Cultural geography of Malazgirt district (according to material culture elements)

Malazgirt is located in the Upper Murat Van Section of the Eastern Anatolia Region. Malazgirt was established on the banks of the Murat River in the plain covered with basalts from Mount Süphan in the town of Malazgirt. Patnos and Tutak are on the east, Ahlat and Adilcevaz on the south, Karayazı on the north and Bulanık is on the west of the district. Since Malazgirt is the first settlement where Turks set foot in Anatolia, it has been an important district in terms of history, culture and society. Besides, Malazgirt is a geography that has hosted many civilizations. As a result of this, it has been influenced by many civilizations and has a rich cultural accumulation. This study aims to explain the physical geography conditions of the place of establishment of the district of Malazgirt and the material cultural elements that the local people living in these conditions reveal by making use of the physical geography conditions. Rather than the development of the settlement names in the district in history, it has been tried to be examined from a cultural perspective on why the region was given that name. It has been observed that the rules of the Islamic religion dominate in the dress and dress culture. Grain farming and animal husbandry activities in the region depending on the continental climate are the main factors affecting the gastronomic culture. The most common examples of Turkish house architecture have been found in traditional and today's residential types, in accordance with the terrestrial climatic conditions of the region, in building materials. In this context, qualitative research methods were used in this study, and ethnographic research methods were used. Unstructured interview forms were used with the on-site observation method, which is one of the data collection tools. The data obtained from the field studies were tried to be interpreted with content analysis and the data obtained from the written works by document analysis. As a result, the district of Malazgirt, whose characteristics are given, has been examined together in the axis of human nature and culture. Therefore, it can be said that the names of settlements, residence, gastronomy and dress culture were shaped by developing cultural accumulation from history as well as physical conditions.