DID YOU KNOW
By Jirair Tutunjian
The title of Ottoman “Amira” was given only to Armenians. Most of the
amiras came from the city of Agn, a city in Armenia which was founded
by a group of 11th century nakharars (princes). The city is now called
Kemaliye, after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. A number of amira families, such
as the Dadians, were descended from princely families. The golden age
of the amiras was from 1700 to 1850. The amiras had dual ambitions: to
assume control over many of the imperial administrative positions and
to run Armenian national affairs. Although their power was immense,
it had to be hidden so as not to provoke Turks who considered them
infidels.
Of the various non-Islamic Ottoman minorities, Armenians were the most
trusted by the government, until the end of the 19th century. The
Greeks, descendants of the Byzantines, were less trusted and lost a
great deal of power because of the Greek War of Independence against
the Ottomans. The first sultan to favor the Armenians was Mehmed II.
He invited a large number of Armenians to Constantinople, and used
their services extensively.
The Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul was an Ottoman creation. Several
15th century sultans elevated the position of the patriarchs to
make the patriarch the head of the Armenian nation (“millet”). From
the second half of the 17th century, decadence of the patriarchate
set in, mediocre men succeeded each other and even secular men were
nominated for the position. It was then that the vanguard of future
amiras went to Constantinople and took control over the patriarchate
which is still at Kumkapu near the Bosphorus.
As Christians, the amiras couldn’t hold state functions. The only
sphere of influence was that of finance, because Islam forbade Muslims
to trade in the precious metals or grant loans.
Abro Chelebi, considered as the precursor of the amiras, was
a descendant of the Armenian Pakraduni royal dynasty. He was the
ancestor of statesmen who governed Egypt in the 19th century: Boghos
Bey; Nubar Pasha; Dikran Pasha.
Despite their differences, the amiras were a perfectly identified
social class. Their employees-from their main assistants to the
humblest porter–were recruited from Agn, the ancestral home of
the amiras.
The amiras enjoyed five prerogatives which were rarely granted to
non-Muslims: exemption from tribute which non-Muslims had to pay;
authorization to wear the imperial coat-of-arms on their kalpak
headgears; the right to wear noble furs; the right to ride horses;
the right to wear a beard (non-Muslims were only allowed a moustache.
The Duz dynasty of amiras was, for generations, in charge of the
Imperial Mint which controlled the striking of gold coins. The Balian
Amiras, the imperial architects, built scores of majestic palaces,
mosques and other buildings for the Ottomans. For eight generations
Manasse dynasty members were the imperial portrait painters and
miniaturists to the Sublime Porte. The Dadians, descendants of the
Ardzrouni princes of Armenia, were the Grand Master of the Gunpowder
(Baroudji Bashi). They were in charge of armaments and weapons
factories. The Momdjian bankers had the monopoly of the wax (“mom”
in Armenian) industry. The Karakehias, already famous bankers, saw
their prestige soar higher when they became the bankers of Egypt. The
Noradoungians were in charge of supplying bread to the sultan and his
court. They had a library of more than 5,000 books, a third of which
were in Armenian, the rest in French. The most famous member of the
Jezahirli Amiras was Mgrdich. He was a modernist and thus the bete
noir of his extremely conservative peers. He supervised the customs’
duties of the empire. He inaugurated and financed Armenian schools
and sent young Armenians to complete their studies in France. In 1850
he built the first theatre in Turkey.
Although the overwhelming majority of amiras came from Agn in Armenia,
Artin Amira Kazaz, the most popular of amiras, was neither Agntsi nor
an aristocrat. One of his many contributions to the sultan was his
instigation and organization of the massacre (1826) of the Janissaries
who had become king-makers and had assassinated the eight predecessors
of Sultan Mahmood II. The Janissaries had formed a state-within-a-state
and after terrorizing the enemies of the empire had begun to terrorize
Ottoman citizens.
