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The 
 Armenian Kingdom 
 
 OF 
 
 Cilicia 
 
 By 
 
 Vahan M. Enrkjian 
 
 NEW YORK 
 1919 
 
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 The Armenian Kingdom 
 \o^^ of Cilicia 
 
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 (V 
 
 I. 
 
 N the 10th day of November, 1918, a French 
 squadron entered and occupied the port of 
 Alexandretta. The event was joyfully hailed 
 by the Armenians throughout the world as 
 the realization of a dream five centuries old. 
 ine port of Alexandretta was within the boundaries 
 of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. After having 
 been lost, for a short period, to the Mameluke Sultans 
 of Egypt, it was recovered by King Constantine II. in 
 1347, with the assistance of the Knights Hospitallers. 
 The Egyptian armies reappeared a quarter of a cen- 
 tury later, swept the whole country, destroyed the last 
 stronghold of Christianity in the East, and carried 
 away the King, Leon V., to Egypt. Released from 
 his captivity after eight years, the unfortunate prince 
 went to Europe, with the intention of enlisting the 
 sympathies of the Chrictian world. He was accorded a 
 hearty welcome in the court of Charles VI. of France, 
 and a few years afterwards was delegated by Charles 
 to England, as a messenger of peace. The Hundred 
 Years' war was then being waged, and the Armenian 
 King cherished the hope of bringing about a cessation 
 of hostilities between these two greatest powers of 
 Europe, and, eventually, of securing their help for the 
 deliverance of his enslaved fellow-countrymen and the 
 restoration of his throne. In a pathetic address, Xeon 
 depicted before Richard II. and his Parliament at 
 Westminster the distressing picture of the Christians 
 
 1 
 
of the East, and concluded as follows: "The hostility 
 between England and France has continued too long. 
 Both should be urged to be contented with their vast 
 dominions and put an end to this struggle, so that they 
 may be able to drive away the enemies of Christ, and 
 to break the yoke of the Christians of the East, who are 
 daily awaiting your assistance, 0, illustrious princes!" 
 The address made a profound impression upon the 
 august assembly, and the King consented to the post- 
 ponement of hostile operations as requested by his 
 
 SIS 
 
 "cousin," the King of Armenia — "nostre cousyn le roy 
 d'Armenye." But, unfortunately, the fire of mutual 
 hatred was too intense to be extinguished so quickly; 
 no agreement on peace preliminaries could be reached, 
 and Leon, disappointed in his labors and expectations, 
 
 2 
 
 ^^U^i' 
 
returned to Paris, there to descend into his grave on 
 the 29th of November, 1393. 
 
 The last Armenian King passed away, but the Ar- 
 menian nation has ever since clung tenaciously to the 
 hope that the Christian powers of Europe, and espe- 
 cially England and France, would at last come to their 
 rescue. It is only natural, therefore, that the heart of 
 every Armenian should be thrilled by the news of the 
 redemption of the ancient port of Armenia, through 
 the Anglo-French Alliance. 
 
 The term ''Armenia" is generally applied to the re- 
 gion about the Ararat mountains and the upper valleys 
 of the Euphrates and the Tigris, but historically, poli- 
 tically and ethnographically it comprises an area 
 which stretches to the western Taurus chains and to 
 the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean; and it 
 is a matter of fundamental justice and of a vital im- 
 portance to the cause of civilization that this part of 
 the Mediterranean coastland should be included and 
 incorporated in the new Armenian State. 
 
 The two sections of Southeastern Asia Minor, re- 
 spectively known in the fourth century as Cilicia and 
 Euphratensis, and colonized by Armenians long ago, 
 became, on the decline of Byzantine influence, after 
 the advent of the Saracens, dominant Armenian cen- 
 ters.* It is interesting to, know in this same connec- 
 tion that the northern slopes of the Taurus range, the 
 teri»!tOry adjoining Cilicia and designated in the geog- 
 raphy of Moses of Khorene as the First Armenia (Ara- 
 chin Haik) was an original seat from which the Ar- 
 menians proceeded towards Ararat in their eastward 
 
 ♦Arab historians say that the Armenians of the beautiful 
 city of Halal transferred their residence to Sis in 809. Ac- 
 cording to native historians fifty Armenian chiefs immigrated 
 to Cilicia from Sassoun in 900. 
 
movement from Thrace and Hellespont about 1,000 
 years before Christ. 
 
