HISTORY

There are various theories about how the city came to be known as Kars. A well-known Kars-born historian M. Fahrettin Kirzioglu claims that the name came from the Karsak people, a group of Bulgarian Turks who lived in this region for a long time. Another interesting theory has it that the name comes from a particular species of fox found in the area whose white, furry coat made it popular among traders from Afghanistan to Iran, from the Urals region to Europe. This fox, known as Kar-sak, has become extinct but its name survives with the city.

Kars was on the route of the Silk Road, making it a valuable trading location. Georgians referred to the city, where many travelers and traders made a stopover on their journey, as Karis-Kalaki, which means Gate City. The famous traveler Marco Polo mentions these gate cities in his book of travels. Thus it is more likely that the name Kars originated from this phrase, which was used by passing traders and soon spread further afield, including to Europe.

The various trade routes in Anatolia also converged in the Kars plateau. The upper Euphrates route follows the ‘Samsat’ Stream, then crosses the Erzurum plain and trails the Aras River before ending up in Sarikamis. The Black Sea route also reaches Kars via the valley of Coruh. As most of these caravan routes united in Kars, its name was widely known, from Russia to Iran and from India to Germany; even a settlement in Canada was named after the city. It is clear that in those days Kars hosted many guests from many different nations.

Its location on the route to the Caucasus and Central Asia, and the fact that the city changed hands quite frequently, had an effect on the ethnic and demographic structure of Kars. Along with wars and occupations, fires also resulted in the demolition of its cultural and material capital. The biggest fires took place during the Mongolian and Persian occupations, and the last major fire experienced by the city was ignited on 14 October 1920 by the Armenians of Dashnaktsutiun the fire could not be put out for 10 days and many Islamic art works, Ottoman houses and some public buildings were destroyed.

The economic growth of Kars was held back by frequent changes in the city’s rulers. In addition, Kars was never given the status of a major province, which could have given a significant boost to its development, during the reign of the Seljuks and Ottomans. All these, together with population changes due to the occupations, resulted in a narrowing of the province’s economic power, even though the same processes also enriched its cultural texture. Both the conquerors and conquered form a part of the heritage of today’s Kars, and both left their mark on the city.

It requires a certain effort to study the history of Kars. Its position as a border city meant that it was more frequently conquered or occupied than other cities of comparable size, and it was frequently razed to the ground and its population forced to migrate. Nevertheless the city was always re-established and over time its distinctive characteristics emerged. Many of Kars’ contemporaries as trade posts on the Silk Road – Hattusa, Ephesus, Pergamon, Zeugma or Ani – are now only historical sights, but Kars did not come to the same end.

Old city (inner castle neighborhood). Photograph:Yildirim Ozturkkan Archive