The Ottoman Armenian amiras built not only churches and support the
Armenian Patriarchate in Constantinople they also built Armenian
schools, hospitals, printing presses, orphanages.
The pinnacle of the amira power was 1840. Soon after, banking ceased
to be the basis of their power because major European banks-in
particular British-established a foothold in Turkey. Their modern
management techniques superseded the financial monopoly of the amiras,
especially in transactions involving gold, pearls and precious stones.
The European banks also had vast networks of branches across Europe.
As well, the promulgation of the Tanzimat to (supposedly) establish
equality among Muslims and non-Muslims and to allow minorities to earn
titles such as pasha, bey, effendi, rendered the title amira obsolete.
After Turkey’s defeat in the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78), which saw
Russian troops at the gates of Constantinople, Sultan Abdul-Hamid
entrusted Amira Arakel Bey Dadian, the task of greeting the Grand Duke
Nicholas, the brother of Tsar Alexander II, and Commander-in-Chief of
the victorious armies, who had come to sign the peace of San Stefano.
The treaty was signed in the Dadian villa. To enhance the welcome,
Arakel Bey called upon his brilliant relatives to join in the
gathering: Nubar Pasha, foreign minister of Egypt; Prince Mirza
Malcolm Khan of Persia; his Russian cousin General Count Loris-Melikov,
governor of Kharkov and conqueror of Kars.
Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov (1730 to 1800) is considered
to be Tsarist Russia’s greatest military leader. His mother was
Hripsimeh Manougian of Astrakhan. Recent research reveals that his
father-although thought to be of Swedish origin, was also Armenian. In
1780 Gen. Suvorov, along with Catherine the Great, participated in the
inauguration of the Armenian Saint Catherine Church of St. Petersburg.
Suvorov was also entrusted with the liberation of Armenia. He was also
instrumental in settling 12,600 Crimean Armenians to Don in Ukraine.
He subscribed to Shahamir Shahamirian’s “New Notebook”
pamphlet. His son (Arkady Suvorov-1784-1811) and his grandson
(Alexander Suvorov-1804-1882) were also famous generals. A total
of ten descendants of Generalissimo Suvorov became generals in the
Russian Army. The generalissimo had the distinction of never having
been beaten in the battlefield.
Count Mikhael Kuduzov (1745-1813), an Armenian general and field
marshal in the Tsarist army, is contender to Armenian Generalissimo
Suvorov as the greatest military officer in the Russian army. His
mother’s last name was Peglmishyan. He participated in the two
Russian-Turkish wars in the late 18th century and later in that century
was ambassador to Ottoman Turkey. He led the Russian army in several
battles against Napoleon, including at Borodino, near Moscow.
He shattered the French forces in battles in Poland and Prussia. In
1811 he became a count and prince a year later. During the Second
World War the Soviet Union introduced medals in his name.
Sinan (1490-1580), known as Maymar Sinan (Architect Sinan) was born
in Caesaria (Gesaria). His name was Armen Sinanian. After graduating
from military school, he became a senior officer in the Yenicheri army
(kidnapped or adopted children of non-Muslims). After participating
in the Balkan and Iraq wars, he was appointed chief architect of
the Ottoman army. He built 360 structures-131 mosques, 55 schools,
19 mausoleums, 7 libraries, three hospital, 14 imarat, 8 bridges,
5 aqueducts, 17 khans, 31 palaces, 35 bathhouses, warehouses and
city walls, including that of Jerusalem. In 1783 when Sultan Selim II
ordered the deportation of Caesaria Armenians to Cyprus, Sinan asked
the sultan to rescind his order. The sultan ignored Sinan’s pleading
but allowed Sinan’s relatives to remain in Caesaria.
Emir Mirza Chul Gurna (1592-1656) of India was the son of wealthy
Armenian merchant Mirza Iskenderian. He was a senior officer in the
Mughal army during the latter’s invasion of India under Emperor Akbar.
