CHAPTER 2
PROMINENT ARMENIANS IN
THE HISTORY OF INDIA
Armenians
in Indian Armies
The Armenians who found their second homeland in India and were enjoying affection
and sympathy of the Indian people, could not be indifferent to India’s freedom
struggle against the British colonisers. Armenians also contributed their modest
share in this struggle.
In this regard a prominent Armenian in India was Colonel Jacob Petrus who had
been the Commander of Scindia of Gwalior’s Army for seventy years (1780-1850).
Jacob Petrus was the son of an Armenian merchant, yet he had no desire to continue
with his father’s work. Instead he was dreaming about a military career. In
1778, 23-year old Petrus formed a military corps and joined the Rajah of Bortpore
for whom he fought on remuneration basis. Afterwards he joined General de Boigne,
the then Commander of Scindia’s Army. Jacob Petrus rose to the highest rank
– Commander of Scindia’s Army – the position he held for seventy years. Under
his command Jacob Petrus had twelve infantry and four cavalry batallions with
150 artillery. There was an Armenian detachment in his army. The 78-year old
Colonel became more respected and famous during the developments of 1843 when
the Indian people were fighting against the British. Colonel Jacob's military
talent has been recalled with gratitute and praise among high ranking Indian
officers.61 His
reputation was so high and he was so respected that the entire city of Gwalior
mourned his death in 1850. Thousands including the nobility and military attended
his funeral, and guns were fired ninety five times from the ramparts of the
historic Gwalior Fort, to mark his age.
Colonel Jacob’s two sons were also from the army who used to serve under their
father. Between the two one was a Major, the other was a Captain. In Colonel
Jacob’s army there were fourty Armenian officials. Colonel Jacob Petrus’s achievements
were never forgotten, and even his great grandson got a life pension from the
Gwalior Government. Colonel Jacob's residence at Naumahalla accommodates the
Gwalior Municipality. His Camp, Parade and Garden are still considered to be
landmarks in Gwalior.62
One of the Armenian officers, who served under Colonel Jacob Petrus, was Johannes.
He was famous with his artificial tank and a well, which he had built in Gwalior.
They were in existence till 1960s and were known as Waness Sahib ka talao aur
kooa. After the death of Colonel Jacob Petrus, most of the Armenians of
Scindia’s army left Gwalior and gave up their martial occupation.
In the first half of the 19th century there was another high ranking Armenian
officer - Movses Manook - Colonel of Hyderabad Army. Colonel Manook was one
of the most outstanding army officers of the Nizam of Hyderabad.
In the second half of
the 18th century, during the freedom movement in Bengal, the name of Gorgin
Khan was very famous. He was also an Armenian. His real name was Khojah
Gregory, but he used to be known with his orientalized name - Gorgin Khan. Originally
Gregory was a textile merchant in the Hooghly district of Bengal. By sheer merit,
military genius and outstanding military sagacity, he rose so rapidly that during
three years (1760-63) he was the virtual ruler of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
When Mir Qasim became the Nawab of Bengal, being aware of Gorgin Khan’s exceptional
abilities, he appointed him the Minister and Commander-in-Chief of his Army.
Gorgin Khan realized in order to maintain and, if necessary, assert the Nawab's
independence, a strong, well-disciplined and well-equipped army was indispensable.
He trained up a corps of artillerymen. Besides Gorgin-Khan, there were eight
other high ranking Armenian officers in the Bengali Army. Among them, Margar
Calantar - initially served in Holland and reached to the rank of General. This
"Armenian Margar" is referred to as the commander of Indian army in the History
of India by N.K.Sinha and A.Ch.Banerjee; Hovannes Nazar was the other who was
the head of Mir Qasim's security detachment. There were about a hundred Armenians
in Gorgin Khan’s army, all were of high ranks, like Generals, Colonels, Captains.
Having organized a regular army, Mir Qasim was faced with serious difficulties
in arming it. Gorgin Khan turned to the Indian and Armenian armourers
in organizing the local production of armaments. He established a foundry for
casting guns and an arsenal for manufacturing firelocks.
English historian Marshman,
writing about Bengal’s Nawab Mir Qasim’s powerful position, states:
“For the rapid progress
he was mainly indebted to the exertions of an Armenian, born at Ispahan, generally
known by his orientalized name of Gorgin Khan. He was originally a cloth-seller
at Hooghly but when intrusted with the responsibilities of office, turned out
to be a man of original genius and vast resources. In less than three years
he created a force of 15,000 cavalry and 25,000 infantry, disciplined on the
modes of the company’s army, he manufactured firelocks which were superior to
the Towerproof muskets, he established a foundry for casting cannon, and trained
up a corps of artilleryman who would have done credit to the Company’s service.”
