The 19th century wealthy Bolis

Vaհe H Apelian 

 

The Armenians referred to Constantinople sounding its Latin name – Constantinopolis - as Կոստանդնուպոլիս (Gosdantnowbolis), and often abbreviated it as կ. Պոլիս (G. Bolis) and hence Bolis came to signify the Armenian Constantinople.

Dr. Antranig Chalabian wrote the following about Bolis in the 19^th century. “At the beginning of the 1800s Bolis, had 850,000 inhabitants of whom 374,000 were Muslims; 152,000 Creeks; 150,000 Armenians and 44,000 Jews. The remaining 80,000 were Europeans, Copts, Assyrians, and others.

In 1850's Bolis had become the financial, the political and the cultural center of the Western Armenians. The community was continuing to swell in numbers at the expense of the Armenian populated cities in Eastern Turkey. Everyone wanted to settle in Bolis. It should be noted, however, that a good segment of the Armenians who came to Bolis were migrant workers who would work, at times for years, to save money and return to their villages and homes.

The number of Armenians in Bolis between 1860-1880, had peaked to an all-time high estimated to be around 275,000. Bolis was unsurpassed among the Armenians worldwide, including Armenia. In 1859 there were 42 Armenian schools in Bolis with a total enrollment of 5531 students and 197 teachers. In 1871 the numbers were swelled to 48 schools with an enrollment of around 6000 students. The cultural and scholastic revival among the Armenians in Bolis may be better appreciated in stating that the famed American University of Beirut was established later, in 1886, and until 1945 had only 500 students; while in Yerevan the Eastern Armenians numbered 13,000 and were a minority overwhelmed by the presence of 17,000 Tatars. Most of the Eastern Armenians in the region lived in Tiflis and Baku.

The unprecedented cultural revival among the Armenians in Turkey was cut short from 1876 and onwards for reasons we all know too well.

The «American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions» missionary William Goodell, claimed in his memoir that he was the first American missionary to set foot in Constantinople. I quote: «Rev. William Goodell arrived in Constantinople on June 9, 1831. In a letter to a friend in the United States, he noted that “My family is said to be the first who has ever visited this place.”.

He gave a similar demographical make up of Constantiniople in the 19th century. He wrote: «“The city of Constantinople contained, including the suburbs, a population of about 1,000,000 of various nationalities and religions. The Turks and other Mohammedans comprised more than half; the Greeks and Armenians each numbered 150,000, the former being the more numerous, there were about 50,000 Jews; the remainder was made of Franks and people from almost every part of the world”. These distinct ethnic communities naturally intermingled but “for the most part occupied different quarters of the city with the Turks having almost exclusive possession of the city proper.”

William Goodell's Christian mission was for the Armenians. I quote,  “When Mr. Goodell went to Constantinople, his mission was to the Armenians”. Mr. Goodell was entrusted with the mission to the Armenians in Turkey  because of his knowledge of Armenian and Turkish he had mastered while in Malta, Syria, and Lebanon. He translated the Bible into “Armeno-Turkish”, that is to say a Bible that reads Turkish but is in Armenian characters. It was a twenty-year endeavor.

About the Armenians Rev. William Goodell wrote: “ The Armenians were an enterprising people, and the great wealth of the bankers, who were nearly all Armenians, made them very influential throughout the empire, even with the Turkish officials, who were largely dependent upon them for pecuniary advances and assistance. The various connections of this people with different parts of the country, and the influence which they were in a position to exert, in promoting the spread of the Gospel in Turkey, made it exceedingly desirable that they should embrace the truth."

In 1869, six years after the ratification of the Armenian National Constitution the Armenian denizens of Bolis had Khrimian Hayrig elected the Patriarch of Constantinople.

 The moneyed Armenian class of Istanbul thought that the prelate from the interior of the country would be compliant. But, not long after his election Khrimian Hayrig proposed to amend the National Constituion, against the wishes of the upper class Armenians of Constantinople. The  National Constitution granted the hundred thousand plus Armenians in Bolis three times more representation in the National Assembly than the entire Armenians in the interior of the country, Khrimian Hayrig estimated to be three millions. A plausible figure given that Hamidian massacres, the rampant usurpation of Armenian lives and property,  the Adana massacres, had not run its course yet decimating the Armenian to two million at the dawn of the Genocide.

