Weapons manufacturing in the City of Zeytun

[AvtoGaz]

This is a follow-up to an old post made by user rickystl, linked here:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ng+Balkan+long

A rare long gun with an uncertain origin was posted, which sparked some discussion. I am putting forth the theory that this piece is an example of local production from the city of Zeytun, now called Süleymanlı, in Turkey.

For some historical context, the city of Zeytun and the surrounding district was an Armenian-populated area deep in the highlands of the south central part of modern day Turkey. It is notable for being one of the very few areas in the Ottoman Empire where a ruling Armenian nobility existed well into the second half of the 19th century, being ruled by 4 Armenian princes who had a very high degree of autonomy, largely governing the area by themselves and only paying tax to the Ottoman authorities. Due to these peculiarities, it was also one of the very few areas in the Ottoman Empire where Armenians bore arms, as this was largely forbidden for Christians in areas where the Ottoman government had more direct control. Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, the Ottomans began to encroach on their traditional autonomy, and thus their traditional sense of independence and armed populace enabled them to launch several armed rebellions against the Ottomans, notably in 1862, 1895, and 1915.

Naturally, weapons production was also documented to have taken place here to some degree. Sadly, information on it is very scarce with only a few documents from the early 20th century, which I have not been able to access, detailing it in any real level of detail. With that said, the use of these weapons is extensively documented in the rituals of the Zeytunians, particularly in weddings as detailed here: https://www.houshamadyan.org/arm/map...uscustoms.html

Previously, I also had no luck in finding any examples of the weaponry produced in this area. But this post by rickystl and some further research gave me an idea.

I propose that the weapon posted by rickystl is a rare example of local Zeytun weapons production. I'm basing my logic on a few points

1: Its alleged Turkish/Balkan origin
2: The rarity of the weapon, as Zeytun was a small locale
3: User Eftihis claiming that this is type of weapon is known to Turkish collectors as an "Armenian Gun".
4: The barrel bands which are decorated in Caucasian-like flat niello, a type of decoration which was considered typical of Armenian jewelers in the Caucasus and was also very common on Armenian jewelry produced in the city of Van in Turkey.
5: Perhaps most convincingly of all, I was recently able to find one example of a long weapon with a confirmed Zeytun origin on the archive of the national History Museum of Armenia. While it is blurry, the result speaks for itself. It is of a very similar form with very similar decoration on the butt.https://treasury.am/hy/%D5%B0%D6%80%...B8%D6%82%D5%B6

Let me know what you think. (Linked Photos belong to rickystl and the History museum of Armenia.)

[AvtoGaz]

Upon further research, I've managed to find more definitive evidence as well as many more pictures of such weapons. A Turkish auction house sold some of them, both caplocks and flintlocks, recently where they were described as "Zeytun Ajars", with this being their reported contemporary name: https://www.egemuzayede.com/urun/616...zeytun-acari-o

So all this evidence combined seems to suggest quite definitively that these weapons are of a Zeytun Armenian origin. As far as uniquely Armenian style weapons go, these Zeytun Ajars are one of only two to three that I know of (With the others being Armenian style Kindjals and possibly certain Yatagans), so they hold quite a special place.

More pictures down below (All credit to Auctions Imperial and Eg Muzayede) as well as a picture of the Princes of Zeytun wielding these weapons.

[Ian]

AvtoGaz,

I'm sorry I missed your post a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for your thoughtful and careful research on this gun. While your posts have not yet generated a response from our firearms enthusiasts, it is important to have this information on file in the Archives for future reference.

[AvtoGaz]

Originally Posted by Ian

AvtoGaz,

I'm sorry I missed your post a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for your thoughtful and careful research on this gun. While your posts have not yet generated a response from our firearms enthusiasts, it is important to have this information on file in the Archives for future reference.

My Pleasure

[Martin Lubojacky]

AvtoGaz,
I also thank you for this very interesting research!

[cyten]

I’ve heard from an acquaintance in Turkey that these were referred to as “Zeytuni” as well. The only thing is, I don’t see any Armenian influence in them other than the sun wheel engravings on the stocks and the only two period photos I’ve seen were in use by Arab and possibly Kurdish?

