Armenian History
ASLANIAN Sebouh David
THE GLOBAL TRADE NETWORKS OF ARMENIAN MERCHANTS FROM NEW JULFA
OLD JULFA: Only documented in a will of 1595, and on tombstone inscriptions and colophons; Safavid Shah Abbas I destroyed the town 1604-05 during Safavid-Ottoman war; c.1615 the town resurrected as New Julfa, wealthy mercantile suburb of Isfahan.
Was located on Iranian-Ottoman frontier (now in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, just N of Iranian frontier). Dry, rocky barren, encouraging residents to turn to commerce, but readily defensible with steep mountain ridge to the north and River Aras to the south. At important river crossing on the turbulent and rocky Aras for overland routes between Transcaucasia-Iran and Asia Minor, Syria and the Med. ? Tigranes the Great 1st cent BC; in 5th – 8th cent histories. A stone bridge of 1340 with gates and caravanserai, (?destroyed1570s/80s?). John Newberry 1581 “7 churches and 3,000 houses”; John Cartwright 1580s “10,000 inhabitants”; recent estimate 2-4,000 houses and 15,000 people; survival of Julfa despite scorched earth warfare all around: in the eye of the storm of war between Ottomans and Safavid Iran. Raw Iranian silk to the Med, Aleppo and Venice. Bribes keep enemies at bay, together with a perceived neutrality as Christians, and a tribute to the Ottoman queen mother in the 1580s. Economic upsurge 1570s+; manuscripts commisioned by merchant class khwajas; also boom in katchkars in cemetery with Isalmic-inspired decoration. Much trade with Venetian merchants in Aleppo in Iranian silk in 2nd half of 16th century; perhaps Shia Iranian merchants were finding it increasingly difficult to cross Sunni Ottoman territory. Direct travel by Julfans to Venice itself by 1571; a community in Mughal Agra: Old Julfa’s reputation now spreads far beyond its borders. New inflow of American silver esp from Potosi, now Bolivia, 1545+) into Med ports stimulates oriental trade growth. Silk trade now an alternative to pepper and spices for Venetians and English now that Portuguese dominate the Cape sea route. Christian Armenians natural intermediaries between Muslim east and Christian west.
WAR, DESTRUCTION, DEPORTATION: In Istanbul Treaty 1590 Shah ‘Abbas I ceded northern territories and esp caucasus to the Ottomans. He then began to focus on centralising power, moving his capital to Isfahan, improving transport infrastructure and caravanseries, fixing tolls, and increasing his grip on silk-producing regions Karabagh, Shirvan, Mazanderan and Gilan near the Caspian sea. By 1603 he is ready to resume territorial wars with the Ottomans, especially while they were preoccupied with their European front. ‘Abbas marched via Tabriz to Nakhjavan, stopping for three days at Old Julfa where he was received with splendid ceremony and gifts, lodging with the mayor Khwaja Khachik. Nakhjavan surrendered quickly, but Ottoman Yerevan held out for 7½ months. A large Ottoman army then advanced from the west, and a scorched-earth policy was hastily put in place by ‘Abbas. The Armenian population was forcibly and ruthlessly driven out and their houses burnt; the population of Julfa had three days to leave and was driven to cross the now bridgeless river. Their town was razed to the ground (autumn of 1604). The Julfans were moved via Tabriz to Isfahan.
NEW JULFA : Arrival in Isfahan 1605; after 5 or 6 months of discord with local muslims in Marbanan ‘Abbas orders Julfans moved south of the Zayandarud River and given use of land; 1606 construction of houses and churches begins; meanwhile ‘Abbas had ordered the local peasants of Marbanan to evacuate their own homes in favour of the Julfans. All this suggests the resettlement of Julfans at New Julfa was unplanned and ad hoc rather than part of a greater economic plan. Initially Julfans were not allowed to own land, and they paid a poll tax for state protection; but within two years of the move ‘Abbas appointed a Julfan to go to Venice to negotiate an agreement with the Venetians against the Ottomans. By 1610 he had sent another Julfan envoy to Venice, Rome, Florence and Madrid. In 1619 the land was granted as a gift to the Armenians, by then totalling perhaps 5-10,000 people. In the same year ‘Abbas transformed export of silk into a state monopoly, and held an auction of his silk; there the Julfans outbid the East India Company, keeping a near total monopoly into the 1630s. Even then they retained privileges through the ghulam officials (Armenian converts) who had power in the silk-cultivating Caspian areas.
GROWTH and ADMINISTRATION: In the 1650s under Shah ‘Abbas II further Armenians originally from Yerevan, Tabriz, Nakhjavan and Dasht were resettled there from Isfahan proper, expanding the territory to house perhaps 20,000 people, with perhaps 30,000 by the late 17th century, almost another city in itself. There were water channels for gardens and trees. The population included some Catholic missionaries and their churches. 12 Armenian churches were built by 1620; later a diocese was acquired, firstly for Irani Christians, then later for communities in the Indian Ocean, India and south-east Asia, by the early 1660s based in the All Saviour’s Monastery. Printing began in 1638; in 1639 a priest was sent to Venice, Rome and Livorno to study printing, returning in 1646 with a press.
