{{italic title|string=okrug}} {{Infobox settlement | area_total_km2 = 5,596.88 | established_date = 1878 | established_title = Established | extinct_date = 3 March 1918 | extinct_title = [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] | image_map = Ardahan_Okrug_of_Kars_Oblast.png | image_shield = Coat of arms of Kars Oblast 1881.svg | map_caption = Location in the Kars Oblast | mapsize = 220px | name = Ardahan ''okrug'' | native_name = Ардаганский округ | native_name_lang = ru | population_as_of = 1916 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_rural = 96.44% | population_total = 89,036 | population_urban = 3.56% | seat = Ardagan<br>(present-day [[Ardahan]]) | seat_type = Capital | settlement_type = ''[[Okrug]]'' | subdivision_name = [[Russian Empire]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917)|Caucasus]] | subdivision_name2 = [[Kars Oblast|Kars]] | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_type1 = [[List of viceroyalties of the Russian Empire|Viceroyalty]] | subdivision_type2 = [[Oblasts of the Russian Empire|Oblast]] | total_type = Total }} The '''Ardahan okrug'''{{efn|{{bulletedlist|{{langx|ru|Ардаганский округ}}, {{langx|ru|label=<small>[[pre-reform orthography]]</small>|Ардаганскій округъ|translit=Ardaganskiy okrug}} {{IPA|ru|ɐrdəɡənskʲɪj ɐkrʊk|}}|{{langx|tr|Ardahan Okrugu}} {{IPA|tr|aɾdahan okɾuɡu|}}}}}} was a district (''[[okrug]]'') of the [[Kars Oblast]] of the [[Russian Empire]] between 1878 and 1918. The district was eponymously named for its administrative center, the town of Ardagan (present-day [[Ardahan]]), presently part of the [[Ardahan Province]] of [[Turkey]]. The ''okrug'' bordered with the [[Kars okrug]] to the south, the [[Olti okrug]] in the west, the [[Batum Oblast]] in the north, the [[Tiflis Governorate]] in the northeast, and from 1883 to 1903 the [[Kutais Governorate]] whilst the latter included the [[Artvin okrug|Artvin]] and [[Batumi okrug|Batum]] ''okrugs''.{{sfn|Tsutsiev|2014}}
== History == The Ardahan okrug was one of the four territorial administrative subunits (counties) of the Kars ''oblast'' created after its annexation into the [[Russian Empire]] in 1878 through the [[Treaty of San Stefano]], following the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|defeat]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=КАРССКАЯ ОБЛАСТЬ — информация на портале Энциклопедия Всемирная история|url=https://w.histrf.ru/articles/article/show/karsskaia_oblast|access-date=2021-12-05|website=w.histrf.ru|archive-date=2021-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205135119/https://w.histrf.ru/articles/article/show/karsskaia_oblast|url-status=dead}}</ref>
During the [[World War I|First World War]], the Kars Oblast became the site of [[Caucasus campaign|intense battles]] between the [[Caucasus Army (Russian Empire, 1914–1917)|Russian Caucasus Army]] supplemented by [[Armenian volunteer units|Armenian volunteers]] and the [[Third Army (Ottoman Empire)|Ottoman Third Army]], the latter of whom was successful in [[Battle of Ardahan|briefly occupying Ardahan]] on 25 December 1914 before they were dislodged in early January 1915.
