Muş

Muş (; hy, Մուշ; ku, Mûş) is a city and the provincial capital of Muş Province in Turkey. Its population is mostly Kurds.

Etymology

Various explanations of the origin of Muş's name exist. Its name is sometimes associated with the Armenian word ''mshush'' ( hy, մշուշ), meaning fog, explained by the fact that the town and the surrounding plain are frequently covered in fog in the mornings. The 17th-century explorer Evliya Çelebi relates a myth where a giant mouse created by Nemrud ( Nimrod) destroys the city and its inhabitants, after which the city was named Muş (''muš'' means "mouse" in Persian).. Others have proposed a connection with the names of different ancient Anatolian peoples, the Mushki or the Mysians, or the toponyms ''Mushki'' and ''Mushuni'' mentioned in Assyrian and Hittite sources, respectively.

History

Ancient and medieval

The date of foundation of Mush is unknown, although a settlement is believed to have been around by the time of Menua, the king of Urartu (c. 800 BC), whose cuneiform inscription was found in the city's vicinity. During the Middle Ages, Mush was the center of the Taron region of Armenia. It is first mentioned as a city in Armenian manuscripts of the 9th and 10th centuries. In the late 8th century Mush, along with the Taron region, came under control of the Armenian Bagratid (Bagratuni) dynasty, who reconquered it from the Arabs. Mush and the Taron region was captured and annexed to the Byzantine Empire in 969.

After the 11th century, the town was ruled by Islamic dynasties such as the Ahlatshahs, Ayyubids, Ilkhanids and Kara Koyunlu. In the 10th-13th centuries Mush developed into a major city with an estimated population of 20 to 25 thousand people. In 1387 the central Asian ruler Timur crossed the area and apparently captured Mush town without a battle. Later the Akkoyunlu ruled the area and in the 16th the Ottomans took control over the town and region in the 16th century from the Persian Safavids. Mush remained part of the Ottoman Empire till the early 20th century and during these times retained a large Armenian population. In 1821 a Persian invasion reached Mush.

Modern

At the turn of the twentieth century, the city had around 20,000 inhabitants, of which 11,000 were Muslims, while 9,000 were Christian Armenians. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) the town had 27,000 inhabitants, of whom 13,300 were Muslims and 13,700 Armenians. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (1911) the population was nearly equally divided between Kurds and Armenians.

During the Armenian genocide of 1915 the indigenous Armenian population of the region was exterminated. Over 140,000 Armenians of the Mush sanjak (living in 234 villages and towns) were targeted in June and July 1915. Military-aged Armenian men were conscripted to serve in World War I. The Armenian population was largely defenseless to these threats. The massacre of the Armenian population of the city of Mush came only after the surrounding villages were destroyed.

The town was captured during by the forces of the Russian Empire in February 1916 during the World War I.

Demographics

Population of the municipality of Muş numbers 72,774 according to a 2009 estimate. Kurds make up the majority of the population. The rest are Arabs and Crypto-Armenians.

Main sights

The area of Muş has several ruined castles. Under the rule of the medieval Armenian dynasties monasteries and churches were built in localities near Mush such as the Arakelots Monastery, Surp Marineh Church, Mush, Surb Karapet Monastery most of which are now ruins.

Under the rule of the Muslim dynasties, other type of buildings were built as well. There are mosques from the Ottoman and pre-Ottoman period which show influences of Seljuk architecture. Mosques like the Alaeddin Bey (18th century), Haci Seref (17th century), and Ulu Mosque (14th century). Caravanserais like the "Yıldızlı Han" (13th century) destroyed in 1916, the now almost completely ruined "Arslanli Han" and also bathhouse and fountain of Alaeddin Bey and tombs of Muslim saints.

Gallery

File:Mush Alaeddin Pasha Camii 1059.jpg, Muş Alaeddin Pasha Camii
File:Mush Alaeddin Pasha Camii 1153.jpg, Muş Alaeddin Pasha Camii
File:Mush Ulu Cami 09.jpg, Muş Ulu Cami
File:Mush Ulu Cami 1101.jpg, Muş Ulu Cami
File:Mush Ulu Cami 1103.jpg, Muş Ulu Cami
File:Mush Haci Sheref Cami 1160.jpg, Muş Hacı Şeref Camii
File:MushTuba Camii 3923.jpg, Muş Tuba Camii
File:Mush Street scene 1157.jpg, Muş Street scene
File:Mush Street scene 0476.jpg, Muş Street scene
File:Mush Street scene.jpg, Muş Street scene
File:Mush Old houses 0432.jpg, Muş Old house
File:Mush Old house 1111.jpg, Muş Old house
File:Mush Hospital 1230.jpg, Muş Hospital
File:Mush Castle 0512.jpg, Muş Castle
File:Mush Castle 0523.jpg, Muş Castle
File:Mush 1213.jpg, Muş view

Notable locals

* Armenak Shahmuradyan, Armenian operatic tenor
* Zafer Çağlayan, Turkish politician and former Minister
* Sabahattin Oğlago, four-time Olympian cross-country skier
* Zeki Eker, Turkish politician of Kurdish origin
* Kürşat Duymuş, Turkish football defender

Climate

Muş has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Dsa,'' Trewartha climate classification: ''Dc'') with cold, snowy winters and hot, very dry and very sunny summers.

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic - former and titular Armenian Catholic see

Hundreds of pictures of the town
;Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mus

Populated places in Muş Province
Eastern Catholic titular sees
Former Armenian Catholic eparchies
Districts of Muş Province
Armenian genocide extermination centers
Kurdish settlements in Turkey