Bahçesaray (, ku, Miks) is town and district in
Van Province
Van Province ( tr, Van ili, ku, Parezgêha Wanê, Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. It is 19,069 km2 in area and had a population of 1,035,418 at ...
in
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 ...
. It was a
bucak in
Pervari district of
Siirt Province
Siirt Province, ( tr, , ku, Parêzgeha Sêrtê) is a province of Turkey, located in the southeast. The province borders Bitlis to the north, Batman to the west, Mardin to the southwest, Şırnak to the south, and Van to the east. It has an ar ...
until 1964 and
Gevaş
Gevaş ( hy, Ոստան, lit= rincelycourt, translit=Vostan, ku, Westan) is a district of Van Province of Turkey. It is located on the south shore of Lake Van. In the last elections of March 2019, Murat Sezer from the Justice and Development Par ...
district of Van Province between 1964 and 1987. It is at a distance of from
Van. The town is built at the
Bahçesaray rivers' shores.
Etymology
The name comes from Persian باغچه سرای "bāghche-sarāy" which means "the Garden Palace". Its former name was Müküs, derived from
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
''
Mokkʿ'' ( hy, Մոկք) region. In ku, Miks, derived from the Armenian. The word "Mokk in
classical Armenian language
Classical Armenian (, in Eastern Armenian pronunciation: Grabar, Western Armenian: Krapar; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at ...
means: "the place of the magic". According to the legend,
Amenap'rkich ("Wholly Saviour") abbey that was nearby Moks, has the grave of a magician by name Gaspar. Probably name of "the place of the magic" or just "Mokk" is connected with this mysterious personality. But scientific sources say that in the Urartu era there existed the Moxene tribe and
Moxoene
Moxoene or Mokk' ( hy, Մոկք, translit=Mokkʿ, ku, Miks) was a territory of Kingdom of Armenia and later Sasanian Armenia, located east of Arzanene from south of Lake Van to north of Bohtan river. The territory was ruled by a local dynasty.
...
, so the names Mokk' and Moks originated from this tribe's name.
The word Bahçesaray is compound of ''bahçe'' ("garden") and ''saray'' ("palace").
Bakhchysarai
Bakhchysarai ( crh, Bağçasaray, italic=yes; russian: Бахчисара́й; ua, Бахчисара́й; tr, Bahçesaray) is a town in Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and annexed by Russia as the Re ...
in
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
has the same name.
History
The district corresponds to
Historical Armenia's Mok Arandznak district, which was part of the greater province of
Moxoene
Moxoene or Mokk' ( hy, Մոկք, translit=Mokkʿ, ku, Miks) was a territory of Kingdom of Armenia and later Sasanian Armenia, located east of Arzanene from south of Lake Van to north of Bohtan river. The territory was ruled by a local dynasty.
...
. The district has several ancient Armenian monasteries and churches. The
Aparank monastery
Aparank Monastery or Aparanq (in Armenia ), or Holy Cross Aparank, is an Armenian monastery located in modern-day Turkey, Van province near the city of Bahçesaray. It was found within the borders of the historical Armenian province of Mokk.
T ...
is located in the vicinity of the town.
[Sinclair, T. A. (1987), pp. 238–239 ]
In the 19th century Bahçesaray was the center of the Kurdish
Emirate of Müküs
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 ...
,
until the emirate was defeated by the troops of Ottoman Empire in 1846.
2020 avalanches
On 4 and 5 February 2020, a pair of avalanches struck a highway in the district, leaving at least 41 people dead and 84 others injured.
References
Towns in Turkey
Populated places in Van Province
Districts of Van Province
Kurdish settlements in Turkey
{{Van-geo-stub