History of the Armenians in India 9781463208615

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HISTORY OF rHE ARMENIANS IN INDIA

HISTORY OF THE ARMENIANS IN INDIA

MESROVB J. SETH

A

M G o r g i a s PRESS 2004

First Gorgias Press Edition, 2004. The special contents of this edition are copyright 2004 by Gorgias Press LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States of America by Gorgias Press LLC, New Jersey. This edition is a facsimile reprint of the original edition published by Gian Publishing House, Delhi. Publisher's Note The original copy from which this edition was produced had defects on pages 17, 20, 29 and 32. We have restored the defected texts to the best of our ability.

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PREFACE

THE history of the Armenian nation, since the loss of its

political

independence

after the death at Paris in Armenian national

king,

is one

in the fourteenth century, 1393 of L e o VI., the

of the

darkest

last

epochs in its

history and has perhaps no parallel in the

annals of a n y nation. barbarities

and

It presents one long series of

atrocities

their inveterate f o e s — t h e Persians and the

perpetrated

on

Saracens, the

'unspeakable

them

Tartars,

Turk,'—who

have

by the in

turn led their bloodthirsty hordes into Armenia, indiscriminately devastated

murdered their

its

flourishing

inhabitants,

pillaged

cities, and (in

the

and words

of B y r o n ) " d e s o l a t e d the region where God created man in His own image." T h e s e invasions naturally served to scatter the Armenian nation ; and, leaving their homes in large numbers, they migrated to other countries where, in the enjoyment of security of life and property, they soon formed important colonies and distinguished themselves in their commercial

pursuits.

The

interesting

various Armenian colonies in

history

European

and

of the Asiatic

countries, forms one of the brightest in the otherwise

vi

PREFACE.

daik page9 of the history of the Armenian nation for the past five hundred years.

A lover of history, I have

always taken a keep interest in the history of these once-flourishing colonies, about whicii there is, however, but very little on record.

My favourite hobby has been

the history of the various Armenian colonies in India and the F a r liast, fostered no doubt by the various narratives I have heard from my venerable father (now in his seventy-fifth year), to whom I am greatly indebted for having instilled into my youthful heart a taste for antiquarian knowledge and research and an ardent love for the rich classical Armenian literature. Being anxious to gather further information regarding the Armenian colonists in India, I ransacked our modest ancestral library, which w«s rich in Armenian publications, printed at Madras, where my grandfather had been a merchant for several years in the second half of the eighteenth century.

I next turned my atten-

tion to the numerous Armenian letters in my father's escretoire, which were written to my great-grandfather (Mackertich Agazar Seth) at Julfa by my grandfather and other Armenian merchants, chiefly from Surat and Madras, during the last century, and some contained materials of historical value.

These, with a number

of other important documents and MSS., I brought from Julfa as valuable relics, intending some day to utilize them in a historical work.

On arriving at Calcutta in

VÜ

PREFACE.

1889, to complete my education, I endeavoured at school to gather information regarding Armenians in this country.

At

while

the early

the outset I was dis-

appointed, there being no archives or a n y

library

in

Calcutta containing books and M S S . in the Armenian language

and the Araratean Library at the

Armenian

College and Philanthropic Academy, where I

studied,

had on its shelves but a few unimportant printed volumes ( s e e p a g e 178, footnote).

" T h e r e is nothing on record

about them! " was the general response to my enquiries from everyone. N e x t I consulted every available English of

India from Orme to

historian

Marshman and Hunter, but

found only a few references to individual

Armenians.

E x t r a c t s from these and other writers on India have been given in this work. compiled

in 1596 by

minister of A k b a r histories of

T h e interesting

Abul

Ain-i-Akbari,

Fazl, the learned

finance

the Great, and other Muhammadan

India were searched with no better results.

After great difficulty, I procured complete sets of some of the Armenian journals published from time to time in India, and from these I was able to glean considerable fragmentary information, manuscripts and

and afterwards

a

letters in Armenian, connected

few with

India, came into my possession. Another field remained practically unexplored, namely, the interesting inscriptions in the Armenian

burying-

viii

PREFACE.

grounds.

I had, it is true, obtained copies of a few im-

portant Armenian inscriptions from some of the places where Armenians had lived and died, and had been over the Armenian burying-grounds at Calcutta and Chinsurah but I had a longing to see with my own eyes the tombs of

the departed

at A g r a ,

Gvvalior,

Surat,

Bombay,

Masulipatam Madras, Dacca, Syedabad, Patna, and other centres of Armenian commerce.