Khrimiag Hayrig faced a vehement opposition by established wealthy moneyed Armenians. Krikor Odian, who was an architect of the Armenian Constitution attempted to reason with him that the obvious flaws of the Constitution were in place to secure the ratification of the National Constitution by the Sultan's Sublime Porte. But Khrimian remained adamant. Unable to amend the constitution to have a fairer representation of his flock to have their grievances heard and acted upon, Khrimian Hayrig resigned in 1873 but continued to remain a moral authority and an intellect to reckon with. 

As to the wealthy Armenians, missionary William Goodel most likely was alluding to the Amiras, who were «The Lords of Constantinople Armenians», although their commanding influence in the Ottoman Empire had started waning with the Europenean powers establishing the Ottoman Bank in 1956 Interested readers my read the attached link. 

                                                ***

The great dynasties of Amiras from Agn - https://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-great-dynasties-of-amiras-from-agn.html

 

 

The common sense for informed patriotism

Vaհe H Apelian

Recently I read the farewell speech, president Ronald Reagan gave after serving the nation with distinction for eight years. In his farewell address, the great communicator said, “informed patriotism is what we need.”  He also invoked, “common sense”, twice. Yes, invoked because common sense is not something that we can dismiss. In fact, common sense, above and beyond everything else, often guides leaders. It is thus that I came with this blog’s title. 

Patriotism is not a commodity that a person possesses it or not, much like a precious metal, such as gold, that some may happen to have it while others not. Patriotism is also not like a garment or a scarf that one wears to make a public statement. According to the Merian-Webster dictionary patriotism is “love for or devotion to one's country”, and quotes the following: “Although poles apart ideologically, they are both unashamed of their patriotism.”—Christopher Hemphill. Therefore there is a whole spectrum between the two ideological poles for a patriot to espouse. 

But this blog is not about patriotism per se, but it’s about the politization of patriotism on false pretense. Simply said, having the audacity to claim being more patriot than thou.

This blog is about the former FM of Armenia, Vartan Oskanian, who in his latest comment against the PM Nikol Pashinyan, posted the following on his Facebook page: “when a leader (read Nikol Pashinyan) deliberately erases parts of this (read Armenian) history to justify his own failures, he betrays not only his country’s (read Armenia) past but also its future. This is precisely what Nikol Pashinyan is doing—rewriting Armenia’s story to excuse his political failures, offering the nation nothing but resignation and defeatism.”

Let us face it, it’s pretty harsh and damning judgement that the foreign minister Vartan Osakanian levies against the PM and shares it with the Diaspora. The official language of Armenia is Armenian and not many in Armenia are as well educated in English as Vartan Oskanian is, to read his post in English. He was born in Aleppo and studied in the American University of Beirut. 

Vartan Oskanian wrote, “no serious nation simply forgets its lost territories. Greece has never erased the memory of Constantinople. Poland continues to commemorate Lviv….”.

 I do not know about Lviv to know how Poles remember it. But it is fair that I point to the former FM that his anti-Pashinyan pollical calculus is blinding him for what we have upheld.  Yes, unlike the Greeks, the seat of our Orthodox Apostolic church is not in Turkey any longer, but we resurrected the Cilician Catholicosate in Sis in Antelias, Lebanon and, after every Sunday mass, the faithful sing the famed Armenian song Cilicia (Giligia) and will continue singing it as Catholicosate of Sis / Cilicia’s unofficial anthem. If Poles remember Lviv, I want to note what Vartan Oskanian knows, but choses to ignore, that we have named many towns in Diaspora and as well as in Armenia after our historic towns, such as Nor Marash, Nor Hadjin, Nor Aresh. Vartan Oskanian hurling such insults, does not aim the PM only, but it also aims to insult ordinary, everyday Armenians. 

