TheOltiokrug[a]was a district (okrug) of theKars Oblastof theRussian Empireexisting between 1878 and 1918. Its capital was the town of Olty (present-dayOltu), presently part of theErzurum ProvinceofTurkey.Theokrugbordered with theKars okrugto the southeast, theArdahan okrugto the northwest, theKagizman okrugto its south, theBatum Oblastto the north, and theErzurum vilayetof theOttoman Empireto the west.[1]
Oltiokrug
Ольтинский округ | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Location in the Kars Oblast | |
| Country | Russian Empire |
| Viceroyalty | Caucasus |
| Oblast | Kars |
| Established | 1878 |
| Treaty of Brest-Litovsk | 3 March 1918 |
| Capital | Olty (present-dayOltu) |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,983.17 km2(1,151.81 sq mi) |
| Population (1914) | |
• Total | 40,091 |
| • Density | 13/km2(35/sq mi) |
| •Urban | 8.13% |
| •Rural | 91.87% |
History
editThe Olti okrug was one of the four territorial administrative subunits (counties) of the Kars Oblast created after its annexation into the Russian Empire in 1878 through theTreaty of San Stefano,following thedefeatof theOttoman Empire.[2]
During theFirst World War,the Karsoblastbecame the site ofintense battlesbetween theRussian Caucasus Armysupplemented byArmenian volunteersand theOttoman Third Army,the latter of whom was successful inbriefly occupying Ardahanon 25 December 1914 before they were dislodged in early January 1915.
On 3 March 1918, in the aftermath of theOctober RevolutiontheRussian SFSRceded the entireKars Oblastincluding the Olti okrug through theTreaty of Brest-Litovskto the Ottoman Empire, who had been unreconciled with its loss of the territory since 1878. Despite the ineffectual resistance of theTranscaucasian Democratic Federative Republicwhich had initially rejected the aforementioned treaty, the Ottoman Third Army was successful in occupying the Kars Oblast and forcefully expelling its 100,000 panic-stricken Armenian inhabitants.[3]
The OttomanNinth Armyunder the command ofYakub Shevki Pasha,the occupying force of the district by the time of theMudros Armistice,were permitted to winter in Kars until early 1919, after which on 7 January 1919 Major GeneralG.T. Forestier-Walkerordered their complete withdrawal to the pre-1914 Ottoman-frontier. Intended to hinder the westward expansion of the fledglingArmenianandGeorgianrepublics into the Kars Oblast, Yukub Shevki backed the emergence of the short-livedSouth-West Caucasus Republicwith moral support, also furnishing it with weapons, ammunition and instructors.[4]
The South-West Caucasus Republic administered the Olti okrug and neighboring formerly occupied districts for three months before provoking British intervention by order of GeneralG.F. Milne,leading to its capitulation byArmenianandBritishforces on 10 April 1919.[5][6]Consequently, the Kars Oblast largely came under the Armenian civil governorship of Stepan Korganian who wasted no time in facilitating the repatriation of the region's exiled refugees.[7]
Despite the apparent defeat of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish agitators were reported byArmenian intelligenceto have been freely roaming the countryside of Kars encouraging sedition among the Muslim villages, culminating in a series ofanti-Armenian uprisings on 1 July 1919.[8]
