Hınıs

Hınıs (Kurdish: Xinûs;[2] Armenian: Խնուս, romanized: Khnus) is a municipality and district of Erzurum Province, Turkey.[3] Its area is 1,367 km2,[4] and its population is 24,680 (2022).[1] Historical monuments in the town include the castle and the Ulu Cami Mosque, said to be built in 1734 by Alaeddin, the bey of Muş.[5] The town is populated by Kurds.[6]

Hınıs
District and municipality
Map showing Hınıs District in Erzurum Province
Map showing Hınıs District in Erzurum Province
Hınıs is located in Turkey
Hınıs
Hınıs
Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 39°21′31″N 41°42′1″E
CountryTurkey
ProvinceErzurum
Government
 • MayorErdoğan Eren (AKP)
Area
1,367 km2 (528 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)[1]
24,680
 • Density18/km2 (47/sq mi)
Time zoneTRT (UTC+3)
Postal code
25600
Area code0442
Khnus region in the administrative-territorial division of the regions of Turkey occupied by Russian troops during World War I 1916-1917

The district, which is 150 km away from the city of Muş, is very close to Hamurpert Lake, which has an important place in history. Hınıs district is surrounded by the Ak Dağ mountains from the north, Bingöl Mountains from the west and south, and Akdoğan mountains from the south to the east.[7] Hınıs district is neighbors with Tekman and Karayazı districts to the north, Karaçoban district to the east, and Varto, Bulanık and Malazgirt districts of Muş to the south. In addition, the Varto city is only 40 km from Hınıs. Hınıs is a plain district and Hınıs plain is one of the most fertile plains of the region. Therefore, agriculture and animal husbandry are the main sources of income in the district. It has the same characteristics as Erzurum in terms of climate and nature. Winters are cold and snowy, and summers are generally cool. In general, it can be said that it is 5-6 degrees warmer than Erzurum.[8]

Geography
Geomap of Hınıs

The Hınıs plain is an upland plain centered on a tributary of the Murat River.[9] A range of hills on the south separates the Hınıs plain from the Murat River.[9] Kocasu Creek is the biggest water source of Hınıs. It passes through the district center and pours into the Murat river in Bulanık district. On the southwest, the Hınıs plain is separated from the Varto plain by a series of hills and steep valleys.[9] To the north is a range of pyramid-shaped hills called the Ak Dağ, or White Mountains, which are in turn connected to the Bingöl Mountains further west by a plateau called the Menge Dağ.[9] The Menge Dağ forms the northwestern border of the Hınıs plain; from its foothills, Süphan mountain is visible over the hills to the southeast.[9] The Hınıs plain consists of two distinct, gently undulating bands that are occasionally broken up by low-lying hills.[9] The valley has fertile soil and has historically formed a breeding ground for sheep and horses.[9]

The town of Hınıs itself lies near the upper end of the valley, on a volcanic table raised above the surrounding plain.[9] At this end, more than 20 smaller streams join together into the plain's main river.[9]

History

The Hınıs plain formed the main part of the early medieval Armenian canton of Varazhnunik.[9] During this period (roughly the 4th through 7th centuries), Hınıs was probably a fortified market town.[9] Later, after the Arab conquest of Armenia, the region became divided into several small principalities.[9] Hınıs was "almost certainly" the capital of one of these principalities, which was called Sermatz in Greek sources.[9] Sermatz seems to have covered the old district of Varazhnunik as well as the Varto plain to the southwest.[9] Its rulers were probably vassals of the Kaysite emirs of Malazgirt.[9]

During the Kara Koyunlu period, Hınıs was the capital of a small Kurdish emirate which was a vassal of the emirate of Bitlis, which was in turn a vassal of the Kara Koyunlu themselves.[9] The emirate of Hınıs was mainly based on the Hınıs plain but also extended south of the Murat river to include Lake Nazik and the area around Bulanık.[9] Later, under the Ottoman Empire, Hınıs formed a sanjak of Erzurum Eyalet.[9]

Monuments

Castle

Hınıs's old castle crowns a small rocky promontory jutting out above a depression in the middle of the plateau.[9] The castle rock is only accessible on one side, by an elevated "neck" connecting it to the rest of the plateau.[9] This "neck" was the starting point for the walls that historically surrounded the town.[9] Only a couple of towers of the castle remain intact today.[9]

Mosque

The Ulu Cami is beneath the castle rock and outside the town.[9] It dates to 1734 and is traditionally attributed to Ala ed-Din, the bey of Muş who also fortified Mercimekkale on the Muş plain.[9] The mosque is roughly cube-shaped, with one relatively small pyramidal cap crowning the roof, surrounded by 8 smaller domes.[9] The mosque has one, black-and-white striped minaret, on the northwest corner.[9]

Composition

There are 98 neighbourhoods in Hınıs District:[10]

References
  1. "Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports" (XLS). TÜİK. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  2. adem Avcıkıran (2009). Kürtçe Anamnez Anamneza bi Kurmancî (PDF) (in Turkish and Kurdish). p. 56. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  3. Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  4. "İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri". General Directorate of Mapping. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  5. Sinclair, T.A. (1989). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I. Pindar Press. p. 289. ISBN 9780907132325.
  6. Bajalan, Djene Rhys. "Between Accommodationism and Separatism: Kurds, Ottomans and the Politics of Nationality (1839-1914)". University of Oxford. p. 186.
  7. "Hınıs Kasabası'nın coğrafyası" (PDF) (in Turkish). Ataturk University. 2001. p. 18.
  8. "Hınıs Haber" (in Turkish). 18 May 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  9. Sinclair, T.A. (1987). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I. London: Pindar Press. pp. 288–9, 320, 325, 330–1, 335. ISBN 0-907132-32-4. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  10. Mahalle, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
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