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Arabgir

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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or ARABKIR (Byz. Arabraces), a town of Turkey in Asia in the Mamuret el-Aziz or Kharput vilayet, situated near the confluence of the eastern and western Euphrates, but some miles from the right bank of the combined streams. Pop. about 20,000, of which the larger half is Mussulman. It is connected with Sivas by a chaussee, prolonged to the Euphrates. The inhabitants are enterprising and prosperous, many of them leaving their native city to push their fortunes elsewhere, while of those that remain the greater part is employed in the manufacture of silk and cotton goods, or in the production of fruit. The present town was built at a comparatively recent date; but about 2 m. north-east is the old town, now called Eski-Shehr, given (c. 1021) to Senekherim of Armenia by the emperor Basil II. It contains the ruins of a castle and of several Seljuk mosques. The Armenian population suffered severely during the massacres of 1895. (D. G. H.)