 After the short-lived Empire of Tigranes the Great, 
 who had occupied the territory in 69 B.C., Cilician 
 ports became more and more freely accessible to the 
 Armenians. Most significant is the allusion to the 
 northeastern corner of the Mediterranean as the "Ar- 
 menian Gulf" (Sinus Armenicus) by Ammianus Mar- 
 cellinus, the Latin historian of the fourth century. It 
 was in the second half of the same century that St. 
 John the Chrysostom, writing from his place of exile 
 at Cocussus, the present village of Goksun between 
 Hajin and Zeitun, expressed gratitude for the kind- 
 ness extended to him by the Armenian population of 
 the locality and by the Armenian nobleman, Dioscorus. 
 Bishop Melitus of Antioch, whose pupil Chrysostom 
 had been, was himself an Armenian. According to 
 Theodoret, who lived in the fifth century, the city of 
 Cocussus was in Armenia. The Armenians of those 
 parts had grown so numerous in the sixth century that 
 Catholicos Christopher took special care to warn them 
 against the teachings of Nestorius. During the elev- 
 enth century almost the whole province was gov- 
 erned b}^ Armenian functionaries or feudal lords; 
 such as General Hachadour at Issaurian-Antioch, 
 Oshin at Lambron, Ablgarib at Tarsus, Halgam on the 
 western coastlands, Pazouni in the highlands, Tatoul 
 at Marash, etc. More extensive and almost inde- 
 pendent was the land of Cogh Vassil, the Covasilio 
 of the Western chroniclers, comprising the whole ter- 
 ritory betw^een the Amanus mountains and the Eu- 
 phrates — Kessun, Husnimansour, Raban, Telbashar, 
 Aintab, etc. Most of these domains were soon assim- 
 ilated in the Armenian principality of Cilicia, which 
 was founded by Roupen in 1080, just 35 years after 
 
 4 
 
the fall of the Kingdom of Ani, in Armenia Major. 
 Constantine, successor of Roupen, and other Armenian 
 chiefs extended a hearty welcome to the first Crusaders 
 on their way to the Holy Land in 1098, helped them 
 with supplies and co-operated with them in their fight 
 against the Moslems. This loyalty to the Christians 
 of the West, zealously maintained by the succeeding 
 rulers of the Armenian Principality, was finally re- 
 warded by the Emperor Henry IV., with the bestowal 
 of the kingly title and crown upon the Prince Leon 11. 
 (King Leon I.), 1199. Alexis Angelus, the Byzantine 
 emperor, had anticipated him by conferring kingship 
 upon Leon in 1196. 
 
 This Leon, the Magnificent, is a great figure in Ar- 
 menian history. An able soldier and tactful diplomat, 
 he greatly extended the boundaries and the economic 
 and political strength of the Armenian State. His 
 name kept the surrounding Moslem nations at a re- 
 spectful distance. He defied even the great Saladin. 
 Leon was a personal friend of Richard the Lion- 
 Hearted, and an ally in his campaign against Kyr- 
 Isaac at Cyprus. A few months after he had acted as 
 groomsman at Richard's marriage with the Princess 
 Berengaria, he took part in the siege of Acre, on the 
 Syrian coast, conducted by the English and French 
 forces in 1191. In an old German poem, dedicated 
 to the glories of the leaders of this campaign, we read: 
 
 Kunic Leon von Ubia (Rubinian?) 
 
