Vanessa Kachadurian, Armenian church of Bangladesh

Holy Resrection Armenian Church of Bangladesh

http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2014-01-26-an-armenian-island-in-bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh - There have never been very large enclaves of Armenians residing in Asia or the Far East however the presence of pockets of Armenians in the region and their impact on the societies in which they lived have left their mark despite the dwindling of these communities over time.

The footprints of Armenians in Asia can be traced back to the seventeenth century and there is no greater symbol of the Armenian presence than the Armenian Apostolic Church spotted in various locations in the region, still standing with their courtyards of tombstones filled with life stories of Armenian traders and merchants.

One such oasis can be found in the capital city of Bangladesh in Dhaka, the Armenian Apostolic Church of Holy Resurrection.

The Armenian population of Dhaka began taking root in the early part of the 18th century most of whom were engaged in the jute trade with some prominent Armenian merchants who owned their own companies. The earliest settlers built a small chapel in the midst of their community graveyard but by the end of the century the Armenian community had grown considerably and the chapel became inadequate for the needs of the community. In 1781 the Church of Holy Resurrection was completed as a place of worship and gathering. In 1837, the belfry that also served as a clock tower was added and in 1907 a parsonage was built.

Today, the Church grounds continues to stand in Armanitola, Old Dhaka as a major landmark with the original edifice and buildings well-restored and over two hundred gravestones nestled on the estate. Still an oasis of peace and tranquillity in the surrounding chaos of the district, the immediate area is highly dense with populace and industry primarily in chemical and paper trading. Whilst the resounding Armenian language may no longer be resonating from the altar and filling the once thriving church, the Armenian spirit continues to linger with the inscriptions, motifs, designs, crosses and monuments that decorate the fasciae and facades. And so in December 2013, with the blessing of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, an international delegation from the Armenian Apostolic Church headed by His Grace Bishop Haigazoun Najarian, Primate of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, accompanied by Mr. Haig Didizian (London), Mr. and Mrs. Armen and Laura Arslanian (Los Angeles), Mr. Hagop Didizian (London), and Mr. Pierre Hennes and Ms. Cheryl Ho (Singapore) departed on an exploratory visit to learn more about the overall current situation of the Church and the Armenian community, meeting with key stakeholders and community members, most notably long-standing Church Custodian, Mr Michael Joseph Martin.

Mr Martin (born Mikel Housep Martirossian in Yangon, Myanmar 1930) came to Dhaka in 1942 during World War II following in the footsteps of his father who had settled in the region decades earlier. Now widowed with three daughters who reside in Canada, Mr Martin took on the role of Custodian in 1986 and continues to oversee all its needs until today. He resides in the custodian's residence (formerly the parsonage) which is adjacent to the Church. The grounds also house a caretaker's residence and a building dated back to 1929 which was once used as a schoolhouse and residential quarters.

According to Mr Martin there are currently 50-60 families in Bangladesh who are of mixed Armenian-Bangla descent. "Sometimes there were several thousand Armenians trading in the Bengal region." He notes, "They were always an important community in Dhaka and dominated the country's trading. They were the who's who in town. They celebrated all their religious festivals with pomp and style." He also recalls how "every Sunday was a day of festival for us. Almost every Armenian would attend the service, no matter how big he was in social position. The Church was the centre of all activities."

The decline of the community however came gradually after the British left India and the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947 with Dhaka becoming the capital of East Pakistan and then of Bangladesh after it gained independence in 1971. Martin said the once-busy social scene came to a halt after the last Armenian priest Bagrat left in the mid 1960's.

These days, the Armenian Church holds only occasional services on major feasts in the Orthodox Christian calendar with a visiting priest leading the services.

During the delegation's three-day visit, His Grace Bishop Najarian celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Church of Holy Resurrection on Friday 13 December during which he presented Mr Martin with the Encyclical conferred upon by His Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians recognising his dedicated contribution and devotion to the Church. He was bestowed the St Nerses Shnorhali Medal a tribute reserved for noteworthy recipients who demonstrate exemplary and time-honoured service.

Mr Martin's determination to continue to maintain and preserve the jewel of the Armenian Church of Dhaka is best summed up by his own words (as recorded by the BBC) ...

