Armenians in Dhaka

The Armenian community of Dhaka played a significant role in Bengali trade and commerce in the 17th and 18th centuries. A neighborhood in Dhaka - Armanitola - bears their name; the Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection and cemetery established by the community in 1781 are major landmarks. 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.

There is no exact record of when the Armenians first came to Dhaka. Some historians suggest that they came in Bengal in the early 17th century as a part of the migration of Armenians from Persia. 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. 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. As Persian was the official language of the Mughal court, the Persian-speaking Armenians could easily settle themselves down in the Mughal Empire. 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.

Dhaka was the hub of fine textiles at that time. Persians moved towards Dhaka to settle business. 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 also prominent in the jute trade. Besides these, they also did businesses of saltpeter, salt, and betel nut.

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