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The Armenian community of Dhaka played a significant role in Bengali trade and commerce in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the early part of 18th century, Armenians settled in Dhaka, then one of the commercial centres in Bengal. They initially built a chapel and cemetery at Tejgaon, five miles from Dhaka. The oldest tombstone is “Avetis” an Armenian merchant who died on 15 August 1714. Apart from Dhaka there was a significant Armenian presence in Saidabad (a suburb of the capital Murshidabad), Hoogli, Kolkata, Chinsura, Patna and Kasimbazar. A neighborhood in Dhaka - Armanitola - bears their name; there the Church of the Holy Resurrection and the cemetery established by the community in 1781 stand as major landmarks.〔(HAYK, The Ubiquitous Armenian: Dhaka, Bangladesh )〕〔(Armeniapedia: Armenian Churches in Asia )〕 The records of Church of the Holy Resurrection list over 200 deaths between 1833-1918, over 250 baptisms and over 50 marriages. Their assertive presence, however, began to decline from the beginning of British rule. Michael Joseph Martin (Mikel Housep Martirossian) is reported to have been the last Armenian in Dhaka.〔(BBC News: The mission of Dhaka's last Armenian )〕 Armenians played a major role in the commercial life of Dhaka, led by the Pogoses, Agacy, Michael, Stephen, Joakim, Sarkies, Arathon (also spelled as Aratun), Coja (also spelled Khojah) and Manook (also spelled as Manuk) families. Khwaja Hafizullah, a merchant prince, laid the foundations for the Dhaka Nawab Family by accumulating wealth by doing business with Greek and Armenian merchants. This trend was followed by his nephew and the first Nawab of the family Khwaja Alimullah. Parts of the gardens of Shahbag, ''Ruplal House'' (a major landmark in the old part of Dhaka) and the land where Bangabhaban stands belonged to Armenian ''zamindars'' (landlords). There is still a ''Manuk House'' inside Bangabhaban, bearing the name of the original owner's family. They also played a major role as patrons of education and urban development in Dhaka. The Pogose School, the first private school in the country, was founded by JG Nicholas Pogose, a merchant and a zamindar. P Arathon was the headmaster of the Normal School. According to the ''Dhaka Prakash'', a newspaper of his time, students in his school scored better in examinations than students of other normal schools in Bengal, including the one in Hoogli. Margar David, Mackertich Abraham George, Michael Sarkies, Abraham Lucas, M Highcazony, A S Mackertich, Tigran Nahapiet, Thaddeus Nahapiet, M.J. Catchhatoor, Joseph Lazarus, and M David were other prominent Armenians of Dhaka. ==History== After Safavid rulers conquered Eastern Armenia in the Caucasus, Shah Abbas deported about 40,000 Armenian traders specialized in inter-Euroasiatic trade to Isfahan and New Julfa.〔(The Armenians ), Banghlapedia〕 From there these traders first came to Bengal following the footsteps of Persian adventurers, and in the course established their own trading community there, recognized as such by the Mughal government since late 17th century.〔 They were mostly engaged in export trade paying a duty of 3.5% to the government.〔 The Nawabs are known to have engaged them to transact their personal businesses openly or clandestinely as well as the European maritime companies, who used them as local representatives and their ''vakils'' (spokesperson or pleaders) to the royal courts. It is not known when they came to Dhaka, but on the evidence of dates on tombstones the time is assumed to be before the late 18th century. In an estimate of the textile export from Dhaka (which was a major textile production center in Bengal) was said to have been 27% in 1747. In the silk market, there are indications that the Armenians were dominant buyers, along with Gujaratis and merchants from Delhi, Agra and Benares. They were prominent in the jute trade. Initially not all of them lived in Armanitola, but lived in the neighborhoods of Moulavibazaar and Nolgola. Prior to building the church at Armanitola (popularly known as the Armani Church) they worshiped at a small chapel at in the same area, while deceased members of the community were interred at the Roman Catholic Church at Tejgaon, where some of the graves tombstones date back to 1741 to 1795. In 1837 they had built a Clock Tower on the west of the church that fell down in the earthquake of 1897. By 1868, five of the six European zamindars in Dhaka were Armenians - JG Nicholas Pogose, GC Paneati, J Stephan, JT Lucas and W Harney. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Armenian community of Dhaka」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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