Sebouh David Aslanian - From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean: The Global Trade Networks of Armenian Merchants from New Julfa

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From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean

THE CALIFORNIA WORLD HISTORY LIBRARY
Edited by Edmund Burke III, Kenneth Pomeranz, and Patricia Seed

1. The Unending Frontier: Environmental History of the Early Modern World, by John F. Richards

2. Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History, by David Christian

3. The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility across the Indian Ocean, by Engseng Ho

4. Imperial Connections: India in the Indian Ocean Arena, 18601920, by Thomas R. Metcalf

5. Many Middle Passages: Forced Migration and the Making of the Modern World, edited by Emma Christopher, Cassandra Pybus, and Marcus Rediker

6. Domesticating the World: African Consumerism and the Genealogies of Globalization, by Jeremy Prestholdt

7. Servants of the Dynasty: Palace Women in World History, edited by Anne Walthall

8. Island World: A History of Hawaii and the United States, by Gary Y. Okihiro

9. The Environment and World History, edited by Edmund Burke III and Kenneth Pomeranz

10. Pineapple Culture: A History of the Tropical and Temperate Zones, by Gary Y. Okihiro

11. The Pilgrim Art: Cultures of Porcelain in World History, by Robert Finlay

12. The Quest for the Lost Nation: Writing History in Germany and Japan in the American Century, by Sebastian Conrad; translated by Alan Nothnagle

13. The Eastern Mediterranean and the Making of Global Radicalism, 18601914, by Ilham Khuri-Makdisi

14. The Other West: Latin America from Invasion to Globalization, by Marcello Carmagnani

15. Mediterraneans: North Africa and Europe in an Age of Migration, c. 18001900, by Julia A. Clancy-Smith

16. History and the Testimony of Language, by Christopher Ehret

17. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean: The Global Trade Networks of Armenian Merchants from New Julfa, by Sebouh David Aslanian

18. Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route, by Steven E. Sidebotham

19. The Haj to Utopia: The Ghadar Movement and Its Transnational Connections, 19051930, by Maia Ramnath

The Global Trade Networks
of Armenian Merchants from New Julfa

Sebouh David Aslanian

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University of California Press
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University of California Press, Ltd.
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2011 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Aslanian, Sebouh David.

From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean : the global trade networks of Armenian merchants from New Julfa / by Sebouh David Aslanian.

p. cm. (The California world history library; 17)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-520-26687-2 (cloth, alk. paper)

1. Julfa (Isfahan, Iran)CommerceHistorySources. 2. MerchantsArmeniaHistorySources. I. Title.

HF3770.2.Z9J853 2010

382.089'9199205595dc22 2010023440

Manufactured in the United States of America

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This book is printed on Cascades Enviro 100, a 100% post consumer waste, recycled, de-inked fiber. FSC recycled certified and processed chlorine free. It is acid free, Ecologo certified, and manufactured by BioGas energy.

For Houri, my home in this world

It is not possible to thank all the individuals who have given so generously of their time and expertise. I would like to single out for special mention those whose help was indispensable during the writing of this book. I am grateful for the patience and expert guidance of my advisers and mentors while this book was in its dissertation stage: Francesca Trivellato, Rudi Matthee, Nader Sohrabi, and Partha Chatterjee. Francescas mentorship in matters pertaining to long-distance trade and economic history gave shape to this project from very early on. Most of what is good in this book is a reflection of her friendship and professional advice. Rudi offered the same by sharing with me his unrivaled knowledge of Safavid history and political economy. I owe Nader a special debt for unceremoniously rejecting my initial proposal and compelling me to restructure my inquiry along lines of historical sociology. Though I did not appreciate what seemed to me a rather harsh intervention at the time, I am deeply thankful to him for launching me on the path that I took. I am grateful to Partha for hosting and assisting me during my research trip to Calcutta. Marc Nichanian, though not directly involved in my project, played an important role in luring me back to graduate school, and for that I am grateful to him. In India, I would like to thank Michael Stephen, the warden of the Armenian church of Madras, for his kind hospitality and for his help in 2003 in locating various documents stored at the church. Sonia John of Calcutta was also a generous host, as were Professor Partha Chatterjee and the staff of the Center for Social Studies in Calcutta, especially Lakshmi Subramanian. In Yerevan, I would like to acknowledge the support and guidance of Shushanik Khachikian at the Matenadaran State Repository of Ancient Manuscripts, who generously helped me decipher some of the documents in my possession. Her pioneering work on the Julfa merchants has been a source of inspiration, and she has been a mentor and a good friend. I also would like to thank Pavel Chobanyan, of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, and Meroujan Karapetyan for teaching me most of what I know about the onerous task of deciphering and understanding the Julfa dialect. Special acknowledgment is also due to the staff at the Mashtots Matenadaran, including Gevorg Ter Vardanyan, for enabling me to consult many hard-to-find books and manuscripts. In the same vein, I owe a debt to archivists in Italy and Spain, especially Manuel Ravina Martin, the director of the Archivo Histrico Provincial de Cdiz, for bringing the Armenian-related material to my attention, as well as for kindly sending copies of some documents that I had neglected to photograph while there. Giovanni Caniato of the Archivio di Stato di Venezia was also extremely generous with his help in various matters, as was Abbot Yeghia Kilaghbian at San Lazzaro. Likewise, I would like to thank Monsignor Gugerotti, whom I have never met, for kindly putting me in touch with the archivist at the Archivio di Istituto Don Nicola Mazza in Verona, Signor Graziano Costa, whom I also thank heartily for being an incredibly generous host during my visits to Verona in the summer of 2008. In London, my chance encounter with Gagan Sood, which led to my discovery of some of the documents used in this book, was a decisive moment in sparking a new research interest. My heartfelt thanks go to all those who made my trip to New Julfa possible, memorable, and rewarding, especially the Primate of New Julfa, Srpazan Papken Charian; Tatul Ohanian; Sona Baghoomian; Ani Babayan; Archbishop Goriun Babian; and the Diocesan Council for their warm hospitality and kindness. Without their generous support, this book could not have been written.