The first Armenians in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
arrived in 1612, and dwelt in
Syriam, the first
tombstone being dated 1725. They were
merchants
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...
.
History
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...
were deported in large numbers to
New Julfa
New Julfa ( fa, نو جلفا – ''Now Jolfā'', – ''Jolfâ-ye Now''; hy, Նոր Ջուղա – ''Nor Jugha'') is the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located along the south bank of the Zayande River.
Established and named after the ol ...
, on the outskirts of
Isfahan (Persia), early in the seventeenth century. Many continued on to
South and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
in the eighteenth century as conditions turned against them in Persia. By the 19th century they were to be found chiefly in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, the
Malay peninsula (particularly
Penang and
Malacca), and
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
. They tended to emigrate further from around
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, notably to
Australia.
![Mackertich J](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Mackertich_J._Mines.jpg)
In Burma, major Armenian traders were employed as officials by the Burmese kings, especially in charge of
customs and relations with foreigners. They survived the
First Burmese War
The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmes ...
in 1826, when the British annexed
Arakan
Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it accessi ...
and
Tenasserim, but the British conquest of
Lower Burma, the commercial heart of the country, in 1852, led to renewed accusations (from the British) that Armenian merchants were anti-British, and even pro-Russian. Nevertheless, the Armenians of
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
built their church in 1862, on land presented to them by the King of Burma.
The 1871-1872 Census of British India revealed that there were 1,250 Armenians, chiefly in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
,
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...
and Yangon. The 1881 Census stated the figure to be 1,308; 737 in Bengal and 466 in Burma. By 1891, the total figure was 1,295. The 1901 Census of British India stated that there were 256 Armenians in Burma.
The only
Armenian Apostolic Church
, native_name_lang = hy
, icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg
, icon_width = 100px
, icon_alt =
, image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, a ...
still active is St. John the Baptist in
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
.
Notable Armenians of Burma
Thackers Indian Directory
''Thacker, Spink & Co.'' was a well-known Kolkata publishing company. ''Thacker's Bengal Directory'' was published from 1864 to 1884 and covered the Bengal Presidency – which included the present day Myanmar and Bangladesh. From 1885 the ''Direc ...
lists many
Armenian language
Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken th ...
names in Burmese business and government. The
Sarkies Brothers
The Sarkies Brothers, Martin (1852–1912), Tigran (1861–1912), Aviet (1862–1923), and Arshak (1868–1931), were a group of brothers of Armenian ethnicity best known for founding a chain of luxury hotels throughout Southeast Asia. The brothe ...
(a group of four Armenian brothers, best known for founding a chain of hotels throughout Southeast Asia) first opened the
Eastern & Oriental Hotel
The Eastern & Oriental Hotel (popularly known as ''E&O Hotel'') is a British colonial-style luxury hotel in George Town, Penang, Malaysia that was established in 1885 by the Sarkies Brothers. The sea-fronting hotel is known for its luxurious ac ...
in
Penang in 1884 before expanding their business to the
Raffles Hotel
Raffles Hotel is a British colonial-style luxury hotel in Singapore. It was established by Armenian hoteliers, the Sarkies Brothers, in 1887. The hotel was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern S ...
in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and The
Strand Hotel
The Strand (also known as Strand Hotel) is a Victorian-style hotel located in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma), built by Aviet and Tigran Sarkie, two of the Sarkies Brothers. The hotel, which opened in 1901, which faces the Yangon River to its south, is ...
in Yangon in 1901. Many Armenians remaining in Burma might also be considered part of the
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The '' Oxford English ...
or, more correctly, the
Anglo-Burmese community. Another famous Burmese Armenian is
Diana Abgar
Diana Abgar (or Apcar; hy, Դիանա Աբգար, 17 October 1859 – 8 July 1937) was a Armenian diaspora, diaspora Armenian writer and humanitarian, who was appointed Honorary Consul to Japan of the short-lived First Republic of Armenia (1918 ...
.
References
Further reading
*Margaret Sarkissian, 'Armenians in South-East Asia', (1987) 3 Crossroads, an Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 1-33.
*Roy, A and Lahiri-Roy, R. 'The Armenian Diaspora's Calcutta connection, (2017) 10, Diaspora studies,137-151.
*K. S. Papazian, Merchants from Ararat, a brief survey of Armenian trade through the ages, (New York: Ararat Press 1979)
*Denys Lombard and Jean Aubin, (eds), Asian merchants and businessmen in the Indian Ocean and the China Sea, (New Delhi: Oxford University Press 2000).
*Nadia H Wright, Respected citizens: The history of Armenians in Singapore and Malaysia, (Ammasia Publishing, 2003)
*Vahé Baladouni and Margaret Makepeace, (eds), Armenian Merchants of the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries: English East India Company Sources, (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1998) 294 pp (the index at pages 281-283 lists about 100 Armenian merchants by name).
*Ilsa Sharp, There Is Only One Raffles, The Story of a Grand Hotel (Souvenir Press Ltd. 1981, )
* Andrew Whitehead article for BBC News website August 2014 on Myanmar's last Armenians https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28867884
*GE Harvey, History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824 (1925) p 346.
See also
*
Armenian diaspora
The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
Ethnic groups in Myanmar
{{Myanmar-stub