 Ouch der von Armenia. 
 Cilician Armenia made great strides in the paths of 
 commerce, trade and agriculture under Leon's rule. 
 The population of the country, originally composed of 
 Armenians, Greeks and Syrians, was rapidly increased 
 in numbers not only by Armenians who hailed from 
 the various parts of the Near East, and who came to 
 
 6 
 
live under the shelter of their national flag, but also 
 by European colonists of Syria and Palestine, whose 
 position had become precarious on account of the fall 
 of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187. Even 
 Turkish chieftains declared allegiance to the Arme- 
 nian King in whose justice and generosity they placed 
 perfect confidence.* The progress and prosperity of 
 the country were greatly enhanced by the special 
 privileges granted by Leon to the mercantile nations 
 of Southern Europe by which they were induced and 
 encouraged to send agents and colonists to the Arme- 
 nian State for financial, commercial and industrial 
 enterprises. The political organization, the various 
 departments of administration and the royal court 
 were modeled after those of Europe; intermarriage be- 
 tween Armenian and European princely houses was 
 frequent, and institutions of learning under the native 
 clergy and Latin religious orders were established in 
 many localities. t As a consequence of these activities, 
 connections, and reforms, and because of its rich na- 
 tural resources, the country soon flourished "paradise- 
 like," to use the expression of Vahram, a contemporary 
 poet-historian. Sis, the capital, was embellished with 
 
 *We have the testimony of Ibn-el-Bibi, the historian of the 
 Turkish Seljuk dynasty, that Sultan Keykaous of Cesarea, on 
 one occasion promised to Leon by oath and in writing "never 
 again to attack the Armenian forts, and also to send a provi- 
 sion of 12,000 measures (medd) of wheat to Armenistan (Ar- 
 menia)." 
 
 tAlmost all the queens of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem 
 were Armenians. Arta, the daughter of Thoros I., married 
 Baudouin I., the first king of Jerusalem. Marcile, the daughter 
 of Prince Gabriel of Malatia, married Baudouin de Bourg. 
 Melissanth, their eldest daughter, became the Queen-Regent 
 of her son Baudouin III. Rita, the daughter of Leon I., mar- 
 pied Jean de Brienne, the titular King of Jerusalem. On the 
 other hand, many of the Armenian kings had married European 
 princesses. 
 
 7 
 
ill 
 
 I?! 
 
 Ill 
 
palaces, public and private buildings, hospitals and 
 orchards.! Magnificent churches were erected for the 
 different nationalities and creeds of the city — for the 
 Armenians, Greeks, Franks, Genoese, Venetians, Geor- 
 gians and Syrians. Canon Willebrand of Oldenbourg, 
 who visited Sis in 1211, describes it as "the residence 
 of innumerable and wealthy inhabitants." The hymn- 
 ology of the Roman Catholic Church refers to this 
 city as "Sis Christianorum." 
 
 Most wonderful w^as the part played in the life of the 
 little kingdom, by the port of Ayas. Situated a few 
 miles west of the modern town of Youmurtalik, on the 
 western shores of the Armenian Gulf almost facing 
 Alexandretta, Ayas became a thriving emporium, 
 where were exchanged the wares and merchandise of 
 the West and the East. There was a time lasting 
 about a hundred years, when all the eastern and 
 southern Mediterranean coast was under Moslem 
 domination, and, therefore, dreaded or tabooed by Eu- 
 ropean vessels. Then the overland routes of the Asiatic 
 world could be reached only through the safe haven of 
 Ayas — the 'Tortus Ayacii, Domini Regis Ermenie."* 
 
 JQueen Zabelle used to attend the sick in the hospital 
 founded by herself in 1214. 
 
 *Ayas was favored also by its geographical position. The 
 Armenian Gulf, about forty-five miles long and about twenty- 
 five miles wide, is protected against the winds by the encircling 
 mountains. For many years past, this gulf has served as a 
 winter shelter to the British Squadron of the Eastern Mediter- 
 ranean. Ayas is mentioned as Leyyes in the "Canterbury 
 Tales" of Chaucer. The Treasury of the kingdom received 
 enormous sums of money from duties imposed upon the im- 
 portations and exportations. Otherwise it would have been 
 impossible to carry on the incessant wars against the enemies, 
 and to reconstruct the country after so many incursions. The 
 Custom House of Ayas was called "Pajdoun" by Armenians or 
 'Tasidonium" by Europeans. 
 