Furthermore, the former FM seems to have conveniently dismissed that that in 10 weeks, Armenia will come to a standstill. Its citizens will take a day off from their work to remember and pay homage to the victims of the Armenian genocide and much like he and president Robert Kocharian at one time, Nikol Pashinyan, his FM Ararat Mirzoyan and the rest of the government officials will do the same, visit the Armenian Genoide memorial

Common sense tells me that it is not in history’s defense, the FM is coming. He is resorting to history as a political tool and is taking it to Diaspora. That is far more destructive, than confinjng to Armenia, especially coming from a foreign minister..

Yes, I envision that the 2026 election will be about “real Armenia”. The citizens of Armenia are rightfully concerned about their lives and livelihood, their security, about the escalating cost of living, the increase in the property taxes, increase in the transpiration fees, and in everything else citizens of a country remain concerned. 

But Vartan Oskanian, does not entertain such mundane concerns the citizens have, such as taxes, fees, etc. Vartan Osakanian claims that he has a far broader concerns in mind that have to do with dignifying Armenia or Armenians and salvaging Armenia or Armenians, from defeatism. He puts forth an academic argument alleging that when negotiating with the enemy around the negotiating table, a distinction can be made between active territorial claims and historical (territorial) truth.

Such academic arguments and the lack of well -defined policy, with its pros and cons,  are the very reasons that the 2026 will be a hotly contested election. Since June 20, 2021, the opposition has not gone beyond attributions, labels.  The opposition has not presented a principle for negotiating with Armenia’s neighbors. It has not presented an alternative policy to PM’s Crossroad for Peace initiative. On the NA floor the oppositions members did not put forth a coherent counter-argument. Simply said, the opposition either does not have any plan, or if it has, it hides it from public. 

It is time that the citizens of Armenia vote either for Nikol Pashinyan’s “real Armenia” advocacy that surely includes his government’s Crossroad for Peace initiative or in favor of the opposition’s “Not for Real Armenia", or for “historical Armenia” advocacy, whatever that is. 

It is time that the citizens of Armenia take the matter into their hands, and cast their votes in the ballot boxes to shape their destiny in Armenia, in the South Caucasus, far from the Diaspora, and sort their relations with their eternal neighbors, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia. 

 

Meecho and Saint Sarkis: An Armenian Valentine's Day tale.

 

This is an abridged translation of Hamasdegh’s story titled “Meecho”, who was fourteen years old when his poor father Loleg Ovan died leaving behind “a dilapidated  cottage, a cherry wood-wipe, a widow and a cow with and adorned back”. After his father death, Meecho, already restless became undisciplined  kid of the village causing havoc and theft in the village and left school preferring spending time in nature, grazing their cow and hunting. But one day Meecho experienced a life altering event Hamasdegh described.I attached my abridged translation below. Vahe H. Apelian

“It was spring. The waters of the springs were overflowing, flooding the streams. The trees were spreading their roots further into the soil. The seeds were germinating. There was life and movement everywhere.

Everyday, amidst this abundance, Meecho would be seen seated on his cow crossing the bridge into the pasture.

On a warm spring day, Meecho, while pursuing a bird, entered uncle Soukeg’s vegetable garden. His attention got distracted from the bird when he saw uncle Soukeg’s wife bathing her little daughter Louseg right in front of their summer cottage. Meecho did not understand why he hid behind the bushes and did not understand why he kept looking at the naked girl crouched over her heels much like Venus in a washtub.

Meecho was the prince of the nature but in his entire universe no other being had seized his attention the way  Louseg did in her nakedness.

Meecho forgot the bird, forgot his cow and came out from the bushes.

Mother and Louseg suddenly realized that Mecho, standing erect next to the trees, is watching them fixated.

- “Hey Meecho, what are you doing here?” said the mother.

Meecho was not speaking. He had become speechless. While Louseg, shy, crouched further as if shivering.

Louseg’s mother was astonished. She saw fire in the eyes of the lad kindled by her daughter’s nakedness. 

-  “Get out of here, Meecho”, she shouted. 

Meecho was not moving.

- ‘Get away’ – said the mother angrily-and went straight towards him. Mecho with single leap jumped over the fence and disappeared in an instant much like an apparition that just had appeared. 

