"Ardahan" in the Archives of the Russian Empire

Abstract

Ardahan, located in the north-east of our country, is Turkey's gateway to the Caucasus. This city, which is of great importance due to its strategic location, has been conquered many times by various nations throughout history. The Russian Empire, which wanted to reach the warm seas, occupied Ardahan and the city continued its existence as a city under the Kars Oblast within the Tbilisi Guberniya for 40 years. The capture of Ardahan is considered to be the first and greatest achievement of the Russian Empire in the Russian defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Because of this great success, the corps that captured the city was recognised as a hero, so much so that some places in the Russian Empire were named after Ardahan in honour of this victory. Information about the capture of Ardahan, electronic military archives in the Russian Federation, libraries of universities and books on the subject were analysed and the necessary information was obtained. The documents obtained were translated into our language by translation method. Information on the capture of Ardahan was compiled by analysing books on the subject, as well as documents obtained from electronic military archives and university libraries in the Russian Federation. These documents were obtained through translation from our language. In our research, the data in the electronic libraries, archives and some books of the Russian Federation were evaluated and rewritten in the Turkish language. By this study, it is aimed that researchers interested in war and urban historiography can access Russian sources as well as Turkish sources and contribute to future research.