Tjara :: ARMENIAN LOCATIONS

5 Monuments

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

Location

Tjara is situated 19.8 km south-west of Salmast City, on the right bank of the River Zola, at an altitude of 1,610 to 1,630 metres.

Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.

Other Names

The village has also been mentioned by the names of Chahri, Chehrigh and Tjarakale.

Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.

Historical Introduction

Most presumably, the village is of the same age as the adjacent fortress, which suggests that it has a history of at least several thousand years.

Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.

Until 1828, Tjara was one of the entirely Armenian-inhabited villages in Salmast. After the mass emigration of the Armenians of the district, it was mostly re-populated by Kurds, a small number of Armenians living there until 1897.

Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.

Population

The last written records on the Armenian presence in Tjara date from 1896. This can probably be explained by the massacres of the Armenians organised by Sultan Hamid in Western Armenia from 1894 until 1896: apparently, the brutal Kurds of the Shikak tribe who had settled down in Tjara in the late 1850s (their chieftain resided here) took advantage of these pogroms and started attacking the local Armenians, eventually forcing them to abandon the village.

Presumably, the village was completely emptied of its Armenian inhabitants in 1897, just like Hakhveran.
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.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.

Priests

In 1896 the village had a parish priest despite the small number of the local Armenians.

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.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.

Author Sasun Danielian
Date 2017 y․

Name	Year/Century	Etymology
Chahri
Chehrigh
Tjarakale

The following statistical table shows that the number of the Armenians kept decreasing in Tjara from the second half of the 19th century onwards:

Dates	Armenian Houses	Armenians (Male)	Armenians (Female)	Total (Armenians)	Notes	Source
1860	22	77	72	149		Մխիթարեանց Ա., Ցուցակ որքանութեան ազգի հայոց ի վիճակին Ատրպատականի ի Պարսկաստան, ըստ տանց նոցին, ըստ արական և իգական սեռից յիւրաքանչիւր գաւառս [A. Mkhitariants, “A Statistical List of Armenians in the Prelacy of Atrpatakan, Persia, as per Houses, Males and Females in Every District”], «Համբաւաբեր Ռուսիոյ» [Hambavaber Rusio], no. 30, 20 September 1862, p. 1. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.
1890	12					Գորոյեանց Ն., Պարսկաստանի հայերը [N. Goroyants, The Armenians of Persia] (Tehran, 1968), p. 183. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.
1895	12	39	27	66		Ararat, no. 2 (1896), p. 94. Also see Ararat, nos. 11-12 (1898), p. 505. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.
1896	12	32	27	59	By the way, 11 of the local inhabitants were temporarily in other places for work.	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. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 530.