On 3 March 1918, in the aftermath of the [[October Revolution]] the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] ceded the entire [[Kars Oblast]] including the Ardahan okrug through the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] to the Ottoman Empire, who had been unreconciled with its loss of the territory since 1878. Despite the ineffectual resistance of the [[Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic]] which had initially rejected the aforementioned treaty, the Ottoman Third Army was successful in occupying the Kars Oblast and forcefully expelling its 100,000 panic-stricken Armenian inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2|location=Berkeley|pages=27|oclc=238471}}</ref>
The Ottoman [[Ninth Army (Ottoman Empire)|Ninth Army]] under the command of [[Yakup Şevki Subaşı|Yakub Shevki Pasha]], the occupying force of the district by the time of the [[Armistice of Mudros|Mudros Armistice]], were permitted to winter in Kars until early 1919, after which on 7 January 1919 Major General [[G. T. Forestier-Walker|G.T. Forestier-Walker]] ordered their complete withdrawal to the pre-1914 Ottoman-frontier. Intended to hinder the westward expansion of the fledgling [[First Republic of Armenia|Armenian]] and [[Democratic Republic of Georgia|Georgian]] republics into the Kars Oblast, Yukub Shevki backed the emergence of the short-lived [[Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus|South-West Caucasus Republic]] with moral support, also furnishing it with weapons, ammunition and instructors.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2|location=Berkeley|pages=201|oclc=238471}}</ref>
The South-West Caucasus Republic administered the Ardahan okrug and neighboring formerly occupied districts for three months before provoking British intervention by order of General [[George Milne, 1st Baron Milne|G.F. Milne]], leading to its capitulation by [[Armenian army|Armenian]] and [[British Army|British]] forces on 10 April 1919.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Andersen|first=Andrew|title=Armenia in the Aftermath of Mudros: Conflicting claims and Strife with the Neighbors|url=http://www.conflicts.rem33.com/images/Armenia/restoration%20and%20terr%20issue/T3.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323003122/http://www.conflicts.rem33.com:80/images/Armenia/restoration%20and%20terr%20issue/T3.html |archive-date=2014-03-23 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2|location=Berkeley|pages=220|oclc=238471}}</ref> Consequently, the Kars Oblast largely came under the Armenian civil governorship of Stepan Korganian who wasted no time in facilitating the repatriation of the region's exiled refugees.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2|location=Berkeley|pages=204|oclc=238471}}</ref>
Despite the apparent defeat of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish agitators were reported by [[National Security Service (Armenia)|Armenian intelligence]] to have been freely roaming the countryside of Kars encouraging sedition among the Muslim villages, culminating in a series of [[Muslim uprisings in Kars and Sharur–Nakhichevan|anti-Armenian uprisings on 1 July 1919]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2|location=Berkeley|pages=66|oclc=238471}}</ref>
The Kars Oblast for the third time in six years saw invading Turkish troops, this time under the command of General [[Kâzım Karabekir]] in September 1920 during the [[Turkish–Armenian War|Turkish-Armenian War]]. The disastrous war for Armenia resulted in the permanent expulsion of the region's ethnic Armenian population, many who inexorably remained befalling massacre, resulting in the region being integrated into the [[Turkey|Republic of Turkey]] through the [[Treaty of Alexandropol]] on 3 December 1920. Turkey's annexation of Kars and the adjacent [[Surmalu Uyezd]] was confirmed in the treaties of [[Treaty of Kars|Kars]] and [[Treaty of Moscow (1921)|Moscow]] in 1921, by virtue of the new [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet regime in Armenia]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=De Waal|first=Thomas|title=Great catastrophe : Armenians and Turks in the shadow of genocide|date=2015|isbn=978-0-19-935070-4|location=Oxford|pages=86|oclc=897378977}}</ref>
== Administrative divisions == The prefectures ({{Langx|ru|участки|translit=[[Uchastok|uchastki]]|label=none}}) of the Ardahan ''okrug'' were:{{sfn|Кавказский календарь на 1917 год|pp=65–75}}{{sfn|Кавказский календарь на 1913 год|pp=156–163}} {| class="wikitable sortable" !Name !Administrative centre !1912 population !Area |- |''Ardaganskiy'' prefecture ({{Lang|ru|Ардаганский участок}}) |Ardagan ([[Ardahan]]) | align="right" |26,649 |{{Convert|1599.75|verst2|km2 mi2|lk=on}} |- |''Gyolskiy'' prefecture ({{Lang|ru|Гёльский участок}}) |Okam ([[Çayırbaşı, Göle|Çayırbaşı]]) | align="right" |21,161 |{{Convert|1849.68|verst2|km2 mi2|lk=on}} |- |''Poskhovskiy'' prefecture ({{Lang|ru|Посховский участок}}) |Damavliya ([[Yurtbekler, Posof|Yurtbekler]]) | align="right" |15,586 |{{Convert|506.45|verst2|km2 mi2|lk=on}} |- |''Chaldyrskiy'' prefecture ({{Lang|ru|Чалдырский участок}}) |Zurzuna ([[Çıldır]]) | align="right" |15,511 |{{Convert|962.02|verst2|km2 mi2|lk=on}} |}