Some of these places I

have since visited, and have had the pleasure of studying, in situ, these valuable landmarks of Armenians. My

object

in

collecting

antiquarian

information

regarding the Armenians was to place on record, at some future period, the result of my researches, as a small

contribution

to

Armenian

history.

originally was to publish r..y notes in the

My

idea

Armenian

language, but I was induced to produce them in English under the following auspicious circumstances. E a r l y in 1894 the local Government had, at the instance of the Government of India, compiled a list of the old Christian tombs and monuments in Bengal possessing historical or archaeological interest; and a few months later I WHS asked by the Bengal Government to translate into English a number of classical

Armenian

inscrip-

tions on the tombstones in the Armenian churchyards at Calcutta, Chinsurah (a suburb of Hooghly), and Syedabad (a suburb of Murshidabad), for incorporation in that list.

While engaged in that interesting work, which

PREFACE.

ix

helped to stimulate my antiquarian proclivities, I decided upon preparing a brief historical sketch in English of the various Armenian colonies in India.

In January

1895 I left for Hyderabad (Deccan), visiting Bombay en route. During my short stay I copied all the inscriptions in the Armenian churchyard and the old cemetery at Bombay, and also some sequestered ones at Byculla, its suburb, in the compound of a private dwelling-house. On returning to Calcutta shortly afterwards, I had the happiness of forming the acquaintance of Mr. C. R . Wilson, M.A., Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Logic in the Presidency College, Calcutta, and Secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in connection with the valuable discovery referred to on pages 39 to 4 1 , which had aroused his antiquarian enthusiasm.

I may mention

that he took the keenest interest in the excavation of the Old Fort of Calcutta in 1891, and took pains to locate the exact site of the historical Black Hole.

The result

of his discoveries will be found in an appendix to the latest edition of Newman & Co.'s Handbook to Calcutta. I am glad to embrace this opportunity of cordially thanking the erudite professor for his valuable assistance; for he was pleased to place at my disposal certain valuable extracts from the early records of the Hon'ble East India Company which are preseived in the archives of the East

India

House in London.

These

extracts, now published for the first time, are of inesti-

PREFACE.

X

mable value from a historical point of view, for they shed a flood of light on the history of the Company's allimportant deputation to the Mogul Court at Delhi in 1715, in which Khojah Israel Sarhad, an Armenian merchant, played a prominent part, and by diplomacy succeeded in

securing for the

his tact and English the

Grand Firtuan from the Emperor Ferokhsiyar. I im also indebted to the Calcutta Review, from which some valuable extracts have been taken, and to the Englishman

for its eulogistic reference to my fortunate

discovery of the oldest Christian tomb in Calcutta.

The

other sources from which I have derived information have been duly acknowledged. The sun seemed at last to shine upon my endeavours. I was fortunate in procuring a copy of the now comparatively rare Considerations on India Affairs by " William Bolts, Merchant, and Alderman or Judge of the Hon'ble The Mayor's Court of Calcutta."

This valuable work,

which was published at London in i772,contained much interesting information regarding the Armenians in Bengal, and several extracts from it have been reproduced here. The dreadful tragedy enacted by the Turkish and Kurdish soldiery at Sassoon, Armenia, in the autumn of 1894, on defenseless Armenians, aroused the sympathy and shocked the feelings of the entire Christian world. The massacres and atrocities perpetrated were of so

XÍ

PREFACE.

horrible a nature, that Mr. Gladstone, Armenia's truest friend, in addressing the

Anglo-Armenian

at Hawarden on the anniversary

of

deputation

his eighty-fifth

birthday, 29th December 1894, gave expression to the following memorable words :— " Now, it is certainly true that we have not arrived at the close of this inquiry, and Í will say nothing to assume that the allegations will be verified. A t the same time, I cannot pretend to say that ¿here is no reason to anticipate an unfavorable issue. On the contrary, the intelligence which has reached me tends to a conclusion which I still hope may not be verified, but tends strongly to a conclusion to the general effect that the outrages and the scenes and abominations of 1876 in Bulgaria have been repeated in 1894 in Armenia. A s I have said, I hope it is not so, and I will hope to the last, but if it is so, it is time that one general shout of execration, not of men, but of deeds, one general shout of execration directed against deeds of wickedness, should rise from outraged humanity, and should force itself into the ears of the Sultan of Turkey and make him sensible, if anything can make him sensible, of the madness of such a course." Universal sympathy was felt for the helpless Armenians under Turkish misrule, for their lives,

honour,

and property were daily at the fiendish mercy of their oppressors, the Kurds and the Turks.

