Van

Van is an ancient city located on the shore of Van Gölü in Doğu Anadolu, and throughout history, it has been one of the important administrative and geographical centers of the region densely populated by Kurds. In ancient sources, the area around Van Gölü is mentioned as a reference point; during the Ottoman period, it first emerged as a beylerbeyilik/sancak, and later as a vilayet center.

Ancient Sources

In Ancient and Late Antique sources, Van Gölü is frequently used as a boundary marker to describe the historical geography of the region. Moses Khorenatsi uses the term Korduats'i for the region south of Van Gölü, and the name Korduk for a mountainous area south of the lake (Volume 1, p. 77). In Armenian sources, two distinct Mardastan regions are described within the geography of Armenia: one of these is localized from the northeast of Van Gölü towards Azerbaycan and present-day İran territories, while the other, referred to as "original Mardastan," is located in the area extending from the west of Gürpınar Ovası (Hayot Jor), which is currently a district of Van, to Başkale (Volume 1, p. 78). Korçeyk, the Armenian equivalent of the region referred to as Kardukhia and Corduene in classical sources, was located to the east of the Mokk/Miks (Bahçesaray) region and encompassed a wide geography extending to the east of Van Gölü (Volume 1, p. 80).

Ottoman Period and Military Importance

During the Ottoman period, Van, along with Hakkâri and Bitlis in its vicinity, was the center of a region densely populated by Kurdish beys (mirs) and tribes. From the 16th century onwards, the cities of Diyarbekir, Mardin, Ruha, Adıyaman, Van, Hakkâri, and Bitlis are frequently mentioned together in mühimme defters in documents concerning the military and administrative issues of Kurdish history (Volume 3, p. 14). Van held great military importance due to its strategic location near the İran border; according to archival records, decrees sent to the Van Beylerbeyi ordered continuous troop reinforcements to the castles of Bayezid, Hoy, and Makü on the İran frontier, and the Van beylerbeyi also sent registers to the center showing the quantities of weapons, gunpowder, and provisions in the castles under Van (Volume 3, p. 14).

Administrative and Geographical Structure

In the Ottoman provincial organization, Van Vilayeti consisted of the sancaks of Van and Hakkâri; the center of the vilayet was Van city, while the administrative center of Hakkâri Sancağı was the town of Başkale. Among the kazas of Van Sancağı were Karcikan, Şatak, Gevaş, Adilcevaz, Erciş, Bargiri, and Müks (Volume 4, p. 142). In the geographical works of the period, Van city is described as an ancient city located to the east of the lake, built on a steep and monolithic rock, surrounded by crenellated walls; three sides were surrounded by walls, and one side by a mountain (Volume 4, p. 142).

The inhabitants of Gevaş, one of the kazas of the sancak, were generally Kurdish; its administrative center was the town of Vestan, southwest of the vilayet center and on the southern shore of Van Gölü. Vestan was famous for its vineyards and gardens, especially its walnuts; some of the walnut logs were transported to Europe, and the local population profited considerably from this. The towns of Bargiri, Erciş, and Adilcevaz were also located around Van Gölü as kazas affiliated with the Van mutasarrıflığı (Volume 4, p. 143). Van was also a stop on the important postal routes of the period; the route extending from Sivas via Bayburt, Erzincan, Erzurum, Malazgirt, and Erciş to Van was one of these routes (Volume 4, p. 139).