Çadırkaya (; ) is a municipality (

belde Belde (literally "town", also known as ''kasaba'') means "large village with a municipality" in Turkish language, Turkish. All Turkish province centers and district centers have municipalities, but the Villages of Turkey, villages are usually too ...

) in the

Tercan District Tercan District is a district of Erzincan Province in Turkey. The municipality of Tercan is the seat and the district had a population of 16,110 in 2021. Its area is 1,614 km2. It is home to the Armenian Aprank Monastery, a significant lan ...

Erzincan Province Erzincan Province (; ; ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. In Turkey, its capital is also called Erzincan. Its area is 11,815 km2, and its population is 239,223 (2022). Geography Erzincan is trav ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It had a population of 2,013 in 2021. Bagayarich (also spelled Bagayarič, Bagarich or Bagarinch) was an ancient locality in the northwestern part of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in the district of

Daranali Daranali or Daranaghi () was a district (''gavar'') of the province of Upper Armenia of Greater Armenia. It was located in the basin of the Western Euphrates (Karasu), near modern-day Kemah (Kamakh, Kamacha, Camachus), Turkey. Its center was the ...

(or Daranałi . In ancient times, it housed the cult centre of the divinity Mihr (Mithra i.e. Mithras), the god of fire. The neighborhoods of the municipality are Camii Kebir, Gözeler and Yeni. It is the birthplace of

Soghomon Tehlirian Soghomon Tehlirian (; April 2, 1896 – May 23, 1960) was an Armenian revolutionary and soldier who assassinated Talaat Pasha, the former Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, in Berlin on March 15, 1921. He was entrusted to carry out the assas ...

, a famous

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

revolutionary and assassin of

Talaat Pasha Mehmed Talât (1 September 187415 March 1921), commonly known as Talaat Pasha or Talat Pasha, was an Ottoman Young Turk activist, revolutionary, politician, and convicted war criminal who served as the leader of the Ottoman Empire from 191 ...

, one of the architects of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. On the eve of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, before the

, the

Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

indicated that the town's population consisted of 1060 Armenians (in 182 houses), 750

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

and 125

Zazas The Zazas (), also known as Kird, Kirmanc, or Dimili, are an Iranian people who speak Zazaki, a language of the Indo-European language family. They mostly live in the Eastern Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia regions of Turkey. Zazas gen ...

. It also harboured a medieval cathedral, a church, an Armenian school with 70 students as well as the ruins of a pagan temple dedicated to Mihr. Statistics published by , compiled using data from the secretary of the Armenian church in Erzurum from around 1910, record 150 Armenian and 150 Muslim households within the settlement;

Teotig Teotoros "Teotig" Labdjindjian (, 1873; Üsküdar, Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire – 1928; Paris, France) was an Armenian writer and publisher best known for his Armenian language almanac, '' Amenun Daretsuytsi'' (in Armenian Ամէ� ...

notes 182 Armenian families there.

Name

The name of Bagayarich is attested in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

by the ancient geographer and historian

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

(died ) as *Bagaris and Basgoidariza, and by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

(died ), likewise in Greek, as *Bagarizaka. The modern Turkish name is Pekeriç, and its new official name of Çadırkaya means "tent-rock".

Geography

Bagayarich is located near the northeastern corner of the Pekeriç plain. This plain is separated from the Vican plain downstream on the

Tuzla Su Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

by a series of low hills. Bagayarich itself is located at the base of a large conical rock which historically was the site of the town's fortress. The village consists of two distinct "lobes". In ancient times, the locality of Bagayarich was situated on the primary road passing through northern

that linked the town of Sebastaea (present-day

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

) in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

with

Ecbatana Ecbatana () was an ancient city, the capital of the Median kingdom, and the first capital in History of Iran, Iranian history. It later became the summer capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid and Parthian Empire, Parthian empires.Nardo, Do ...

(present-day

Hamadan Hamadan ( ; , ) is a mountainous city in western Iran. It is located in the Central District of Hamadan County in Hamadan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district. As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a po ...

) in

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

through

Satala Located in Turkey, the settlement of Satala ( ''Satał'', ), according to the ancient geographers, was situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, a little north of the Euphrates, where the road from Trapezus to Samosata crossed the boundary o ...

, Bagayarich, Karin (present-day

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

) and

Artaxata Artashat (), Greek language, Hellenized as Artaxata () and Artaxiasata (), was a major city and commercial center of ancient Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Armenia that served as the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Kingdom of Ar ...

(Artashat).

History

The locality was known for being the site of the important temple of Mihr (i.e. Mithra, Mithras), that is, one of the eight main pagan shrines of pre-Christian Armenia. It was traditionally held to have been built by King

Tigranes the Great Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great (''Tigran Mets'' in Armenian language, Armenian; 140–55 BC), was a king of Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Armenia. A member of the Artaxiad dynasty, he ruled from 95 BC to 55 BC. Under hi ...

(95-56 BC). The site first appears in Armenian historiography in late antique works. Within this context, according to

Agathangelos Agathangelos (in , in Greek "bearer of good news", 5th century AD) is the pseudonym of the author of a life of the first apostle of Armenia, Gregory the Illuminator, who died about 332. The history attributed to Agathangelos is the main sou ...

, the temple of Mihr at Bagayarich was destroyed by

Gregory the Illuminator Gregory the Illuminator ( – ) was the founder and first official Catholicos of All Armenians, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He Christianization of Armenia, converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism in Armenia, Zoroastrianism to Chris ...

. The modern historian Robert H. Hewsen explains that the entire surrounding district of Daranali may have been part of the domain of the aforementioned Mihr temple, as, after it was destroyed during the conversion of Armenia to Christianity, the district of Daranali was turned into the property of the

Armenian church Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

. Bagayarich was historically the capital of the district of Derzene. It has since been superseded by the town of

Tercan Tercan (formerly Mama Hatun, and Derzene; , in the Byzantine era; ; ) is a town and seat of Tercan District of Erzincan Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It had a population of 4,846 in 2021. Located on the north bank of the ...

, which perhaps took place in the early Ottoman period. During the Ottoman-Russian War of 1828-1829, Russia invaded

Eastern Anatolia The Eastern Anatolia region () is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ. It is bordered by the Black Sea Region and Georgia in th ...

, and after the war, the Russians took possibly 100,000 Armenians back with them to Russian territory, including 47 households from the

area, especially from Pekeriç, Piriz ( Çaykent), and Zağgeri ( Büklümdere). In 1835, the male population of Pekeriç included 146 Muslims and 197 non-Muslims, for a total population of 343 males. By the 20th century, Bagayarich was composed of two adjoining villages by the name of Verin ("upper") and Nerkin ("lower") Bagayarich, which respectively consisted of 80 and 130 homes. Half of these homes were inhabited by

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

and the other half by local Muslims. The two villages of Verin and Nerkin Bagayarich together formed the larger village in the ''

caza Caza (), the pseudonym of Philippe Cazaumayou (; born 14 November 1941), is a French comics artist. Biography At 18, Cazaumayou started a career in advertising which lasted for ten years, but in 1970 he entered the field of bandes dessinées, r ...

'' ("district") of Derjan. At the time, the remains of what may have been the temple as well as an old castle could still be viewed at Bagayarich.

Present status

The site's main focus in the present day is a conical hill. A simple radio tower is located at the peak of the site including some remnants of rough stone-and-mortar masonry dating back to the 19th or 20th century.

References

Sources

* * * Populated places in Tercan District Town municipalities in Turkey Former Armenian communities in Turkey {{Tercan-geo-stub