The following day, Meecho again took his cow to grazing next to uncle Soukeg’s vegetable garden. He saw uncle Soukeg tending the garden with his sleeves tucked onto his arms. Close to him, next to the potato sack, Louseg was standing helping her dad plant potato.

Uncle Soukeg saw Meecho jump over the fence but did not scold him.

-“Hey Meecho, what are you doing here? Come and give a hand.”

Meecho approached Louseg. They looked at each other and both blushed. 

Louseg was a little girl, thirteen years old. Meecho saw in her nature as a whole with its its dawn and its dusk. He saw in her a bit of the wild pigeons, foxes, hares he hunted.  He saw in her a bit of the cow he grazed and a little of the sky above. Her eyes were as beautiful as a newborn calf’s eyes. Her voice was even more tender than the sounds the wild pigeons made when they suddenly took wing from the gorge and swiftly flew and rested on the rocks of Saint Sarkis mountain. Her eyebrows were even darker than the feathers of a crow fallen on snow. Mecho felt something strange in him every time his hands touched Louseg’s hands in the potato sack.

Meecho was restless much like the seeds of wheat under the soil bursting to come forth under the sun.

Louseg had become Mecho’s sun.

Meecho no longer took his cow into the valley to graze.  Every day with his cow he went  close to uncle Soukeg’s vegetable garden. He left the cow on the harvested dry fields and he hid behind bushes looking at uncle Soukeg’s vegetable garden. His cow had realized that Mecho no longer took care of it and remained thirsty under the sun in the open dry field. Mecho no longer rested his head against the cow when both used to take a break under the shadow of a tree in the lush valley.

Meecho did not want to graze his cow anymore but wanted instead to work in uncle Soukeg’s vegetable garden. He would till the soil from dawn to dusk, plant potato, take care all the work of their vegetable garden. For his hard work Meecho would not ask for anything, other than being close to Louseg.

One day Meecho came out of the bushes when he saw Louseg  pass by. This time he had an owl in his hands.

- “Louseg” uttered Meecho to attract her attention.

Louseg looked at the owl in Meecho’s hands and approached him. 

-“why have you caught this owl? ” asked Louseg as she approached him to see the owl closely.

Meecho started telling Louseg about the mysterious powers of the owl as she remained mesmerized by what Meecho was telling her when suddenly her mother rushed from their cottage.

Meecho fled away as soon as he saw her coming toward him.

- “Girl, what are you doing here? I have been calling your name for so long that my voice got hoarse. Have I not told you not to speak to that crook? Had I caught him I would have broken his knees. Get home and clean the dishes” said the mother as she scolded her daughter.

Louseg henceforth avoided Meecho if she happened to see him. Mecho was a thief, the whole village knew that, and her mother would get angry should she been seen talking to him.

It was Saint Sarkis day. Those who had been fasting in preparation of the feast lucked up on that year’s Saint Sarkis day. Although it was a bit cold, but it was sunny and the snow was glittering under the sun’s rays. The young girls and boys of the villages nearby were heading up the Saint Sarkis mountain.

- “Who is that ?”  the villagers asked each other when they saw someone from far following them alone.

- “Maybe he is a beggar” said someone

- “What beggar ? He is Sarig’s son Meecho”, corrected another

- “I bet he has come to steal the candles of Saint Sarkis”.

Meecho trailed them from far much like an uninvited mourner following a casket. Meecho was an unofficial pilgrim. His clothes were not new. The fez he wore was tarnished with oil over its long use. He had stuffed straw in his shoes for warmth.  When he reached the site, he saw pilgrims buying candles to lit, pigeons to sacrifice. Pilgrims lit a candle or sacrificed a pigeon and then kneeled at the alter site, crossed and prayed to have Saint Sarkis fulfill their wishes. 

That evening Mencheg’s wife alerted her husband that she heard sounds coming from the roof. 

-“Who would be out  on this bitter cold night ?” said Mencheg to his wife. “Don’t you hear the winds are howling?”

It was Meecho. He had stolen Mencheg’s prized pigeon and  was braving the cold bitter night to  offer his sacrifice to Saint Sarkis before Saint Sarkis left with the howling winds riding his horse.

