Bayazid',

Bayazid', or BAYEZEED, a town of Turkish Armenia, in the province of Erzerum, beautifully situated on one of the spurs of Ala Dagh, about 15 miles to the SW. of the foot of Mount Ararat. Prior to 1829 its population was upwards of 15,000, and it had a brisk trade; but afterwards the dread of Russian encroachments drove away most of its Armenian inhabitants, and the population is now but 5000, mostly Kurds. Bayazid has repeatedly been the scene of conflict. Here the Russians defeated a Turkish army in 1854. In 1877 it was seized by the Russians, but was restored by the Berlin Congress of 1878.