Note 3 — Chapter XX · ACROSS THE SPINE OF ARMENIA

The bed of the river at the ford has an elevation of 3900 feet according to my barometers. Abich’s readings are as follows:—Bank of the river below the village of Changly, above Kagyzman, 3932 feet; below the village of Kers, below Kagyzman, 3671 feet. The elevation of Kagyzman is 4621 feet. Evliya, who travelled in the middle of the seventeenth century, furnishes the following account of the place:—

“The castle of Kaghzemán being situated on the Kiblah side of the Aras is reckoned to be on the frontier of Azerbeiján, but belongs to the Ottoman government of Karss. It is named after its builder, one of the daughters of Núshirván. It was taken out of the hands of Uzún Hassan by Sháh Ismail, and then submitted to Sultán Súleimán. It is the seat of a Sanjak Beg whose khass amounts to 200,000 aspers, 9 ziámets, 178 timárs: 900 feudal militia, a judge appointed with 150 aspers, and a garrison of 300 men, who are paid by the impost on salt; the salt mines, and a quarry of mill-stones, are on the west side of the castle. The mill-stones of Persia and Rúm come from Kaghzemán; the borax of the goldsmiths, barbers’ whetting-stones, and the common whetting-stones are extracted from the mines of Kaghzemán; in two places gold and silver are found, but as the product was exceeded by the expenses they were abandoned; there are altogether 11 mines. The castle is a square strong building standing on a hill on the bank of the Aras; there are 700 small houses; it is not a commercial town (Bender), but a frontier town (Serhadd). Mount Aghrí, which appears to the west, is one of the most praiseworthy mountains in the world; it is near the town, and is the summer abode (Yaila) of Turcomans. The air is temperate and allows of the cultivation of gardens on some spots; the inhabitants are mild and some of them fair. The Levend troops (irregular levies) sing Persian songs with harmonious voices. As soon as I entered the town the Diván assembled, and notwithstanding the repeated oaths of the members of it, that they had not molested the Persian caravan, but only taken their custom duties, I took seven Aghás of them with me to prove the truth of what they said, by their presence at Erzerúm, whereunto I returned” (The Travels of Evliya, translated from the Turkish by Von Hammer, London, 1850, vol. i. p. 183). ↑