Says Marco Polo, the Venetian traveler, who started 
 from Ay as in 1271 for his journey to China: 
 
 'The Armenians have a city on the sea, which is 
 called Layas, where a great trade is carried on. Be- 
 cause, you must know, all sorts of spices, silken and 
 gold-braided goods and other precious wares are 
 brought from the interior to this city. The merchants 
 of Venice and Genoa and other countries come to this 
 place to sell and to buy goods. And whoever wishes 
 to travel to the East, be he merchant or otherwise, 
 sets out from this city of Layas." 
 
 Previously, in 1269, Marco Polo's uncle had sailed 
 from Ayas to Acre on an Armenian vessel. 
 
 The immense importance which Ayas attained as a 
 commercial and political base of operation was looked 
 upon as a peril by the Moslem nations of the period, 
 and especially by the Sultans of Eg>^pt; they deter- 
 mined to capture that city, to destroy the Armenian 
 kingdom, and thereby to wipe out all Christian in- 
 fluence in the East.* 
 
 It is impossible to read without the deepest emo- 
 tion, the annals of the bitter struggle waged by the 
 Armenians, from the second half of the thirteenth 
 century to the end of the fourteenth, against the 
 Egyptian armies and the Seljuk and Turkoman hordes. 
 The nations of the West displayed much concern about 
 Armenia; the Roman See was particularly solicitous 
 
 ♦Merchants came to Ayas from the following cities and 
 countries: Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Pavia, Mantua, Livorno, Flo- 
 rence, Spain, Catalonia, Sicily, Barcelona, Saragossa, Marseilles, 
 Provence, Nimes, Narbonne, Montpellier, Constantinople, 
 Trebizond, Egypt, Syria. There are documents concerning 
 commercial relations between Flemish countries and Armenia. 
 Armenian merchants were established in Europe, chiefly in 
 Italy and France. Thirty-six Italian cities had Armenian 
 centers or hostelries (Hay-doun). 
 
 10 
 
KING LEON IV. 
 (1320-1342) 
 
about her fate; men like Marino Sanuto — the Italian 
 diplomat and traveler — sounded the alarm in her be- 
 half, but no practical step was taken beyond the ex- 
 pressions of sympathy, which, in fact, were productive 
 of more harm than good. The situation may be best 
 realized by the following lines from Rainaldi: ''While 
 these peoples (the Europeans) were fighting with the 
 heathen by wishes and writings only, they (the Egyp- 
 tians) were destroying Armenia by sword and fire; 
 while the King of France (Philip of Valois) was 
 thundering his threats in the West, and while preachers 
 proclaimed the rewards of the Crusader, the infidels 
 on the other side, irritated by reports of enormous 
 preparations, were falling upon the Christians with all 
 their might." 
 
 The Armenians were left to themselves, indeed, but 
 the}^ did not lose heart. Their warriors bravely faced 
 terrible odds and their leaders steered the bark of 
 State with great sagacity. Students of the history of 
 the Crusaders give credit to Armenian diplomacy for 
 securing the good-will of the Tartar Emperors of the 
 age. The Tartars emerging from Central Asia and 
 spreading toward the West, bitterly contested with 
 the Sultans of Egypt the supremacy in the Near East, 
 and the custody of Mediterranean ports. The Chris- 
 tian powers heartily welcomed the appearance of the 
 Tartar, as a rival of their own formidable foe, saw 
 in him a prospective ally, and endeavored to cultivate 
 friendly relations with him. This disposition met a 
 ready response from the Tartar Khans, who, though 
 Buddhists by faith, were not really interested in re- 
 ligion, but were shrewd enough to pretend to an in- 
 clination toward Christianity. Accordingly their Gen- 
 erals occasionally attended Christian ceremonies, per- 
 mitted Christian clergy to conduct services for the 
 
 12 
 
ARMENIAN CAVALRYMAN 
 
Christian soldiers of their army, and themselves took 
 Christian women in marriage. The missionaries of 
 Islam were more successful, however, and the Tartars 
 finally adopted the religion of Mohammed to the bitter 
 disappointment of the Europeans and Armenians. But 
 even then the Khans tried to win the nations of the 
 West to their side. Speaking of Ghazan, who had em- 
 braced the Moslem faith, Michaud, the well-known 
 historian, says: 
 
 ''It is suprising indeed to see that a Mongol Em- 
 peror should strive to fan the crusading spirit among 
 the princes of the Christian world. It is surprising to 
 see that barbarians, from the banks of the Jaxardes 
 and the Oxus rivers, should stand on Golgotha and 
 Zion, awaiting for the troops of France, Germany and 
 Italy to come to fight the enemies of Christianity." 
 
