Hınıs

Hınıs (Kurdish: Xinûs,[1] Armenian: Խնուս, Khnus) is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. The population is 9,792 (as of 2010). Historical monuments in the town include the castle and the Ulu Cami Mosque, said to be built in 1734 by Alaeddin, the bey of Muş.[2] The town is populated by Kurds.[3]

Khnus region in the administrative-territorial division of the regions of Turkey occupied by Russian troops during World War I 1916-1917

The district, which is 150 km away from Erzurum to the south, that is to Muş, is very close to the Hamurpert Lake, which has an important place in history, with its location close to the Bingöl mountains. The other districts of the province, Karayazı, Karaçoban and Tekman, are the neighboring districts of Hınıs. In addition, the Varto district of Muş is only 50 km from Hınıs. Hınıs is a plain district and Hınıs Plain is one of the most fertile plains of the region. Therefore, agriculture and animal husbandry are the main sources of income in the district. It has the same characteristics as Erzurum in terms of climate and nature. Winters are cold and snowy, and summers are generally cool. In general, it can be said that it is 5-6 degrees warmer than Erzurum.[4]

Geography

The Hınıs plain is an upland plain centered on a tributary of the Murat Su.[5] A range of hills on the south separates the Hınıs plain from the Murat Su.[5] On the southwest, the Hınıs plain is separated from the Varto plain by a series of hills and steep valleys.[5] To the north is a range of pyramid-shaped hills called the Ak Dağ, or White Mountains, which are in turn connected to the Bingöl Dağ further west by a plateau called the Menge Dağ.[5] The Menge Dağ forms the northwestern border of the Hınıs plain; from its foothills, Şüphan Dağ is visible over the hills to the southeast.[5] The Hınıs plain consists of two distinct, gently undulating bands that are occasionally broken up by low-lying hills.[5] The valley has fertile soil and has historically formed a breeding ground for sheep and horses.[5]

The town of Hınıs itself lies near the upper end of the valley, on a volcanic table raised above the surrounding plain.[5] At this end, several smaller streams join together into the plain's main river.[5]

History

The Hınıs plain formed the main part of the early medieval Armenian canton of Varazhnunik.[5] During this period (roughly the 4th through 7th centuries), Hınıs was probably a fortified market town.[5] Later, after the Arab conquest of Armenia, the region became divided into several small principalities.[5] Hınıs was "almost certainly" the capital of one of these principalities, which was called Sermatz in Greek sources.[5] Sermatz seems to have covered the old district of Varazhnunik as well as the Varto plain to the southwest.[5] Its rulers were probably vassals of the Kaysite emirs of Malazgirt.[5]

During the Kara Koyunlu period, Hınıs was the capital of a small Kurdish emirate which was a vassal of the emirate of Bitlis, which was in turn a vassal of the Kara Koyunlu themselves.[5] The emirate of Hınıs was mainly based on the Hınıs plain but also extended south of the Murat Su to include Lake Nazik and the area around Bulanık.[5] Later, under the Ottoman Empire, Hınıs formed a sanjak of Erzurum Eyalet.[5]

Monuments

Castle

Hınıs's old castle crowns a small rocky promontory jutting out above a depression in the middle of the plateau.[5] The castle rock is only accessible on one side, by an elevated "neck" connecting it to the rest of the plateau.[5] This "neck" was the starting point for the walls that historically surrounded the town.[5] Only a couple of towers of the castle remain intact today.[5]

Mosque

The Ulu Cami is beneath the castle rock and outside the town.[5] It dates to 1734 and is traditionally attributed to Ala ed-Din, the bey of Muş who also fortified Mercimek Kale on the Muș plain.[5] The mosque is roughly cube-shaped, with one relatively small pyramidal cap crowning the roof, surrounded by 8 smaller domes.[5] The mosque has one, black-and-white striped minaret, on the northwest corner.[5]

Neighbourhoods

References
  1. adem Avcıkıran (2009). Kürtçe Anamnez Anamneza bi Kurmancî (PDF) (in Turkish and Kurdish). p. 56. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  2. Sinclair, T.A. (1989). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I. Pindar Press. p. 289. ISBN 9780907132325.
  3. Bajalan, Djene Rhys. "Between Accommodationism and Separatism: Kurds, Ottomans and the Politics of Nationality (1839-1914)". University of Oxford: 186. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Hınıs Haber" (in Turkish). Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  5. Sinclair, T.A. (1987). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I. London: Pindar Press. pp. 288–9, 320, 325, 330–1, 335. ISBN 0-907132-32-4. Retrieved 20 May 2022.


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