Note 9 — Chapter VI · BITLIS

The population of the town appears to have increased during the present century. In 1814 it was believed to consist of not more than 12,000 souls, one-half Mussulman, and the remainder Armenian.9 Brant computed the number of families in 1838 at 3000, or from 15,000 to 18,000 souls. Of these, two-thirds were Mussulman, and one-third Armenian, besides 50 families belonging to the Jacobite persuasion.10 In 1868 Consul Taylor speaks of 4000 families, of which 1500 were Christian, that is to say Armenian.11 At the time of my visit the population of the town probably amounted to close on 30,000 souls, 10,000 Armenians, 300 Syrians or Jacobites, and the rest Mussulman Kurd. The official figures for the town and caza, comprising Tadvan and the head of Mush plain, showed a total of just over 44,000 inhabitants, including about 15,500 Armenians. If we would equalise the number of the females to that of the males, 15 per cent must be added to these figures.12 Bitlis owes its somewhat flourishing state mainly to its position as a provincial centre; but it does a trade in gall-nuts and gum, collected in the surrounding country, as well as in loupes or whorls found on the trunks of the walnut trees and exported to France for veneering purposes. The nuts of these trees furnish an oil which is also marketable, and madder root is found in the district and used for dyeing purposes. From the leaves of the oak and other trees, the villagers in the neighbourhood collect manna — an old-world practice still in vogue in Kurdistan.