CHAPTER 2
PROMINENT ARMENIANS IN THE HISTORY OF INDIA

        For more than twenty centuries the Armenians had been connected with India as commercial people and achieved success in the sphere of trade and commerce during the Hindu, Moghul and British periods. Although a purely commercial community, the Armenians displayed themselves to be more than ordinary merchants and traders whenever opportunity came.
        During the 16th - 17th centuries, regular Armenian communities had already been established, particularly in the coastal towns of India (as we have already mentioned in Chapter 1). The rulers of Moghul India also measurably fostered the emergence of new Armenian settlements in India. They often persuaded Indo-Armenians to invite their kinsmen, artisans and merchants to India from Persia and Armenia. It was Emperor Akbar who induced Armenians to come and settle in his dominions, giving them land and allowing to conduct their own religion – Christianity. He was well aware of their intelligence and their integrity in commercial affairs, and desired to improve the trade of his country through their agency.⁵⁶
        According to Thomas Khojamall, the Armenian historian of Bengal of the 18th century, this invitation was issued in Kashmir to an Armenian merchant named Jacob:
"Akbar invited the Armenian merchant to come and settle at Agra and at the same time to induce his countrymen in the Punjab and elsewhere in India to come and reside at the imperial city where they would be given permission, by their royal patron, to build a church for the worship of the God in their own way, as Akbar knew that the Armenians were religious race of ancient Christians and would not settle in a place where they could not have and enjoy the free and undisturbed use and exercise of their own religion."⁵⁷
        The Armenians responded to Akbar’s invitation and settled in Agra in large numbers. Later, in 1562 an Armenian Church was erected there.

