Hazirlayanlar

487

Prof. Mansure HAİDAR

tures including India which was also connected with the western countries 

through Armenia (5)

 At regional level, the mutual solidarity between Armenia and Tur-

key was often exhibited in the manifold ways --be it a military alliance 

or cultural exchange even in earlier days also. The imminent invasion of 

Sultan Jalaluddin Mangbarni Khwarazm Shah had brought the sultans of 

Rum, Syria, Armenia and other nearby regions to form a confederacy and 

in order to repel him they unitedly raised a force consisting of Georgians, 

Alans, Armenians, Sarir, Lakz, Qifchaq, Svn Abkhaz, Chanet, Syrians and 

Rumis.(6).Examples of varied forms of such solidarity can be multiplied.

 Claude Cahen writes “ In Western Asia the most favoured group were 

the Armenians.” It is interesting to note that this traders ‘community had 

always followed a circumspect attitude, expedient amicability, and careful-

ly calculated conginiality. They had, therefore, maintained all along sub-

dued subtle civilities. History reveals that Armenian rulers also adopted, 

well thought out and appeasing policies towards their contemporary kings.

The king of Armenia had journeyed all the way to have an audience with 

Chingiz Khan who was appreciative of the gesture that he came on his 

own accord. Claude Cahen affi rms that “from the very start (the Armeni-

ans) deliberately made themselves the Mongol agents. Michael Palaeo-

logus and the Ilkhans together---- and the Trebizond, like the Armenians of 

Cilicia,had been their vassals. Contigents of Armenia sometimes appeared 

locally in the Mongol armies in Syria though the Armenians of Armenia 

proper no longer served in arms ever since the conquest in which they had 

lost their political independence and they remained excluded from military 

life inspite of an effort by the Bishop of Arzinjan”.(7). The mutual rela-

tions with the Turks whom they accepted as their lords could, therefore, 

never be different.

 Writing about his motherland as early as in 1307, Anthony the Ar-

menian appreciates that “The kingdom of Armenia is at this day in a good 

and peaceable estate, and emphasizes two main points –the contiguous 

borders between Turkey and Armenia and the close active role played by 

the Armenians in the glory of Turkish domain.He records that:“there are 

four kingdoms. The length of Armenia begins at the confi nes of Persia 

and reaching out westward even to the kingdom of Turkey. The breadth 

of Armenia begins at the city called the Iron Gate and extended even to 

the kingdom of Media.”Although he takes pride in the fact that “when the 

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488

HOŞGÖRÜ TOPLUMUNDA ERMENİLER

Turks had invaded the kingdom of Turkey and had conquered it, they could 

not prevail against Trebizond nor the territories thereof, because of their 

strong castles and other fortifi cations by reason whereof it remained still 

under the government of the Emperor of Constantinople.” He adds further: 

“Cilicia at this day is called Armenia by reason that after the enemies of 

the Christian faith had gotten that country and held it a long time from the 

Greeks, the Armenians endeavoued so well that they won it again from the 

Pagans”.

 However the presence of Armenians who were fruitfully engaged in 

varied type of works in the Turkish domain even at that time is also re-

corded by Anthony. He says: ‘there are four nations inhabiting the king-

dom of Turkey. Namely the Greeks, Armenians, and Jacobins (Jacobites) 

who are Christians, living on merchandise and manuring the Earth and the 

Turks who are Saracens and have invaded that land and gotten the Govern-

ment from the Greeks. Some of them live on merchandise and labouring 

of Ground, inhabiting in cities and towns, others keeping in the woods 

and fi elds both winter and summer, being shepherds and very good Bow-

men. Ibni Batuta had also noticed that’ in Arzinjan, Armenians formed the 

greater part of the population.’ At the time of Timur’s invasion also, the 

Timurid and Indo- Persian sources mentioned the existence of rich Arme-

nians in the cities of Siwas, Ablistan and other places (8), as the conqueror 

had not only chosen them(presumably due to their expertise in various 

professions and arts) to be taken to his homeland as captives (alongwith 

the Nusranis) but was impressed by their richness which had also attracted 

his attention.

 Undoubtedly, the Armenians had been playing an important role in 

the Ottoman Empire in different capacities and at different levels. They 

were lingually closer to each other as plenty of loan words suggest and had 

many similarities in their social structure. They (Armenians) constituted 

fairly a large number of craftsmen, traders, agriculturists, members from 

the liberal professions. There were the Armenians --- Industrial bourgeoise 

in Tifl is (cotton, leather and Tobacco), the civilian population scattered 

from Istanbul to Van and from Tifl is to Tabriz.There were Armenians well 

established as International commercial community in Isfahan, Tifl is, Ma-

dras, Istanbul, Izmir, Cairo, Marseilles, Antwerp, Amsterdam and other 

places. These external networks sustained them economically. Arzinjan 

continued to be a great Armenian city. Many important events had taken 

place there and the city “long remained the Metropolis of those in Turkey 

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489

Prof. Mansure HAİDAR

“.Trebizond, the state of Armenia (Greater) remained under the Turkish 

sway for a long time (hukkam I qadim az muluki tawaifi  Turk dasht). (9) 

The transformation of Erivan from a “village like town” in Timur’s time(as 

described by the court chroniclers and eye witness) to a full fl edged city in 

the sixteenth century bespeaks for itself pointing to an active and fl ourish-

ing commercial and business activities and enterprises. (10)

To be sure, the Armenians and the Ottomans shared common interests 

in the region and lived amidst the same friends and foes hence solidarity 

over issues was never wanting. The relations of Ottomans with Persians 

were somewhat strained and sectarian prejudices were being blown out 

of proportion to cover expansionist ambitions. The Portuguese presence 

in the Indian waters and ottoman hobnobbing with Central Asia, Gujarat 

and Egypt is well proved by the mission of Sidi Ali Reis. The other events 

discussed in the sources (the details regarding the confl ict over the pos-

session of Erivan and Kars between Ottoman sultans and Shah of Persia 

during 16

th

-17

th

 century, the surrender of Azerbaijan and Caucasus by the 

Persians in 1590 and subsequent recovery of these and of Kars,division 

of Erivan and Nakhchiwan and their unifi cation, the role of Armenians 

in strengthening the Ottoman-Gujarat relations, the Mughal- Portuguese 

entante etc.) indirectly throw light on Ottoman-Armenian relations with 

their several signifi cant dimensions and repercussio While the Ottomans 

extended their full patronage to the Armenians, the latter had repaid them 

immensely by spreading their cultural attainments to the outside world. As 

‘privately organized and highly cohesive commercial diaspora’(11), Arme-

nian communities are said to be ‘so well integrated’ and well entrenched 

in the Ottoman state and society, that alienness seemed to be nonexistent. 

--. Even while hanging on and prospering ---the Armenians had consider-

ably enriched Turkish life particularly Istanbul giving it the cosmopolitan 

fl avour of Lawrence Durrel’s Alexandria’ (12). The sources provide details 

about theis mutually benefi cial and long standing bond of relationship. 

Apart from the description of Suq Erraqiq and “well-built Armenian and 

fair skinned Turkish women –full of grace and animation, there is a pictur-

esque account of beautiful Armenian carpets which formed a part of many 

a gifts sent to sultans of Ghazna, Turkey and other such potentates. The 

impressive sight of the battle array with double backed Armenian camels, 

the fi ne Armenian clothes and other rarities. 

 Characteristics do play an important role in determining the relation-

ships. There are interesting comments available about characteristic fea-

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