“O~h great Saint Sarkis. I offer this pigeon as my sacrifice. I do not want richness.  Grant me the strength, and the graciousness of your horse to be a laborer in uncle Soukeg’s garden.”

The following day  Kel Ghougas headed towards the Saint Sarkis mountain to see the animals he had trapped. When he reached the mountain top, not far from the Saint Sarkis alter he saw a frozen body. 

It was Meecho’s.”

Aram Haigaz: Women are From Venus, Men Are From Mars

 HAPPY VALENTINES DAY . Bilingual Aram Haigaz/Aram Haykaz (née Aram Chekenian), was a writer. He wrote ten books, nine of which are in Armenian. During the genocide, he became a teenage captive pair of hands among the Kurds and yet nature would have his way and he and Kurdish girl would take fancy of each other. Not only he survived but he also overcame adversity and flourished with a zest for life and living, surely because he also found a safe haven in the United States of America where he thrived. He wrote fascinating tales about his experiences among the Kurds and his escape from the mountains of Kurdistan and about his neighbors in the U.S. I view this collection of his sayings I translated as a testament of self-depreciating humor. Only a person who is not, can humor in a such way. Source: Source: Հայագիտարան Հայաստան (06.08.2014) an on-line site. Vahe H. Apelian

1.      A man should love his wife and strive not to understand her but a woman should love her husband less and strive to understand him more to bring happiness to the home. Մարդ մը պէտք է սիրէ իր կինե ու չաշխատի հասկնալ զայն, իսկ կին մը պէտք է քիչ սիրէ ու շատ հասկնայ իր ամուսինը որ երջանկութիւն տիրապետէ տան մէջ։

2.    If you buy something not needed by your wife, it's extravagant spending. So beware. եթէ կնոջդ պէտք չեղած բան մը գնես, շռայլութիւն է, զգուշատցիր։

3.     A lot of women like to say “no’ much like children do; many men believe in the "no" much like children do. Շատ մը կիներ երախաներու պէս «Ոչ» ըսել կը սիրեն, ու շատ մը մարդեր երախաներու պէս կը հաւատան այդ «ոչ» ին։ Շ

4.         It’s only the good women who keep a diary; the bad women have no time for such things. Օրագրութին պահողը բարի աղջիկներն են, չարերը ժամանակ չեն ունենար այն բանին համար։

5.       A woman who would not have consented marrying you for who you are, marries you for what you have.  կին մը որ հետդ պիտի չամուսնանայ ինչ ըլլալուդ համար, կ՚ամուսնանյ ինչ ունենալուդ համար։

6.      A lot of time women’s eyes and tongues convey altogether different things; one needs to have wisdom to determine which to believe. Կիներուն աչքերն ու լեզուն շատ անգամ տարբեր բաներ կ՚ըսեն, իմաստութիւն պէտք է որոշելու հար թէ ո՜ր մէկուն պէտք է հաւատալ։

7.     Women’s width change depending where they are preparing to go.  կանանց լայնքը նայած թէ ո՞ւր երթալու կը պատրաստուի կը փոխուի։

8.       A girl’s greatest wealth is not with her but is the imagination found in men’s head. Աղջկայ մը մեծագոյն հարստութիւնը իր հետ չէ այլ այրերու գլխուն մէջ գտնուող երեւակայութիւնն է։

9.      The other day a woman was telling that she is getting old because those who pursue her are in her age group. Առջի որ կիմ մը կ՚ըսէր թէ ծեռացածէ որովհետեւ զինք հալածողը այլեւս իր տարիքն է միայն։ 

10.      God created Adam before Eve so that there will not be anyone over his head advising him what to do. Աստուած Եւային առաջ ստեղծեց Ադամը որպէսզի իր գլխուն վերն կենալով խրատ տուող չըլլայ։

11.      Right after women return home from their wedding, they embark on reshaping, correcting, improving their husbands…. and after five years they weep lamenting that “the man, is not the man they married; he is changed !” կիները ամուսնանալէ ու եկեղեցիէն տուն գալէն անմիջապէս վերջ կը սկսին իրենց ամուսիները բարեկարգել, վերաշինել, սրբագրել եւ հինգ տարի վերջն ալ կուլան ըսելով, «մարդը իր առած մարդը չէ, փոխուած է։» 