 That Ghazan Khan, thoug converted to Islam, 
 was really prompted by political motives only, may 
 be proved by the following lines addressed to him by 
 Sultan Nassir of Egypt: 
 
 'The Apostle of God has said that he is a Moslem 
 whose hands and tongue never harm others. Thou 
 hast harshly treated Moslem prisoners and delivered 
 them to the Tacavor* and to the Armenians. This is 
 against the spirit of charity, which thou claimest to 
 possess." 
 
 *Tacaior means King in the Armenian language. The refer- 
 ence here is to King Hethoum II., who had entered Damascus 
 and Jerusalem as an ally of Ghazan in 1300. 
 
 14 
 
II. 
 
 T is evident that the Armenians were deep- 
 ly interested in the creation of an entente 
 between the Tartars and the European 
 powers, and that they earnestly strove to 
 
 achieve that end.* Simpad, the Constable 
 
 or Commander-in-chief of Armenia, and later King 
 Hethoum I. himself, personally repaired to the court 
 of Mangou Khan with the object of securing his friend- 
 ship for the Armenians, and of laying the foundation 
 of a future alliance between the Tartars and Eu- 
 ropeans.t The policy of Hethoum and his successors, 
 though it greatly helped in the protection of the Chris- 
 tians of Asia and the defense of the Armenian King- 
 dom of Cilic ia, was not crowned with an enduring 
 
 *Simon, an Assyrian priest, came to Sis in 1243, as an envoy 
 from the Khan of the Tartars. 
 
 Abagha Khan, writing to European powers in 1269, requested 
 them to concentrate their forces in Sis. 
 
 tWe have a precious document in the letter written by Sim- 
 pad to his sister, the consort of the King of Cyprus from Sa- 
 marcand, dated Feb. 6th, 1248. The letter is addressed as fol- 
 ows: A tres haut et puissant homme Monseigneur Henry par 
 la grace de Die roy de Chipre, et a sa chiere suer Emmeline la 
 royne et a noble homme Jehan de Hibelin son frere, li Con- 
 noitables de Ermenie salut et amour " 
 
 Half a century later, in 1301, Hethoum of Gorigos, the 
 Monk-Prince, personally offered to the Pope, Clement V a 
 book written by himself about Tartary, under the following 
 title: Le livre de la fleur des histoires de la terre d'Orient 
 Le quel livre Hayton Seigneur de Core, cousin germain du roy 
 ae Armenie compilla." 
 
 15 
 
HETHOUM I. AND ZABELLE 
 
 GOLDEN SEAL OF LEON I. 
 
 SIGNATURE OF HETHOUM L 
 
success. After a series of victorious campaigns in 
 Syria and Palestine, in which the Armenian troops 
 under Leon 11. and Hethoum II. took part (1277 and 
 1300) , the Mongol-Tartars gradually declined in power 
 and lost their interest in Armenians. The European 
 nations on the other hand, always divided by mutual 
 jealousies and more mindful of their own selfish ends 
 than of their moral obligations, did practically nothing 
 in response to the distressing cries of Armenia. And 
 while the churches and the monasteries of this unhappy 
 land were given over to fire and destruction, and while 
 Christian blood was flowing in torrents, Latin mis- 
 sionaries were eagerly trying to purge the Armenian 
 Church of heretical doctrines and teachings. A fund 
 of 30,000 florins ($72,000) sent by Pope John XXII. 
 in 1334, for the reconstruction of Ayas, after a de- 
 structive attack by the Egyptians, was held back by 
 the Papal Legate, pending the settlement of certain 
 theological controversies. 
 
