Syrians of Cappadocia,1 or Leuco-Syrians,2 inhabited a portion
of this country.
The Pashalik of Mar’ash extends from that of Koniyeh
eastward to the Euphrates, and again southward from the
Sivas district to the borders of Syria. With the exception
of the comparatively level country towards the river,
it consists almost entirely of lofty and wooded mountains,
being traversed by a portion of the Anti-Taurus near its
northern limits, by Taurus Proper near its centre, and more
southward by a part of the Durdun Tagh, from which the
Amanus branch runs in a S.S.W. direction into Syria. This
part of the Pashalik is amply watered by the affluents of the
rivers already described (pages 295 to 301), viz. the Sa'ihun
and Ja'ihan, in addition to the eastern Melas and other streams
which flow into the Euphrates. At its eastern limits, on the
banks of the Euphrates, is the Musellimik of Gergen Kaleh-si,
and between this place and the capital are those of Besui, a
town of 2800 houses, in a limestone glen, without gardens or
even trees, and Adiyaman or Hisn Mansur (ancient Carbanum),
which contains several mosques, the remains of a castle, and
about 1100 houses in the midst of gardens and groves.3
On the slopes of this part of the Taurus, also, are the small
districts and towns of Kakhtah, Kerkun, Bozuk, Tokariz, and
Sumeisat, each under a Kurdish Boyah Bey. Again, northward
are those of Ali-shehr, A1 Bostan, and Yarpus. Westward
is the A’yanlik of Kars, and southward, almost on the
borders of Syria, are Rum Kal’ah (already described) and
Ain-tab, the supposed Antiochia ad Taurum. This city is on
the river Sajur, at the foot of the mountains, and near the
commencement of the plain leading to Aleppo: it is shut in,
on the side of the plain, by a low range of hills; and, on a
detached hill, rising above the higher part of the town, at the
opposite extremity, is the castle, a respectable work, strikingly
like that of Aleppo.4 In addition to some fine mosques and
1 Herod., lib. I., c. lxxii. 2 Strabo, lib. XII., p. 544.
3 Mr. Ainsworth’s Journey from Kaisarlyeh to Birehjik, pp. 326, 327,
Vol. X. Part III., of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.
* See Plates XIX. and XXI.
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