He led the Mughal army in many victories. Gurna was a governor (Bengal
and Lahore), senior government and military officer. An extremely
rich man, he was also a benefactor, poet, and singer. Among his many
benevolent works for Armenians, he donated 6,000 rupee to the Armenian
Patriarchate in Jerusalem. His contemporaries said that the Mughal
emperors owed thousand battle victories to Emir Mirza Chul Ghurna.
Edgar Manas, an Armenian from Istanbul, composed the national anthem
of Turkey. Turkey covers up his national identity.
The second largest airport of Turkey is the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen
International Airport. It’s named after heroine Hatun Sebilcyan,
an Armenian girl orphaned in 1915, who was adopted by Mustpha Kemal
Ataturk. She was given the cerulean Gokcen surname by Ataturk when
she became the first pilot in the country. Hrant Dink became a marked
man by Turkish ultranationalists when he uncovered the truth about
Gokcen’s Armenian background from her relatives in Beirut in 2001. As
military pilot, Gokcen took part in the ’30s bombing of the Dersimis,
most of whom were Armenian survivors of the Genocide. It’s not certain
whether Gokcen knew she was Armenian.
Prof. Agop Martayan, an Armenian linguist, introduced the Latin
alphabet to Turkey and was in charge of the conversion of Ottoman
Turkish to modern Turkish. In gratitude, Ataturk nicknamed him Dilacar
(“the one who locks the language). Whenever his name is mentioned in
Turkish books, he is identified as A. Dilacar. When he died in 1978,
Turkish media called him Adil Dilacar. As they have done with many
other Armenians who have contributed to Turkey, Prof. Martayan’s
Armenian origin remains secret in the country.
Roustam Raza’s (1780-?) real name was Rostom Khachaturian. He was
born in Tiflis to a family from Artsakh. At the age of seven, he was
kidnapped by Tatars and sent to Egypt where he was sold seven times.
In 1780, Sheik El-Bakri of Cairo, gave 18-year-old Rostom as a present
to Napoleon who had just landed in Egypt. Rostom became the French
general’s bodyguard and took part in every Napoleonic battle until
1814 when Bonaparte was exiled. Napoleon bestowed him with the Legion
of Honor medal. Rostom was featured in a number of paintings which
depicted Napoleon at war. A few years after marrying a Mademoiselle
Douville in a Paris suburb, he returned to the Caucasus and enlisted
in the Russian army to take part in the Russo-Persian War to liberate
Eastern Armenia. The army was led by General Madatov (Madatian).
Following the Russian victory, Rostom lived in Shushi for a while. He
was buried in the same Paris suburb where he was married. His memoirs
were published in 1866.
Goryoun Vartabed, one of the pupils of Sts. Sahag Bartev and Mesrob
Mashdots, wrote “Life of Mashdots” as an eyewitness. The book has
reached us in several versions-short and long. Over the centuries, the
original version has been corrupted during copying and transmission of
the text. The oldest copy in existence was copied sometime after the
12th century. Scholars are almost unanimous that the longer version
in the 17th century and the 14th century excerpts are closer to the
original than the short version, but do have corruptions. In writing
St. Mashdots’ biography, one of the primary goals of Goryoun was to
persuade the reader that Mashdots and Catholicos Sahag were major
figures like Moses, Job, Elijah, and Paul of the Bible and as such
deserved to be considered saints.
According to ethnographer Rafael Nahapetyan of Armenia, St. Nikolas
(eventually Santa Claus) was born in 280 AD in Batara (near modern
Antalya) and was of Armenian descent. His parents were Ergephane and
an Armenian beauty by the name of Nune. Orphaned at an early age, he
was brought up by Archbishop Nikolas Yerets. He eventually became the
archbishop of Smyrna and died in 326 AD. The Crusaders robbed (1080)
his tomb and carried his bones to Bari, Italy. In 2012 a Turkish
academic demanded that St. Nikolas’ bones be “returned” to Turkey.
Santa Claus’ reputation of giving presents to children is based on St.