 The Armenians might, even at that late hour, have 
 insured the safety of their country had they consented 
 to break with the Western world, and to "cease sending 
 envoys or letters to the Roman Pontif," as was stip- 
 ulated in a treaty forced upon Leon IV. by Sultan 
 Nassir.* But that was an impossibility. Whatever 
 
 *Baghdin of Nigher and Abbot Thoros of Trazarg, the spe- 
 cial envoys from King Oshin, were received by King Edward 
 I. of England in 1317. 
 
 Bishop Hagop of Gaban and his interpreter Baron Krikor 
 were sent to Europe at a later date to plead the cause of Ar- 
 menia. 
 
 The kings of France, Navarre, Aragon and Bohemia had 
 promised in 1333 to join in an expedition to the East to help 
 Armenia against the Moslems. 
 
 Edward III. of England wrote to Leon IV. in 1342, expressing 
 his sympathy and promising his aid. 
 
 The following is part of the decree of Philip directing his 
 
 17 
 
the exigencies of their geographical position and their 
 political isolation may have been the Armenians 
 cherished an indomitable loyalty to Christian ideals 
 and traditions; so they kept up the fight until, bled 
 white and utterly exhausted, they fell on the field of 
 honor. 
 
 That this last episode in the story of independent 
 Armenia is full of romance is admitted by those who 
 have studied its history. Its existence, not more than 
 300 years, although not much longer than that of some 
 of its contemporary neighboring States, was equalled 
 only by the Island Kingdom of Cyprus.f But com- 
 paratively short though its duration was, the Armenian 
 Kingdom of Cilicia, this Christian islet in a stormy 
 
 Treasurers to send to Armenia the sum of 10,000 Florins for 
 relief work. This sum was to be sent in three yearly install- 
 ments. 
 
 "Philippes par la grace de Dieu, roy de France, a nos ames 
 et feaus les gens de nos Comptes et nos Tresoriers a Paris, 
 salut et dilictiom. Pour ce que nostre tres chier cousin le Roy 
 d'Armenie nous a signifie que les Sarasins de par de la le guer- 
 royoient efforciement, nous voulons le faire aide, pour ce qu'il 
 puisse mieux garder ses chastioux et son pays, et resister aus 
 dis Sarasins si que le diet pays d'Armenie, qui est pays con- 
 venable, si comme Ton dit, a recevoir nous et nos gens, si nous 
 y transporterons pour le Saint Voyage d'Outremer, duquel 
 faire Dieu aydant, nous avons grant devotion et desir, soit 
 retenu et ne puisse estre print ou greve par les Sarasins 
 mescreants; avons donne au dit Roy et donnons de grace 
 especiale par des Lettres dize mille florins d'or de Florence, 
 pour estre convertis en la garde de diets chastiaux et pays, . ." 
 
 tThe following list shows the duration of the States: 
 The Frankish Principality of Edessa, 46 years; the Latin 
 Kingdom of Jerusalem, 88 years ; the Principality of Tripoli of 
 Syria, 180 years; the Principality of Antioch, 169 years; the 
 Principality of Accon or Acre, 187 years; the Seljuk Sultanate 
 of Roum, 213 years; the Latin Empire of Constantinople, 57 
 years; the Greek Empire of Trebizond, 258 years; the King- 
 dom of Cyprus, 295 years. 
 
 18 
 
J! 'iic: 
 
Moslem ocean was the scene of many an act of valor 
 and chivalry. The crisis was reached during the sec- 
 ond half of the fourteenth century, when all vestiges 
 of European dominion in the Levant had vanished by 
 the fall, one after another, of Acre, Tyre and Tripoli 
 before the mighty power of Sultan Ashraf Kalavoun. 
 The Armenians had, therefore, to face the situation 
 single-handed. And they did full justice to their rep- 
 utation as good soldiers. They performed in that hour 
 of sacrifice many supremely heroic exploits, thereby 
 prolonging their national independence. The Arme- 
 nian garrison of Ayas, 600 strong, twice repulsed the 
 army of Sultan Nassir. On another occasion 200 Ar- 
 menian warriors, in charge of the defence of a defile 
 in the Amanus, entrapped 18,000 Moslem cavalry- 
 men and put 6,000 of them out of action. Those were 
 the days of Libarid, whose name spread terror among 
 the marauding Turks and Turkomans, and of Zarman- 
 toukht, the heroine, who with her own hands slew two 
 Turkish generals: Omar in the plains of Adana and 
 Ali in the plains of Sis. 
 
