Armenian Population Numbers in the Sandjak of Sghert in the Bitlis Vilayet of Western Armenia on the Eve of the Armenian Genocide

Abstract

The article attempts to enumerate of the Armenian population of the Sanjak of Sghert in the Bitlis vilayet of Western Armenia on the eve of the Armenian Genocide. For this purpose 1) a general overview of the history of the administrative-territorial division of the sanjak is presented for the period preceding the Armenian Genocide (1878- 1914), 2) the main Ottoman, Armenian, Russian and Western primary statistical sources on the size of the Armenian population of the sanjak are collated and presented for the period 1878-1914 and a general description of these data is given, 3) statistical data on the Armenian population have been collated and compared according to the small administrative-territorial units – the kazas of the Sghert sanjak, paying particular attention to primary statistical sources containing data on the distribution of the Armenian population by settlements. Our own calculations of the size of the Armenian population of the sanjak were made on the basis of, and through, comparison and comparative analysis of these data. According to our calculations, based on the methodology mentioned above, on the eve of the Armenian Genocide there were 143 Armenian settlements in the Sghert sanjak, with about 2,480 Armenian households or 22,350 persons, including: the kaza of Sghert - 10 Armenian settlements, 550 households or 4,950 persons, the kaza of Shirvan - 17 Armenian settlements, 200 households or 1,800 persons, the kaza of Kharzan - 76 Armenian settlements, 940 households or 8,450 persons, the kaza of Erouh - 26 Armenian settlements, 510 households or 4,600 persons and the kaza of Bervari - 14 Armenian settlements, 280 households or 2,550 persons.