12.   A man marries due to lack of judgment; divorces due to lack of patience and remarries due to memory failure. Մարդ մը կ՚ամուսնանայ դատողութեան պակասի պատճառաւ, կը բաժնուի համբերութեան պակասի պատճառաւ, կը վերամուսնանայ յիշողութեան պակասի պատճառաւ։

13.    The bachelors know more about women than the married men do; otherwise they would have been married as well. Ամուրիներ կիներու մասին շատ աւելի բան գիտնալու են քան ամուսնացածները, այլապէս իրենք ալ ամուսնացած կըլլային։

14.      The other day an acquaintance was complaining about the change in their household saying that right after he got married their dog would bark when he returned home from work and his wife would bring his slippers; nowadays the roles have changed, it’s the dog that brings the slippers. Առջի օր ծանոթ մը գանտագելով իր տան մէջ տեղի ունեցած փոփոխութեան մասին կ՚ըսէր «երբ ամուսնացայ տաուն եկած պահուս շունս կը հաչէր ու կինրս մուճակներս կը բերէր, հիմայ դերերը փոխուած են շունս է որ մուհակներս կը բերէ։

15.  Before getting married, it is imperative that a man secures the unanimous consent of two people: that of his bachelor friend and the mother of a girl anxious to see her daughter get married. Ամուսնութիւն մը կնքելու համար երկու անձի համաձայնութիւնը անհրաժեշտ է։ ամուրիի մը եւ աղջկան անհամբեր մօրը։

16.      It was not the apple in the Garden of Eden that became the cause of our misery; it was the couple underneath. Դրախտին մէչ ծառին վրայ խնձորը չէր որ մեր դժբախտութեան պատճառը եղաւ այլ անոր տակ գտնուող զոյքը։

17.     It’s always easier to beautify a wise girl who is not beautiful than to impart wisdom to a beautiful but unwise woman. Աւելի դիւրին է խելացի բայգ տգեղ աղջիկ մը գեղեցկացնել քան գեղեցիկ բայց ապուշ մէկը խելացի դարձնել։

18.  The knowledge that she is loved is the cornerstone of a woman’s happiness. Սիրուած ըլլալուգիտակցութիւնը կնոջ մը երջանկութեան հիմնաքարն է:

19.    The difference between a dying man and a dying woman is the following: death comes upon them when it’s the heart that stops in the former and the tongue in the latter. Մեռնող մարդու մը ու մեռնող կնոջ մը մէջ գտնուող տարբերութիւնը այն է որ մինչ առաջինին սիրտն է որ կը դադար է առած, միւսին մէջ դադար առնողը լեզուն է։ե

20.      Mice are afraid from men; men are afraid from women; women are afraid from mice.  Մուկերը կը վախնան մարդերէն, մարդերը՝ կիներէն, ու իրենց կարգին՝ կիները՝մուկերէն:

21.     The most difficult task for a woman is deciding the year and the date she reached adulthood. Կնոջ մը համար ամենէն դժուար բանը իր չափահասութեան տարիքին հասնելու տարին եւ թուականը որոշելն է։

22.      If a woman does not reveal the source of a secret entrusted to her, she regards having kept the secret. կին մը իրեն վստահուած գաղտնիքին որմէ լսած ըլլալը չըսէ, զայն պահած ըլլալ կը կարծէ։

23.     To enjoy chatting, women talk way too much to have time to think. կին մը խօսելու հաճոյքին համար այնքա՝ն շատ կը խօսի որ խորհելու ժամանակ չունենար։

24.      A woman is a source of flowing water where people snoop to quench their thirst. It's no wonder at that moment they only see their reflection. կին մը հոսուն ջուրի ակ մըն է որուն վրայ ամեն ոք կը հակի իր ծառաւը յագեցնելու համար եւ զարմանալի չէ որ այդ պահուն միայն իր նկարը տեսնէ անոր մէջ։

Source:  հայագիտական Հայաստան (06.08.2014) an on-line site.

