Editing Lake Van (section)

==History==
[[File:Lake Van in Maunsell's map, Pre-World War I British Ethnographical Map of eastern Turkey in Asia, Syria and western Persia 03.png|thumb|1910 ethnographical map of Lake Van; dark green represents [[Armenians]].]]
{{further|Urartu}}
[[Tushpa]], the capital of [[Urartu]], near the shores, on the site of what became medieval Van's castle, west of present-day [[Van, Turkey|Van city]].{{sfn|Cottrell|1960|p=488}} The ruins of the medieval city of Van are still visible below the southern slopes of the rock on which [[Van Castle]] stands.

In 2017, archaeologists from [[Van Yüzüncü Yıl University|Van Yüzüncü Yil University]] and a team of independent divers who were exploring Lake Van reported the discovery of a large underwater fortress spanning roughly one kilometer.{{sfn|Gibbens|2017}} The team estimates that this fortress was constructed during the Urartian period, based on their visual assessments. The archaeologists believe that the fortress, along with other parts of the ancient city that surrounded it at the time, had slowly become submerged over the millennia by the gradually rising lake.{{sfn|Ancient castle studied...|2017}}

===Armenian kingdoms===
[[Image:Armenian gravestones. Lake Van.JPG|thumb|[[Armenians|Armenian]] medieval [[khachkar]] near Lake Van]]

The lake was the centre of the kingdom of [[Urartu]] from about 1000 BC, afterwards of the [[Satrapy of Armenia]], [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Greater Armenia]], and the Armenian Kingdom of [[Vaspurakan]].

Along with [[Lake Sevan]] in today's [[Armenia]] and [[Lake Urmia]] in today's [[Iran]], Van was one of the three great lakes of the Armenian Kingdom, referred to as ''the seas of [[Armenia]]'' (in ancient Assyrian sources: "tâmtu ša mât Nairi" (Upper Sea of [[Nairi]]), the Lower Sea being [[Lake Urmia]]).{{sfn|Ebeling|Meissner|1997|p=2}} Over time, the lake was known by various Armenian names, including {{langx|hy|Վանա լիճ (Lake of Van), Վանա ծով (Sea of Van), Արճեշի ծով (Sea of Arčeš), Բզնունեաց ծով (Sea of Bznunik),{{sfn|Hewsen|1997|p=9}} Ռշտունեաց ծով (Sea of Rshtunik),{{sfn|Hewsen|1997|p=9}} and Տոսպայ լիճ (Lake of Tosp)}}.

===Eastern Roman Empire===
By the 11th century the lake was on the border between the [[East Roman Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]], with its capital at [[Constantinople]], and the [[Seljuk Empire|Turko-Persian Seljuk Empire]], with its capital at [[Isfahan]]. In the uneasy peace between the two empires, local Armenian-Byzantine landowners employed [[Turkmen people|Turcoman]] [[gazi]]s and Byzantine [[akritai]] for protection. The Greek-speaking Byzantines called the lake ''Thospitis limne'' ({{langx|grc-x-medieval|Θωσπῖτις λίμνη}}).

In the second half of the 11th century Emperor [[Romanus IV Diogenes]] launched a campaign to re-conquer Armenia and head off growing Seljuk control. Diogenes and his large army crossed the [[Euphrates]] and confronted a much smaller Seljuk force led by [[Alp Arslan]] at the [[Battle of Manzikert]], north of Lake Van on 26 August 1071. Despite their greater numbers, the cumbersome Byzantine force was defeated by the more mobile Turkish horsemen and Diogenes was captured.

===Seljuk Empire===
[[Image:Narekavank.jpg|thumb|An early 20th century picture of the 10th century Armenian monastery of [[Narekavank]], which once stood near the southeastern shore of the lake]]
[[File:Vue du lac de Van du ferry-boat.jpg|thumb|View of the lake from aboard the [[train ferry]] ''Van'' of the [[Turkish State Railways]] in 1987. In December 2015, the new generation of train ferries, the largest of their kind in Turkey, entered service in Lake Van.{{sfn|Mina|2015}}]]

[[Alp Arslan]] divided the conquered eastern portions of the Byzantine empire among his Turcoman generals, with each ruled as a hereditary [[bey]]lik, under overall sovereignty of the [[Seljuq Empire]]. Alp Arslan gave the region around Lake Van to his commander [[Sökmen el-Kutbî]], who set up his capital at Ahlat on the western side of the lake. The dynasty of [[Shah-Armens]], also known as ''Sökmenler'', ruled this area from 1085 to 1192.

The [[Ahlatshah]]s were succeeded by the [[Ayyubid dynasty]].

===Ottoman Empire===
Following the disintegration of the Seljuq-ruled [[Sultanate of Rum]], Lake Van and its surroundings were conquered by the [[Ilkhanate]] Mongols, and later switched hands between the Ottoman Empire and [[Safavid Iran]] until Sultan [[Selim I]] took control for good.

Reports of the [[Lake Van Monster]] surfaced in the late 1800s and gained popularity. A news article was published by ''Saadet Gazetesi'' issue number 1323, dated 28 Shaban 1306 [[Hijri year]], corresponding to 29 April 1889 during the reign of Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]].<ref>[https://www.mynet.com/van-golu-canavari-gercek-mi-131-yil-once-osmanli-gazetesinde-manset-olmus-110106500572 Van Gölü canavarı gerçek mi? 131 yıl önce Osmanlı gazetesinde manşet olmuş] mynet. 22 April 2020.</ref>