I spent a great deal of time in Armenia and never saw anything that looked like these, there is only one muzzleloader in the Yerevan history museum and it is a Shishane.
But I encourage more research!

[cyten]

There was one in the Istanbul museum however, it is in the photo above^

[AvtoGaz]

Originally Posted by cyten

I’ve heard from an acquaintance in Turkey that these were referred to as “Zeytuni” as well. The only thing is, I don’t see any Armenian influence in them other than the sun wheel engravings on the stocks and the only two period photos I’ve seen were in use by Arab and possibly Kurdish?

I spent a great deal of time in Armenia and never saw anything that looked like these, there is only one muzzleloader in the Yerevan history museum and it is a Shishane.
But I encourage more research!

Well that specific sun wheel symbol (arevakhatch in Armenian) is quite a dead giveaway, it only really carries a significance for Armenian and Georgian people, where its often found on art, tombstones, and what not.

In terms of the photos, the Kurdish gentleman appears to be a Zeytunian or from the surrounding area, given how his dress is almost identical to that of the Zeytun princes which I posted above. (Speaking of that photo, I am assuming both of them are using Zeytun Acaris, given that you can make out a flintlock on the right guys gun and the butt looks far to flat to be a Shishane or Caucasian Rifle). In terms of the Arab using this weapon, Zeytun is not very far from Syria and other Arab-populated regions, so given how trade between Zeytun and the outside world was well documented, its not hard to assume that some of these weapons passed into the hands of foreigners through trade.

Yes, there are no such examples on display in Armenia, but there is definitely at least one extant example attributed to Zeytun in the museum's collection, linked in my original post. PS: Its true our National history museum is quite lacking in its collection of firearms, but if you are ever in Armenia again I recommend visiting the History Museum of Yerevan city. There's quite a large collection of Caucasian style flintlocks on display, some that were owned by the former ruling family of Yerevan the Melik-Aghamalyans.

Now, since writing this post I researched a bit further and found some more references to these weapons in a Turkish study about the region, linked here: https://satemer.sakarya.edu.tr/tr/ic...ytun-isyanlari

Ignoring all the other fluff in this study, it basically details what I already said. Due to its political autonomy, Zeytun was one of the few regions where Armenians could carry arms, and they used this privilege to make their own unique weapon, the Zeytun Acari. Another drawing of them attached, courtesy of this study, attached below

[AvtoGaz]

I wanted to post some more pictures of this gun that I have discovered recently, as well as much more information, for archival purposes.

1: First off, some warriors from Zeytun wielding these guns with the familiar barrel bands on the back, 1899. Notice how some of them are also wielding Caucasian Kindjals. That seemed to be the preferred short cold arm of the Zeytunians, based on available photographs.

2: Next up, a nice pair of percussion Zeytun acaris. The Armenian sun symbol, Arevakhatch, was a prominent decoration on the buttstocks of most of these guns.

3: At least a few of these were much more richly decorated than usual, with decorations similar to those found on many Ottoman yatagans and daggers. I am far from an expert on "mainstream" Ottoman arms, so forgive my lack of knowledge of the terminology and materials used. Below is one such example.

4: Although the production of these weapons was historically pretty much exclusively handled by Armenians in Zeytun, nowadays it is very well known to antique dealers and history enthusiasts all across the Kahramanmarash region. One of these dealers, Cahit Altigoz, recently made a replica of a Zeytun Acari that measures over 3 meters long! He applied for a Guinness World Record, but I'm not sure if he got it.

5: Below is also a picture of the shop of the Cholakyan family of gunsmiths in Zeytun, dated to 1913. Weapons manufacturing was one of the main crafts in Zeytun.

6: Finally, another picture of the princes of Zeytun with all of their weapons. If these weapons were frequently deployed in conflicts against their Turkish neighbors, then they were even more frequently used in feuds between the 4 ruling princely families. For example, in 1804 members of the princely clan of Yakoubian raided the fortress mansion of the Surenian princely clan, which was located on top of a hill on the western side of town. Once inside, they murdered almost everyone belonging to the Surenian clan. Apparently, the dispute was over suspicions that the Surenians were acting as informants to the Turks.