Batman Province
Batman Province (, ; ) is a province in Turkey. It was created in May 1990 with the Law No. 3647 taking some parts from the eastern Province of Siirt and some from the southern Province of Mardin. Its area is 4,477 km2, and its population i ...
of
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 is the seat of the
Sason District
Sason District is a Districts of Turkey, district of the Batman Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town Sason.İlçe Belediyesi Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 30 January 2023. Its population is 12,696 (2021). It was formerly known as Kabilcevz.
Toponymy
''Sason'' derives from the name of the historical region Sasun. In the Armenian tradition, the name of Sasun (from earlier ''Sanasunk'') is traditionally associated with Sanasar (i.e., biblical Sharezer), the son of the Assyrian king
Sennacherib
Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...
who fled to Armenia after murdering his father․ Sanasar is said to have settled in the area around Mount Sim, which was called ''Sanasunk'' (as if meaning "Sanasar's progeny") after him and his descendants who populated the region.
The former name of the settlement, ''Kabilcevz'', comes from the Arabic word ''jawz'' 'walnut' (Turkish ), in reference to the abundance of walnut trees in the area.
History
During the Ottoman period, Sason, then known as Kabilcevz, was located in the ''
nahiye
A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...
'' of Hazzo-Kabilcevz in the ''
kaza
A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...
'' (district) of Sasun within the Bitlis vilayet. Sometimes, it fell under the ''kaza'' of Kulp instead. Until 1915, it was a mixed Armenian-Kurdish village, reportedly with 105 Kurdish households and 45 Armenian households. Most of the village's
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 ...
were deported and died during 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 ...
. The settlement became the center of the
Sason District
Sason District is a Districts of Turkey, district of the Batman Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town Sason.
Demographics
As of 2021, the population of the town was 12,696 (2021).
There are numerous ruins in the area, and also some historical water fountains, such as Sevek Çeşmesi, Nabuhan Çeşmesi, Hapyenk Çeşmesi, and Ağde Çeşmesi. There is also a ''
türbe
''Türbe'' refers to a Muslim mausoleum, tomb or grave often in the Turkish-speaking areas and for the mausolea of Ottoman sultans, nobles and notables. A typical türbe is located in the grounds of a mosque or complex, often endowed by the ...
''—a burial site of a holy man—called Şehan, which is the site of celebrations every July. The town had an Armenian church called Surp Stepanos.