The Regions of Khoy and Salmas in the Travelogues of Western Travellers Between the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Abstract

In the article, a series of excerpts from the travsselogues dealing with the territory north-west of Lake Urmia in Iran, particularly the cities of Khoy and Salmas and the Armenian people who lived there, are considered. The purpose of this research is to document the territorial, economic and social events which characterized this region over time through the textual sources of Western travellers; therefore, unless strictly necessary, the excerpts documenting the ideological, religious, and historical events only (political struggles, wars, invasions, etc.) will not being considered. The most significant texts in English, French, and Italian languages, available on the Internet, were selected starting from the main bibliographic sources: 115 texts (some of them in several volumes) were studied, and 64 authors (diplomats, missionaries, militaries, orientalists, artists and architects) were identified who provided information on the Khoy and Salmas region, ranging from the fifteenth to the early twentieth century. Section 5.1 accounts for the descriptions left to us by Western travellers who visited the city of Khoy. The city was the seat of the Governor of the County of the same name, was equipped with an important bazaar and fortified by clay walls, with an outermost “European” circle. Khoy was therefore the object of particular attention from diplomats and military, especially French and English, with the aim of evaluating the economic potential and the strength of the defences. During a short period of occupation by Russia, there was the opportunity to make a survey of the city and its surroundings that documents the layout of the city and its territory in an exceptional way in the early decades of the nineteenth century. The Governor’s palace and its suburban villa, a prosperous Armenian community and an important Islamic sanctuary were also points of interest for orientalists, archaeologists and architects, who reported interesting descriptions, images and reliefs. Section 5.2 regarding the first Western travellers through Salmas area explains that their main interest was a bas-relief from the Sassanid period, carved on a rock near a village a few kilometres south of Salmas. The different descriptions of this bas-relief and the accompanying drawings and photographs allow you to have interesting information on the emergence of Western interest in Persian archaeology. Salmas and the villages of the countryside were largely inhabited by Christians, Armenians and Assyrians, starting from the first decades of the nineteenth century: for this reason, it was the object of numerous visits by religious, Catholics and Protestants, who founded some missions there. The travel reports describe in great detail these communities and the relationships they had with the local Islamic population.