The history of Melazkert, such as we see the city in these ruins, appears to be little better than unknown. We turn in vain to the pages of Saint Martin or of Ritter even for a few cardinal facts. If the story of the empire of the Grand Comneni, as unravelled by the labours of Fallmerayer, still remains in the vivid language of its illustrious exponent a phantom picture, lacking the reality of life, then the mediæval kingdom of the Armenian kings who reigned in Melazkert may be described as but the shadow of a shade. Their capital occupied the site of one of the oldest of Armenian cities, and derived its name from Manavaz, the son of the mythical Hayk. [230] It was possessed by princes of this name during the Arsakid period, tracing their descent to the progenitor of the Armenian race. [231] Melazkert was known to the Byzantines as an independent city; but, like Ani, it fell during the eleventh century to the arms of Alp Arslan. The same century witnessed the defeat of the Byzantine Cæsar by the Seljuk conqueror in the neighbourhood of its walls. The fate of Ani appears to have been repeated on the banks of the Murad, for the city can never have recovered under its Mohammedan rulers. At the present day the Armenians, to whom it owed prosperity, have been almost driven away from the neighbourhood. At Hasuna we observed one of their deserted graveyards; and again another between that village and the town. These and the crumbling towers and churches of the ancient fortress are the melancholy landmarks of the progressive ruin of the Armenian inhabitants. [232] CHAPTER XV FROM MELAZKERT TO AKHLAT In one of the ancient towers of the wall on the west was residing a Kurdish chief, surrounded by a posse of his followers. Perhaps he was in some sense a hostage to the Government, or perhaps he was acting in a representative capacity towards the five regiments of Hamidiyeh, each with 500 men, which, he assured me, were furnished by his tribe. His name is Riza Bey, and he is the brother of Fethulla Bey, chief of all Hasananli. His brother resides in the village of Dignuk, on the right bank of the Murad near Melazkert. Riza Bey came to visit us in the citadel and I returned his visit in the tower. His window commanded a fine prospect over the alluvial plain in the direction of the Murad--all the detail, of crumbling cemetery, of willow-grown hollow, of channelled flats, framed by the deep embrasure. My host was seated on a divan, covered with a beautiful Kurdish kilim; he was readily distinguished by his ferocious black moustache. He gave evasive answers to my questions about the annual trainings; one hears so very much, and one sees so very little of this formidable Hamidiyeh! Melazkert is a kind of headquarters for the force; and I feel sure that, if even one regiment were in actual existence, it would have been paraded for our benefit.