1. Anthropogeography – History

Talaş is a settlement in Cappadocia, 16 km southeast of Kaisareia, which served as a hub of the villages with Christian population southeast and northeast of Kaisareia.¹ It was built at the northeast foot of Mount Didymos, 1150 metres above sea level.

Turkish-speaking Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Armenians and about 20 families of American Protestants lived in Talaş. The Christian inhabitants of Talaş were taught Greek at school, but did not use it in their everyday life, except at church. The presence of Christian population dated already from the beginning of the 16th century and remained stable throughout the Ottoman period. The Orthodox Christians were the largest ethno-religious group, according to the Ottoman census.² The settlement started to prosper in 1860. This development is connected with migration to Constantinople and Smyrna. Many of the emigrants became wealthy and invested part of their fortune in building luxurious houses in their birthplace. This led to the abandonment of the older, carved houses, which were now used only as cellars.

In the early 20th century there were 2500 families living in Talaş, 1000 of which were Christian Orthodox, 800 Muslim and 700 Armenian.³ According to data from 1905, Talaş had 5000 Christian Orthodox, 4000 Muslims and 4000 Armenians.⁴ Later on, probably as a result of the increased emigration towards the urban centres of the Ottoman Empire but also due to the change in the emigration pattern –emigration of entire families–, there was a drastic reduction in the Christian Orthodox population, who were about 2000 in 1916.⁵ The decline in the number of the Christian Orthodox population must have continued in the following years, since in 1924 only 1091 people, making 225 families, left Talaş because of the population exchange in 1924.⁶

The Turkish name of the settlement, which was also used by the Christians, was Talaş. According to the prevailing local tradition, the name of the settlement came from the local Ottoman official Talaşoglu. In his time the residents abandoned the small settlements of the area and gathered in the position of subsequent Talaş. According to the same tradition, the houses in many of these pre-existing settlements had been carved in the rock and the residents had fled there to protect themselves against Ottoman arbitrariness.⁷ The settlement is also reported as Talaşi and is identified with the older settlement of Moutalaski.⁸ However, according to testimonies of refugees coming from the settlement, the term "Moutalaski" was almost exclusively used at school and not in everyday life.

2. Economy

The land in Talaş, as in many other settlements in Cappadocia, was not very suitable any significant agriculture. Nevertheless, there was a small-scale agriculture aiming to cover the nutritional needs of the families as much as possible, although this was not always possible. Besides, the Talaş Orthodox Christians rarely cultivated their land on their own. On the contrary, they tended to assign this work to Muslim cultivators through farming contracts – usually fifty-fifty. They produced wheat – an almost always deficient crop –, barley, rye, legumes and buckthorns in order to extract dyes for fabrics. Buckthornswas their main source of income, especially after World War I, when its price started to rise. Finally, stock farming should also be mentioned, as it was also oriented towards covering the needs of domestic consumption.

In Talaş there was a local market that served the needs of Moutalaşki as well as of the surrounding villages, such as Stefana, Kermir, Tavlusun and Zincidere. Domestic handicraft was a source of considerable income for many families that wove carpets.

However, the main source of income for the majority of the financially active male population, as the case was in most other settlements in Cappadocia with reduced capabilities of developing significant agricultural production, was emigration towards the urban centres of the Ottoman Empire and abroad. They left their birthplace at a young age, around 14 years old, and were directed to areas that traditionally accepted immigrants from Talaş, such as Constantinople and Smyrna, as well as Mersin, Karaman, Adana, Beirut, Tarsus, Selephkeia (Silifke), Samsun, Kastamonu and Egypt. In these areas they apprenticed beside relatives or compatriots as timber merchants, grocers, stone dressers and carpenters. There were, however, Moutalaski immigrants activating as cotton and fabric merchants. Emigration started systematically during the Crimean War. The pattern of emigration known to other settlements in Cappadocia, was also followed in Talaş. The immigrants maintained their contact with their birthplace on both a personal – their families still lived in Talaş and they visited them regularly – and a collective level. After 1900, the Moutalaski immigrants started bringing their families to the places of their destination and the population of Talaş was significantly reduced.⁹

3. Society – Institutions

3. 1. Administration – Social Stratification

As regards administration, Talaş was a müdürlük reporting to the kaymakamlık and the mutasarrıflık of Kaisareia and the vilayet of Ankara. This was the case until 1916, when the mutasarrıflık of Kaisareia became independent.

A muhtar was the head of the Talaş Orthodox Christians and represented them before the Ottoman authorities. The muhtar performed his duties with the help of a council. At the same time, there were also ecclesiastical boards, one for each church, which were responsible for the smooth operation of the churches and the management of their estate as well as a six-member elective board, which controlled issues of education. Both the ecclesiastical and school boards reported to the dimogerontia, which was the superior community authority along with the muhtar.

As it would be expected in a community with high percentages of emigration, the greatest part of which headed towards the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the emigrants had a significant role in the management of community affairs. The community gathered most of the money required for the operation of various community institutions either through donations and endowments or through property already possessed by the community. This participation was officially established through the formation of a three-member committee of immigrants, who managed the community property in Constantinople.

The various community offices were by no means hereditary. Nevertheless, in the course of time a class of families, which actually monopolised the community offices, was unofficially created.

3. 2. Religion

Moutalaski belonged to the Diocese of Kaisareia (Kayseri). There were five churches in the settlement: Archangel Michael, which was a carved church, Panagia (Virgin Mary, built in 1899 by donations from emigrants to Constantinople), St George, St Charalambos and St Nicholas. All the churches, except for the last one, which opened only on its name day (December 6), operated throughout the year. Apart from these churches, there were also several country churches and chapels, within and outside the settlement.

There were also two Armenian churches in the settlement, one Protestant church and three mosques, as well as separate cemeteries for each ethno-religious group, Christian Orthodox, Armenians, Protestants and Muslims. The American Protestant Mission was also based at Talaş. It had a school – the American College –, an orphanage and a hospital. Finally, the settlement was the hometown of St. Sabbas the Sanctified († 532).¹⁰

3. 3. Education

The oldest testimony regarding the operation of schools of Talaş dates from 1856, when the protestant missionaries founded a school.¹¹ The testimonies regarding the foundation and operation of the other schools of Talaş present significant deviations, at least in what concerns their type and number: in 1892, two primary schools were in operation, one for boys and one for girls, with a total of 277 students and 5 teachers.¹² In 1905 the number of schools seems to have increased significantly, as the mutasarrıf of Kaisareia gave permission for the operation of a semi-high school for boys, three schools of rudimental education for boys and four for girls, as well as for a kindergarten.¹³ Meanwhile and probably due to the reduction in the population brought about after 1900 by emigration, the number of schools was reduced. Therefore, in 1914 a seven-grade school for boys, a six-grade school for girls and two kindergartens were in operation.¹⁴ Only the rich students paid fees and the students coming from poor families were relieved of any expenses. The community was responsible for the school’s operational expenses and for this reason it maintained two inns (han) in Constantinople.

3. 4. Clubs

The people from Moutalaski followed the general tendency in the Ottoman Empire after the Tanzimat reforms, which favoured the establishment of clubs. Unfortunately, there is not enough information about the matter. It is only known that between 1879 and 1880 the educational¹⁵ club "Hellas" operated in Talaş and the Educational Brotherhood "Philadelpheia" (brotherly love) was established on 6 July 1907.¹⁶