Drishk :: ARMENIAN LOCATIONS

3 Monuments

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

Location

Drishk is situated 6.5 km south-east of Salmast City, not far from the right bank of the River Zola (it completely dries up in summer-time), in a plain lying at an altitude of 1,348 to 1,350 metres.

Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

Name Origin

The village has also been mentioned under the names of Dreshk, Dirish, Dirshk, Derishk, Drichk and Trishk.

Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

“[The word] drishk means a potter, and truly, pottery is its inhabitants’ present-day occupation [italics added].”

Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), p. 49. According to another version of etymology, “during a war, the troops defending the city stationed themselves in a field near the village; hence the names of the field and village which mean a place of assembly. It was in this very place that the Armenians and Kurds allegedly revolted against the enemy [italics added]” (Ahrenjani, p. 40).
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

Population

The cemetery and large church of Drishk show that it was a populous, purely Armenian-inhabited village which especially flourished in the 17th to 18th centuries.

Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

According to the Armenians who still lived in Drishk in the early 20th century, before the emigration of 1828, the entirely Armenian-inhabited village had a population of more than 300 houses only 3 of which were left after the war. The abandoned houses and lands were taken over by Turkish immigrants from the province of Gandzak.

Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), pp. 49-50. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

The earthquake of 1930 reduced Drishk—then a village of 390 inhabitants—to ruins, one of the locals getting injured, and another killed.

Tchalenko J., Berberian M., “The Salmas (Iran) Earthquake of May 6th, 1930,” Annals of Geophysics, vol. 27, nos. 1-2 (1974), p. 156.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

In 2011 the village was populated by Iranian Turks who constituted 150 houses.

Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

Economic Life

In the early 20th century, the lands of Drishk 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. 50.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

For irrigation, the water of the River Zola was used (as at present).

Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), p. 50.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

Occupation

As already mentioned above, Drishk was a major centre of ceramics. In 1931 the local Armenians had a workshop of clayware where different pots were made.

Կոսոյեան Հ., Սալմաստում եւ Դերիկում [H. Kosoyan, “In Salmast and Derik”], Alik, no. 202, 13 September 1964, p. 2.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.

Author Sasun Danielian
Date 2017 y․

Partial view of the village

Below follow the available statistical data regarding the Armenian population of Drishk during the period between 1860 and 1927:

Dates	Armenian Houses	Armenians (Male)	Armenians (Female)	Total (Armenians)	Notes	Source
1860	20	63	46	109		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. 129.
1864	23					National Archives of Armenia, fund 429, list 1, file 100, p. 102. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.
1875	13	42	29	71		Ararat, no. 3 (1876), p. 110. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.
1893	20					Ա., Պարսկաստանի հայերը [A., “The Armenians of Persia”], «Արմէնիա» [Armenia], no. 19, 22 November 1893, p. 2. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.
1895	23	65	79	144		Ararat, no. 2 (1896), p. 94. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.
1896	24	72	74	146		Palouny, “Statistical Data,” p. 3. In 1896 the village had 12 migrant workers. The local population also included 55 houses of Iranian Turks. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.
1898	23	72	72	144		Ararat, nos. 11-12 (1898), p. 505. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.
1905	24	63	63	126		G. Hovsepian’s Archives, folder 91, document 14, p. 11. According to another work, in the same year, Drishk had about 60 Turkish and 24 Armenian houses (9 of natives and 15 of resettlers) with 125 people: 70 males, 55 females (Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), p. 50, and insert; Materials for the History of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party, vol. 4, p. 267). N. Goroyants writes that in 1890 the village had 100 to 150 Turkish and only 10 Armenian houses (Goroyants, p. 175), which is evidently incorrect. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.
1912	40					Gouloyan, “Letters from Salmast,” p. 4 (this number also includes that of the inhabitants of Sheitanava). Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.
1914	35					The Armenian Genocide, p. 376. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.
1927	5			20		Iranian, “The Tragedy of Salmast,” p. 2. Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 129.