== Demographics ==
=== Russian Empire Census === According to the [[Russian Empire Census]], the Ardahan ''okrug'' had a population of 65,763 on {{OldStyleDate|28 January|1897|15 January}}, including 34,930 men and 30,833 women. The plurality of the population indicated [[Turkish language|Turkish]] to be their mother tongue, with significant [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]], [[Karapapakhs|Karapapakh]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[Turkmen language|Turkmen]] speaking minorities.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/emp_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=405 |access-date=2022-03-26 |website=www.demoscope.ru}}</ref> {| class="wikitable sortable" |+Linguistic composition of the Ardahan ''okrug'' in 1897<ref name=":1" /> !Language !Native speakers !% |- |[[Turkish language|Turkish]] | align="right" |28,047 | align="right" |42.65 |- |[[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] | align="right" |12,565 | align="right" |19.11 |- |[[Karapapakhs|Karapapakh]] | align="right" |7,874 | align="right" |11.97 |- |[[Greek language|Greek]] | align="right" |7,839 | align="right" |11.92 |- |[[Turkmen language|Turkmen]] | align="right" |4,328 | align="right" |6.58 |- |[[Russian language|Russian]] | align="right" |1,966 | align="right" |2.99 |- |[[Armenian language|Armenian]] | align="right" |1,918 | align="right" |2.92 |- |[[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] | align="right" |383 | align="right" |0.58 |- |[[Polish language|Polish]] | align="right" |207 | align="right" |0.31 |- |[[Persian language|Persian]] | align="right" |137 | align="right" |0.21 |- |[[Georgian language|Georgian]] | align="right" |137 | align="right" |0.21 |- |[[Jewish languages|Jewish]] | align="right" |113 | align="right" |0.17 |- |[[Ossetian language|Ossetian]] | align="right" |47 | align="right" |0.07 |- |[[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] | align="right" |45 | align="right" |0.07 |- |Tatar{{Caucasian Tatars}} | align="right" |37 | align="right" |0.06 |- |[[German language|German]] | align="right" |30 | align="right" |0.05 |- |[[Avar language|Avar-Andean]] | align="right" |20 | align="right" |0.03 |- |[[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] | align="right" |8 | align="right" |0.01 |- |[[Dargin languages|Dargin]] | align="right" |7 | align="right" |0.01 |- |[[Bashkir language|Bashkir]] | align="right" |1 | align="right" |0.00 |- |Other | align="right" |54 | align="right" |0.08 |- !TOTAL !65,763 !100.00 |}
=== ''Kavkazskiy kalendar'' === According to the 1917 publication of ''[[Kavkazskiy kalendar]]'', the Ardahan ''okrug'' had a population of 89,036 on {{OldStyleDate|14 January|1916|1 January}}, including 44,387 men and 44,649 women, 82,260 of whom were the permanent population, and 6,376 were temporary residents. The statistics indicated the town Ardahan to be overwhelmingly Armenian with a significant Sunni Muslim minority. Conversely, the rest of the ''okrug'' was mainly Sunni Muslim, with sizeable Kurdish, Roma, and Yazidi minorities:{{sfn|Кавказский календарь на 1917 год|pp=198–201}} {| class="wikitable sortable" ! rowspan="2" |Nationality ! colspan="2" |[[Urban area|Urban]] ! colspan="2" |[[Rural area|Rural]] ! colspan="2" |TOTAL |- !Number !% !Number !% !Number !% |- |[[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]]{{Efn|Primarily Turco-Tatars.{{sfn|Hovannisian|1971|p=67}}}} | align="right" |778 | align="right" |24.57 | align="right" |45,348 | align="right" |52.81 | align="right" |46,126 | align="right" |51.81 |- |[[Kurds]] | align="right" |28 | align="right" |0.88 | align="right" |18,136 | align="right" |21.12 | align="right" |18,164 | align="right" |20.40 |- |[[Romani people|Roma]] | align="right" |361 | align="right" |11.40 | align="right" |11,700 | align="right" |13.63 | align="right" |12,061 | align="right" |13.55 |- |[[Yazidis]] | align="right" |0 | align="right" |0.00 | align="right" |6,543 | align="right" |7.62 | align="right" |6,543 | align="right" |7.35 |- |[[Armenians]] | align="right" |1,708 | align="right" |53.93 | align="right" |1,036 | align="right" |1.21 | align="right" |2,744 | align="right" |3.08 |- |[[Russians]] | align="right" |270 | align="right" |8.53 | align="right" |2,240 | align="right" |2.61 | align="right" |2,510 | align="right" |2.82 |- |[[Christianity in Asia|Asiatic Christians]] | align="right" |0 | align="right" |0.00 | align="right" |755 | align="right" |0.88 | align="right" |755 | align="right" |0.85 |- |[[Shia Muslims]]{{Efn|Primarily Tatars.