{{Short description|City in Diyarbakir, Turkey}} {{Infobox Turkey place | type = metro district | name = Silvan | image_skyline = Farqîn.jpg | image_caption = | image_map = Diyarbakır location Silvan.png | map_caption = Map showing Silvan District in Diyarbakır Province | coordinates = {{coord|38|08|32|N|41|00|05|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | province = Diyarbakır | leader_party = | leader_name = | leader_name1 = | area_total_km2 = 1252 | elevation_m = 810 | population_footnotes = <ref name=tuik/> | population_total = 86161 | population_as_of = 2022 | postal_code = 21640 | area_code = 0412 | website = {{URL|http://www.silvan.bel.tr/}} }} '''Silvan''' ({{langx|ku|Farqîn}};<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Barnas |first=Rojen |title=Sîlvan - Silîvan - Farqîn |publisher=Nûbihar |year=2015 |pages=231 |language=ku}}</ref> {{langx|ota|ميا فارقين|translit=Meyafarikîn}},<ref>Tahir Sezen, ''Osmanlı Yer Adları (Alfabetik Sırayla)'', T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü, Yayın Nu 21, Ankara, p. 365.</ref> {{langx|hy|Սիլվան|translit=Silvan}}<ref name=vgm>{{Cite web |title=Kaza Silvan / Silîvan / ܣܝܠܘܐܢ - SIlwān / Նփրկերտ – Np'rkert / ܡܝܦܪܩܝܛ - Mayperqit / Mîyafariqîn / Miyafarkin / Miyafarquin / Me-frektho / Farqîn / Mifarqaṭ |url=https://virtual-genocide-memorial.de/region/the-six-provinces/diyarbakir-vilayet/sancak-diyarbekir-diyarbakir/kaza-silvan-%D5%B6%D6%83%D6%80%D5%AF%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%BF-nprkert-%DC%A1%DC%9D%DC%A6%DC%AA%DC%A9%DC%9D%DC%9B-miyafariqin-miyafarkin-miyafarquin-me-frektho-farqin/ |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Virtual Genocide Memorial |language=en-US}}</ref>) is a municipality and district of Diyarbakır Province, Turkey.<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.</ref> Its area is 1,252&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.harita.gov.tr/uploads/files-folder/il_ilce_alanlari.xlsx|title=İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri|publisher=General Directorate of Mapping|access-date=12 July 2023}}</ref> and its population is 86,161 (2022).<ref name=tuik>{{Cite web |title=Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports|url=https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=95&locale=en |access-date=12 July 2023|publisher=TÜİK|language=en|format=XLS}}</ref> It is populated by Kurds.<ref name=":0" />

== History == Silvan has been identified by several scholars as one of two possible locations (the other being Arzan) of Tigranocerta, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Armenia, which was built by Tigranes the Great (ruling 95–55 BCE) and named in his honor.<ref>Avdoyan, Levon. "Tiganocerta: The City 'Built by Tigranes'" in ''Armenian Tigranakert/Diarbekir and Edessa/Urfa''. Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.) UCLA Armenian History and Culture Series: Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces, 6. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2006, pp. 94-95.</ref><ref name="ASE">{{in lang|hy}} Hakobyan, Tadevos Kh. ''«Տիգրանակերտ»'' (Tigranakert). Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. vol. xi. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1986, pp. 699-700.</ref>

=== Roman era === In 69 BCE, the army of Republican Rome defeated Tigranes' troops at the battle of Tigranocerta. The city lost its importance as a thriving center for trade and Hellenism in the following decades. In 387 AD, with the Peace of Acilisene, Tigranakert was made part of the Byzantine Empire.

Around 400 CE, the city's bishop, Maruthas of Martyropolis, brought a large number of relics of Christian martyrs back from the Sasanian Empire. For this reason, Tigranakert was renamed Martyropolis ({{lang|grc|Μαρτυρούπολις}}), 'city of the martyrs'. Following the reforms of Justinian I (rule 527–565), the city was made the capital of the province of Sophene.<ref>{{cite book | last = Adontz | first = Nicholas | author-link =Nicholas Adontz | title = Armenia in the Period of Justinian: The Political Conditions Based on the Naxarar System | others= Trans. Nina G. Garsoïan | publisher = Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation | location= Lisbon | year = 1970 | page=134 }}</ref> The city was inconclusively besieged by the Persians in the last phase of the Iberian War.

