SIVAS,
or SIWAS, a town in Asia Minor, on the north bank
of the river Kizil-Irmak, in 39° 25' N. lat. and
36° 55' E. long;. 165
geographical miles south-west by west from
Trebizond, and 87 north-east from Kayseri. It is the
capital of a pashalic which comprehends the whole
eastern part of Asia Minor, and which still bears
the name of Rum, or Rumiyah, which was applied to
the whole Turkish empire before its expansion.
The valley of the Kizil Iimak, the ancient Halys,
here spreads out into a broad and fertile plain.
The situation being level, with the exception of
only one small circular elevation in the
south-west, the whole city is seen to much
advantage when approached from the north. It is
interspersed with trees, without being buried in
them, like most of the towns in these parts. The
great number of chimneys seen above the
house-tops indicate that the winter is severe;
and the inhabitants affirm that it is as cold as
at Erzerum. The houses are well-built, partly
tiled, partly flat-roofed, and intermingled with
gardens. These, with the numerous minarets, give
a cheerful aspect to the place. The bazaars are
extensive and well stocked with good 8, including
many of British manufacture. The consumption of Sivas
itself, and the circumstance of its furnishing
supplies to many places, causes its transit-trade
to be extensive. Sivas is inhabited by about 6000
families, of whom 1000 or 1100 are Armenians, and
the rest Moslems. The place was once called
Cabira, a name that was changed to Diopolis by
Pompey, and subsequently to Sebaste. Sivas is a
corruption of the word Sebaste. It was
the theatre of the great contest, in 1401 A.d., between
Bajazet and Timur, in which the former was
defeated. An Armenian historian states that
the town then contained 120,000 souls; and that
it capitulated to Timur, on condition that their
lives should be spared, which condition he most
barbarously violated.
(Mr.
Johnston's Journal, in the American
Missionary Herald, Oct. 1837; and Mr. Consul
Suter's Journal, in London Geographical
Journal, 1841.)
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