Mass meetings

were accordingly convened throughout Lurope, eloquent speeches delivered, the

usual

number

of

resolutions

passed, and the Great Powers were petitioned.

Not

xii

PREFACE.

only this, but subscriptions were opened and funds were raised for the relief of the destitute and homeless survivors.

The Armenians everywhere mourned the loss of

their martyred brethren at Sassoon, 3nd special prayers were said and a requiem

service held, for the repose of

their souls, at all Armenian churches throughout the world.

The Armenian community of Calcutta convened

a meeting on 2rst January 1895, to

which

sympathizers

of

at

other

the Theatre Royal, nationalities

were

invited, " f o r the purpose of taking into consideration the recent sad events in Turkish Armenia."

Several

resolutions were passed, and in due course a petition was drawn up and sent to England and the other signatory Powers of the Treaty of Berlin. tion was also opened

A

subscrip-

here for the relief of distressed

Armenians in Turkey, which was liberally subscribed to, not only by the Armenians, but by the leading European mercantile and trading houses. Hopes were entertained that the Great Powers would force Turkey

to carry out the much-needed

reforms

in Armenia; but it was to England that the Armeniins chiefly looked for help and deliverance from the iron yoke of the Turk, which threatened to crush, if not annihilate, them.

Not until the country was in a state

of anarchy, and after a series of terrible massacres, in which defenceless Armenians were mercilessly butchered, have the Powers and America shown their practical

xiii

PREFACE.

sympathy by despatching ironclads to the Levant. Their concerted

action has aroused

the

Sultan

frc.n his

lethargy, and he has hysterically pledged his "word of honour" ( ! ) that he will personally see the necessary reforms carried out in Armenia.

But His Majesty's

promises heretofore have not been followed by performances ; and, as Lord Salisbury shrewdly observes, "New decrees cannot supply the place of competent Governors."

The Powers are now at his door, and

we may soon expect the

inauguration

of

wholesale

reforms, but it is to be hoped the peace of Europe will not be disturbed. A strong interest having been aroused in the Armenians in Turkey, my friends prevailed upon me to publish the result of my researches regarding the early Armenians in India, as information respecting them was but scanty.

The present work, prepared during the sultry

nights of the enervating Indian summer, is the result. It has doubtless several shortcomings, for I have had to think in Armenian, and express my ideas in English. History, however, does not hinge upon philosophy, but on facts; and it is far more important to preserve accuracy than study flowery language in a historical work. I trust this history will serve some useful purpose as a book of reference to the future historian of India and the enthusiastic antiquarian ; and I shall be greatly

xiv

PREFACE.

gratified if it acts as an incentive to the present generation of Armenians in India to emulate the strong piety and patriotism that animated their ancestors.

Then I shall

feel rewarded, for, in the words of my mentor, the immortal Mesrovb David Thaliatin, " i t is the duty of the true patriot to revive the spirit of the children by the example of the illustrious deeds of their ancestors." MESROVB J. S E T H . WBLLESLEY

SQUARK,

E,,

tiovembe* /Sgj.

CALCUTTA,

CONTENTS CHAPTER

I.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE! ARMENIAN

NATION. MQtr

Erroneous impressions regarding the Armenian nation The Book of Genesis and Armenia Haik, the founder of the Armenian nation Belus, the Nimrod of Holy Writ The prestige of Aram with contemporary nations The dynasties that ruled in Armenia Paroyr, the first crowned king of Armenia Tigranes I. and the taking of Babylon ... Armenia under foreign sway ... ... King Tigranes the Great, surnamtd 1 K i n g of K i n g s ' Armenia invaded by the Saracens in 636 A.D. ... King Ashot, the founder of the B a g r a t i d s The Crusades in the Holy Land ... Leo V I . , the last king of Armenia ' The Swiss of the E a s t ' and their national characteristics Their inefTacable nationalism ... What Christianity owes to the Armenians Dispersion of the Armenians throughout the world

CHAPTER

... ... ..

...

r 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 q 10 xi 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

II.

A D V E N T OF T H E ARMENIANS INTO INDIA.

Armenians attracted to India by its fabulous wealth

19

Problematical early acquaintance of the Armenians with India Armenia as a refuge for fugitive Indian princes T h e old land route to India ... Armenians during the good old days of the Mogul Emperors...