Nikolas’ habit of handing at Christmas coins to well-behaved boys
and girls.
Little is known of Movses Khorenatsi, the “father” of Armenian
historians. Like Goryoun, he was a disciple of Sts. Sahag and Mesrob.
The two church leaders sent him to study in Edessa (Urfa), Alexandria,
Byzantium, and Athens. When he wrote his masterpiece, “A Geneological
Account of Armenia Major”– also known as “History of Armenia”–he
was an old and ailing priest. He began the history with Noah and ended
it in 440 AD. In the past two centuries Khorenatsi’s work has become
controversial among some Armenian and non-Armenian historians. Certain
scholars believe the book was written in the 7th, 8th, or even 9th
century. Others believe the work is authentic and written in the
5th century.
Although Movses Khorenatsi is considered to be the “father” of
Armenian historians, he was not the first person to write the history
of Armenia and Armenians. He was preceded by historian Agathangelos,
the Greek secretary of King Drtad III (Tiridates). He wrote the life
of the king in Greek. Agathangelos was followed by Pavstos Peuzant,
probably also Greek. He covered 344 AD to 392 AD. A fourth major
historian of the age was Ghazar Parbetsi, another pupil of Mashdots.
He was a priest and a protegee of Vartabed Aghan Arsdrouni, Vahan
Mamigonian’s maternal uncle. Because of his close connection with
his childhood friend and schoolmate, Vahan Mamigonian (Sahag Bartev’s
great-grandson and nephew of Kachn Vartan), in his “History of Armenia”
he attributed to Sahag the lion’s share in the cooperative effort
which resulted in the invention of the Armenian alphabet.
Having been educated in Byzantium, Parbetsi was pro-Greek and
anti-Syriac.
After inventing the Armenian alphabet and training his students on how
to teach it, Mesrob Mashdots travelled to Georgia where he invented
an alphabet for the people of that country. He also did missionary
work in Georgia and in southern Armenia and created an alphabet for
Caucasian Albania.
Before the famous translation of the Bible, Catholicos Sahag Bartev
and his associates did a quick translation of the Bible. The famous
and permanent version was based on Bibles brought from Constantinople.
The “Proverbs of Solomon” was the first book to be rendered into
Armenian, as “to know wisdom and instruction and to perceive words of
understanding.” A scribe called Rufinus put into writing these first
words into Armenian. Catholicos Sahag, who with Mesrob Mashdots was
the godfather of the Armenian alphabet, was deposed by Persia in 428
AD and exiled for four years.
Movses Khorenatsi traced Catholicos Sahag Bartev’s lineage to St.
Gregory the Illuminator in the following manner: St. Gregory… St.
Vrtaness… St. Husik (formerly married to an Arshaguni princess)…
Atanagine( married to an Arshaguni princess)… St. Nerses the Great
(formerly married either to a Greek or a Mamigonian princess)…
Catholicos Sahag (formerly married to a woman whose name and family
lineage have not been recorded).
Mesrob Mashdots was born in the village of Hatsekats in Daron, 40 kms
north of Mush and six or kms from the village of Haskoy. The village
existed as Hatsek until 1915 when the Armenians were massacred.
Mashdots might have been a distant and poor relation of the Mamigonian
clan.
The Armenian alphabet was initially in majuscule (capital letters). In
the 8th century a smaller majuscule appeared and evolved into an even
smaller script with rectangular corners. Scholars believe that the
larger curvilinear majuscule script was used for writing scriptural
and sacred texts, as well as canon. The smaller majuscule was for
historical works, commentaries, homilies, and other literary forms.
