Salmas
Encyclopedia
Salmas is a city in and the capital of Salmas County
, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 79,560, in 19,806 families.
The city is of Azeri origin, according to the Arabic geographer Mukadassi who visited Salmas in the 10th century The population is a mixture of Azeri, Assyrians
, Kurds and Persians
.
patriarch Yaballaha in Baghdad
.
In the Battle of Salmas, 17–18 September 1429, the Kara Koyunlu
were defeated by Shah Rukh
who was consolidating Timurid
holdings west of Lake Urmia
. However, the area was retaken by the Kara Koyunlu in 1447 after the death of Shah Rukh.
In Salmas in March 1918 the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East
, Mar Shimun, was murdered by the Kurdish chieftain Simko Shikak
, grandson of the Shakkak
chieftain 'Ismail Agha' (d. 1816).
Part of the Assyrian Genocide
took place in Salmas and the surrounding region at the hands of the Ottoman Army and loyal Kurdish irregulars. This followed initially successful Assyrian military campaigns against the Ottomans and their Kurdish and Azeri allies.
Salmas County
Salmas County is a county in West Azarbaijan Province in Iran. The capital of the county is Salmas. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 107,677, in 20,617 families. The county is subdivided into two districts: the Central District and Kuhsar District...
, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 79,560, in 19,806 families.
The city is of Azeri origin, according to the Arabic geographer Mukadassi who visited Salmas in the 10th century The population is a mixture of Azeri, Assyrians
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
, Kurds and Persians
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
.
History
Early mention of Salmas was made in 1281, when its Assyrian bishop made the trip to the consecration of the Assyrian Church of the EastAssyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
patriarch Yaballaha in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
.
In the Battle of Salmas, 17–18 September 1429, the Kara Koyunlu
Kara Koyunlu
The Kara Koyunlu or Qara Qoyunlu, also called the Black Sheep Turkomans , were a Shi'ite Oghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled over the territory comprising the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, north-western Iran, eastern Turkey and Iraq from about 1375 to 1468.The Kara Koyunlu Turkomans at one...
were defeated by Shah Rukh
Shah Rukh (Timurid dynasty)
Shāhrukh Mīrzā was the ruler of the eastern portion of the empire established by the Central Asian warlord Timur - the founder of the Timurid dynasty - governing most of Persia and Transoxiana between 1405 and 1447...
who was consolidating Timurid
Timurid Dynasty
The Timurids , self-designated Gurkānī , were a Persianate, Central Asian Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turko-Mongol descent whose empire included the whole of Iran, modern Afghanistan, and modern Uzbekistan, as well as large parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the...
holdings west of Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia , ancient name: Lake Matiene) is a salt lake in northwestern Iran, near Iran's border with Turkey. The lake is between the Iranian provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan, west of the southern portion of the similarly shaped Caspian Sea...
. However, the area was retaken by the Kara Koyunlu in 1447 after the death of Shah Rukh.
In Salmas in March 1918 the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
, Mar Shimun, was murdered by the Kurdish chieftain Simko Shikak
Simko Shikak
Simko Shikak also Ismail Agha Shikak ) was a Kurdish chieftain of the Shakak tribe...
, grandson of the Shakkak
Shekak
Shekak is considered as the largest among all the Kurdish tribes in the West Azerbaijan province of Iran and the adjacent area of Turkey. This large tribe lives around the city of Maku and south as far as Urmia. They speak the Kurmanji dialect of the Kurdish language,...
chieftain 'Ismail Agha' (d. 1816).
Part of the Assyrian Genocide
Assyrian genocide
The Assyrian Genocide refers to the mass slaughter of the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac population of the Ottoman Empire during the 1890s, the First World War, and the period of 1922-1925...
took place in Salmas and the surrounding region at the hands of the Ottoman Army and loyal Kurdish irregulars. This followed initially successful Assyrian military campaigns against the Ottomans and their Kurdish and Azeri allies.
External links
- Salmas ancient location
- Salmas famous people
- Salmas, By C.E. Bosworth, Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- "Salmas Map – Satellite Images of Salmas", Maplandia