"Whatever happens, I'm determined not to let this church go to the rack and ruin. I may be the last resident Armenian in Bangladesh, but I will do everything in my power to ensure an Armenian from abroad takes over the job." Despite a diminished community Martin stands firm in his resolve, "I've seen bad days before, but we always bounced back. I am sure Armenians will come back here for trade and business. I will then rest in peace beside my wife."

Dhaka has an estimated population of more than 23 million people, making it the largest city in Bangladesh and the 8th largest city in the world.

For more information about Armenian history and communities in Asia, please visit: www.armeniansinasia.org.

 

Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian History, Armenia celebrates 22 years of military excellence

January 28, 2014 - 13:55 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Army celebrates its 22nd anniversary January 28.

The army was established in conjunction with the other components of Armenia's military in 1992, several months after the republic declared its independence from the Soviet Union. The army's first head was the former deputy commander-in-chief of the main staff of the Soviet Ground Forces, Norat Ter-Grigoryants.

The Armenian army's history is described to have gone through three stages of development. It entered the first stage in February 1988, at the outset of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, when Armenian militias were formed to combat Azerbaijani units in NKR. The second phase of the development of the army began in 1992, several months after Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Ter-Grigoryants and civilian officials in the Armenian Ministry of Defense, including Vazgen Manukyan and Vazgen Sargsyan, sought to establish a "small, well-balanced, combat-ready defense force." The third phase began after the end of the war and continues till today, concentrating on the developing fighting capacity and boosting ties with the NKR defense army.

Armenian army became a guarantor of peace and stability in the South Caucasus, with Armenian soldiers trusted with peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq. Over the last year, Armenian army units participated in over a dozen of military exercises in the frameworks of CSTO, NATO and Armenian-American military cooperation.

The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, IISS positively accessed Armenia's combat readiness level: "Armenian army is quite qualified and has clear-set objectives. Parallel to this, the Armed Forces of Armenia saw a steadily growing number of professional soldiers serving on a contract basis, although a call for military service remains. According to the 2013 report, the army is most vulnerable is its air forces, yet that is compensated by support from Russia, who protects Armenia’s air space.

"Today, our army enjoys the respect and high esteem all over the world," Armenia's Defense Minister said. As Seyran Ohanyan, a Karabakh war veteran himself, told a January 27 ceremonial sitting, 20 years ago the victorious ceasefire was achieved through unity and courage of Armenian people in the face of many hardships. "Glory and honor to our fallen heroes, those who fought till the end, those killed or missing. A memory of them will shine in our hearts to be passed on to generations. It is through their sacrifice that we won and created a strong army," he said.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/175272/

 

Vanessa Kachadurian the Armenian Heritage Site

One of the best sites for exploring the ancient sites in Armenia is the Armenian Heritage site. http://armenianheritage.org/en/

Vanessa Kachadurian, a short history lesson on Armenian History

The Armenian history is filled with violence, domination by empires, and a far-flung diaspora as a result of both, shaping the modern national and international identity of its people.What makes millions of people share certain traits or beliefs? History is what fleshes it out for us and makes it clear. I’ve been reading a lot about the Armenian people recently, and the revelations of their history have been very interesting – and educational. I feel like I know my Armenian friends a little bit better – and also why I have so many Armenian friends living so far from their homeland. The Silk Road Armenians have lived in the area near modern-day Turkey, between the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas, for thousands of years. They were ideally placed, in fact, along the trade route between Europe and “the East” that became known as the Silk Road due to both the wealth that travelled along its route and one of the dominant products being hauled along it, and were very prosperous and rich in their oldest history. Still, they were tribal and disunited, as were most people in those days. The Armenian people were united into a single nation just once prior to the modern age: In the very end of the first century BCE, under the rule of King Tigran the Great. The unification did not last long, and eventually the Armenian people fell under the shadows of first the Byzantine Empire and later the Ottoman Empires. The Genocide The Armenians did not fare well under the Ottoman Empire. As Christians in a Muslim country, they were always treated as second-class citizens. While they enjoyed certain protections, they were also frequently harassed and the victims of prejudice and official oppression. In the early 20th century many Western nations began to officially object to the treatment of the Armenian people. The Ottoman Empire, by then very weak and disorganised, decided that this meant the Western powers might intervene militarily, and their solution was to forcibly evict the entire Armenian population. Millions were driven out of the country, and many were killed in what is now known as the Armenian Genocide. This is why the Armenian diaspora is so large – so many Armenians fled their homeland for their lives during this period. Today Armenia is one of several post-Soviet republics establishing itself as an independent nation for the first time in thousands of years, with the enthusiastic support and affection of its far-flung refugees. Its history of domination and violent oppression has had the ironic effect of making the expatriate Armenians fiercely proud of their heritage, guaranteeing that the Armenian way of life continues, no matter where they have settled. - See more at: http://www.onehourtranslation.com/translation/blog/short-history-armenia#sthash.9kDanb6J.dpuf