CHRISTOPHER DER-SEROPIAN was given the first claim patent for the
color of the US dollar in 1954… In 1949 RICHARD DONCHIAN developed
the trend-timing method of futures investing and introduced the
mutual fund concept in money management… HOVHANNES APKAR ADAMIAN
made significant improvements to the principles of B/W and color TV
broadcasting… The world’s first and most-sophisticated radio-optical
telescope was built by Paris Herouni in 1960. It was named the Herouni
Mirror Radio Telescope… GREGOR GURZADIAN of Armenia was a pioneer in
the construction and use of small space telescopes-20 years before the
Hubble. He made UV and X-Ray observations on the sun through his space
telescope… Dr. ARA MIRZOYAN, formerly of the Pyuragan Observatory in
Armenia and now director of the Galaxy Company there, led a team of
Armenian scientists in 2012 to make the largest Cherenkov telescope
in the world. The 560-tonne HESSE II (High Energy Cosmic Gamma Ray
Astronomy) telescope has 875 mirrors and every one of them has the
word ARMENIA written on it. The telescope has an area of 600 square
metres. The observatory was located in Namibia because atmospheric
conditions are most advantageous in that region of South Africa.
Armenia-based astronomer VICTOR HAMPARTSOUMIAN was one of the founders
of theoretical astrophysics. He did most of his work at the Pyuragan
Observatory in Armenia… GIACOMO LUIGI CIAMICIAN, an Armenian-Italian
scientist who was nominated nine times for the Nobel Prize, is the
father of the solar panel and a number of solar energy applications…
In 1954 Dr. EDWARD KEONJIAN, microelectronics guru, designed
the first solar-powered, pocket-sized radio transmitter… AVEDIS
TEVANIAN was the chief software technology officer and senior VP of
software engineering at Apple Computers. He was a pioneer in creating
cross platform development environments used worldwide… ALEXANDER
KEMURDZIAN, founder of space transport engineering, designed the
first Moon and Mars Rovers. In the 1940 he also designed the first
remote vehicle.
OSCAR H. BANKER (ASADOOR SARAFIAN) of Chicago is one of the most
prolific American inventors. He invented helicopter controls
for Sikorsky helicopters and the first practical car automatic
transmission. His design is now the standard worldwide… Armenian
MELIK TANGIEV of the Soviet Union designed the first oil platform in
open sea (the Caspian)… In 1916 STEPHAN STEPANIAN of the US designed
the first ready-mix concrete trucks… ED ISKENDERIAN invented (1963)
the hydraulic racing camshaft… BORIS BABAYAN is the father of the
Soviet superconductor… ARTHUR H. BULBULIAN invented the oxygen mask
(A-14) for the US Air Force in 1914… ARDEM MIKOYAN, the younger
brother of Soviet President ANASTAS MIKOYAN, is the co-inventor of the
MiG fighter… Mathematician LEONID KHACHIYAN invented the system which
solved linear programming problems-considered intractable until then.
The self-wringing sponge named Quickie was invented by PETER
VOSBIKIAN… LUTHER SIMJIAN invented the ATM, military flight
simulator, and the postage meter… ALBERT KAPIKIAN invented the
Rotravirus vaccine injector… ROGER ALTOUNIAN invented the pressured
inhaler and sodium therapy… PETER TER-POGOSSIAN was one of the
fathers of positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, It was the
first functional brain imaging technique… RAYMOND DAMADIAN invented
the MRI machine… JIRAYR TEZEL invented the hair transplantation
device… VARAZTAD KAZANJIAN is the father of plastic surgery… HAMPAR
KELIKIAN invented the limb restoration surgical technique… ARA
and BARON DARZI co-invented the minimally invasive robot-assisted
surgery… Cybernetic communication expert HAIG KAFAFIAN designed
aircraft control and missile guidance systems… EMIK AVAKYAN invented
the text to speech to microfilm… ALEX MANOOGIAN is responsible for
the single-faucet design (Delta)…
ARDASHES AYKANIAN invented the bendy and spoon straw, the firm form
of Tupperware, the blue strip on car windshields… RUEN ESKERJIAN
invented an anti-aircraft gun during WWII… SEMYON KIRLIAN is the
inventor of high-voltage photography… HARRY TOROSSIAN invented the
ice cream cone and the Melba toast… HARRY K. DAGHLIAN Jr. was part
of the Manhattan Project during WWII.
