The history of Hamshen and Hamshen Armenians

1. Համշէնահայեր Hemshinlis Hamshentsis The Lost Black Sea Armenians….

2. Who are they? & Where they come from?

3. In the 8th Century and under the pressure of the Arab invasion, Armenian Princes Shabuh and his son Hamam Amadouni leave their lands in North Vasburagan and migrate to the Kachkar Mountains (overlooking the Black Sea). North Vasburagan was the homeland of the Armenian Amadouni Princedom.

4. Vasburagan Black Sea

5. The Princes and their men reach the destroyed city of Tambour in the Kachkar Mountains. Prince Hamam rebuilds the city and calls it Hamamshen (in Armenian means Hamam’s city) Later the name becomes Hamshen (Armenian) and Hemshin (Turkish)

6. Prince Hamam and his men settled in the area surrounding Hamshen which is now known as Firtina Valley Over the years, the Hemshinlis were spread in many regions of the Black Sea Area (Karadere, Hemsin dere, Hopa, Borcka, Rize, Trabzon, Ordu, Samson, Bolu and Sakarya)

7. Between the 8 th and the 14 th centuries, a prosperous Hamshen Princedom survived in the black sea area. The people of Hamshen became known as Hemshinli and their language Hemshintsi (Homshetsna) which is a dialect of the Armenian language

9. Hamshen city was destroyed in 1489 by the Ottoman Army and its last Prince Davit was exiled The exact location of the city is still not known The old history of Hamshen is still under extensive research by historians

10. From 1450 onwards, the Ottomans started forcing the Hemshinlis to convert to Islam Although according to the Holy Qoran, Islam cannot be forced.

11. [256] There is no compulsion in religion

12. The mass conversion was done by threats and by force Those who refused were killed and thrown in Firtina River The survivors had to leave the area

13. According to old stories Firtina river turned RED for many days because of the spilled blood……

14. Churches were converted to Mosques……

15. Family names were changed….. Apelyan became Apeloglu Hakopyan became Akopoglu Vezirian became Veziroglu

16. During the forced conversion, Most of the villages resisted One of the famous Hemshinli heroes was Ter Karapet Hamshentsi from Toroslu Village

17. In the 1800s, Many Hemshinlis fleed to Samson and Ordu and later on to Krasnodar (Russia) and Abkhazya (Georgia). They kept their language and remained Christian. These are known today as the North Hemshinlis

18. Northern

19. Other Hemshinlis fleed to Hopa-Borcka area (Artvin province in Turkey). They kept their language but they were forced to convert after several decades. They are known today as Hopa-Hemshinlis (Eastern)

20. Eastern

21. The Hemshinlis who stayed on their lands (Rize Province in Turkey) lost their religion and gradually lost their language. They speak Hemshinji which is a Turkish Dialect containing many Armenian words. Today they are known as Bash Hemshinli (Western)

22. Western

23. In 1895, the Hemshinlis of Trabzon were massacred

29. It is a long history of wars and bloodshed…

30. …… A history of great People who constantly fought for its Armenian identity

31. Currently, there are 3 groups of Hemshinlis Northern Hemshinli Western (Bash Hemshinli) Eastern (Hopa Hemshinli)

32. Northern Eastern Western

33. No concrete statistics on the total numbers but they are roughly estimated between 500 to 750,000 and mainly living on the coast of the Black Sea (Turkey, Georgia and Russia)

36. Artists

37. Kazim Koyuncu

39. Altan Civelek

40. Harun Topaloglu

43. Firtina Valley

44. Firtina River

45. Old House

46. Another Old House in the mountains

47. Ayder Village (coming from the word Ard-er)

48. Converted Mosque in Hamshen Region….

49. “ Mosque” Entrance

50. Hopa Valley

51. Cheymakchur Village (Jermak chur)

52. Palakchur Village (Parag chur)

53. Kachkar Mountains

54. Zil kale (Fort)

55. Varosh Kale

56. Horon

57. Hemshinli Women

59. The Hamshen civilization fought for centuries to preserve its presence and Armenian Christian Identity

60. However the genocide continues….

61. Most of the Hemshinlis in Turkey have no information about their origins….

62. Their language is no more written….

63. Most of the Armenians have no clue who the Hemshinlis are Or where Hamshen is….

64. … Should they be left to their unknown destiny? or

65. The Armenians have Nat io nal obligations towards their lost sisters and brothers?

66. An old wise man once said :

67. If the Chinese (who are more then 1 billion) knew that there were almost half million lost Chinese somewhere in the world

69. What about the Arm eni ans ???

70. Prepared by Vashdonoglu (www.hemshin.org)

71. KAChKAR Productions (2007)