http://www.onehourtranslation.com/translation/blog/short-history-armenia

 

Vanessa Kachadurian, Atlas on Armenian History Available

ANEC Releases ‘Atlas of Historical Armenia’

ANEC's Historical Atlas of Armenia

NEW YORK—The Armenian National Education Committee (ANEC) recently announced its publication of the bilingual (Armenian and English) Atlas of Historical Armenia, edited by Dr. Vartan Matiossian, the executive director of the ANEC. The Atlas was published under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, on the 500th anniversary of Armenian printing. The cost was underwritten through the generous donation of the Hagopian family of Providence, RI, in memory of their parents, Ervant and Serpouhi Hagopian.

While the book’s primary target audience are students and teachers, the Atlas is equally valuable for the general public. The basic premise is to offer readers an essential core that may serve as a starting point to widen their knowledge. To this end, the new edition has been rewritten and updated, with the addition of four new chapters. It contains 32 chapters, 30 maps, and 174 photographs (148 in full color). The maps are also provided on a CD attached to the book.

The Atlas combines three books in one: a book of historical geography (maps), a book of history (text), and a book of illustrated history (photographs). It is an educational tool that may be used as a standard textbook of Armenian history—in Armenian and English—that supersedes other textbooks currently in use.

The book is structured in four sections. It opens with an overview of Armenian historical geography, followed by a second section on Armenian cultural heritage. The main section of the book is the third, which introduces compact chapters on Armenian history from its origins to 1991. The final section, entitled “Armenians Today,” presents chapters on the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh), and the Armenian Diaspora. An extensive chapter on the Armenian Church is followed by an “Afterword” that succinctly explains the current status of Armenians and Armenia.

As part of its series of publications in Armenian studies, the ANEC released the first edition of the Atlas, written by Dr. Garbis Armen and edited by Vrej-Armen Artinian, in 1987. It remains the only bilingual atlas of Armenian history ever published. (Whereas other atlases were published before and after, all of them were monolingual). Incidentally, the Atlas was the first such publication in English until Dr. Robert Hewsen’s Armenia: A Historical Atlas (2001), an erudite work for a different audience.

The unprecedented historical transformations that followed the initial publication of the Atlas, including the independence of the Republics of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh in 1991, demanded a revision. After a long hiatus, work on the new edition resumed in 2010 and 25 years after the first edition, the ANEC can offer a new atlas for a new generation.

Copies of the Atlas of Historical Armenia are available from the Eastern Prelacy Bookstore, 138 E. 39th Street, New York, NY 10016. For more information, call (212) 689-7810, or e-mail books@armenianprelacy.org.

http://asbarez.com/112574/anec-releases-%E2%80%98atlas-of-historical-armenia%E2%80%99/

 

Vanessa Kachadurian, Armenian Church Surp Giragos to reopen as a museum of legacy

One of Diyarbakır’s most famous churches, the Armenian church of Surp Giragos, is set to become a city museum hosting artwork and artifacts depicting the Armenian history in the city.

Earlier, the Hürriyet Daily News reported that Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Osman Baydemir and Surp Giragos Armenian Foundation President Ergün Ayık had signed a protocol to turn the church, which was recently restored and opened to prayer, into a museum.

According to the protocol, the church’s Hıdır İlyas section will be given to the municipality and converted into a museum featuring belongings and ethnographic artifacts.

Ayık said the church was the largest church in the Middle East but was in ruins until it was restored and reopened to worship three years ago.

Noting that the church was surrounded by many famous buildings and artifacts in the city, Ayık said, “The representatives are evaluating the buildings around the church.”

