Zevajuk :: ARMENIAN LOCATIONS

2 Monuments

Iran (Country) / Western Atrpatakan (Province) / Salmast (District) / Zevajuk (Village)

Location

Zevajuk is situated 9 km south of Salmast City: “This small village lies in a cool, picturesque area within 9.5 versts of Diliman [Salmast], almost at the extremity of some hills stretching to the south.”

Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.

Name Origin

The name Zevajuk is composed of the Kurdish word zeva, meaning silver, and the suffix juk generally found in toponyms, which suggests that it denotes a place abounding in silver: “The locals explain [the name] by the fact that once their village was the commercial centre of Salmast, and there was a lot of silver money there. However, it is hard to imagine that the people of Salmast could select the tops of hills and mountains as the location of their commercial centre, especially given the fact that they are close to the borderline.”

Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), p. 55. According to another author, the village name is composed of two parts. The word Zeve does not have any meaning in modern Turkish although in some Turkish-inhabited places it is considered to be allegedly connected with the Elsaghi languages spoken by the tribe Manna. Some Assyrian inscriptions have preserved the form Zeirbihe (Ahrenjani, pp. 42-43).
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.

Historical Introduction

One of the earliest records mentioning Zevajuk dates from 1806: “I am Archimandrite Grigor, who came to a village called Zevajuk and left this piece of writing.”

List of the Armenian Manuscripts of Tabriz, p. 25.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.

Due to its proximity to the settlements of mountain-dwelling Kurds, the village was continually attacked and plundered (one of the raids took place early in November 1914).

Mshak, no. 252, 7 November 1914, p. 1.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.

Population

The earliest statistical records regarding the population of Zevajuk, and particularly, the local Armenians, date from 1875. Judging from them, the Armenians formed only a minority in 1905, being less than the 20 Kurdish and 15 Turkish houses, but a little more than the 4 Assyrian ones.

Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), p. 54.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.

Economic Life

In the early 1900s, the lands of the village belonged to the local beys who were given one-third of the harvest as a tribute.

Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), p. 54.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 540.

A kyahriz and an abundant spring provided the local people with water. At present there is also a canal stretching along the northern extremity of the village.14

Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), p. 54.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 540.

In the early 20th century, “a lot of lands [in the village] remain unsown due to the threat of Kurdish raids. The local Kurds are not engaged in husbandry; instead, they prefer to work for the Armenians as servants.”

Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), p. 55, and insert.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 540.

Direction From the north
Author Samvel Karapetian
Date 2011 y․

Author Samvel Karapetian
Date 2011 y․

Below follow the available statistical data regarding the Armenians of Zevajuk:

Dates	Armenian Houses	Armenians (Male)	Armenians (Female)	Total (Armenians)	Notes	Source
1875	8	34	26	60		Ararat, no. 3 (1876), p. 109. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.
1890	6					Գորոյեանց Ն., Պարսկաստանի հայերը [N. Goroyants, The Armenians of Persia] (Tehran, 1968), p. 182. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.
1893	6					Ughevor, “Salmast,” Armenia, no. 31, 3 January 1894, p. 1. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.
1895	9			72		Ararat, no. 2 (1896), p. 94. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.
1896	8	32	34	66		Պալունի, Վիճակագրական տեղեկութիւն Սալմաստ գաւառի հայ ազգաբնակութեան [Palouny, “Statistical Data Regarding the Armenian Population in Salmast District”], «Նոր-Դար» [Nor-Dar], no. 216, 10 December 1896, p. 3. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.
1898	9	38	34	72		Ararat, nos. 11-12 (1898), p. 505. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.
1905	6	28	13	41	According to other works, in the same year, the Armenian inhabitants of the village comprised 6 houses with 33 (16 males, 17 females) people, including a migrant worker (Atayan, insert). See also Materials for the History of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party, vol. 4, p. 267.	G. Hovsepian’s Archives, folder 91, document 14, p. 11. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 539.