It should be mentioned that for a long time the British did not want to believe
the Indians have succeeded in making artillery guns.63
Prince of India, Ali Gauhar gave a special estimation to Gorgin Khan for his
sincere service to the people of India. On another Armenian, General Margar,
for his bravery and good service, Mir Qasim conferred the title of ‘Prince’
and sent him valuable presents and one elephant.64
The role of Armenian armymen has been highly estimated by the Indian patriots
and it is interesting to know that after each victory over the British, besides
the Indian flag, Armenian flag was also hoisted in honour of their devoted ally
.65
The British consequently became concerned of the rising power of Mir Qasim through
his Commander-in-Chief, and took it as a threat to the East India Company’s
ambition of the territorial conquest of India. Moreover, because of Gorgin Khan’s
power and position, a number of Armenians held high civil and military posts
and the Armenian merchants instead of being hampered in their trading activities,
were bestowed certain privileges. These incidents arouse the anxiety of the
British.
One of the members of the East India Company was complaining that because of
Gorgin Khan the Armenians felt very confident and self-reliant and conducted
trade which caused a big loss for the Company’s enterprises in all the parts
of the country:
"Khojah Gregory is in
the highest degree of favor with the Nawab [Mir Qasim] and his adherents, and
has posts of the greatest trust near the Nawab's person, and through him the
Armenians in general are setting up an independent footing in this country and
carrying on a trade greatly detrimental to our investments in all parts."
Accordingly, the English Council Board of Calcutta precipitated an open rupture
with Mir Qasim who was now regarded as an enemy. The Governor of Bengal and
other British senior officials designed plans on how to weaken Mir Qasim’s position.
They persuaded Agha Petrus (elder brother of Gorgin Khan who was pro-British)
to write a letter to his brother requesting him either to imprison Mir Qasim
or to leave him and join the British with his troops. However, according to
Armenian historian Thomas Khojamall, Gorgin Khan replied that he was a genuine
Armenian and could not betray his master. He would “serve him faithfully and
remain royal to him always.”
The spy of Mir Qasim immediately informed him about the letter from Agha Petrus
to Gorgin Khan who was known to be well disposed towards the British because
of his brother, and once even he showed his reluctance to kill the British prisoners
by the order of the Nawab.
Mir Qasim believed that Gorgin Khan was capable of betraying him and “within
24 hours one of the greatest men of the age was a corpse”, writes Marshman.
A group of Mir Qasim's men entered Gorgin Khan's tent on the false pretext of
asking for pay and murdered him in cold blood.
There is another version about the tragic death of Gorgin Khan. That version
says, Mir Qasim was not the mastermind of Gorgin Khan’s assassination and he
was so upset and furious with the death of his Commander that he ordered to
kill all the British prisoners instead. Later on, when Mir Qasim left the political
arena, some Armenian armymen joined the army of the Nawab of Oudh, showing themselves
as serious, brave and honourable warriors.
At the time of his tragic
death Gorgin Khan was only thirty three years old. A man of remarkable genius
and foresight, Gorgin Khan played a prominent role in the history of that time.
It is noteworthy that Gorgin Khan’s memory is still alive in Monghyr. Even today
he is referred to as “General Sahib” who started an arsenal and gun-manufacturing
factory in Monghyr.
Monsieur Raymond (alias Hadji Mustapha or Mustafa Khan) writes of the Monghyr-made
rifles as follows:
"The European reader
may possibly hear with surprise that the fire-locks manufactured at Monghyr
proved better than the best Tower-proofs sent to India for the Company's use;
and such was the opinion which the English officers gave when they made the
comparison by order of the Council of Calcutta. The flints were all Rajmahal
agates, and their metal more mellow."
An interesting relic was the famous gun Zamzamah. An expert Armenian gun-maker
Shah Nazar Khan made this gun in 1761 for Ahmed Shah Durrani, the Afghani invader
of the Punjab. Sikhs who regarded it as a talisman of success later captured
the Zamzamah. The Zamzamah was the only gun from the hundreds cast by Shah Nazar
Khan, which survived. The Zamzamah was cast from a mixture of copper and brass.
The Persian inscription round the muzzle reads:
“By order of the Emperor
Dur-I-Durran Shah Wali Khan, the Vazir made this gun, the capturer of strongholds.
The work of Shah Nazar Khan.”
This gun is exhibited
in the National Museum in Lahore.
As is known the uprising in Bengal was suppressed by the British. They started
persecuting not only the native population but also the Armenians. And this
persecution was in such a high degree that most of the Armenians had to
leave the region.66
The British did not forgive the Armenians for their participation in the armed
struggle against them. As we will see in Chapter 3, the East India Company signed
an Agreement with the Armenian traders, giving them large privileges. After
a few years from these events in the Chamber of Communities of Britain the question
of the rights of the Armenians who lived on the territory of East India Company
was discussed. Their behaviour was viewed as an act of ingratitude and the Chamber
of Communities deprived them of all their previous rights and privileges.
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