Six vilayets
The Six vilayets or Six provinces (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت سته Vilâyat-ı Sitte) or the Six Armenian vilayets (Armenian: Վեց հայկական վիլայեթներ Vets' haykakan vilayet'ner, Turkish: Altı vilayet, Altı Ermeni ili[1]) were the Armenian-populated vilayets (provinces) of the Ottoman Empire:
The term
The term Six Armenian provinces was first used in the Congress of Berlin in 1878.[citation needed]
Population
Ethnic groups
Reliable population statistcs do not exist. Different versions are shown below.
- Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, 1912
- [2]
Note: The analysis excludes certain portions of these provinces where the Armenians are only a minor element. These portions are as follows: Hakkari, in the Vilayet of Van; the south of Sairt, the Vilayet of Bitlis; the south of Vlayet of Diyarbekir; the south of Malatia, in the Vilayet of Mamouret-ul-Aziz; the north-west and west of the Vilayet of Sivas.
There is no evidence supporting the data of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, as the methods of gathering of data was never cited.[3] Also, the Patriarch had issued statistics of Six Vilayets in 1882 stating a total of 1.63 million Armenians in the area, 2.55 times the number they reached in the 1914 Census Report, but disowned 1882 figures in 1912 to publish new figures.[3][4]
Ethnic groups | Bitlis | Diyarbekir | Erzurum | Mamuretülaziz | Sivas | Van | TOTAL | % |
Armenians | 180,000 | 105,000 | 215,000 | 168,000 | 165,000 | 185,000 | 1,018,000 | 38.9 |
Turks1 | 48,000 | 72,000 | 265,000 | 182,000 | 192,000 | 47,000 | 806,000 | 30.8 |
Kurds2 | 77,000 | 55,000 | 75,000 | 95,000 | 50,00 | 72,000 | 499,000 | 19.1 |
Others3 | 30,000 | 64,000 | 48,000 | 5,000 | 100,000 | 43,000 | 290,000 | 11.1 |
TOTAL | 382,000 | 296,000 | 630,000 | 450,000 | 507,000 | 350,000 | 2,615,000 | 100 |
1 including Qizilbash |
- Ottoman official census, 1914
- [5]
Note: The Ottoman census doesn't give information for separate Muslim ethnic groups such as the Turks, Kurds, Circassians, etc.
Most modern Western scholars agree that the official Ottoman census underestimated the number of ethnic minorities[citation needed], including the number of Armenians.[6] In fact Ottoman census didn't define any ethnic groups, only religious ones. So Armenian meant an adherent of Armenian Apostolic Church. Ethnic Armenians who claimed to be Muslims were counted as Muslims, Armenian Protestants - like Pontic Greeks, Caucasus Greeks, and Laz - were counted as others.
Ethnic groups | Bitlis | Diyarbekir | Erzurum | Mamuretülaziz | Sivas | Van | TOTAL | % |
Muslims | 309,999 | 492,101 | 673,297 | 446,376 | 939,735 | 179,380 | 3,040,888 | 79.6 |
Armenians | 119,132 | 65,850 | 136,618 | 87,862 | 151,674 | 67,792 | 628,928 | 16.5 |
Others | 44,348 | 4,020 | 5,797 | 4,047 | 78,173 | 11,969 | 148,354 | 3.9 |
TOTAL | 473,479 | 561,971 | 815,712 | 538,285 | 1,169,582 | 259,141 | 3,818,170 | 100 |
Largest cities
All figures are as of early 20th century.
City | Vilayet | Population | Armenians | % |
---|---|---|---|---|
Van[7] | Van Vilayet | 40,000 | 25,000 | 62.5% |
Sivas[8] | Sivas Vilayet | 60,000 | 30,000 | 50% |
Erzurum[9] | Erzurum Vilayet | 60,000 | 15,000 | 25% |
Mezereh[10] | Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz | 12,200 | 6,080 | 49.8% |
Bitlis[8] | Bitlis Vilayet | 30,000 | 7,000 | 23% |
Diyarbakır | Diyarbekir Vilayet | |||
Arapgir[11] | Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz | 20,000 | 10,000 | 50% |
Malatya[12] | Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz | 40,000 | 20,000 | 50% |
See also
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References
- Notes
- ↑ (Turkish) İsmail Soysal, Türkiye'nin Siyasal Andlaşmaları, I. Cilt (1920-1945), Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1983, p. 14.
- ↑ "The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 1915-1916" by JAMES VISCOUNT BRYCE, London, T. Fisher Unwin Ltd., 1916
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- ↑ Steven T. Katz,The Holocaust in Historical Context, 1994, p. 86 ...indicates (based on 1919 British estimates) that though Ottoman data were generally reliable they did underestimate the Armenian population in 1914...
- ↑ Hakobyan 1987, p. 236.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hakobyan 1987, p. 222.
- ↑ Hakobyan 1987, p. 163.
- ↑ Hakobyan 1987, p. 134.
- ↑ Hakobyan 1987, p. 51.
- ↑ Hakobyan 1987, p. 182.
- Bibliography
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- Articles with Turkish-language external links
- Articles containing Ottoman Turkish-language text
- Articles containing Armenian-language text
- Articles containing Turkish-language text
- Articles with unsourced statements from March 2013
- Articles with unsourced statements from August 2014
- Vilayets of the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia