Harput

Harput was a sancak (liva) and kaza with a dense Kurdish population, affiliated with the Diyarbekir Eyaleti in the Ottoman administrative division; it was occasionally recorded as "Harbrud" in Ottoman archival documents (Volume 3, p. 22). In late period documents, Harput is also referred to as "Elaziz" (Elazığ) (Volume 3, p. 117); in place name searches, Mamüretülaziz and Harput are mentioned together (Volume 3, p. 77).

Administrative Position

Harput has been regularly counted among the sancaks of Diyarbekir Eyaleti since the 16th century. In the Vilayet-i Diyar-i Bekr ve Arap ve Zü'l-Kadiriyye Defteri dated 937/1530, tahrirs belonging to Harput are included alongside sancaks such as Amid, Mardin, Ergani, Çermik, Siverek, Kiğı, Çemişgezek, and Ruha (Volume 3, p. 20). In another tahrir defteri kept within the same framework, the revenues and tax items of the villages of Harput liva, affiliated with Diyarbekir, were recorded in detail (Volume 3, p. 21). Harput is evaluated in the status of classical Ottoman sancaks along with Hasankeyf, Çemişgezek, Siverek, Ergani, Nusaybin, Akçakale, and Sincar (Volume 3, p. 51); it is also shown among the units affiliated with Diyarbekir vilayeti in the administrative division lists in Kamil Kepeci's classification (Volume 3, p. 50).

Cadastral Registers

Harput is an important subject of tahrir records. In the fund of the Tapu Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü (TK.GM.d), Harput, Çemişgezek, and Kiğı tahrir defterleri are discussed under a separate heading; within this framework, sources such as the 264-numbered Harput icmal (Harbrud İcmal) defteri and the 16th-century Çemişgezek mufassal defterleri document the administrative and financial structure of the region (Volume 3, p. 22). In the icmal defterleri, it is seen that the liva of Van, Bitlis, Harbrud (Harput), Atak, and Çemişgezek were recorded together (Volume 3, p. 22). Furthermore, an avârız defteri dated 1056/1646 was prepared for the determination of the avârız hâneleri of the Harput kaza, subject to Diyarbekir Eyaleti, and the defter was organized based on the kaza's mahalle, nâhiye, and their affiliated villages; these records provide information about the names of mahalle and villages where Kurds lived in Harput (Volume 3, p. 30). From the second half of the 16th century until the late 19th century, Harput, along with regions such as Amid, Çemişgezek, Musul, Ruha, and Van, was the subject of hundreds of tımar ruznamçe records (Volume 3, p. 29).

Waqf and Financial Records

Waqf and financial records also shed light on Harput. In the documents under the darphane section of the Cevdet classification, it is seen that an order was sent to the Diyarbekir governor regarding the transportation of grain taken from Harput villages for the Ergani mine workers, to be carried by the villages' animals for a specific fee (Volume 3, p. 42). Among the Hurufat defterleri, there are records belonging to Harput, covering the years 1690-1812; these defterleri contain information about the region's religious, cultural, and educational life (Volume 3, p. 34).

19th Century Documents

In the 19th century, archival material concerning Harput diversified. Among the documents are complaints from the inhabitants of a village in Harput regarding their muhtar and his brother (Volume 3, p. 60); the economic situation of Diyarbekir and Harput around 1845 and a project concerning the operation of a steamboat on the Fırat Nehri (Volume 3, p. 61); and records regarding problems caused by the İmranlı aşireti and Rişvan aşireti in the vicinity of Harput (Volume 3, p. 65). In place name searches, it is stated that numerous documents concerning Kurdish and Kürdistan history can be accessed through names such as Diyarbekir, Bitlis, Malatya, Mamüretülaziz, and Harput (Volume 3, p. 77). During this period, Harput also became the scene for Kurdish press initiatives: a newspaper named Füyuzat-ı Kürdiye, intended to be published in Kurdish and Turkish, containing scientific, literary, agricultural, and commercial topics, and planned to be published once a week by Palutzade Mehmed Halil Efendi, is among these records (Volume 3, p. 76). French-prepared population statistics for 1914 cover the vilayets of Bitlis, Diyarbekir, Erzurum, Harput, Sivas, and Van; in 1919, there are records concerning about one hundred to one hundred and fifty trusted Kurdish cavalrymen in Harput (Elaziz) (Volume 3, p. 117).