20 21 22 23

xvi

CONTENTS. riot

Hawkins at the court of Jehangeer at Agra ... ... Importart landmarks of the Armenians at Agra ••• Devastation of Julfa in Armenia by Shah Abbas the Great Founding of New Julfa at Ispahan in Persia The first permanent settlement of the Armenians in India Interesting correspondence of a hundred years back """he Armenian settlement at Malacca ... Robbery of a j Armenian merchant at Surat Altered condition of the Armenians Estimated value of an Armenian's life ... ... ...

... ... IH

...

.. ...

24 25 26 ij 28 29 30 31 32 33

CHAPTER III. LANDMARKS OF ARMENIANS IN BEHAR AND BENGAL.

Archaeological finds in Behar The Armenian settlement at Syedabad The Dutch and the Armenians at Chinsurah Khojah Johanness Margar, the head of the opulent Margar family ... — ... ... The Armenian church at Chinsurah, the second oldest Christian church in Bengal ... .••

34 35 36 37 38

C H A P T E R IV. ARMENIANS AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

The oldest Christian tombstone at Calcutta Did Job Charnock really found Calcutta ? Were some Armenians in Calcutta about a century before him ? How the English gained a footing in India Khojah Sarhad's diplomatic influence as a prime factor in their arrangements ... The result of the embassy to Delhi Reminiscences of Job Charnock Charnock rescues a Hindu widow from suttee and makes her his wife ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Calcutta in the olden times depicted a« a veritable ' Golgotha' Armenian alliance with British traders in India •11 11« m

39 40 4! 42 43 44 45 46 47 A

Goigin Khan's sturdy defence against the English His original genius and vast resources His assassination after tbe battle of Gheriah Gorgin Khan's duty to his master and his brother's overtures The notorious Sumru's first real opportunity for displaying his savagery Armenians in Scindia's army under Colonel Jacob Fortunes made bv Armenians in the army ... A curious numismatic error

73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

CHAPTER VII. BOLTS DENOUNCES T H E COMPANY'S POLICY.

Equivoeal statesmanship applied to the Armenians Restrictions imposed upon the free trade of the Armenians ... The first wedge of oppression The Armenians' right to live, but not to trade ... Imprisonment of Armenians without even an accusation against thctn ••• ••• ••• •«• An important Petition to the Court of Directors Their grievances succinctly set forth ... ... The prayer of the Petition Their wrongs unredressed and disregarded by the Court of Directors ... ... Promulgation of an extraordinary edict ... Its ruinous effects upon tbe Armenian merchants in Bengal ...

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91

C H A P T E R VIII. MONOPOLY OF SALT, BETEL-NUT AND TOBACCO.

What may have given rise to the ' pagoda tree' in India ... Clive's second adi unistrative Governorship His rea-ons for creating the triad monopoly How the monopoly was worked The Directors fully aroused to the evil eftects of the monopoly

92 93 94 95 96

CONTENTS.

xix PAGB

Khojah Wazeed's perfidy to the N a w a b Suraj-ud-Dowlah

...

97

The law of force applied to an Armenian ... 98 'Justice' as administered in the ' g o o d old d a y s ' 99 100 The salt monopoly as a profitable undertaking Ignominous and illegal measures against Armenians and others by the Company's servants Launch of the freight-ship monopoly ... ... 102 Several Armenians ruined by its operation 103

CHAPTER

IX.

T W O A R M E N I A N S OF W E A L T H A N D

HONOUR.

Great rejoicings and festivities on the recovery of George I I I .

104

Agah Catchick Arrakiel's liberality on that occasion

...

105

The king's appreciation of his signal expression of leyalty ... Agah Catchick Arrakiel's munificence and early death ... The Greeks in India and their relation to the Armenians The philanthropic and patriotic Massy Baba John ... Agah Catchick Arrakiel's great piety and strong reverence for his Creator The provisions of his will ... Whom he regarded as his heirs His furtherance of literary and charitable institutions

106 107 108 109

CHAPTER

...

I I 0

m 11 î 113

X.

HOW A R M E N I A N L O Y A L T Y WAS R E W A R D E D IN

PROSPERITY

AND ADVERSITY.

