Safavids
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
before Ottoman rule.
Modern
In
April 1903, Manzikert was the location of an earthquake which killed about 3500 people and demolished around 12,000 buildings.
In 1915 Manzikert was part of
Bitlis Vilayet and had a population of 5,000, the great majority of them Armenians.
The town's economy revolved around the cultivation of grain, trade and the production of handicrafts. There existed two Armenian churches, the Three Altars Holy Mother of God (Yerek Khoran Surb Astvatsatsin) and St. George (Surb Gevork, called St. Sergius by
H. F. B. Lynch), and one Armenian school.
Like many other towns and villages during the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...
, its Armenian population was uprooted and subjected to massacres.
[Raymond Kévorkian. ''The Armenian Genocide: A History'' (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011), pp. 349-50.]
The Russian army briefly held Manzikert after capturing it on 11 May 1915. Today the town mostly has a
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
population.
Notes
{{Authority control
Populated places in Muş Province
Districts of Muş Province
Kurdish settlements in Turkey