ARMATOLES (Gr. ἀρματωλός, a man-at-arms), the name given to some Greeks who discharged certain military and police functions under the Turkish government. When the Turks under Sultan Mahommed II. conquered Greece in the 15th century, many of the Greeks fled into the mountainous districts of Macedonia and northern Greece, and maintained a harassing warfare with the conquerors of their country. These men were called Klephts (modern Gr. κλέφτης, ancient κλέπτης, a thief, a brigand), and during the 16th century the Turkish pashas came to terms with some of them, and these men were allowed to retain their local customs, and were confirmed in the possession of certain districts, while in return they undertook some duties, such as the custody of the highroads. Those who accepted these terms were called armatoles, and the districts in which they lived armatoliks. Strengthened by a considerable number of Christian Albanians, they rendered good service in defending Greece, and to some extent repressed the ravages of the Klephts; but their power and independence were disliked by the Turks. After the peace of Belgrade in 1739 (between Austria and Turkey), the Turkish government sought to weaken the position of the armatoles. Their privileges were restricted, Mahommedan Albanians were introduced into the armatoliks, and towards the end of the 18th century their numbers were seriously reduced. Irritated by this policy the armatoles rendered considerable service to Ali Pasha of Iannina in his struggle with the Turks in 1820-22, and afforded valuable assistance to their countrymen during the Greek war of independence in 1830.
ARMATURE (from Lat. armatura, armour), a covering for defence. In zoology the word is used of the bony shell of the armadillo. In architecture it is applied to the iron stays by which the lead lights are secured in windows. (See [Stanchion] and [Saddle]: Saddle-Bars.) In magnetism Dr William Gilbert applied the term to the piece of soft iron with which he “armed” or capped the lodestone in order to increase its power. It is also used for the “keeper” or piece of iron which is placed across the poles of a horse-shoe magnet, and held in place by magnetic attraction, in order to complete the magnetic circuit and preserve the magnetism of the steel; and hence, in dynamo-electric machinery, for the portion which is attracted by the electromagnet, as the moving part of an electric motor, or, by extension, the moving part of a dynamo (q.v.).
ARMAVIR, (1) The ruins of the old capital of Armenia, on the S.E. slope of the extinct volcano Ala-geuz, according to legend, built by Armais, a grandson of Haik, in 1980 B.C., and the capital of the Armenian kings till the 2nd century A.D. Now a small village, Tapadibi, occupies its seat. (2) A district town of Russia, northern Caucasia, province of Kuban, on Kuban river, and on the main line of the Caucasian railway, 40 m. by rail west of Stavropol, built in 1848 for the settlement of Armenian mountaineers, and now a well-built, growing town with 8000 inhabitants, the merchants of which carry on a lively trade.
ARMENIA (old Persian Armina, Armenian Hayasdan, or Hayq), the popular modern name of a district south of the Caucasus and Black Sea, which formed part of the ancient Armenian kingdom. The name, which first occurs in the cuneiform inscriptions of Darius Hystaspis, supplanted the earlier Urardhu, or Ararat, but its origin is unknown. In its widest extent Armenia stretched from 37° to 49° E. long., and from 37½° to 41½° N. lat.; but this area was never, or only for a brief period, united under one king. Armenia is now divided between Persia, Russia and Turkey, and the three boundaries have a common point on Little Ararat.
Geographically, Armenia is a continuation westward of the great Iranian plateau. On the north it descends abruptly to the Black Sea; on the south it breaks down in rugged terraces to the lowlands of Mesopotamia; and on the east and west it sinks more gradually to the lower plateaus of Persia and Asia Minor. Above the general level of the plateau, 6000 ft., rise bare ranges of mountains, which run from north-east to south-west at an altitude of 8000-12,000 ft., and culminate in Ararat, 17,000 ft. Between the ranges are broad elevated valleys, through which the rivers of the plateau flow before entering the rugged gorges that convey their waters to lower levels. Geologically, Armenia consists of archaic rocks upon which, towards the north, are superimposed Palaeozoic, and towards the south later sedimentary rocks. The last have been pierced by volcanic outbursts that extend southward to Lake Van. Amongst the higher mountains are the two Ararats; Ala-geuz Dagh, north of the Aras; Bingeul Dagh, south of Erzerum; and the peaks near Lake Van. The rivers are the Euphrates, Tigris, Aras, Churuk Su (Chorokh) and Kelkit Irmak, all rising on the plateau. The more important lakes are Van, 5100 ft., about twice the size of the Lake of Geneva, and Urmia, 4000 ft., both salt; Gokcha or Sevan, 5870 ft., discharging into the Aras; and Chaldir, into the Kars Chai. The aspect of the plateau is dreary and monotonous. The valleys are wide expanses of arable land, and the hills are for the most part grass-covered and treeless. But the gorges of the Euphrates and Tigris, and their tributaries, cannot be surpassed in wildness and grandeur. The climate is varied. In the higher districts the winter is long and the cold severe; whilst the summer is short, dry and hot. In Erzerum the temperature ranges from −22° to 84° F., and snow sometimes falls in June. In the valley of the Aras, and in the western and southern districts, the climate is more moderate. Most of the towns lie high, from 4000 to 6000 ft. The villages are usually built on gentle slopes, in which the houses are partially excavated as a protection against the severity of the weather. Many of the early towns were on or near the Araxes, and amongst their ruins are the remains of churches which throw light on the history of Christian architecture in the East. Armenia is rich in mineral wealth, and there are many hot and cold mineral springs. The vegetation varies according to the locality. Cereals and hardy fruits grow on the higher ground, whilst rice is cultivated in the hot, well-watered valley of the Araxes. The summer is so hot that the vine grows at much higher altitudes than it does in western Europe, and the cotton tree and all southern fruit trees are cultivated in the deeper valleys. On the fine pasture lands which now support the flocks of the Kurds, the horses and mules, so celebrated in ancient times, were reared. Trout are found in the rivers, and a small herring in Lake Van. The country abounds in romantic scenery; that of the district of Ararat especially has been celebrated by patriotic historians like Moses of Chorene and Lazarus of Pharb.