CARIA, a maritime province of Asia Minor, forming the south-western angle of the whole peninsula. It was bounded on the N. by Ionia and Lydia, on the W. and S. by the Aegean Sea, and on the E. by Lycia and a small part of Phrygia. Its limit to the north was the river Maeander, except near the mouth, where its cities of Miletus and Myus, with their territories, though on the south side of the Maeander, were included in Ionia. Its precise eastern limit is not so clearly fixed, but may be considered as an arbitrary line drawn from the Maeander a little east of Antiochia to the lofty mountain mass of Mount Cadmus (Baba-dagh), and thence along the great ridge of Salbacum (Boz-dagh) in a direction nearly south to the sea, where the promontory on the west of the Gulf of Macri constitutes the limit between it and Lycia. The coast-line of Caria is very peculiar, being wholly formed by a succession of great promontories advancing far out into the sea, and alternating with deep inlets or gulfs, running far up into the mainland. The largest and most important of these, known as the Ceramic Gulf or Gulf of Cos, extends inland for fully 70 miles, between the great mountain promontory terminating at Myndus on the north, and that which extends to Cnidus and the remarkable headland of Cape Krio on the south. North of this is found the deep bay called in ancient times the Gulf of Jasus (now known as the Gulf of Mendeliyah), and beyond this again was the deeper inlet which formerly extended inland between Miletus and Priene, but of which the outer part has been entirely filled up by the alluvial deposits of the Maeander, while the innermost arm, called in ancient times the Latmic Gulf, is thus converted into a lake. South of Cape Krio again is the gulf known as the Gulf of Doris, with ...several minor arms and subordinate inlets, bounded on the south by a mountainous and rugged promontory called by the ancients Cynossema (now Cape Alupo) and erroneously regarded by them as forming the S.W. angle of Asia Minor. Between this headland and the frontier of Lycia is the deep and sheltered bay of Marmarice, noted in modern times as one of the finest harbours in the Mediterranean.
Almost the whole of Caria has more or less of a mountain character. The two great mountain masses of Cadmus (Baba-dagh) and Salbacum (Boz-dagh), which are in fact portions of the great chain of Taurus (see Asia Minor), form as it were the nucleus to which the whole physical framework of the country is attached. From these lofty ranges there extends a broad table-land in many part? retaining a height of more than 3000 feet, while it sends down offshoots or arms of a rugged and mountainous character, on the north towards the valley of the Maeander, and on the west towards the Aegean. None of these ranges, however, attain a height of more than 4000 feet, with the exception of Mount Latmus, of which the highest summit, now known as Besh Parmak, rises to about 4500 feet.
This deeply indented coast is accompanied, as in most similar cases, by numerous islands, in some instances separated only by narrow straits from the mainland. Of these the most celebrated are the two great islands of Rhodes and Cos. But besides these there are Syme, Telos, Nisyros, Calymnos, Leros, and Patmos, all of which have been inhabited, both in ancient and modern times, and some of which contain excellent harbours. Of these Nisyros alone is of volcanic origin; the others belong to the same limestone formation with the rocky headlands of the coast, of which they are in fact mere detached portions.
Like most of the provinces of Asia Minor, Caria was not merely a territorial division, but an ethnographical district, and the Carians are spoken of by all ancient writers as a distinct nation from their neighbours, the Lydians, Phrygians, and Lycians. But their origin and early history is very uncertain. According to a tradition generally adopted by the Greeks, they were originally called Leleges, and inhabited the islands of the Aegean, where they were subject to Minos, king of Crete, and formed the strength of his navy; and it was not till they were driven out of the islands by the Greeks that they settled on the mainland. It is much more probable that they were originally established on the continent, and from thence extended their power over the islands of the Aegean. That they were in very early times a powerful and warlikepeople, distinguished for their maritime skill and enterprise, may be considered as clearly proved, and was indeed a natural result of the peculiar configuration of their coasts. But at the period when we first obtain definite historical information concerning them, they had not only been expelled from the Cyclades and outlying islands of the Aegean, but had been driven back into the interior, from the coasts and islands of their own country, which had been occupied by Greeks of Dorian race, who had formed a Hexapolis or league of six cities, including three on the island of Rhodes, together with Cos, and Cnidus and Halicarnassus on the mainland. Besides these principal settlements the Greeks gradually colonized the whole of the coast region, which was hence sometimes designated by the name of Doris.· But the Carians always maintained themselves in the interior of the country, and continued to be recognized as a distinct race, like the Lydians and Phrygians. Some writers indeed are inclined to believe that the people called Zeybeks or Xebeks, who occupy the inland mountain districts of Caria, and are distinguished from their neighbours by certain peculiarities, are lineal descendants of the ancient Carians.
Caria passed with little resistance under the Persian yoke, but afterwards joined in the Ionic revolt, and fought hard against the Persian generals before it again submitted. From this time till its conquest by Alexander, it continued to be subject to Persia, but under princes or rulers of its own, who resided at Halicarnassus, and were strongly imbued with the principles of Greek civilization (see Halicarnassus). The last of these native princes was named Pixodarus, and after his death the throne was usurped by a Persian named Orontobates, who offered a vigorous resistance to Alexander the Great. But after the capture of the capital, Halicarnassus, which sustained a long siege, the rest of Caria was quickly subdued. Alexander at first bestowed it upon Ada, a princess of the native dynasty, but it was soon incorporated with the Macedonian kingdom by his successors, and in common with the adjoining dis tricts of Asia Minor passed successively under the Syrian kings and those of Pergamus. It was united with the Roman empire after the extinction of the latter dynasty, and became a part of the Roman province of Asia. From this period it has no separate history of its own, and in common with the rest of Asia Minor became a part of the monarchy, first of the Seljukian and afterwards of the Ottoman Turks.
The principal cities of Caria in ancient times were Cnidus and Halicarnassus on the sea-coast, and Alabanda, Mylasa, and Stratonicea in the interior. At the present day, Budrum, which occupies the site of Halicarnassus, is still a place of some importance; while the two most considerable towns in the interior are Melassa (the ancient Mylasa) and Mughla,in the centre of the high inland plateau. The portions of the province adjoining the valley of the Maeander are fertile, and produce excellent figs and raisins; while the mountains near the sea-coast are for the most part clothed with forests, which render the scenery of the district among the most beautiful in Asia Minor, (e.h.b.)
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