Schools {{multiple image Armenian schools were not allowed in
Ottoman Empire until the late 18th century. Unofficially, a number of schools existed in the Bitlis region, but the first school "in real terms" was opened in 1790 by Shnork Migirdic and Amira Miricanyan. During Patriarch Garabet's reign from 1823 to 1831, Armenian schools were established at unprecedented levels. The first higher education institution was opened in 1838 in
Uskudar and was named Cemeran School. By 1838, according to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, 439 Armenian schools operated in Anatolia. By the time of the proclamation of the
Tanzimat era by Sultan
Abdülmecid I in 1839, the Armenians had some thirty-seven schools, including two colleges, with 4,620 students; several museums, printing presses, hospitals, public libraries and eight different published journals in
Constantinople alone. According to the
Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople there were 803 Armenian schools in the Ottoman Empire with 81,226 students and 2,088 teachers in 1901–1902. Of these 438 schools were in the
Six vilayets with 36,839 students and 897 teachers. During the Armenian genocide, the Armenian population of the empire was targeted a mass extermination. Most schools in Anatolia were destroyed or were set to be used for other purposes. As of 2005, 18 Armenian schools were functioning in
Istanbul.
Literature Notable writers from this period include
Siamanto,
Hagop Baronian,
Vahan Tekeyan,
Levon Shant,
Krikor Zohrab,
Rupen Zartarian,
Avetis Aharonyan,
Atrpet, and
Gostan Zarian. The 19th century beheld a great literary movement that was to give rise to modern Armenian literature. This period of time during which Armenian culture flourished is known as the Revival period (Zartonk). The Revivalist authors of
Constantinople and
Tiflis, almost identical to the Romanticists of Europe, were interested in encouraging Armenian nationalism. Most of them adopted the newly created Eastern or Western variants of the Armenian language depending on the targeted audience, and preferred them over classical Armenian (grabar). The Revivalist period ended in 1885–1890, when the Armenian people was passing tumultuous times. Notable events were the Berlin Treaty of 1878, the independence of Balkan nations such as
Bulgaria, and the
Hamidian massacres of 1895–1896.
Dialects Press Some specialists claim that the Armenian Realist authors appeared when the
Arevelk (Orient) newspaper was founded (1884). Writers such as
Arpiar Arpiarian,
Levon Pashalian,
Krikor Zohrab, Melkon Gurjian, Dikran Gamsarian, and others revolved around the said newspaper. The other important newspaper at that time was the
Hayrenik (Fatherland) newspaper, which became very populist, encouraged criticism, etc. Today, three dailies (
Agos,
Jamanak and
Marmara) are published in Istanbul.
Alphabet As Bedross Der Matossian from
Columbia University describes, for about 250 years, from the early 18th century until around 1950, more than 2000 books in the
Turkish language were printed using the Armenian script. Not only did Armenians read Armeno-Turkish, but so did the non-Armenian (including the Ottoman Turkish) elite. The Armenian script was also used alongside the Arabic script on official documents of the
Ottoman Empire written in
Ottoman Turkish. For instance, the first novel to be written in the Ottoman Empire was
Vartan Pasha's 1851
Akabi Hikayesi, written in the Armenian script. Also, when the Armenian Duzian family managed the Ottoman mint during the reign of
Abdülmecid I, they kept records in Armenian script, but in the Turkish language. From the end of the 19th-century, the
Armenian alphabet was also used for books written in the Kurdish language in the Ottoman Empire.
Armenian place names Initial
renaming of Armenian place names were formally introduced under the reign of
Sultan Abdulhamit II. In 1880, the word
Armenia was banned from use in the press, schoolbooks, and governmental establishments, and was subsequently replaced with words like Anatolia or Kurdistan. Armenian name changing continued under the early Republican era up until the 21st century. It included the
Turkification of last names,
change of animal names, change of the names of Armenian historical figures (i.e. the name of the prominent
Balyan family was concealed under the identity of a superficial Italian family called Baliani), and the change and distortion of Armenian historical events. Most Armenian geographical names were in the eastern provinces of the
Ottoman Empire. Villages, settlements, or towns that contain the suffix
-kert, meaning built or built by (i.e. Manavazkert (today
Malazgirt),
Norakert,
Dikranagert,
Noyakert),
-shen, meaning village (i.e.
Aratashen,
Pemzashen,
Norashen), and
-van, meaning town (i.e.
Charentsavan,
Nakhichevan,
Tatvan), indicate an Armenian name. Throughout Ottoman history, Turkish and Kurdish tribesmen have settled into Armenian villages and changed the native Armenian names (i.e. the Armenian Norashen was changed to Norşin). This was especially true after the Armenian genocide, when much of eastern Turkey was depopulated of its Armenian population. ==Religious buildings==