The city suffered heavily in the Battle of Martyropolis in 588 AD, but soon prospered again.<ref name="edwards">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Robert W., "Martyropolis" |title=The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology, ed., Paul Corby Finney |date=2016 |publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing| location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=978-0-8028-9017-7| pages=115}}</ref>

=== Islamic era === It was known as '''Mayyāfāriqīn''' after the early Muslim conquests in the 7th century. It was then controlled by the first three caliphates until it came under the control of the Hamdanids in 935, then the Buyids in 978, then it came under the Kurdish Marwanids and became the capital of their dynasty until the end of the 11th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=van Bruinessen|first=Martin|date=2000|title=Kurdistan in the 16th and 17th centuries, as reflected in Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname|journal=The Journal of Kurdish Studies|volume=3|page=25}}</ref> The city and the entire province of Diyarbakir were taken in 1085 by the Seljuk Turks under Malik-Shah I.

During the following years, the city changed hands several times due to rivalries between Seljuk clans and local rulers. In 1118, the Artukids took the city. They resisted the attacks of Zengid ruler Imad al-Din Zengi for many years. The Artukid Husam al-Din Timurtash built the Malabadi Bridge near Meiafarakin, one of the wonders of the time by its dimensions. The dynasty remained in place but preferred to reside in Mardin, leaving a governor to preside over Meiafarakin.

In early 1260, the city, defended by its last Ayyubid ruler Al-Kamil Muhammad, suffered the Siege of Mayyāfāriqīn, and its population then massacred by the Mongol army led by Hulagu Khan, with the help of his Georgian and Armenian allies.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|p=305}}<ref name="DB">{{cite book |last1=Bai︠a︡rsaĭkhan |first1=D. |title=The Mongols and the Armenians (1220-1335) |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden; Boston |isbn=978-90-04-18635-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=HrqqhduBapQC&pg=PA134 133-134]|quote=The Ayyubid ruler of Mayyāfāriqīn and Amida, Al-Kamil Muhammad, had broken his vow to Hűlegű to supply troops for the siege of Baghdad. (...) Hűlegű sent support, in the form of Mongol-Christian troops commanded by a certain Chaghatai and the Armenian Prince Pŕosh Khaghbakian. The Governor of Mosul, Badr al-Dīn Lu’lu’, who was in conflict with al-Kāmil Muhammad, sent a supporting force to the Mongols commanded by his son, along with siege engineers to Mayyāfāriqīn.}}</ref> The Artukids eventually disappeared in 1408 under the attacks of the Qara Qoyunlu.

=== Ottoman Empire === In 1896, reports by the British Vice Consul Hallward indicate that many villages were destroyed during the Armenian massacres in 1895. Hallward was engaged in the rebuilding of about 35 villages.<ref name=":022">{{Cite book|title=Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1915|last=Verheij|first=Jelle|publisher=Brill|year=2012|isbn=9789004225183|editor-last=Jorngerden|editor-first=Joost|pages=107–108|editor-last2=Verheij|editor-first2=Jelle}}</ref>

=== 21st century === An ambush killing 13 Turkish soldiers occurred in the forests of Silvan by Kurdistan Workers' Party separatists, who also lost seven killed in action.

Silvan was also the site of serious clashes between Turkish government forces and Kurdish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) separatists in August 2015 during the wider Operation Martyr Yalçın.<ref>{{cite news|title=Turkey and the Kurds: The hatred never went away|url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21664225-civilians-join-fight-between-soldiers-and-guerrillas-burying-years-calm-hatred-never|access-date=12 September 2015|newspaper=The Economist|date=12 September 2015}}</ref>

Naşide Toprak from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was elected Mayor of Silvan in the local elections in March 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://secim.haberler.com/2019/yerel-secimler/diyarbakir-silvan-secim-sonuclari/|title=Diyarbakır Silvan Seçim Sonuçları - 31 Mart Diyarbakır Silvan Yerel Seçim Sonuçları|website=secim.haberler.com|language=tr-TR|access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref> She was dismissed in March 2020, and Mehmet Uslu has been appointed as a trustee instead of her.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/war-on-terror/5-hdp-mayors-in-southeast-turkey-detained-in-terror-probe|title=5 HDP mayors in southeast Turkey detained in terror probe|last=sabah|first=daily|date=2020-03-23|website=Daily Sabah|language=en|access-date=2020-03-26}}</ref>

==== Archaeology ==== Archaeologists headed by professor Ahmet Tanyıldız, the vice-rector of Dicle University, announced in 2021 that they had discovered the grave of the Seljuk Sultan of Rum Kilij Arslan I, who fought against the Crusader forces. They also discovered his daughter Saide Hatun's burial site during nine days of work. Researchers dug two meters deep across a 35-square-meter area and focused their works on two gravesites in Orta Çeşme Park.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gershon|first=Livia|title=Turkish Archaeologists Discover Grave of Sultan Who Defeated Crusaders|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/grave-sultan-who-defeated-crusaders-uncovered-180976761/|access-date=2021-01-20|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=AA|first=DAILY SABAH WITH|date=2021-01-13|title=Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Kılıç Arslan I's grave found in SE Turkey|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/anatolian-seljuk-sultan-kilic-arslan-is-grave-found-in-se-turkey/news|access-date=2021-01-20|website=Daily Sabah|language=en}}</ref>

