CHAPTER1
Armenians in Surat
The Armenians of Persia formed the Armenian settlement in Surat in the 16th century.
Surat was the most important port on the Western Coast of the Indian Subcontinent
for merchant-vessels coming from Basra and Bandar Abbas. Surat was an important
market for the precious stones as well.
In Surat the Armenians built two churches and a cemetery. There is a tombstone
in Surat of the year of 1579 which bears Armenian inscriptions.38
That is the grave of the wife of the Armenian priest. From this it can be assumed
that since there was an Armenian priest in 1579, there must have been a church
or a chapel. A new church was built in 1778 which was dedicated to Virgin Mary.
At that time the Armenian colony was very small. In fact, the community began
to grow in numbers in the 17th century. An Armenian manuscript, written in 1678,
which is now the property of Saltikov-Shchedrin Library, St.-Petersburg,
bears an account of the permanent Armenian colony in Surat.39
The most prosperous period for Surat was the second half of the 18th century.
Among the Armenians of Surat the merchants played an active role. They owned merchant-vessels
and had their significant role in transit trade.
In Surat many Armenian enterpreneurs were engaged mostly in muslin manufacturing.
They were buying cotton, giving to the weavers, then passing ready threads to
other workers to make fabrics and finally giving to Armenian Khojas to sell their
product in the market.40
However, when the commercial importance of Surat began to wane, the Armenians
shifted to Bombay (now Mumbai). Initially it was a Portuguese trade centre, which
was captured by the British from 1661. Since the British wanted Bombay to
become a trade centre, they invited Armenians from Surat to settle there giving
them land and loans to build houses. One of the most outstanding Armenian merchants
in India was from Bombay. His name was Khoja Minas who owned merchant-vessels.41