{{sfn|Hovannisian|1971|p=67}}}} | align="right" |0 | align="right" |0.00 | align="right" |82 | align="right" |0.10 | align="right" |82 | align="right" |0.09 |- |[[Georgians]] | align="right" |18 | align="right" |0.57 | align="right" |13 | align="right" |0.02 | align="right" |31 | align="right" |0.03 |- |[[Peoples of the Caucasus|North Caucasians]] | align="right" |0 | align="right" |0.00 | align="right" |8 | align="right" |0.01 | align="right" |8 | align="right" |0.01 |- |[[Europeans|Other Europeans]] | align="right" |0 | align="right" |0.00 | align="right" |8 | align="right" |0.01 | align="right" |8 | align="right" |0.01 |- |[[Jews]] | align="right" |4 | align="right" |0.13 | align="right" |0 | align="right" |0.00 | align="right" |4 | align="right" |0.00 |- !TOTAL !3,167 !100.00 !85,869 !100.00 !89,036 !100.00 |}
== Settlements == According to the 1897 census, there were 12 settlements in the Ardahan ''okrug'' with a population over 500 inhabitants. The religious composition of the settlements was as follows:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Troinitsky |first=N. A. |url=https://www.prlib.ru/item/428670 |title=Населенные места Российской империи в 500 и более жителей с указанием всего наличного в них населения и числа жителей преобладающих вероисповеданий, по данным первой всеобщей переписи населения 1897 г. |publisher=Tipografiya Obshchestvennaya polza |year=1905 |location=Saint Petersburg |pages=33–34 |language=ru |trans-title=Populated areas of the Russian Empire with 500 or more inhabitants, indicating the total population in them and the number of inhabitants of the predominant religions, according to the first general population census of 1897 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810153601/https://www.prlib.ru/item/428670 |archive-date=10 August 2022}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" !Name ! style=width:5em |[[Armenian Apostolic]] ! style=width:5em |[[Muslim]] ! style=width:5em |[[Eastern Orthodox]] ! style=width:3em |Male ! style=width:3em |Female ! style=width:5em |TOTAL |- |[[Ardahan]] ({{Langx|ru|Ардаган|translit=Ardagan|label=none}}) |1,317{{Efn|Includes [[Armenian Catholic]]s.}} |879 |1,334 |2,962 |1,180 |4,142 |- |[[Süngülü, Posof|Süngülü]] ({{Langx|ru|Арила|translit=Arila|label=none}}) | |732 | |388 |344 |732 |- |[[Çetinsu, Ardahan|Çetinsu]] ({{Langx|ru|Беберек (Беберяк)|translit=Beberek (Beberyak)|label=none}}) | | |543 |248 |299 |547 |- |[[Binbaşak, Hanak|Binbaşak]] ({{Langx|ru|Гюгюба|translit=Gyugyuba|label=none}}) | |501 | |264 |237 |501 |- |[[Çamlıçatak]] ({{Langx|ru|Гюляберт|translit=Gyulyabert|label=none}}) | | |764 |394 |394 |788 |- |{{Ill|Doğruyol, Arpaçay|lt=Doğruyol|tr|Doğruyol, Arpaçay}} ({{Langx|ru|Джала|translit=Dzhala|label=none}}) | |737 | |385 |363 |748 |- |[[Kenarbel, Çıldır|Kenarbel]] ({{Langx|ru|Канарбель|translit=Kanarbel|label=none}}) | |500 | |275 |233 |508 |- |{{Ill|Ortakent, Hanak|lt=Ortakent|tr|Nakalakevi}} (Накалакеви (Накалакей)) | |736 | |390 |346 |736 |- |[[Yanlızçam, Ardahan|Yanlızçam]] ({{Langx|ru|Синдизгем (Синдисгем)|translit=Sindizgem (Sindisgem)|label=none}}) | | |793 |391 |411 |802 |- |[[Aşıkşenlik]] ({{Langx|ru|Сухара|translit=Sukhara|label=none}}) | |955 | |497 |466 |963 |- |[[Aşıkzülali, Posof|Aşıkzülali]] ({{Langx|ru|Цурцкаб|translit=Tsurtskab|label=none}}) | |826 | |419 |407 |826 |- |[[Çatalköprü, Ardahan|Çatalköprü]] ({{Langx|ru|Шадеван|translit=Shadevan|label=none}}) | |562 | |265 |297 |562 |- !TOTAL !1,317 !6,428 !3,434 !6,878 !4,977 !11,855 |}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== Bibliography == {{sfn whitelist|CITEREFКавказский_календарь_на_1913_год|CITEREFКавказский_календарь_на_1917_год}} {{Refbegin}} *{{Cite Armenia and Imperial Decline}} *{{Hovannisian: The Republic of Armenia|volume=1}} *{{Cite Kavkazskiy Kalendar 1913}} *{{Cite Kavkazskiy Kalendar 1917}} *{{Cite Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus}} {{Refend}}
{{Subdivisions of the Russian Empire}}
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[[Category:Kars oblast| ]] [[Category:Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917)]] [[Category:Governorates of the Caucasus]] [[Category:History of Ardahan Province]] [[Category:History of Erzurum Province]] [[Category:History of Kars Province]] [[Category:Modern history of Armenia]] [[Category:States and territories established in 1878]] [[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1917]] [[Category:1878 establishments in the Russian Empire]] [[Category:1917 disestablishments in Russia]] [[Category:Soviet Union–Turkey relations]]