I became agog when I found many unknown things regarding the history of Kolkata.I was never aware of the fact, that many Armenian people used to live here.Though I didn't have any information on this country until I met Ani.She is my friend,who is from Armenia.Our friendship helps me a lot to understand the cultures of their country.I knew that many people came to Kolkata from various countries.Chinese,Dutch,Jewish etc but when I found that many Armenian people also came to our city for various reasons then obviously I became interested but when I found that most of the portions of Park Street was made by the Armenian people then It drew my all the attention.
Armenia is a country in Asia which has a very long history and rich culture.Turkey,Azarbaijan,Iran, these are the neighbouring countries of Armenia.They have very rich culture and heritage.The connection between them and us started from the time when Alxendar The Great came to India.Many Armenians joined the forces which was lead by Alexendar.
The first ever Armenian who came to India was Thomas Cana.He was a merchant.He had reached the Malabar Coast in 780 AD by overland route,long before Vasco Da Gama visited India.For the location of Armenia it was been a constant battleground.Between 16th and 19th century Armenia was caught in a conflict with Ottoman turkis and the Persiansand thereafter when Soviet Union was formed in Russia Armenia became part of that Union in 1922.
So for all these reasons the many Armenian people moved out from their own country and they followed the same route by which many Persians came to India,eventually they settled in Agra,Delhi,Surat and Lahore(Then it was in India) as they all received a warm welcome from Akbar(Mughal Emporer).Many believes that one of Akbar's queens was an Armenian.Due to the good relation between the Mughal and Armenian people East India Company tried to make their relationships good with them who were living in Indian soil.More more Armenians came to India as the situation back home got worse for them.As I mentioned earlier they spread themselves almost all over the India except Kolkata,until the mughal empire started collapsing and it made them to settle other parts of India like Kolkata and Bombay.It can not be said that when they came to Kolkata or settled here,but from many documents it can be said that they came here 60 years before the British. The oldest Christian grave in Kolkata, marked 1630 CE – Rezabeebeh, ‘wife of the late Charitable Sookias’ – is of an Armenian.
During the first world war again many people came from Armenia to settle in Kolkata,that was the last time for them to move out from their own country and settle in the City Of Joy.Because of the Armenian Genocide many people died.It was the ottoman goverment's systematic killing of hunderds of thousands Armenian.Many fled the region and about 2000 found refuge in India.When British left in 1947 then the amount of Armenian people was around 2000 to 3000 only in Kolkata.
So they started living here.They made a church named 'Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth' in 1724.It's the mother of all church among Indian -Armenian people.
Clock tower of the Church
All the Armenian people here were mixed up with the Indian-Bengali culture.Moreover the whole Park Street which is famous for it's pub and night club culture was made by Armenian people.The famous Stephen Court was built by Arathoon Stephen,who has also built Grand Hotel in Kolkata and Mount Everest Hotel in Darjeeling.Many hotels like Astor, Carlton, Kenilworth, Astoria, Lytton and Russel were also started by Armenians.Bengalis and Armenians have common dishes like potoler dorma. Both seemed to have a similar fetish for spice.
Now the those glorious moments are just memory.Hardly 150 Armenians now live here.There are plenty reasons for this .According to many people ,actually they thought there would be no future for them here so they started leaving this country and those who couldn't started living here.There are many advantages for them like if some Armenian decides to live and study here then he or she can do that in free of cost.Even after retirement you will get free accommodation and medical care.
There is a college for Armenian people ,which is Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy.It was built in 1821,a school for young Armenian language,history and music.According to the Armenian General Benevolent Union news magazine, the number of students dropped from 206 in 1961 to just six in 1998.At the moment, there are only two Indian-Armenian students in the school. The other 58 are from Armenia, Iran and Iraq. But the school has improved, tremendously.The college is very famous for rugby.
Armenian wedding is a rare occasion,the last one happened some years ago which was covered by two media channels and a documentary film maker. Christmas is celebrated on January 6 and in the summer, there's Vardavar,it's like holi but it's played with water instead of any color.
The Sunday service at St Gregory's Chapel at Park Circus
Singer Shayne Hyrapiet and his daughter Skyla, one of the few Indian Armenian families left in Kolkata. In the backdrop is Park Street's Stephen Court built by an Armenian in the 1920s
I'm dedicating this writing to the people of Armenia who are living in Kolkata,not only in Kolkata,in the whole world, that don't lose hopes and specially you all are the sole reason that we have our real Kolkata , without you all we couldn't have that glamour of Park Street,we couldn't have the cross culture foundation,we couldn't have oldest churches.So thanks to you,to all of you.