An Armenian Company of Militia in Calcutta in 1801

...

j 14

Calcutta two hundred and fifty years ago

115

Agah Moses Arrakiel in pecuniary difficulties in his old age . . . He makes his difficulties known to Government Historical sketch of Tippoo Sultan Bonaparte's intention to visit India A story of misfortune in the d a v n of life A recapitulation of th« case of A g a h Moses Arrakiel

116 1 1 r8 119 120 121

XX

CONTENTS. PAGE

His ineligibility for Government service Grantee-a moderate stipen A for life Pathetic reflectic ns of an eld man T h e meek and humble A g a h Owen John Eli .s Arratoon Apcar, lounder of Apcar & Co A true benefactor to his countrymen T h e Apcars in Calcutta CHAPTER

I22

...

...

XI.

ARMENIAN L I T E R A R Y INSTITUTIONS,

ETC.

Arratoon Kaloos in the cause of education ••• A n Armenian national academy at Calcutta A list of endowments made to the institution A n Armenian millionaire of Java ... A g a h C .tchatoor Galustaun of Penang T h e training of Armenian youths Johanness Avdall's career T h e Armenian infant seminary at Calcutta T h e immortal Mesrovb David Thaliatin ... ... T h e propagation of classical Armenian literature T h e Armenian almshouse at Calcutta Armenian attributes

...

#t .

... ...

... ...

CHAPTER

124 125 I26 127 I28

129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140

XII.

T H E A R M E N I A N S E T T L E M E N T IN S O U T H E R N

INDIA.

Armenian overtures to Russia Armenian merchants at Madras ... ... ... Another display of Armenian loyalty ... A heartfelt wish carried out after death ... ... ... Khojah Petrus Woskan and A g a h Shamee. Soolthanoomeen Madras Magnanimity extraordinary—first by an Armenian, then a Nawab T h e Shameer family at Madras T h e noble Agah Samuel Moorad T h e learned Mekhitharist Fathers of Venice and Vienna Armenians in the Madras Presidency ... ... ...

... of

141 142 143 144 145

by

... ...

146 147 148 149 150

xxi

CONTENTS. CHAPTER

XIII.

AN OLLA PODRIDA OF INTERESTING

EVENTS. r.\c;E

T h e A r m e n i a n s at D a c c a

...

T h e A r m e n i a n s at B o m b a y

..

151 152

Secluded A r m e n i a n t o m b s t o n e s at B o m b a y

153

A retrospect of L u c k n o w

154

The f o u n d e r o f L a M a r t i n i & r e C o l l e g e s

155

Some A r m e n i a n s at L u c k n o w

156

Armenian g e o g r a p h i c a l k n o w l e d g e in t h e s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y . . .

157

A few p r e c e p t s o f C o s t a n d

158

Lost o p p o r t u n i t i e s

...

CHAPTER

159

XIV.

PROMULGATION OF ARMENIAN L I T E R A T U R E IN INDIA. T h e first A r m e n i a n p u b l i c a t i o n in I n d i a

...

160

Centenary jubilee of A r m e n i a n j o u r n a l i s m

i6j

A reverend type-caster,"compositor a n d printer

162

A newspaper inaugurated with twenty-eight subscribers

...

163

...

165

T h e first A r m e n i a n p r e s s at C a l c u t t a

164

A rare A r m e n i a n p u b l i c a t i o n p r i n t e d at C a l c u t t a in 1797

CHAPTER

XV.

CONCLUSION An A r m e n i a n , t h e p r e s e n t h e a d of t h e C a l c u t t a b a r

166

Other A r m e n i a n s at t h e b a r in I n d i a

167

...

A r m e n i a n s in o t h e r l e a r n e d p r o f e s s i o n s

j68

The late D r . J . M . J o s e p h o f M a d r a s A r m e n i a n s in t h e C o v e n a n t e d

...

...

Services

170

A r m e n i a n s in t h e I n d i a n C i v i l S e r v i c e

...

A r m e n i a n s e n g a g e d in o t h e r p r o f e s s i o n s

...

171 •••

...

...

„.

...

I n t e r m a r r i a g e of A r m e n i a n s with o t h e r n a t i o n a l i t i e s S y m p a t h y for o p p r e s s e d A r m e n i a n s

169

172 173 174

CONTENTS. APPENDICES. APPENDIX A—THE CLASSICAL ARMENIAN LANGUAGE!. PAOC

Literary heirlooms of the Armenian race... Mr. F . . C . Conybcare of Cxford Byron with the Mekhitharist monks at Venice Bishop Lightfoot's value ble discovery A mine of ancient literary treasures Ancient Armenian melodies and chants

177 178 179 180 181 r8a

APPENDIX B — A NEGLECTED CLASSICAL LANGUAGE.