The Kars Oblast for the third time in six years saw invading Turkish troops, this time under the command of GeneralKâzım Karabekirin September 1920 during theTurkish-Armenian War.The disastrous war for Armenia resulted in the permanent expulsion of the region's ethnic Armenian population, many who inexorably remained befalling massacre, resulting in the region joining theRepublic of Turkeythrough theTreaty of Alexandropolon 3 December 1920. Turkey's annexation of Kars and the adjacentSurmalu Uyezdwas confirmed in the treaties ofKarsandMoscowin 1921, by virtue of the newSoviet regime in Armenia.[9]
Administrative divisions
editThe prefectures (участки,uchastki) of the Oltiokrugwere:[10][11]
| Name | Administrative centre | 1912 population | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oltinskiyprefecture (Ольтинский участок) | Olty (Oltu) | 10,874 | 1,888.85square versts(2,149.63km2;829.98sq mi) |
| Tauskerskiyprefecture (Таускерский участок) | Olor (Olur) | 6,400 | 732.42square versts(833.54km2;321.83sq mi) |
Demographics
editRussian Empire Census
editAccording to theRussian Empire Census,the Oltiokrughad a population of 31,519 on 28 January [O.S.15 January] 1897, including 16,845 men and 14,674 women. The majority of the population indicatedTurkishto be their mother tongue, with significantKurdish,Armenian,andGreekspeaking minorities.[12]
| Language | Native speakers | % |
|---|---|---|
| Turkish | 19,719 | 62.56 |
| Kurdish | 3,505 | 11.12 |
| Armenian | 3,125 | 9.91 |
| Greek | 2,704 | 8.58 |
| Turkmen | 999 | 3.17 |
| Russian | 870 | 2.76 |
| Ukrainian | 168 | 0.53 |
| Ossetian | 62 | 0.20 |
| Polish | 48 | 0.15 |
| Persian | 44 | 0.14 |
| Georgian | 20 | 0.06 |
| Avar-Andean | 11 | 0.03 |
| Dargin | 8 | 0.03 |
| German | 7 | 0.02 |
| Tatar[b] | 4 | 0.01 |
| Karapapakh | 1 | 0.00 |
| Other | 224 | 0.71 |
| TOTAL | 31,519 | 100.00 |
Kavkazskiy kalendar
editAccording to the 1915 publication ofKavkazskiy kalendar,the Oltiokrughad a population of 40,091 on 14 January [O.S.1 January] 1914, including 20,540 men and 19,551 women, 37,553 of whom were the permanent population, and 2,538 were temporary residents. The statistics indicated the town Olti to be overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian in population with a sizeable Yazidi minority, conversely, the rest of the okrug was mainly Yazidi, with sizeable Kurdish, Georgian, Asiatic Christian, and Armenian minorities:[15]
| Nationality | Urban | Rural | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Yazidis | 458 | 14.06 | 21,309 | 57.85 | 21,767 [sic] | 54.29 |
| Kurds | 51 | 1.57 | 5,128 | 13.92 | 5,179 | 12.92 |
| Armenians | 2,188 | 67.16 | 2,765 | 7.51 | 4,953 | 12.35 |
| Georgians | 78 | 2.39 | 4,017 | 10.91 | 4,095 [sic] | 10.21 |
| Asiatic Christians | 0 | 0.00 | 3,454 | 9.38 | 3,454 | 8.62 |
| Russians | 177 | 5.43 | 24 | 0.07 | 201 | 0.50 |
| Roma | 134 | 4.11 | 0 | 0.00 | 134 | 0.33 |
| North Caucasians | 63 | 1.93 | 61 | 0.17 | 124 | 0.31 |
| Jews | 0 | 0.00 | 72 | 0.20 | 72 | 0.18 |
| Shia Muslims[c] | 58 | 1.78 | 3 | 0.01 | 61 | 0.15 |
| Sunni Muslims[d] | 51 | 1.57 | 0 | 0.00 | 51 [sic] | 0.13 |
| TOTAL | 3,258 | 100.00 | 36,833 | 100.00 | 40,091 | 100.00 |
Comparing with previous years' statistics and considering that the district was predominantly Turkish-majority, it is likely that the 1915 publication of theCaucasian Calendar,mistakenly put the number of Sunni Muslims (mainly Turks) in the Yazidis column. The large number of Georgians compared with previous years is also exceptional and likely to be another printing error.