Moneyed Armenians of yesteryears: Amiras and Effendis (2/2)

 Բնագիրը կցուած է։ Part 2/2: Amira’s and effendis, is my abridged translation of  Dr. Antranig Chalabian's article in «Marmara» Daily on Monday, November 7, 2005. Vahe H. Apelian

3. Amiras

An Amira

Before I present the Armenian Amiras and then the Effendis it's important that I digress from the subject matter and present a glimpse of Bolis, the Armenian Constantinople of the era. At the beginning of the 1800s, Bolis had 850,000 inhabitants of whom 374,000 were Muslims; 152,000 Creeks; 150,000 Armenians and 44,000 Jews. The remaining 80,000 were Europeans, Copts, Assyrians, and others.

In 1850's Bolis had become the financial, the political and the cultural center of the Western Armenians. The community was continuing to swell in numbers at the expense of the Armenian populated cities in Eastern Turkey. Everyone wanted to settle in Bolis. It should be noted, however, that a good segment of the Armenians who came to Bolis were migrant workers who would work, at times for years, to save money and return to their villages and homes.

The number of Armenians in Bolis between 1860-1880, had peaked to an all-time high estimated to be around 275,000. Bolis was unsurpassed among the Armenians worldwide, including Armenia. In 1859 there were 42 Armenian schools in Bolis with a total enrollment of 5531 students and 197 teachers. In 1871 the numbers were swelled to 48 schools with an enrollment of around 6000 students. The cultural and scholastic revival among the Armenians in Bolis may be better appreciated in stating that the famed American University of Beirut was established later, in 1886, and until 1945 had only 500 students; while in Yerevan the Eastern Armenians numbered 13,000 and were a minority overwhelmed by the presence of 17,000 Tatars. Most of the Eastern Armenians in the region lived in Tiflis and Baku.

The unprecedented cultural revival among the Armenians in Turkey was cut short from 1876 and onwards for reasons we all know too well.

During this time trade in Constantinople was in the hands of Greeks and Armenians. For many years the pulse of Ottoman royalty was in Armenian hands and its distinguished denizens were titled "Amira". The word is Arabic in origin and was bestowed upon the wealthy and influential Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire. A disproportionate number of the Amiras, whose number ranged between 80 to 100 individuals, came from modest provincial backgrounds notably good many of them hailed from the small town of Agn (today's Kemaliye) in Anatolia's Erzincan province. They were a remarkable group of enterprising and ambitious Armenians who rose to the forefront of the Ottoman Empire in the 18th, and 19th centuries. At times, the succeeding generations of the same Amira family served the reigning Sultans faithfully and accomplished great things. They also became enormously influential in running the affairs of the Armenian community and became the link between the Sultan's palace and the Armenian Patriarch who had legal jurisdiction over the entire Armenian subjects of the Sultan.

Some of the Amiras were also put in charge of tax collection in the empire. Up to 1856, there was no banking system in the Empire. The Amiras filled in the void and made financial transactions with traders, trading houses, government offices and even with the reigning Sultans at exuberant rates. In 1795, the head of the Dadian family, Arakel Dad Amira, was appointed to oversee the armament factories of the Empire. From that date on for the next 75 years, the descendants inherited the position and ran the Ottoman munitions and artillery along with the production of paper and military uniforms. The members of the family thus exercised enormous influence given the size of the Empire and its armed forces.

In the first half of the 19th century, one of the Armenian titans in Bolis was Harutyun Amira Bezdjian who was nicknamed "Kazaz Artin". He became a confidant of Sultan Mahmud II and was trusted with handling the personal wealth of the Sultan. His influence on running the affairs of the Empire was so strong that historians would call the era as the "Bezdjian Era".

