New Julfa

View of the New Julfa neighborhood in 2009

Kelisa-e Vank (Vank Cathedral) in New Julfa

New Julfa ( Persian: محله جلفای اصفهان , literally "The Jolfa quarter of Esfahan"; Armenian: Նոր Ջուղա "Nor Juġa") is the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located along the south bank of the river Zayandeh River.

In 1606 it was established as an Armenian quarter by edict of Shah Abbas I, the influential shah from the Safavid dynasty. Over 150,000 Armenians were moved there from Julfa (also known as Jugha or Djugha) in Nakhichevan. Iranian accounts state that the Armenians came to Persia fleeing the Ottoman Empire's persecution (see this article on Iranian churches); European and Armenian accounts state that the population was moved by force in 1604 and their hometown destroyed by Shah Abbas( Baghdiantz, Herzig, in Kévonian). All accounts agree that, as the residents of Julfa were famous for their silk trade (Kévonian, Baghdiantz, Herzig), Shah Abbas treated the population well and hoped that their settlement in Isfahan would be beneficial to Persia.

In 1947 the famous historian Fernand Braudel wrote that the Armenians had a network that stretched from Amsterdam to Manila in the Philippines. Many scholars in Armenia have done pioneering work on this network in the 60's , 70's and 80's, Levon Khachikian and Sushanik Khachikian have edited and published several New Julfan account books. Over the next few centuries, New Julfa became the hub of "one of the greatest trade networks of the early modern era" (Aslanian 2008: 128), with outposts as far east as Canton, Surabaya, and Manila (Bhattacharya) and as far west as Cadiz, London, and Amsterdam, with a few merchants traveling across the Atlantic or Pacific oceans to Acapulco or Mexico City.

New Julfa's also controlled many of the Armenian trading families and their churches in India, families that were originally from Julfa (Baghdiantz, Chaudhuri, see also Mesrop Seth) Hughli was a main settlement in Bengal (Chaudhuri). Some scholars argue that Surat, Bengal and Hughli were independent nodes and that the central control of New Julfa was not as important to their thriving Indian Ocean trade (Bhattacharya). Many New Julfan Armenians later settled in Manila, Hong kong and also in Australia. Their networks and have been studied based on Armenian sources (Baghdiantz, Kévonian, Khachikian).

New Julfa is still an Armenian-populated area with an Armenian school and at least twelve churches, including Vank Cathedral, the Church of Bethlehem at Nazar Avenue, Saint Mary church at Julfa Square and the Yerevan church in the Yerevan parish. Armenians in New Julfa observe Iranian law with regard to clothing, but otherwise retain a distinct Armenian language, identity and culture (Ghougassian). The policy of the Safavids was very tolerant towards the Armenians as compared to other minorities (Gregorian).

Popular with young people in Esfahan, it is experiencing considerable growth compared to other districts.

Kalantars

• Safar, son of Khachik (1605 - 1618)
• Nazar, son of Khachik (1618 - 1636)
• Safaraz, son of Nazar (1636 - 1656)
• Haykaz, son of Nazar (1656 - 1660)
• Astuacadur Miritenc (1660 - 1671)
• Agha Piri (1671 - 1673) (converted to Islam)
• Ebraham (1673 - 1683) (converted to Islam)
• Awetis (1683 - 1687) (converted to Islam)
• Lukas (1687 - 1691) (converted to Islam)
• Awet (1691 - 1692) (converted to Islam)
• Lukas (1692 - 1703)
• Awet (1703 - 1705) (converted to Islam)
• Yarutun, son of Grigor (1705 - 1707)
• Estafnsus Muzabeken, son of Agha Piri (1707 - 1708) (converted to Islam)
• Zakaria, son of Kirakas (1708 - 1719) (converted to Islam)
• Khachik (1719 - 1722) (he was killed by the Afghanis)
• Markar, son of Baghdasarikhorian (1722 - 1727)
• Ohannes (1727)

References

• Hin Jugha in Armeniapedia.
• Sebouh Aslanian. "The Salt in a Merchant's Letter": The Culture of Julfan Correspondence in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. Journal of World History 19 (2008): 127-188.
• Baghdiantz McCabe, Ina The Shah’s Silk for Europe’s Silver: The Eurasian Silk trade of the Julfan Armenians in Safavid Iran and India(1590-1750). (University of Pennsylvania Series), Scholar’sPress, 1999.
• Bhattacharya, Bhaswatti “Making Money at the Blessed Place of Manilla: Armenians in the Madras- Manila Trade in the Eighteenth Century.” Journal of Global History, (2008),3, 1-20.
• Sushil Chaudhuri and Kéram Kévonian eds., Les Arméniens dans le commerce asiatique au début de l’ere moderne [Armenians in Asian trade in the Early Modern Era], (Paris, 2007).
• Sushil Chaudhuri “Trading Networks in a Traditional Diaspora: Armenians in India 1600-1800.”, in Diaspora and Entrepreneurial Networks 1600-2000. Ina Baghdiantz McCabe, Gelina Harlaftis, Ionna Minoglu, eds., Oxford, 2005, 51-72.
• Vasgen Ghougassian The Emergence of the Diocese of New Julfa in the Seventeenth Century, Atlanta, University of Pennsylvania Series), 1998.
• Gregorian, Vartan. “Minorities of Isphahan: The Armenian Community of Isphahan,1587-1722.” Iranian Studies 7, no. 2 (1974), pp. 652-81.

See also

• New Julfa Armenian Cemetery
• Armenians in Iran
• Religious Minorities in Iran
• Christians in Iran

External links

• Historical Churches of Iran on Iran Chamber Society (www.iranchamber.com)
• http://www.netiran.com/?fn=artd(1818)
• Armeniapedia article on Isfahan
• Jolfa in Isfahan - Armenian Churches and Armenians in Iran

Coordinates: 32°38′10.79″N 51°39′20.55″E / 32.6363306°N 51.6557083°E / 32.6363306; 51.6557083