Surmalu Uyezd

The Surmalu Uyezd (Russian: Сурмалинский уезд; Azerbaijani: Sürməli qəzası; Armenian: Սուրմալուի գավառ) was an uezd (county) of the Erivan Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It bordered the governorate's Etchmiadzin and Erivan Uyezds to the north, the Kars Oblast to the west, Persia to the east, and the Ottoman Empire to the south. The district made up most of the Iğdır Province of present-day Turkey. As part of the Russian Transcaucasus, the Surmalu Uyezd possessed economical importance for its abundantly rich salt mines in Kulp (Tuzluca), and spiritual importance to Armenians as the location of the culturally significant Mount Ararat. The administrative center of the uezd was the town of Igdir.[1]

Surmalu Uyezd
Сурмалинский уезд
Uezd
Coat of arms
Location in the Erivan Governorate
CountryRussian Empire
GovernorateErivan
ViceroyaltyCaucasus
Established1828
Abolished1918
SeatIgdir
UchastoksFirst, second, and third
Area
 • Total3,688 km2 (1,424 sq mi)
Population
 (1916)
 • Total104,791
 • Density28/km2 (74/sq mi)

Etymology

“Surmali” derives from the name of the old Armenian city of "Surmari" which evolved from “Surb Mari” (Armenian: Սուրբ Մարի “Saint Mary”).[2][3] The castle of Surmari still stands today in the village of Sürmeli on the Armenian border in the Tuzluca district of Turkey's Iğdır Province.[4]

History

A part of Persia's Erivan Khanate, Surmalu was annexed by the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Turkmenchay in the aftermath of the Russo-Persian War of 1826–28. The district was first administered as part of the Armenian Oblast and then the Erivan Governorate.[5] In 1829, Baltic German explorer Friedrich Parrot of the University of Dorpat (Tartu) traveled to Surmalu as part of his expedition to climb Mount Ararat. Accompanied by Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian and four others, Parrot made the first ascent of Ararat in recorded history from the Armenian monastery of St. Hakob in Akhuri (modern Yenidoğan).[6]

After the Russian Revolution, Surmalu was briefly governed by the First Republic of Armenia from 1918 to 1920,[7] until it was occupied in 1920 and formally ceded to Turkey by the treaties of Moscow and Kars, following Armenia's defeat in the Turkish-Armenian War and subsequent Sovietization.[8]

Administrative divisions

The Surmalu Uyezd was split into 3 unnamed contiguous uchastoks (subcounties):

  • 1st (1-ий участок)
  • 2nd (2-ий участок)
  • 3rd (3-ий участок)

Demographics

Russian Empire estimate (1886)

According to the Russian family lists accounts from 1886, of the total 71,066 inhabitants of the district, 34,351 were Tatars (later known as Azerbaijanis) (48.3%), 22,096 Armenians (31.1%), and 14,619 Kurds (20.6%).[9]

Russian Empire census (1897)

According to the Russian Empire census of 1897, the Surmalu Uyezd had a population of 89,055, including 47,269 men and 41,786 women. The plurality of the population indicated Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani) to be their mother tongue, with significant Armenian and Kurdish speaking minorities.[10]

Linguistic composition of the Surmalu Uyezd in 1897[10]
Language Native speakers %
Tatar[lower-alpha 1] 41,417 46.51
Armenian 27,075 30.40
Kurdish 19,099 21.45
Russian 725 0.81
Ukrainian 620 0.70
Polish 31 0.03
Belarusian 16 0.02
German 13 0.01
Georgian 11 0.01
Persian 9 0.01
Jewish 6 0.01
Greek 3 0.00
Lithuanian 1 0.00
Assyrian 1 0.00
Other 28 0.03
TOTAL 89,055 100.00

1910

According to the Russian 1910 estimate, the population of the district was 91,535, of which 41,990 were Tatars (45.87%), 29,734 Armenians (32.48%) and 19,811 Kurds (21.64%).[11]

1917

The 1917 Caucasian Calendar which produced statistics of 1916 indicates 104,791 residents in the Surmalu Uyezd, including 55,364 men and 49,427 women, 98,212 of whom were the permanent population, and 6,579 were temporary residents. The statistics indicated Tatars (later known as Azerbaijanis) to be the plurarity of the population of the uyezd, followed closely by Armenians, Kurds and Yezidis:[12]

Nationality Surmalu
Tatars (later known as Azerbaijanis) 45,954 43.8%
Armenians 29,165 31.2%
Kurds 14,679 14.0%
Yezidis 10,869 10.4%
Russians 429 0.4%
TOTAL 104,791 100.0%

Notes
  1. Later known as Azerbaijani.

References
  1. Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus. Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 59. ISBN 9780300153088.
  2. De Clavijo, Ruy González (2004). Embassy to Tamerlane, 1403-1406. London: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 186. ISBN 9780415344890. Surmari, Sulmari, or Sulmari, the Armenian Surb Mari, that is Saint Mary...
  3. (in Armenian) Danielyan, E. L. (2010). "Հայոց պատմական և քաղաքակրթական արժեհամակարգի պաշտպանության անհրաժեշտությունը [On the Necessity of Protecting Armenian Historical and Civilizational System of Values]". Lraber Hasarakakan Gitutyunneri (in Armenian) (3): 68. ISSN 0320-8117. ...Սուրմալուի (Սուրբ Մարի) գավառը...
  4. Parrot, Friedrich (2016) [1846]. Journey to Ararat. Translated by William Desborough Cooley. Introduction by Pietro A. Shakarian. London: Gomidas Institute. p. ix. ISBN 9781909382244.
  5. Tsutsiev, pp. 16, 19, and 21.
  6. Parrot, p. 139.
  7. Tsutsiev, p. 75.
  8. Tsutsiev, p. 81.
  9. (in Russian) Свод статистических данных о населении Закавказского края, извлечённых из посемейных списков 1886 года, г. Тифлис, 1893
  10. "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  11. Кавказский календарь на 1910 год (Caucasian calendar for 1910); Publisher: Канцелярия Кавказского Наместника (Office of the Governor of the Caucasus), под ред. В. В. Стратонова (Editor-in-chief: V. V. Saratanov). Page 518
  12. Кавказский календарь .... на 1917 год (in Russian). pp. 367–370.

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