Assyrians, Kurds, and Ottomans: Intercommunal Relations on the Pe ...

District of Dilman, Persian Azerbaijan

The Assyrian presence in Persian Azerbaijan suffered a steady decline. During the first half of the nineteenth century, their numbers fell sharply throughout the regions where they had formerly formed the whole population. By 1840, only sixty-three villages remained in the province of Dilman northwest of Lake Urmia. That remnant came under intensive pressure from Catholic missionaries, and many of them were converted from their ancestral doctrine.²⁴

Bash Qala

Bash Qala is one mile north of the town of Albaq, near the ancient Assyrian monastery of the ‘Seven Churches’. The missionary Thomas Laurie reported on 5 July 1841, that the Kurds had recently invaded the Assyrian village of ‘Seer’ and taken away everything that the villagers had possessed. The inhabitants described to him the cruelty that their Kurdish neighbours had practised against them and how sharply the continual attacks and oppression had reduced their once substantial numbers.²⁵

District of Albaq and Van

Assyrian villages were spread throughout this as well as the other adjoining districts. A route from there led to Kochanis, the seat of the patriarch Mar Shimun.²⁶ The road south from the city of Van led to Kochanis and ran through fertile orchards and fields in the midst of breathtaking scenery. Many Assyrian villages were located along this four hours’ route, such as Sura d’Mmidayi (Baptised) and Hoze near Van.²⁷

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Major-General Sir Charles Wilson followed the route from Van to Jezerah Ibn Omar in what is now southeastern Turkey. He reported that many of the Assyrian Christian villages north of the Bohtan River had been completely deserted by their inhabitants due to the attacks of their neighbours, but there were still many Assyrian villages on the south bank. He also noticed many Nestorian and Chaldean villages along the route between Si’arat and Mardin.²⁸