The root cause of the military effectiveness of the Medieval Armenian
princes and their armies was their fiercely independent nature. This
caused the Byzantines to adopt hostile and counterproductive measure
to quell the traditionally self-reliant spirit of Armenians whom they
ruled in Western Armenia. The shortsighted Byzantine policy resulted
in the fall of the Armenian Pakraduni dynasty and the eventual defeat
of the Byzantines at the hands of the Seljuk Turks in Manazgerd. Some
disenchanted Armenian soldiers fought on the side of the Turks in
that battle, along with various other national groups.
The famous General Nerseh (called Narses in Byzantium) had an
equally-skilled brother, Hrahad (Aratius in Greek). The brothers
descended from the prominent Gamsaragan nakharar (princely) family.
Years before commanding the armies of Byzantium, Nerseh and his brother
won a stunning victory over Belisarius and Sittas-the superstars of
the Byzantium military.
After the decline of the Arshagouni kingdom (428 AD), the Mamigonian
clan invariably headed the national liberation wars-in 450-51 AD,
481-484, 571-572, 747-753, 772-775-against Byzantium, the Persians,
and the Arabs. The Mamigonians ran a first-class war school where
experienced military men passed, from generation to generation,
the valuable experiences they had gained on the battle field.
The cavalry was the main striking force of the ancient and Medieval
Armenian armies. As well as the elite cavalry, there was a light
cavalry. The army had an infantry, archers, shield-bearers, slingers,
special mountain troops trained to roll rocks on the enemy. Armenians
were among the first to use iron horse armor. When attacking forts or
defensive positions, the army had iron hooks to help soldiers scale
the enemy’s walls and large leather shields to protect their backs
from rocks thrown from above.
The Armenian soldiers, like the Persians, made a point of locating the
head of the enemy’s army and to kill him. Medieval Armenian historian
Pavstos Puzant reports a whole series of such tactics, killing 21
Persian commanders-in-chief in 21 consecutive victorious battles. Even
if inflated, Puzant’s account demonstrates how much emphasis the
Armenian military leaders put on specific tactics. Targeting the
enemy’s commander-in-chief required credible intelligence in advance,
especially since the commander-in-chief was always protected by
elite bodyguards.
While Byzantium was a multinational empire, the two leading ethnic
groups were the Armenians and the Greeks. The latter dominated the
bureaucracy and the Church while the former dominated the army. The
Armenian elite were Hellenized in culture and in religion. Of the many
Byztanine emperors who were of Armenian origin, it’s difficult to find
a single emperor who assisted fellow Armenians in their homeland. Many
members of the Armenian elite claimed to be descended from ancient
Armenian dynasties or nakharar princely families. Despite their
assimilation into the Hellenic culture there was always anti-Armenian
prejudice throughout the thousand years the empire lasted.
Armenian soldiers in the Byzantine army were a close-knit and detached
group. They often lived in their own neighborhoods and acted in unison
in riots. Their distinctiveness was supported by their religion. At
least 17 commanders-in-chief of the Byzantium armies were Armenian;
and most of the soldiers serving in Byzantium-occupied Armenia were
Armenian. They often joined the Armenian army when nakharars rose
against the occupying Byzantium rule.
A major reason for hostility toward Byzantine Armenians was the
Armenian impulse to local autonomy and their will to remain distinctly
Armenian. In no other region of the empire did the inhabitants have a
tradition of being so well armed and prone to rely on themselves and
their own family groupings and notables. The intractability of the
Armenians was one of their hallmarks during Byzantine and Arab rule.
Between 585 B.C. and 1375 AD Armenia had five royal dynasties:
Yervandian (585 B.C. to 200 B.C); Ardashesian (189 B.C. to 31 AD);
Arshagouni (66 AD to 428 AD); Pakradouni (885 AD to 1045 AD), and
Roupinian (1080 to 1375).
http://www.keghart.com/