Armenians, 12,951 Tartars, with about 2000 gipsies and
other nomadic tribes.
The province of Erivân lies between 39° and 41° north
latitude. It has to the north, Elizabethpol, Shamshadil,
Kazakh, and Bambak-Shuragel ; to the east, Karâbagh and
Nakhchivân ; to the west, the Turkish territories of Kazikh-
man and Kars ; and to the south, the river Araxes.
The southern part of this province is intersected by branches
from Mount Ararat ; and in the northern part are the peaks
of Alii-ghez, Barate, Maraldji, Tâgh-Natchakh, Soukh-bou-
lakh,1 &c. ; but near the Araxes there is an extensive plain.
Between the Araxes and Ararat the country is marshy, and
again, in other places, clayey ; but the greatest part of it consists
of a rich black earth. There is one lake, that of
Ghokhcha, or Sevangha, which is 30 miles long and 12J miles
broad, and 1000 feet above the sea : it is full of trout, and it
never freezes.2 Besides the border river (Araxes), the province
is watered by the southern Kârâ-su, the Zanghu (the
ancient Zanghes), the northern Kârâ-su, the Abarane, and
the great Arpâh-châï.3 In the elevated magals, the cold is
severe during winter, and in summer the heat of the plains is
almost insupportable. The ordinary animal and vegetable
productions abound in this province, and it contains 508
flourishing villages.4
The capital stands about six miles northward of the foot of
Mount Ararat, and on the banks of the Zengia, a considerable
river that flows from lake Ghokhcha to the Aras. There
are five mosques, five Armenian churches, several kârvânse-
rais, and 2750 clay-built houses, partly within the fortifications,
which crown the summit of the hill, and inclose the
palace of Sardar, with the houses of the public functionaries.
Erivân has a considerable circumference ; but as a part of
the area of the hill is occupied with productive vineyards and
fine gardens, the population scarcely exceeds 10,0005 persons.
1 Aperçu, &c., Tome IV., p. 253 to 255.
* Ibid., p. 255 to 258. 5 Ibid.
4 Ibid., p. 288 to 296.
3 In 1834 there were 5900 males, and the females one-fifth less.—Ibid.
South-westward, on the banks of the Araxes, there is a
fortress called Cardar-’abâd, which contains 700 houses: and
a few miles northward, between Ararat and Mount Massis,
is the village of Echmiyadzin. This village occupies part of
the site of the ancient city of Vagharshabad ;1 and is further
remarkable for the adjoining convent of U’ch Kilisa, or the
Three Churches (St. Kaïane, Choghakate, and Echmiyadzin) :
the convent, which is the residence of the Armenian patriarch,
is eight miles westward of Erivân. According to tradition,
the present capital, the Terva of Ptolemy, occupies the spot
first seen by Noah after quitting the ark, and also that which
the patriarch had occupied previous to the deluge.2 But the
Armenian historians, with much more probability, attribute its
foundation to Ardachasse, the eleventh sovereign, who reigned
103 years B. c. The territory once called Godaikh3 derived
its present name from the city ; but Echmiyadzin, being the
seat of the ecclesiastical government, has always held the first
place among the Armenians, whether they were under the
Turks, Persians, or Russians. The population of the province
consists of 58,423 Armenians and 48,494 Tartars, who
are dispersed in the different villages.
Towards the west is the district of Kars, and on the northwest
that of Akhltskha'i, together representing Childe’r, or
Turkish Georgia ; a part of which has been added to the
Russian territory. Akhltskha'i lies between Guria, Imiretia,
Georgia and the river Jorâk. From the last to the borders of
Georgia the distance is about 90 miles, and from the borders
of Kars to Imiretia are nearly 40 miles : the district therefore
contains about 2300 square miles. On the north-west it is
covered with the spurs from the Caucasus, and on the southeast
by those of Ararat, or the Armenian mountains. In
general the soil is fertile ; and it is well watered by the Ar-
daghan-châï, the Akhltskhaï-châï, the Mtkvary, or Kiour,4
1 Aperçu,' &c., p. 288 to 296.—According to St. Martin, Mémoires sur
l’Arménie, Tome I., p. 115, the city was founded in the sixth century b. c.
3 Ibid.
3 St. Martin, Mémoires, &c., Tome I., p. 413.
4 Aperçu, &c., Tome IV., p. 201, &c.