The Diyarbakır City Museum will display Armenian heritage and Armenian art. “We are currently meeting with the municipality and we have signed a protocol to open this part,” Ayık said.

“We will first collect artifacts before decorating the museum. The decorations and the curation will be made according to the artifacts,” said Ayık, noting that there would be information about the family, social and cultural life of Armenians.

Letters from Lice

Very few artifacts have survived over the past 100 years, but Ayık said they were able to collect letters from 1913 from a family who lived in the province’s Lice district, as well as kitchen appliances, musical instruments and other examples of writings from elsewhere.

During the last 100 years, many artifacts that belonged to Armenian families have been lost, he said. “We are currently collecting artifacts to display in the museum. This is the first time that something like this has happened in Turkey, and many people are approaching this with suspicion.”

The written documents are very valuable because they reflect the lifestyle of Armenians at the time, he said. “We have collected these documents from Turkey and also from foreign countries. We have succeeded in collecting these artifacts.”

Noting that there were also many financial documents, Ayık said these revealed the debts and the trade that Armenians had in history.

Artifacts in Istanbul

The artifacts that have been collected have been sent to Istanbul to be analyzed and researched.
Collecting the data and the artifacts has taken a long time, he said, adding that the job was an important task that only professionals could do.

After analyzing the works, the artifact will be sent to the museum for display.

Surp Giragos, which boasts seven altars, originally had an earthen roof, although a new roof of wood was subsequently erected over the restored church. It was closed in 1915-1916 before being returned to the local Armenian community in 1960.

A new bell that was made for the reopened church was made in Russia especially for the place of worship.

September/10/2013

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/diyarbakir-church-to-display-armenian-legacy.aspx?pageID=238&nID=54108&NewsCatID=375

According to some art historians, Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır is the largest in the Middle East. The complex sprawls over 3,200 square meters and includes priests’ houses, chapels and a school. AA photo

Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian History of coins

From the history of Armenian coins. First Armenian coins

The coins of kings of Sophene (Tsopk) dated to the second half of the 3rd century BC are believed to the first Armenian coins.

The history of Armenian money is rich, diverse and interesting. Armenians are undoubtedly one of the nations with the ancient money history, as the territory of historical Armenia was in the vicinity of the birthplace of the first antique coins. Coinage, which is considered to be a major event in the development of society, started approximately at the end of the 8th or at the beginning of 7th century BC in Lydia, an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provinces of Uşak, Manisa and inland Izmir.

September 24, 2013

PanARMENIAN.Net - The oldest coins found in the territory of Armenia date back to 6th-5th centuries BC. These are silver coins made in the Achaemenid Empire and the Greek cities of Athens and Miletus.

In the middle of the 6th century BC, Armenia fell under the rule of the Achaemenid Empire and its territory was divided into eastern and western parts consisting of areas governed by satraps, who got the right to coin at the end of the 5th century BC.

Oront (in Armenian sources mentioned as Yervant, 362-345 BC), the satrap of the eastern part of Armenia, and Tiribaz (386-380 BC), who governed the western part, had coins with their own images.

It’s noteworthy that coins of Macedonian king Philip II (359-336 BC) and Alexander the Great were discovered in the territory of Armenia, although there is not enough evidence that the locals used money at that time, and, apparently, trade was conducted through exchange. However, the discovery proves that the people knew about the usage of coins.

The coins of kings of Sophene (Tsopk) dated to the second half of the 3rd century BC are believed to the first Armenian coins.

The coins of the following Armenian kings are known: Sames (about 260 BC), Arsham I (about 240 BC), Arsham II (about 230 BC), Xerxes (about 220 BC), Abdidares (about 210 BC).

Description of coins First Armenian coins were copper coins, with a very small number of them preserved. The coins of the period of Sophene kings’ rule were minted in Hellenistic style. The obverse showed the image of the ruler (profile of the king in a characteristic pointed headdress). The reverse demonstrated various mythological images, for example a horseman symbolizing the king, an eagle, or the name of the king in Greek letters.

The material was prepared in cooperation with Gevorg Mughalyan, the numismatist of the Central Bank of Armenia.

Viktoria Araratyan / PanARMENIAN.Net, Varo Rafayelyan / PanARMENIAN Photo

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/details/170397/