URBAN LAYOUT, ADMINISTRATIVE AUTONOMY: Khiaban-i-Nazar/ Nazar Avenue east-west parallel with the Zayandarud River, named after New Julfa’s second kalatar/mayor; running north to south from the riverbank 10 streets creating ten districts/tasnaks (tenths); later these extended south, creating a further ten taznaks, each named after a prominent family. The families appointed elders/kadkhudas to maintain order and to join the Assembly of Merchants and a Municipal Assembly.
Prosperity follows for both the Julfans and the Safavid Empire. The Julfans prove to be -
JULFAN TRADE NETWORK I
THE INDIAN OCEAN:
Trade Settlements of four general circuits around New Julfa -
Indian Ocean; Russian; Mediterranean; Northwestern European.
Indian Ocean – extending from Julfa via Persian Gulf ports of Basra, Bandar Kung, Bandar ‘Abbas to Mughal India, East Asia, Manila, Acapulco.
INDIA
‘Names of cities in he Indies and on the frontier of Persia’ - first quarter of the twelfth century Armenian geographical tract. In 16th century Armenians present in Hormuz – access to the Gujarati coast, and so to Goa. Armenians near Madras by early 16th c. By mid-17th c Armenians said to have been invited to settle in Agra by Akbar the Great include Abdul Hayy a ‘minister of justice,’ and Iskandar, one of whose sons became mughal governor of Bengal. An Armenian church in Agra 1562; a caravanserai by 1640. Surat (Gujarat) port said to have had an Armenian church 1570s; certainly a church built there later 17th c. Lahori Bandar port in northern India had a community; both in proximity to textile-producing regions. 1622 Hormuz passes from Portugal to Safavid Persia. Within 50yrs Armenians move deeper to Hyderabad, Golconda, Masulipatam in the south and to Hugli, Patna and Calcutta in the north. By end 17th c they reach Lhasa, Tibet; also Spanish-ruled Manila.
Trade agreement signed London 1688 with East India Company that Armenians transport silk to Europe on Company ships around the Cape rather than overland, with passage on advantageous terms, and with ‘liberty to live in any of the Company’s Cities, garrisons, or Towns in India, and to buy, sell, and purchase Land or Houses. And be capable of all Civil Offices...as if they were Englishmen born’, with religious freedoms guaranteed, with ground allotted for churches, funding provided for their construction and £50 per annum for seven years for priests. This drew more Julfan merchants into the 18thc. Calcutta region settled by mid-17th century; Bengal the richest province of Mughal India; 1698 villages incl. Kalikata leased; a tombstone in Calcutta suupposedly dated 1630. Chinsura/Chichra near Hugli a centre for raw silk and textiles, Hugli the leading Bengali port of Portuguese, Dutch, then English (1651). Chinsura Church of St John the Baptist 1695. By 1727 most Chichra Armenians resettled in Calcutta – Church of Holy Nazareth built there 1724. In 1665 Aurangzeb invited Armenians to settle in Saidabad, a suburb of provincial capital of Murshidabad Church of the Virgin Mary built there 1758. Others settled in Portuguese Goa and in French Pondicherry near Madras. A community in Hyderabad (diamond mines and gem markets) – the Nizams of Persian descent. Bombay had a community post 1668 invited from Surat. Madras community 200 or so merchants mostly ex-Julfa – Coromandel coast centre for cotton textiles, close also to Golconda diamond mines – 1666+; Church 1712, replaced 1772. Armenian printing in Madras 1771.
Armenian priests from All Saviour’s Monastery Julfa sent to staff outlying places periodically to maintain cohesion, but by 1793 a more localised diocesan authority emerges; thus
SURAT has authority over: Bombay, Shahjahanabad, Aurangabad, Hyderabad.
MADRAS “ “ Muchlibandar, Nagapatan, Pegu, Batavia.
HOLY NAZARETH, CALCUTTA : Chinsura, Saidabad, Dhaka
Generally 3 priests per church, maintaining regular contact with New Julfa via the financial mailing network, helping to reinforce it with information and intelligence-sharing.
TIBET and CHINA
BURMA
An extension of the India network, or an even earlier foundation pre-dating destruction of Old Julfa? A community possibly as old as Aleppo and Venice communities; a record of losses to looting 1541, and of Armenian mercenaries in the Burmese army 1545 – an early true integration? Settlement in Syriam, then the main port, 1612? Alexander Hamilton, early 18thc: “...the Armenians have got the Monopoly of the Rubies...” A Pegu community by late 17thc controlling Madras-Pegu trade. Churches reported Ava (17th C), the capital city 1635-1740, Syriam, Mandalay, Rangoon (1769), British capital 1865+.
MARITIME SOUTHEAST ASIA
MANILA
JULFAN TRADE NETWORK II