During
Classical Antiquity, the town was known as Arsissa, and Archesh (Arčeš) in Armenian and Arjish in Arabic. The
Byzantines knew it as Arzes (Ἂρζες or Ἀρζές) and the 10th-century emperor
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos wrote in his
De administrando imperio (Chapter XLIV) that it was under the rule of the
Kaysite emirate of
Manzikert. This small district served as the
capital city of a number of ruling states. It was the main center of the province of
Turuberan as part of the ancient
Armenian Empire. The city changed hands on several occasions between the Arabs and the
Byzantines, in the early Middle Ages. From the mid 1020s onwards Archesh was governed by the Byzantines. In 1054, it was captured and sacked by the
Seljuk Turks commanded by
Tuğrul after an eight-day siege. It was indefinitely conquered by the Turks following the
Battle of Manzikert in 1071. It was fortified in the early 14th century by the
Ilkhanid vizier Ali Shah. Archesh became part of the
Qara Qoyunlu state and later became a part of the
Ottoman Empire. From 18th century, because of the increase of level of
Lake Van the old town (called Archesh) slowly disappeared. By the second half of the 19th century few traces of the buildings, churches and dwelling houses remained. After old Archesh/Erciş was flooded by water, the city was moved to north to a much higher place called Alada in 1841. There the new town was built called Akants (Նոր Արճեշ (, New Artchesh in Armenian and Erciş () in Turkish). While the new site inherited the old city's name and identity, as well as most of the population, some of the old site's residents moved out into the surrounding countryside instead and settled in villages such as Çelebibaği. The Erciş district also experienced forced evacuations of some of its inhabitants as a consequence of the
Turkish-Kurdish conflict. The city was shaken by a
major earthquake on 23 October 2011. == Government ==