Settlements
editAccording to the 1897 census, there were 10 settlements in the Oltiokrugwith a population over 500 inhabitants. The religious composition of the settlements was as follows:[17]
| Name | Armenian Apostolic | Muslim | Eastern Orthodox | Male | Female | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaziler(Бардус (Бардуз),Bardus (Barduz)) | 519 | 280 | 260 | 540 | ||
| Ormanağzı(Каранаваз (Карнаваз),Karanavaz (Karnavaz)) | 799 | 401 | 400 | 801 | ||
| Nişantaşı(Кейванк,Keyvank) | 499 | 270 | 229 | 499 | ||
| Ünlükaya(Нариман (Нориман Греческое),Nariman (Noriman Grecheskoye)) | 497 | 267 | 239 | 506 | ||
| Oltu(Ольты,Olty) | 1,056[e] | 405 | 841 | 1,633 | 740 | 2,373 |
| Atlı(Ори,Ori) | 783 | 394 | 389 | 783 | ||
| Şenkaya(Ортули (Ортулу),Ortuli (Ortulu)) | 627 | 335 | 297 | 632 | ||
| Yukarıkaracasu(Панаскерт Верхний,Panaskert Verkhniy) | 516 | 269 | 247 | 516 | ||
| Aşağıkaracasu(Панаскерт Нижний,Panaskert Nizhniy) | 764 | 406 | 358 | 764 | ||
| Çataksu(Таускер (Тавискар),Tausker (Taviskar)) | 694 | 379 | 315 | 694 | ||
| TOTAL | 1,056 | 5,087 | 1,857 | 4,634 | 3,474 | 8,108 |
Notes
edit- ^
- Russian:Ольтинский округ,pre-reform orthography:Ольтинскій округъ,romanized:Oltinskiy okrug[ɐlʲtʲɪnskʲɪjɐkrʊk]
- Turkish:Oltu Okrugu[oɫtuokɾuɡu]
- ^Before 1918,Azerbaijaniswere generally known as "Tatars". This term, employed by the Russians, referred toTurkic-speakingMuslimsof theSouth Caucasus.After 1918, with the establishment of theAzerbaijan Democratic Republicand "especially during theSovietera ", the Tatar group identified itself as" Azerbaijani ".[13][14]
- ^Primarily Tatars.[16]
- ^Primarily Turco-Tatars.[16]
- ^IncludesArmenian Catholics.
References
edit- ^Tsutsiev 2014.
- ^"КАРССКАЯ ОБЛАСТЬ — информация на портале Энциклопедия Всемирная история".w.histrf.ru.Retrieved2021-12-05.
- ^Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996).The Republic of Armenia.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 27.ISBN0-520-01805-2.OCLC238471.
- ^Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996).The Republic of Armenia.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 201.ISBN0-520-01805-2.OCLC238471.
- ^Andersen, Andrew."Armenia in the Aftermath of Mudros: Conflicting claims and Strife with the Neighbors".
- ^Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996).The Republic of Armenia.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 220.ISBN0-520-01805-2.OCLC238471.
- ^Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996).The Republic of Armenia.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 204.ISBN0-520-01805-2.OCLC238471.
- ^Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971–1996).The Republic of Armenia.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 66.ISBN0-520-01805-2.OCLC238471.
- ^De Waal, Thomas (2015).Great catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the shadow of genocide.Oxford. p. 86.ISBN978-0-19-935070-4.OCLC897378977.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^Кавказский календарь на 1917 год,pp. 65–75.
- ^Кавказский календарь на 1913 год,pp. 156–163.
- ^ab"Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей".demoscope.ru.Retrieved2022-03-26.
- ^Bournoutian 2018,p. 35 (note 25).
- ^Tsutsiev 2014,p. 50.
- ^Кавказский календарь на 1915 год,pp. 234–237.
- ^abHovannisian 1971,p. 67.
- ^Troinitsky, N. A. (1905).Населенные места Российской империи в 500 и более жителей с указанием всего наличного в них населения и числа жителей преобладающих вероисповеданий, по данным первой всеобщей переписи населения 1897 г.[Populated areas of the Russian Empire with 500 or more inhabitants, indicating the total population in them and the number of inhabitants of the predominant religions, according to the first general population census of 1897] (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Tipografiya Obshchestvennaya polza. pp. 33–34. Archived fromthe originalon 10 August 2022.
Bibliography
edit- Bournoutian, George A.(2018).Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900–1914.Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon:Routledge.ISBN978-1-351-06260-2.OCLC1037283914.
- Hovannisian, Richard G.(1971).The Republic of Armenia: The First Year, 1918–1919.Vol. 1. Berkeley:University of California Press.ISBN978-0520019843.
- Кавказский календарь на 1913 год[Caucasian calendar for 1913] (in Russian) (68th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1913.Archivedfrom the original on 19 April 2022.
- Кавказский календарь на 1915 год[Caucasian calendar for 1915] (in Russian) (70th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1915.Archivedfrom the original on 4 November 2021.
- Кавказский календарь на 1917 год[Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917.Archivedfrom the original on 4 November 2021.
- Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014).Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus(PDF).Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven:Yale University Press.ISBN9780300153088.Archived(PDF)from the original on 17 June 2023.