Armenians in the Court of Emperor Akbar
        Akbar was well disposed towards his Armenian subjects and several held high positions during his reign. The Chief Justice of the Empire was an Armenian named Abdul Hai (in Armenian language ‘hai’ means Armenian). In the Ain-I-Akbari he is mentioned as "the Qazi of the Imperial Camp". Abdul Hai is also mentioned in some manuscripts of the Akbarnama (vol. III) as participator in the religious discussions of Akbar.
        The Portuguese interpreter of the court was an Armenian named Domingo Pires (he adopted Portuguese name). Akbar employed him as the interpreter to the embassy he had sent to Goa in September 1579, inviting Jesuits to his Court for religious discussions. Following lines are quotes from that letter:
"... I am sending Abdullah, my ambassador, and Dominic Perez (an Armenian Christian, the interpreter) with the request that you will send me two learned Fathers and the books of Law, especially the Gospel, that I may know the Law and its excellence…"
        From the Jesuit Fathers' letters it appears that Domingo Pires was Akbar’s favourite for the latter participated in his wedding ceremony (Pires married an Indian lady).
        The lady doctor of the royal harem was an Armenian named Lady Juliana. This Lady Juliana was given by Akbar in marriage to Prince Jean Philipe de Bourbon of Navarre of the royal house of France. According to some writers, Juliana was Akbar's Christian wife's sister and it was she who built the first Christian Church at Agra.
        There is a note in the Agra Mission Archives which states that the "Church was built by Philip Bourbon of the House of Navarre and his wife Juliana, an Armenian lady who was in medical charge of the Emperor's Harem. They are both buried in the Church itself, probably the epitaphs are in Armenian."
 Akbar’s Christian wife, Mariam Zamani Begum, is considered to be an Armenian.⁵⁸  Indian historian Henry George Keane in his Sketch of the History of Hindustan, says:
“Akbar subsequently married at least two other foreign ladies, an Armenian and a princess of Marwar. Preserving unmolested in the palace their chapels and their chaplains, these ladies would necessarily have their share in promoting the Catholicity of the Emperor’s mind and predisposing him to regard with favour Hindus and Christians.”
        Henry Blochmann, in his translation of the Ain-I-Akbari, in one of his notes mentions that "there is not the least doubt of Akbar having an Armenian wife."
Fanthome, in his Reminiscences of Agra says:
"I have in my possession information which leads me to believe that there is a great deal of truth in the assertion that Akbar had a Christian wife whose name was Mariam."⁵⁹
        Akbar’s Christian wife’s beautiful palace at Fatehpur Sikri still exists.
There was another Armenian Queen in the early 19th century. In 1814 the British conferred the title of King on Ghaziuddin Hyder who thus became the first King of Oudh. He married an Armenian lady who became one of his queens. This lady was known with the name Nawab Sultan Mariam Begum Saheba. She was also known as Vilayeti Begum (English Queen).
        Mirza-Zul-Qarnain, Akbar’s adopted son, was an Armenian, too. Father Francisco Corsi, a resident of Mogor since 1600, wrote about Mirza-Zul-Qarnain's parents that his father was an Armenian whose name was Mirza Iscandar, a native of Aleppo. He was admitted as a cavalier to King Akbar's court. He was “possessed of good parts, among others a knowledge of various languages, in particular Portuguese”. The King married him off with Juliana, the daughter of another honourable Armenian in Akbar's court. Their first son was “our founder Mirza Zulcarnen, a name given as a  favour by King Akbar himself, this being the name of Alexander the Great, whom they call Scander Zulcarnen”. Zulcarnen means two-horned.  He was brought up in the palace as the adopted son of Akbar's Armenian Queen, and grew up as the brother and playmate of future Emperors, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. In Emperor Jahangir's Memoirs, called Tuzak-i-Jahangiri, these lines about Mirza-Zul-Qarnain are notable:
"Zul-Qarnain obtained leave to proceed to the Faujdarship of Sambhar. He is the son of Iskandar, the Armenian, and his father had the good fortune to be in the service of Arshashyani [Akbar], who gave him in marriage the daughter of Abdul Hai the Armenian, who was in service in the royal harem. By her he had two sons, one was Zul-Qarnain, who was intelligent and fond of work, and to him, during my reign the chief diwans had entrusted the charge of the Government Salt Works at Sambhar, a duty, which he performed efficiently. He was now appointed to the Faujdarship of that region. He is an accomplished composer of Hindi songs. His method in this art was correct and his compositions were frequently brought to my notice and were approved."⁶⁰
        Mirza-Zul-Qarnain’s rise was fast. He was only twenty years old when his father died in 1613. Mirza-Zul-Qarnain succeeded him in collecting the salt revenues from Sambhar (Rajputana). Mirza held in turn the Governorship of Sambhar, Mogor, Babraich (Oudh), Lahore and Bengal. Jahangir conferred the title of Amir on him, and he was also known as Prince Mirza. Both Jahangir and Shah Jahan had affection for Mirza and showered honours and wealth on him from time to time, for they appreciated his outstanding administrative ability and respected his staunch faith and virtuous life. However, periodically large sums were extracted from him, as he did not want to get converted to Islam. He considered himself as a genuine Christian. Mirza-Zul-Qarnain was in a very good relations with Jesuit Fathers. Michael Angelo Lualdi in the Annual Letter of Goa for 1619, wrote:
"The Faith was propagated most in certain province of Mogor, where Mirza-Zul-Qarnain, a native of Armenia and a Christian from his birth ruled since 1619 with title of Governor. Greatly in favour with the king and therefore very powerful, he promoted largely our religion. He built a church in his province, where the faithful would assemble and conduct their religion."
        In the records of Jesuit fathers Mirsa-Zul-Qarnain is referred to as the “Father of Mogor Christians” and the “Pillar of Christianity in India”. His every action was an example of charity and his generosity and kindness to all in need - regardless of caste or creed, did much to propagate Christianity. He gave the Jesuit Fathers a large sum of money to purchase land at Salsette (Bombay), to found a college in Agra and establish a mission in Tibet.
        Mirza had always helped the Jesuit Fathers by donating funds, freed them when they were imprisoned and thus he won their unqualified admiration, and they have left glowing accounts about Mirza-Zul-Qarnain.
        "At all the most solemn Feasts of the year, Mirza sends to the Fathers a large sum of money to be distributed in alms among the poor Christians. His kindness towards those who came from paganism is beyond words. He helps and assists them in all their needs, that they may be confirmed in the Holy Faith. He does the same for orphan girls, who otherwise would be in danger. He presents them with dowries, and marries them according to their rank, thus placing their virtue beyond the reach of temptation. In a word, Prince Mirza is among these Mogores, another Apostle, a second St. Paul, who becomes omnibus omnia, ut omnes Christo lucrifaciat  (all things to all men, that he may save all…)".
        Mirza was a gifted poet, playwrite, singer and raconteur. He composed heart touching Hindi poems and elegant Persian verses. In the translation of the Tuzak-i-Jahangiri (which is now in the British Museum) it is noted that Zul-Qarnain Farangi came from Bengal and presented poems which he had composed on Shah Jahan's name, for which he got Rs.4000. Later on, in 1648, when Shah Jahan shifted his capital from Agra to Delhi, he asked Mirza to compose a suitable poem in praise of the new capital, Shahjahanabad.
        An interesting story is said about this poem. Mirza-Zul-Qarnain, emanating from religious norms, showed in the poem that the glory of the city and its perfection were attributable only to God. Shahjahan became very furious and discontented, and initially rejected the poem. Afterwards the Emperor substituted his own name wherever ‘God’ was mentioned and accepted the poem.
        In composing songs and poems Mirza-Zul-Qarnain reached that level of fame that the best of his works  were placed in Indian Ragmala – a collection of favourite and famous poems in India. He composed his poems in Persian, the language of poetry of that time.
        Another Armenian poet of great merit lived in Delhi in the 17th century. His name is often put near the names of Firdausi, Sayadi, Hafez and Khayam. This poet's grave is near the Jama Masjid in Old Delhi and even today Hindus and Muslims remember him and strew flowers and burn candles and incense at his grave.
        This Indo-Armenian poet was known as Sarmad who was also a scholar, mystic and saint.
        In the Oriental Biographical Dictionary by Thomas William Beale, revised and enlarged in 1894 by Henry George Keane, it is mentioned, that Sarmad (Arabic word for eternal) was the poetical name of an Armenian merchant who came to India from Persia and started business at Sindh. After some time, under the influence of the Indian philosophy as well as Sufism, he adopted the life of an ascetic and roamed the streets like naked fakir. Sarmad was well versed in Sufism. His elegant quatrains and gazelles in Persian and Arabic won him wide popularity as well as numerous Hindu and Muslim disciples. Among them was Prince Dara Shikoh, the elder brother of Aurangzeb. The disciples of Sarmad did not only regard him as a saint and mystic, they also credited him with miraculous powers.
        When Aurangzeb (1658-1707) became the Emperor, he persistently persecuted Samrad, seeking some pretext to take his life because he had befriended Dara Shikoh and predicted the latter to be the Emperor (but as is known, Aurangzeb killed Dara Shikoh and became the Emperor).
Some authorities state that the Emperor eventually executed Sarmad in 1661 for his supposed heresy as contained in his couplet:
“The Mullahs say Ahmed went to heaven,
Sarmad says that heaven came down to Ahmed.”

