134 ISLAM AT WAR
might have existed and caused the Armenians to decline into “least fa-
vored” status among the various Christian minorities in the Ottoman Em-
pire and among the Western powers.
The influx of Muslims into the Transcaucasus before 1877 had resulted
in atrocities committed by both the Kurds and Circassian nomadic tribes-
men against the Armenians. The Armenians and Turks, however, con-
tinued to coexist with few problems at the village level, despite the
second-class citizenship imposed on the Armenians.
Ottoman-imposed limitations on Armenian rights included being for-
bidden to bear arms, to ride a horse, to hold certain public offices, and to
wear certain articles of clothing. Despite this, Armenians prospered
greatly in the cities of the empire. Ali Vehbi Bey, a private secretary to
Abdul Hamid, claimed that they held one-third of all state positions on
the civil list, including those of cabinet minister, provincial governor, am-
bassador, and principal assistant to Muslim cabinet ministers. In addition,
Armenian merchants, entrepreneurs, and bankers controlled shares of im-
perial trade and industry disproportionate to their numbers. As a result,
the upper classes of Armenian society had little interest in revolt or up-
heaval during the nineteenth century, despite the occasional afflictions
visited upon the peasantry. Life was, overall, relatively good and secure
until the outbreak of war between Turkey and Russia in 1877.
The 1877–78 war precipitated a general collapse of order. Muslim Cir-
cassian and Kurdish nomadic tribesmen fled into the Transcaucasus in
great numbers before the advancing Russian armies. This sudden mixture
of masses of nomads with the agricultural Armenian peasantry was an
utter disaster. The nomads bore arms, which were forbidden to the Ar-
menians. They were unruly and pastured their flocks where they chose,
including the fields of the peasants. The Armenians, unable to defend
themselves, suffered every sort of outrage. Their crops were stolen or
trampled, their women violated or carried off. During the winter, the no-
mads even drove the Armenians from their homes. Encouraged by the
collapse of the local authority, the Circassian and Kurdish tribesmen al-
ready living in the region joined in the pillage. Murder, robbery, and rape
became commonplace in the villages, and especially on the roads between
them.
The Ottoman authorities were occupied with the war and made no effort
to stop these outrages. Opposite them, the Russians established an enlight-
ened regime—a genuine rarity for any Russian-governed area—where
Muslims and Christians lived in a situation far better than they had known
under the Ottomans. The contrast fueled Armenian discontent with their
Ottoman rulers.