And I couldn't write this without my Armenian friend Ani Avagian,so again thanks to you.
Sources-Hindustan Times,Wikipedia,Times Of India
Armenia is a country in Asia which has a very long history and rich culture.Turkey,Azarbaijan,Iran, these are the neighbouring countries of Armenia.They have very rich culture and heritage.The connection between them and us started from the time when Alxendar The Great came to India.Many Armenians joined the forces which was lead by Alexendar.
The first ever Armenian who came to India was Thomas Cana.He was a merchant.He had reached the Malabar Coast in 780 AD by overland route,long before Vasco Da Gama visited India.For the location of Armenia it was been a constant battleground.Between 16th and 19th century Armenia was caught in a conflict with Ottoman turkis and the Persiansand thereafter when Soviet Union was formed in Russia Armenia became part of that Union in 1922.
So for all these reasons the many Armenian people moved out from their own country and they followed the same route by which many Persians came to India,eventually they settled in Agra,Delhi,Surat and Lahore(Then it was in India) as they all received a warm welcome from Akbar(Mughal Emporer).Many believes that one of Akbar's queens was an Armenian.Due to the good relation between the Mughal and Armenian people East India Company tried to make their relationships good with them who were living in Indian soil.More more Armenians came to India as the situation back home got worse for them.As I mentioned earlier they spread themselves almost all over the India except Kolkata,until the mughal empire started collapsing and it made them to settle other parts of India like Kolkata and Bombay.It can not be said that when they came to Kolkata or settled here,but from many documents it can be said that they came here 60 years before the British. The oldest Christian grave in Kolkata, marked 1630 CE – Rezabeebeh, ‘wife of the late Charitable Sookias’ – is of an Armenian.
During the first world war again many people came from Armenia to settle in Kolkata,that was the last time for them to move out from their own country and settle in the City Of Joy.Because of the Armenian Genocide many people died.It was the ottoman goverment's systematic killing of hunderds of thousands Armenian.Many fled the region and about 2000 found refuge in India.When British left in 1947 then the amount of Armenian people was around 2000 to 3000 only in Kolkata.
So they started living here.They made a church named 'Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth' in 1724.It's the mother of all church among Indian -Armenian people.
All the Armenian people here were mixed up with the Indian-Bengali culture.Moreover the whole Park Street which is famous for it's pub and night club culture was made by Armenian people.The famous Stephen Court was built by Arathoon Stephen,who has also built Grand Hotel in Kolkata and Mount Everest Hotel in Darjeeling.Many hotels like Astor, Carlton, Kenilworth, Astoria, Lytton and Russel were also started by Armenians.Bengalis and Armenians have common dishes like potoler dorma. Both seemed to have a similar fetish for spice.
Now the those glorious moments are just memory.Hardly 150 Armenians now live here.There are plenty reasons for this .According to many people ,actually they thought there would be no future for them here so they started leaving this country and those who couldn't started living here.There are many advantages for them like if some Armenian decides to live and study here then he or she can do that in free of cost.Even after retirement you will get free accommodation and medical care.
There is a college for Armenian people ,which is Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy.It was built in 1821,a school for young Armenian language,history and music.According to the Armenian General Benevolent Union news magazine, the number of students dropped from 206 in 1961 to just six in 1998.At the moment, there are only two Indian-Armenian students in the school. The other 58 are from Armenia, Iran and Iraq. But the school has improved, tremendously.The college is very famous for rugby.
Armenian wedding is a rare occasion,the last one happened some years ago which was covered by two media channels and a documentary film maker. Christmas is celebrated on January 6 and in the summer, there's Vardavar,it's like holi but it's played with water instead of any color.
I'm dedicating this writing to the people of Armenia who are living in Kolkata,not only in Kolkata,in the whole world, that don't lose hopes and specially you all are the sole reason that we have our real Kolkata , without you all we couldn't have that glamour of Park Street,we couldn't have the cross culture foundation,we couldn't have oldest churches.So thanks to you,to all of you.
And I couldn't write this without my Armenian friend Ani Avagian,so again thanks to you.
Sources-Hindustan Times,Wikipedia,Times Of India
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