        There is another version of the story. Aurangzeb, wishing to show his people that he was acting according to Islamic Law by following Sarmad, ordered his mullahs to enquire from Sarmad why he repeated only the first half of the Kalima - There is no God - but not the second - but God. To that he replied that "I am still absorbed with the negative part. Why should I tell a lie?"
Thus he sealed his death sentence. Ali Khan-Razi, Aurangzeb's court chronicler, was present at Sarmad's execution. He describes how contemptuously Sarmad accepted his death  sentence. Before the execution he uttered some couplets. The following is one of them:
"There was an uproar and we opened our eyes from the eternal sleep.
Saw that the night of wickedness endured, so we slept again."

        Sarmad was a great philosopher. He was tolerant to all the religions. He said: "I go towards the mosque, but I am not a Musulman."
Four hundred of Sarmad's quatrains in manuscripts are preserved in the British Museum in London. In the Oriental Library of Rampur there is a manuscript copy of the Diwan of Sarmad, which contains a portrait of the poet with his disciple, Abhai Chand. Emanating from the fact that contemporaries numbered Sarmad among the other prominent poets, it could be assumed he was among the greatest poets.
        There was another Indo-Armenian poet who lived in Lucknow in the middle of the 19th century. He was a reputed scholar and wrote poems in Urdu.

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