Urmiye

Urmiye (Urumiye) is a historical city in northwestern Iran, located west of the lake of the same name and mentioned by the Kurdish population in sources. Late Ottoman sources also count Urmia as one of the main settlement centers of Kurdistan along with Sulaymaniye, Kerkük, Revanduz, Erbil, Siirt, Bitlis, Van and Kirmanşah (Volume 4, p. 112). Geographers say that Eshne, near Urumye, was under the rule of the Kurds, who had a densely populated region like Urumya, and that the Kurd influenced the political, economic and social life in the city in different ways (Volume 2, p. 95). Al-Umerî records that a Kurdish people lived in Merkevan (Merkuvan), a neighborhood of Urumiye, which is attached to Azerbaijan; Kurds living in this area with plenty of grain and rain, had two brotherly leaders named Bedruddin and Hasan, who were compassionate towards the people (Volume 2, p. 41). ## In Ottoman sources, Late period geographical sources indicate Rumiye Vilayeti, between Turkey and Lake Rumiye; it is recorded that the province includes 300 villages with a population of 90 thousand, the population of the city of Rumiye, the county seat, is 30 thousand and the majority of its population consists of Kurds (Volume 4, p. 182). According to the same record, the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture and largely horticulture; carpets and wool textiles are also manufactured, and there are American missionary committees in the city (Volume 4, p. 182). Urmia is mentioned in the Iranian article of Kamusu'l-Alam as one of the largest lakes between Azerbaijan and Kurdistan, and Iranian Kurds are mentioned as settling in the south of Azerbaijan, around Lake Urmia and in Ardelan (volume 4, pp. 105). In military geographical sources, it is written that Turkic and Kurdish tribes lived in the valleys around Lake Urmiye (Volume 4, p. 152). ## The first world war and subsequent Ottoman archival catalogues contain encrypted telegrams dated 1915 on the evacuation of Urmia during World War I and the conflict between Kurds and Armenians in Urmia (Volume 3, p. 129). In a 1918 report, the villages to the west of Rumiye, Salmas and Hoy were plundered and massacred, and some of the survivors were reported to Van Vilayet, some to the mountains by Van Valisi Haydar Bey (Volume 3, p. 131).