Through Harutyun Amira Bezdjian's financial contributions the following institutions were built in Bolis: the new building of the Bolis Patriarchate in 1823; Sourp Prgitch (Saint Savior) Armenian National Hospital in 1832; The women's school of Peria in 1826; the central school of Kumkapi in 1828; Saint Arakelots (Holy Disciples) Armenian school in 1830; Boghossian Boys' School in 1832; Varvarian Women's School in 1832; Bezdjian School in Kumkapi in 1832; Ayoubian Co-Ed School in 1832; a total seven schools and three major institutions. In 1836 he established the first trade – tailoring- school for the Armenian women of Bolis. Along with these monumental charitable contributions, he also undertook the expenses for the publication of many literary works, especially that of Krikor Pashdimaljian, the noted Armenian pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. Harutyun Amira Bezdjian was buried in the Virgin Mary Patriarch Cathedral by the special permission of Mahmud II.

Limited space does not allow us to elaborate more on the amazing accomplishments of other Amiras such as the Balians, who became court architects and built such masterpieces as the Dolmabahçe Palace, the Yildiz Mosque, and the Imperial College of Medicine, which today houses the famed Galatasaray Lisesi. The Arpiarian Amira family clan, who also hailed from Agn, oversaw the silver mining in the Ottoman Empire.

For some two hundred years the Amiras served the Sultans faithfully and were accorded privileges no others possessed in the Empire.

4. Effendis

Let me end this article with a few words about the Armenian Effendis who succeeded the Amrias of Bolis. According to Wikipedia "Effendi is a title of nobility meaning a lord or master. It is a title of respect or courtesy, equivalent to the English Sir, which was used in the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)."

In 1856 Sultan Adul Majid established banking in the Empire that came to be known as the Ottoman Bank. With this historic turn of events, the Sultan, the courtiers, the governors of the provinces and others started borrowing their monies from the Ottoman Bank instead of from the Amiras. With the establishment of the Ottoman Bank, the fortunes of the Amiras started dwindling and their influence eroding in the capital city. Along with the banking system came the various ministries that regulated finance, military, internal and external affairs. This gave rise to a cadre of government officials and to traders who were called Effendis. Some would also acquire considerable wealth and secure influential positions for themselves.

The Armenian traders, following the footsteps of the Khojas, would import scarves, spices, jewelry from India; clothing from Iran and muslin from Damascus. Other Armenian traders would import goods from England, France, Germany, Italy, and Venice. By 1861 the number of the Armenian traders in Manchester, England had reached 30. Within the next two years, the number of Armenian traders will increase further with the arrival of new Armenian traders from Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri.

By the middle of the 19th century, there were 434 Armenian Effendis in Istanbul who were traders or high placed government officials. Among such officials is Gabriel Effendi Noradoungian. He was born in 1852. After attending local Armenian and French schools he went to France where from 1870-1875 he specialized in international law. Returning to Istanbul in 1875 he entered the Foreign Ministry. He was appointed as the Foreign Minister of the Ottoman Empire in 1912. His tenure ended with the outbreak of the Balkan War in 1913.

After Noubar Pasha, Gabriel Noradoungian headed the Armenian National Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. He spent the last few years of his life in Paris where he passed away in 1926.

Dr. Nazareth Daghavarian was a contemporary to Noradoungian and another Armenian social activist. He received his medical education from the famed Sorbonne University and Pasteur Institute. After which he returned to Istanbul and started working in the French St. Savoir hospital. The Turkish authorities arrested him on the allegations that he was involved in anti-state activities.  He was released by the mediation of the French Embassy. After sending his wife and children to Bulgaria, he managed to elude the authorities by disguising himself as a French Embassy employee and boarded a Greek ship to Marseille. From there he moved to Cairo with his family where he resumed his medical practice. In 1906 he and Boghos Noubar Pasha, along with several others, established the Armenian General Benevolent Union with Boghos Noubar Pasha acting the president and him as the secretary of the newly found organization.

Two years later, after the revolution of the Young Turks, trusting the new Turkish order, he returned to Istanbul with his family.  The rest is another tragic chapter in Armenian history...

In summing up this section of the article, I can without any hesitation conclude that the Bolis of the 19thcentury, with its unprecedented achievements in finance, education, literature popularizing the Western Armenian language, presents one of the most shining periods of our three millennia-old histories. 

Բնագիրը՝

Չելեպիներ, Խոճաներ, ԱՄԻՐԱՆԵՐ եւ ԷՖԷՆՏԻՆԵՐ - 3/3 -https://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2025/02/33.html