'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎38r] (80/706)

AZARBAIJAN
63
along the Aras many ruins and remains are met with. At Daniel, 12 miles
west of Julfa, is an exquisite old church, surrounded by high fort
ified walls. A Khalifa presides over the church, which is held in great
reverence by all Armenians, and is annually visited by many pilgrims
from Kussia and Persia. Along the whole length of the Darreh Sham
valley are to be found ruined villages and churches of cut limestone. At
Kizil Wang on the Russian side, a church of the same exquisite design
as that of Daniel towers above the site of a large Armenian village now
occupied by Muhammadans. At ’Abbasabad are similar ruins and the
remains of a stone embankment. Towards Karghulak are the stone-cut
foundations of a well laid-out city, whose walls yet stand a foot above
ground. In the Ararat district the ruins of city, church and graveyard are
frequently met with. At Dambat on the south slope of Mount Ararat, the
site of a large town with the vestiges of aqueducts and other civilised works
is now occupied by an encampment of Jalali Kurds. On the cliffs of Maku
high up and out of reach, several large crosses are cut in the face of the
rock, the largest carved with inscriptions in the old Armenian character
of Ourjistan. South of Maku is an old church, called Kara Kalisa, or
the black church, so known because it was originally constructed of a
dark, almost black limestone. Inscriptions show that the church dates
back 1,280 years. ’Abbas Mirza, Naib-us-Saltaneh, raised a modern struc
ture, equally beautiful, of light limestone, to replace the greater part of the
old church which had fallen to pieces. Westward again in Awajik the
chief village of the district is Kalisa Kandi, the village of the church, near
which is a grand and massive Armenian ruin. Now the Armenian is re
presented over all this area by a few miserable villages. As regards their
status they seem to occupy a position analogous to that of the Hindus
of Afghanistan and the north-west border of India, with this difference
that in Persia they are protected by the more powerful families, as a com
munity at large, instead of as in Afghanistan as individuals.
They complain bitterly of oppression from Kurds and Turks, but
apparently without just cause.
As regards numbers, the following table furnished by well-known
Armenians may be taken as approximate :—
Tabriz, 900 houses, 6 inmates each .. .. 5,400
Villages, Mujambar, Sohrul and Alchamnak .. 700
Karadagh, 3,600 houses, 6 inmates each .. 21,600
Urumleh and Salmas, 1,800 houses, 6 inmates each 10,800
Khol and Maku, 620 houses, 6 inmates each .. 3,720
Maragheh, Mlandat, Sauj Bulagh, Sulduz .. 1,200
Total .. 43,420
The popular language of Azarbaljan is Turki, not Persian.
In addition to the above there are some 4,000 Nestorian Christians,
Resources.
-The principal towns of Azarbaljan are Tabriz, the capital, Ardabll >
Marand, Khol, Sarab, Dilman, Urumleh, Nakhudeh, Ushnu, Sauj Bulagh
Dehkharqan, Bunab, and Maragheh.