== Demographics == The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople reported 13,824 Armenians living in the kaza of Silvan on the eve of World War I, all Kurdish-speaking. They had 28 churches, two monasteries, and 35 schools.<ref name=vgm/> The town itself had 2,500 Armenian Apostolic Christians and 1,500 other Christians: Chaldeans (500 according to Priest Joseph Tfinkdji), Syriac Catholics, Syriac Orthodox, and Melchites. Assyrians call the city ܣܝܠܘܐܢ. Following the simultaneous Armenian genocide and Sayfo, the city's Christian population was largely exterminated and the remaining Christians fled to neighbouring countries.<ref name=vgm/>

Today, the municipality and district is populated by Kurds.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="vgm" />

==Ecclesiastical history== {{main|Diocese of Martyropolis}}

==Composition== There are 94 neighbourhoods in Silvan District:<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Mahalle], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.</ref> {{div col|colwidth=12em}} * Akçayır * Akçeltik * Akdere * Akyol * Alibey * Altınkum * Arıköy * Aşağıkaya * Aşağıveysi * Babakaya * Bağdere * Bağlar * Bahçe * Bahçelievler * Başdeğirmen * Başıbüyük * Bayrambaşı * Bellibahçe * Bereketli * Beypınar * Boyunlu * Çakıltaşı * Çaldere * Cami * Çardak * Çevriksu * Çiftliçevre * Çiğdemli * Çiğil * Çobantepe * Dağcılar * Darköprü * Demirkuyu * Dolapdere * Doluçanak * Duru * Düzalan * Erikyazı * Eskiköy * Eskiocak * Eşme * Feridun * Gökçetevek * Görentepe * Görmez * Güçlü * Gündüz * Gürpınar * Güzderesi * Heybelikonak * İncesu * Kale * Karacalar * Karahacı * Karamus * Kasımlı * Kayadere * Kazandağı * Keklikdere * Kıraçtepe * Kızlal * Konak * Kumgölü * Kumluk * Kutlualan * Malabadi * Mescit * Nohuttepe * Onbaşılar * Ormandışı * Otluk * Sağlık * Şanlı * Sarıbuğday * Selahattin * Sulak * Sulubağ * Susuz * Taşpınar * Tekel * Tokluca * Üçbasamak * Umurköy * Yenidoğan * Yeniköy * Yenişehir * Yeşerdi * Yeşilbahçe * Yeşilköy * Yolaç * Yolarası * Yukarıveysi * Yüksek * Yuva {{div col end}}

==Notable people== * Ibn Nubata (d. 984), preacher * Ibn al-Azraq al-Fariqi (1116–1176), chronicler * Mehdi Zana (b. 1940), Former Kurdish politician *Yekta Uzunoglu<ref>{{Cite news|title=Ana Sayfa|language=tr-TR|work=Yekta Uzunoglu|url=http://yektauzunoglu.com/tr/ana-sayfa/|access-date=2018-08-10}}{{dead link|date=February 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> (b. 1953), doctor, writer, human rights fighter, translator and entrepreneur. *Beytocan (b. 1955–2023), Kurdish singer and musician *Mahsum Korkmaz (1956–1986), first commander of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)'s military forces. *Leyla Zana (b. 1961), Kurdish politician *Hakki Akdeniz (b. 1980), Kurdish philanthropist and restaurateur from New York City.

== Notable sites== * Malabadi Bridge

==See also== *Arrajan *Silvan ambush

== References == {{reflist}}

== Further reading == *Amedroz, H. F. "The Marwanid Dynasty at Mayyafariqin in the Tenth and Eleventh centuries AD," ''JRAS'', 1903, pp.&nbsp;123–154. *Minorsky, Vladimir. "Caucasica in the History of Mayyafariqin." ''BSOAS'', Vol. 13, No. 1 (1949), pp.&nbsp;27–35. *{{cite book|last=Runciman|first=Steven|title=A History of the Crusades: Volume 3, The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.502939/page/304/mode/2up |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1987|isbn=9780521347723}} {{Commons category|Silvan, Diyarbakır}}{{Diyarbakır}} {{Districts of Turkey|provname=Diyarbakır|image=Diyarbakir|}} {{Silvan District}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silvan, Diyarbakir}} Category:Silvan, Diyarbakır Category:Kurdish settlements in Diyarbakır Province Category:Populated places in Diyarbakır Province Category:Districts of Diyarbakır Province Category:Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey Category:Capitals of former countries Category:Former Armenian communities in Diyarbakır Province Category:Assyrian communities in Turkey