The Rev. Graham Sandberg on classical Armenian T h e construction of Tatian's Gospel .. Lost Greek and Syriac originals in Armenian dress ... Discovery of the ' Chronicle'of Eusebius of Cassarea ... Nice points of early Christian doctrine determined ... Armenian MSS. in European libraries ill ••« Prospecting Armenian literary mines Is the Armenian language worth learning ?

... ... ... ...

183 184 18$ 186 187 188 189

"By nature the Armenians are deeply religious, as their "whole literature and history show. It has been a religion of the heart, not of the head. Its evidence is not to be found in metaphysical discussions and hair-splitting theology, as in the case of the Greeks, but in a brave and simple record -written with the tears of saints and illuminated

with the blood of mar'yrs."—

' T H E ARMENIAN CRISIS

AND THE RULE OF THE TURK,' by the

Rev. Frederick

Greene, M.A., for several years a resident in Armenia.

Davis

HISTORY OF

THE

ARMENIANS IN INDIA. " It would be difficult, perhaps, to find the annals of a nation less stained with trimes than those of the Atmeniaus, whose virtues have been those of peace, and their vices those of compulsion."—BYRON.

CHAPTER

I.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ARMENIAN NATION. BFFORE proceeding with the history of the Armenians in India, I purpose, in this introductory chapter, giving the reader a brief insight into the origin and early history of the Armenians in their primitive home in the country of Ararat of Biblical renown ; for more than onê modern English writer has disseminated erroneous impressions regarding the Armenian nation, and, so little have some of them been in touch with their subject, that they have represented the Armenians as a religious sect or as a commercial community ! Descended from the common Aryan stock, their existence as a nation dates as far back as the year 2111 B.C., when Haik'assumed the supremacy.

2

ANTIQUITY OF T H E ARMENIAN NATION.

That the Armenians are much older than the Jgws as a nation, is evidenf from the historical fact that H A I K * the patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation, was boTn in the year 2277 B.C., whereas ABRAHAM f was horn in the year 1996 B.C., nearly three centuries later. Haik was the fifth in descent from Noah; Abraham, the eleventh. The antiquity of the Armenian nation is attested by Herodotus, Strabo, and other ancient writers; and still further by the interesting cuneiform inscriptions on the celebrated Rock of Van in Armenia, which have been deciphered by that learned Englishman, Professor Sayce. Several references are made in the book of Genesis to the country inhabited by the Armenians; and it is beyond doubt that the Garden of Eden was planted in Armenia, since the four rivers, viz., Pison (Jorokh), Gihon (Araxes), Hiddekel (Tigris), and the Euphrates (Gen. ii. n-14), which once watered the earthly Paradise, still flow through that region. According to Holy Writ, the Ark of Noah, after the Deluge, rested " upon the mountains of Ararat," and on the plains below " Noah builded an altar untt) the Lord," whereon he " offered burnt-offerings" (Gen. viii. 20): thus showing that the first altar was erected in Armenia. On His reconciliation with mankind, God placed * Genea'ogy of Haik. Haik was the son of Togar.nah. Togarmah ,, Gomer. Comer ,, Japlieth. Japhetf» „ Noah. (Gen. x. 2, 3.)

.t Genealogy of Abraham. Abraham was the son of Terah. Terah Nahor. it Nahor Serug. »> Sentg Reu. i) Reu Pel eg. 9« Pel eg Eber. •» Eber Salah. II Salah A rphaxad. 11 Arphaxad Shera. »I Sheta Noah. t> (Gen. xi. io-a6.

HAIK. T H E FOUNDER OF THE NATION.

3

the rainbow in the cloud " f o r a token of a covenant" between Him and the earth : thus tne bow was seen for the first time in the horizon that encompassed the gorgeous country of Ararat. Noah settled with his household at-the foot of the Ararat mountains, and in its virgin soil planted the vine, which grows so luxuriantly »a Armenia even to this day ; he drank of the wine thereof," and was drunken " : thus the vine was first planted and grown in Armenia. The fertile plain of Ararat therefore became the cradle of the human race after the Deluge, where Noah settled with his sons, who multiplied and peopled the country. In course of time, with increasing population, migration followed. The people were "of one language and of one speech," and some journeyed towards Shinar in Mesopotamia. Among these was Haik, a local chief, who became the ancestor and founder of the Armenian nation. Haik, a f ter whom Armenians call themselves ' H a i k s ' (i.e., Armenians) and their country ' Haiastan ' (/.