 I will not go into further detail concerning the ser- 
 vices rendered by the Armenians to the cause of Chris- 
 tion civilization, their unflinching loyalty to the West- 
 ern powers, and their inflexible determination to de- 
 fend, to their last breath, the independence of their 
 country. The conclusion to be derived from the mani- 
 fold and touching events of that period has been thus 
 summed up by Victor Langlois: "Numerous are those 
 events, those brilliant traditions," he writes, "and how- 
 ever lamely we may follow the course of Armenia's 
 victories and progress; however hastily we may ex- 
 amine the organization of her aristocracy and clergy; 
 however slightly we may study her relations with the 
 Western Nations, and the wars which she waged 
 
 20 
 
against the Moslems, still shall we see that. . . the 
 historical documents of this country contain the mem- 
 ories of a glorious past." 
 
 Yet it is not "the glorious past" alone which gives 
 the Armenians the strongest proof of their title to this 
 region. The Armenians have continued to constitute 
 ever since the overthrow of their Kingdom of Sis, the 
 most vital element of their invaded territory. The 
 Egyptian conquest was neither complete nor lasting. 
 The western coastland was held for almost another 
 century by the Venetians and in the uplands there 
 arose a number of independent communities. The Ot- 
 toman Turks entered Cilicia in 1487 under Sultan 
 Bayazid, but they could not consolidate their domina- 
 tion; their authority was hotly contested by the Ra- 
 mazans, the Zulkadrians, the Karamans, and the 
 Egyptians. The Ottoman dominion in this province 
 was still unsettled as late as the middle of the nine- 
 teenth century. One Dada Bey was holding Payas, 
 north of Alexandretta, in 1825; Ibrahim Pasha of 
 Egypt was in possession of Adana in 1840; Sarkhand 
 Oglou ruled between Sis and Marash in 1859, and 
 Kozan Oglou was supreme until 1866. 
 
 Last but not least of the free centers of Cilicia was 
 that of the Armenian district of Zeitun, whose semi- 
 autonomous rights were guaranteed by the Six Powers, 
 after its victory over the Turkish troops in 1895. A 
 certain degree of freedom was enjoyed also by the 
 Armenians of the Black Mountains, known by the 
 Turks as the Ghiavour Dagh — the Infidels' Mountains. 
 
 Notwithstanding the turbulent condition of the 
 country and the periodical outbursts of Moslem fan- 
 aticism, the Armenians maintained their predominance 
 in the eastern part of Cilicia, their number there being 
 not less than 200,000. In Cilicia as a whole the Mos- 
 
 21 
 
TOMB OF LEON V. IN THE BASILICA OF 
 ST. DENIS, FRANCE 
 
lems form a majority of the population, but they 
 represent a variety of races, all alien to one another — 
 Turkoman, Turk, Kurd, Tcherkess, Arab, Persian, etc. 
 The Turkomans, who constitute the largest percent- 
 age of the Moslem inhabitants, are mostly nomadic 
 tribes, such as the Varshaks, Yuruks, and the Afshars. 
 The tribes of- Bozan and Hayoug are of Armenian 
 ancestry. There are a considerable number of osten- 
 sibly Turkish families who bear Armenian names, and 
 who are the result of forcible conversion to Moham- 
 medanism. Many Armenian words used in the do- 
 mestic life of the Turks suggest the same situation. 
 It is a frequent practice for Turkish women to bring 
 their sick children to the Armenian church to have 
 the gospel read over them for their recovery ; and also 
 to send offerings to the church and to invoke the 
 prayers of the congregation in hours of distress. 
 
