Ahlat (Kurdish: Xelat, Armenian: Խլաթ, romanized: Khlat) is a town in Turkey's Bitlis Province in Eastern Anatolia Region. It is the seat of Ahlat District. The village is populated by Kurds of the Bekiran tribe and had a population of 27,563 in 2021. The town of Ahlat is situated on the northwestern shore of Lake Van. The mayor is Abdulalim Mümtaz Çoban (AKP). Ahlat, known by its Armenian name of Khlat or Chliat in the ancient and medieval period, was once a part of the district of Bznunik'. The town was taken by the Arabs during the reign of Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656); in 645, Uthman instructed the governor of Syria, Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, to send Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri in an expedition to Byzantine-controlled Armenia—although some sources insist that the Caliph commissioned Habib directly. During the next four centuries, Ahlat was ruled by "Arab governors, Armenian princes, and Arab emirs of the Qays tribe". In the early eighth century, Arab tribes settled in the region, and Ahlat became part of the Arab Kaysite principality. Ibn Hawqal (died ca. 978) mentioned Ahlat as an important stopover point on the Urmia-Mayyafariqin trade route. In about 983, Ahlat was controlled by a Kurdish chief named Bāḏ (in Armenian spelled as "Bat"); thereafter, Ahlat was associated with the Kurdish Marwanids (centered in Diyar Bakr), which sprang from Bāḏ. In the winter of 998, the Curopalates David III of Tao besieged Khlat but was unable to capture it, partly because of his contemptuous treatment towards its Armenian population. In 1057, Herve Phrangopoulos retreated here with 300 Norman knights after breaking with Michael VI but was betrayed by Aponosar (Abu Nasr), the emir of the city. More information...
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