DIARBEKIR, a city of Asiatic .Turkey, and capital of thepashalic of Diarbekir, situated on a mass of basaltic rock, which rises in an eminence on the western bank of the Tigris, the stream of that river flowing by the foot of this hill from north-east to south-west, as it makes a sharp bend in that direction from the northward. The form of the town is very nearly circular. It is about three miles in circuit, and is encompassed by a lofty thick wall of black stone. This wall, which is supposed to be a work of the Romans, is fortified by numerous round and square towers at irregular intervals, which being high, and strongly built of hewn stone, present an appearance of great strength. The most strongly fortified portion of the city is on the north, where the square towers are very thickly placed, and there isalongbattery ofguns mounted, pointing through covered embrasures; but the whole is now in a neglected and ruinous condition. The town is also environed by a ditch. The city hasfour gates, which lead toMardin,to Asia Minor or Rumelia, to the mountains of Armenia and Koordistan, and to the river. The citadel, standing about midway between the two last-mentioned gates, is thus in the north-east angle of the town, and, seated on the eminence of rock in that quarter, overlooks the stream of the Tigris below, and, by its elevation, commands the whole of the town. It is surrounded by a wall, is divided into many courts, and contains the palace of the pasha, which is rather a commodious than a splendid building. Attached to it are extensive stables and an open space, in which the horses and the horsemen are exercised. Onc of the places used as a stable presents the ruins of a handsome and noble edifice, with finely-constructed domes of brickwork, and a beautiful door with columnsand pilasters, the remains, as Mr Buckingham observes, of an old Christian building. The citadel is now almost completely in ruins. There is a fine view of the town from this height. The houses are built of black basalt in the lower stories, and of dark-coloured brick in the upper ones; this, with a succession of flat terraces, gives a sameness and gloominess to the aspect of the town, which, however, is somewhat relieved by the view of the mosques, towers, and little garden-plots seen in different parts of the town. The houses present a handsome appearance, and many of them are elegant. Of the mosques seen from the citadel, there are fifteen with minarets, nine having circular shafts and galleries in the Mahommedan style, and the remaining six having square towers, after the manner of Christian churches. There are five other mosques with domes or cupolas only, and several smaller ones, making altogether twenty-five Mahommedan places of worship. Among the minarets of the mosques, some were observed by Mr Buckingham, to w hose travels in Mesopotamia we are chiefly indebted for this account of Diarbekir, to be highly sculptured; and in several of the square towers were intermixed layers of red burnt brick, mixed with masonry of stone, after the manner of the Roman towers in the walls of Antioch. Amidst the ruins of the castle some fine arches of highly burnt bricks were also observed, which, from their form, as well as material, looked more like Ro man than Saracenic work. The bazars and baths contain brick work of a similar kind, which Mr Buckingham thinks is decidedly Mahommedan. Broken columns of black coral are seen scattered in different quarters of the town; and among these are several Ionic capitals of Greek origin. Of the Christian churches, the Armenians have two, one of them large and richly decorated, and the other smaller, but more tastefully adorned. The Catholics have one church, with a convent attached to it; the Syrians and the Greeks have also each a place of worship; and the Jews have a small synagogue for their service. There are upwards of twenty baths in the town, and about fifteen khans or caravanserais. The Khan Hassan Pasha is particularly fine; and in its lower court the corn-market is usually held. Its magazines within the piazza, which runs round this, are generally filled with goods. In the upper galleries are carried on several trades and manufactures. There are also convenient lodgings here for travellers; and there is an upper story, with apartments for the harems or families of those who may sojourn here, with kitchens, fire-places, and other domestic conveniences. The bažars are well supplied with goods of all descriptions, and during the hours of business are thronged with people. They arc, however, narrow, crooked, and mostly roofed over with wood, being neither so regularly laid out, nor so well covered in, as they generally are in the large towns of Turkey. The manufactures of the town are chiefly silk and. cotton stuffs, printed muslins, shawls, and handkerchiefs, morocco leather in skins of all colours, smiths’ work in hardware, and pipes for smoking, made of the jasmin branch, covered with muslin, and embroidered with gold and silver thread. About 1500 looms are supposed to be employed in the weaving of stuffs; and there are about 300 printers of cotton, with as many manufacturers of leather in the skin, besides shoemakers, saddlers, and other workmen. There are 100 smiths, and 150 makers of ornamented pipe-stems, besides those who make the clay-bath, amber mouth-pieces, &c. European cloths are introduced here through Aleppo, as well as most of the glass-ware, which is of German manufacture; fine muslins, Cashmere shawls, spices, and drugs, are brought from India through Bagdad. The common manufactures for domestic uses are supplied at home, and provisions and fruit are abundant and cheap.

The governor of the pashalic and city of Diarbekir has the dignity of three tails, and is immediately dependent on the sultan. He has a force under him of 1000 men, of whom more than one half arc Turkish cavalry, and the remainder Turkish and Albanian foot. There are, besides, several petty chiefs among the Turks and the Koords, who are bound, for certain privileges which they enjoy, to furnish each his contingent of troops on the pasha’s requisition. The people, though accustomed to despotic rule, consider the government of the pasha as secure; though, according to Mr Buckingham, there were few Turkish towns in which there seemed to be more of personal liberty, competence, and comfort, among all classes of people.

From the circumstance of the walls and buildings of this city being constructed almost wholly of black stone, it is called by the Turks Kara Amid, or the Black Amid. Its ancient name was Amida; the name of Diarbekir proceeds chiefly from the Arabs, as the name of Amid is still used by the Turks in all their public writings. Amida was successively taken, retaken, and destroyed, in the ancient wars between the Persians and Romans. It was pillaged by Tamerlane in the year 1393; and successive sieges and captures followed by the Persian kings, until it was conquered and taken by Selim, the first sultan of the Osmanlee Turks, in the year 1515. In 1605 it again fell [7:8:9]under the power of Persia; but it was afterwards retaken by the Turks, under whose dominion it has since continued. General Gardanne computes the population at 80,000, Macdonald Kinneir at 38,000, and Mr Buckingham, the latest traveller, at 50,000. The great majority consist of Osmanlee Turks, who are soldiers, government officers, merchants, and mechanics. The Armenians, who are the next numerous class, amount to 1000 families. The Arab, Turkish, and Armenian followers of the Catholic communion number 500 families, the Syrian sect 400, and the Greeks about 50 families. Almost all the Jews have of late emigrated to Bagdad, Aleppo, or Constantinople. The inhabitants of Diarbekir are thought to be more fanatical in their hatred of Christians than in other parts of the empire. This place is 187 miles north-west of Mardin, 220 north-east of Orfah, and 350 north-east of Aleppo. Long. 39. 52. E. Lat. 37. 55. N.