 Not content with deporting and slaughtering the 
 Armenians in these later years, the criminal govern- 
 ment of Turkey has attempted also to wipe out all evi- 
 dence of Armenian activities in the past. They have de- 
 molished the Patriarchal throne, and have pillaged 
 the treasures of the Monastery of Sis, which stands on 
 the site of the royal palace; they have desecrated the 
 tombs of the Armenian kings and queens; they have 
 pulled down the remains of old princely mansions 
 and stations. But although the Turks were able to 
 obliterate many priceless monuments of the past ages, 
 the memories of what Gustave Schlumberger calls 
 the "glorious Christian kingdom of Lesser Armenia" 
 are imperishable. There, still towering beyond the 
 reach of the destroying Turk, their battle-scarred 
 flanks marked with Armenian inscriptions, are many 
 castles and fortresses. There, reduced to ruins or con- 
 verted into Moslem mosques, are picturesque churches, 
 
under the vaults of which preachers (like Nerses of 
 Lambron, the saintly Archbishop of Tarsus) held cos- 
 mopolitan congregations spell-bound with the power 
 of their oratory. There we have monasteries, perched 
 on the slopes, or hidden in the fastnesses of the Taurus 
 and Amanus ranges, where the Armenian monk piously 
 prayed for the success of the Christian armies, and 
 assiduously copied the Bible or the works of the 
 Ancient Fathers. And not only these, but included in 
 numismatic collections, are a variety of coins in 
 silver and in gold, bearing the names of Armenian 
 kings and queens; and preserved in European muse- 
 ums and archives, are the parchments of treaties and 
 decrees emanating from the Court of Sis.* We have, 
 finally, the testimony of the chroniclers of the Middle 
 Ages to the effect that this territory, once a center of 
 Armenian life and energy, and always soaked with 
 the blood of Armenian heroes or martyrs, was the 
 Armenie of the European, the Armenokilikia of the 
 Greek, the Bilad-el-Armen of the Arab, and the Ar- 
 menistan of the Turk himself. 
 
 May we not hope that, as one of the crowning vic- 
 tories of the cause of justice, and as one of the most 
 glorious results of the Peace Congress, the Arme- 
 nian flag will flutter once more on the topmasts of 
 Armenian vessels which shall sail forth from what was 
 the Mare Armeniaef 
 
 *The figures and inscriptions on these coins vary. Some of 
 them have the picture of the King, or a standing lion with a 
 cross in his hand. On the reverse side, after the name of the 
 king, are the words: "By the power of God, King." Or: "Cast 
 in the city of Sis, to the Glory of God." 
 
 A silver coin bears the picture of King Hethoum I. and 
 Queen Zabelle. The most common currency was the Taca- 
 vorin which was called Tacorin or Taccolino by Europeans, 
 and Tacvourieh by the Egyptians. It was a silver piece, 
 equivalent to about twelve cents in American money. 
 
 24 
 
 3477^-140 
 12-60 
 
CILICIA, ARMENIA 
 
 Note: The southern frontiers of the Armenian Kingdom ex- 
 tended as far as the Cape of Ras Khanzir (Hog's Head). That 
 part of the country was conquered by Prince Thoros I. in 1155. 
 "The province of Rhossus and the fort of Baghras were taken" 
 soon after, by Leon I. according to Vahram, the Armenian 
 chronicler. Ibn-Alathyr, the Arab historian tells us that Bagh- 
 ras was reconstructed by Leon, whom he calls "Ibn-Leon, 
 Sahib-el-Armen." During the protracted conflict between that 
 ruler and the Prince of Antioch, this city was thrice captured 
 by the Armenians: in 1203, 1206 and 1217. 
 
 Adan, the prince of Baghras, held the highest rank among the 
 45 foedal barons who attended the coronation of Leon, in 
 1199, and declared their allegiance to him. 
 
 Bishop Gulielmus of T5T:e speaks of the territory of Port 
 Bounel, south of Alexandretta, as the entrance to Armenia 
 d' entree d' Ermenie). 
 
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 VAHAN M. iOJRKJIAN 
 
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 New York City