CHAPTER 3
INDO-ARMENIAN ECONOMIC
RELATIONS
Armenians
in Industry
Being unable to survive in the competition with the British, some of the Indo-Armenian
merchants started to search for new domains of activities in those areas of
the Far East which were out of control and influence of the Europeans. In the
beginning of the 19th century golden mines were opened in Australia. Some of
those merchants left for Australia to find fortune there.
A part of the Armenian merchants was bankrupt because of the competition with
the European capital. The other part of the Armenian merchants continued their
trade in India despite unfriendly attitude of the British. They understood the
spirit of time and rebuilt themselves. These merchants found new spheres of
activities. Armenians have been closely connected with the betel-leaf trade
in Bengal, shellac trade in Mirzapur, Jhalda and Calcutta, indigo trade in Bihar,
jute trade in Dhaka.
The Armenian merchants played a significant role in the jute trade in Dhaka
in the second half of the 19th century. Firms M. David & Co. and M. Sarkies
& Sons were established in 1875 and were very famous till the early 20th
century.
In the 17th century the
centre of indigo trade was Biana (situated southeast of Agra). The Armenian
merchants of that time played a decisive role in indigo trade competing the
British and the Dutch. When the British started to strengthen their positions
in India and ousted the Armenian merchants from the Indian markets, the latter
lost supremacy also in the indigo trade. When synthetic dyes were discovered
and demand for indigo decreased, the Armenian merchants gradually started jute
and shellac business.
The Armenians started to invest in industry, established factories. Following
the example of the Europeans they got united, getting together their capitals
and set up unions. Journal Azgaser (Calcutta) brings a big list of such Armenian
unions. From this list one can assume, that time Indo-Armenians had their own
place in the newly developing industry of India. Among those companies were:
East Insurance Union (established in 1839), Sea Insurance Agency which had its
branches in London, Singapore, Madras, Bombay, China. Companies such as United
Shipping Company, Hooghly River-Shipping Company were served by the Armenian
ships Joseph-Manook, Johannes-Sarkies, Arratoon Abgar, Hripsimeh-Anna-Martha,
Hero, Emnego, etc.
Although these companies had a considerable amount of money and large scale
of activities, most of them cooperated with the Europeans, were going after
them, thus were not independent. However, among the Armenian merchants there
were many people who could not, or did not, want to rebuild and rearrange their
business, and thus reached the verge of bankruptcy. Azgaser published a series
of articles urging these merchants to engage in industry.
Armenians have played an important role in the shellac industry. In the end
of the 19th century there were 2 shellac factories in Mirzapur (that time Mirzapur
was the centre of the shellac industry) which owners were Armenians Gregory
Gulzad Carapiet and Carapiet M. John better known as Carapiet “Jambore”.
“Jhalda” Arathoon was another big figure in shellac industry. His factory was
the largest in Jhalda. “Jhalda” Arathoon was the pioneer in mechanising shellac
factory by putting there lac-crushing and washing machines in 1917. In
1948 he celebrated, the Golden Jubilee of his factory, holding a big reception
in Calcutta. This event was reported in The Statesman. In 1957 Calcutta Shellac
Trade Association was formed and Arathoon was appointed its President. He was
also a member of the Indian Lac Cess Committee. Arathoon was interested in agriculture
as well. He got a tractor from England and grew wheat and rice crops in Jhalda
and Muhru.
Many Armenians were engaged in shellac business till 1960s. They had to face
serious competition from the larger manufacturers. That time there was also
a serious competition from Thailand which exported shellac to other countries
of the world at cheaper rates. Being not able to overcome difficulties
those businessmen left for UK and Australia to find more opportunities.
Armenians were also in coal business. The history states that a private geologist
from Britain R.G. Tachsom visited Bengal in 1862 and discovered coal seams in
the area near Raniganj and Asansol. He was able to prove that the area is very
rich of coal. He approached a number of European firms, telling them to visit
those places and mine the coal. Only an Armenian firm, Apcar & Co. was interested
in this proposal. They purchased an extensive stretch of land and started a
mine at Lachipur (4 miles from Asansol). Apcar & Co. extended the railway
track from Raniganj to Lachipur and installed the first railway-siding. They
raised the coal and sent it to Calcutta by train. Apcar & Co. gradually
opened coal mines at Charanpur, Faridpur and Borachuck. A large number of Armenians
either owned collieries or worked in various capacities in the coalfields.
Seeing the rapid development of the coalfields, the Europeans approached Apcar
& Co. and purchased vast areas from them on a royalty basis and started
to mine the coal. As a result Asansol became a large and developed mining district.
Armenian
Businessmen in the 20th Century
When Chinsurah and Chandernagore lost their commercial supremacy, most of the
Armenians from these settlements came and settled in Calcutta, transferring
their business here. N.K. Sinha states in the History of Bengal: “The judicial
records however, leave no doubt about the significant position of the
Armenians in the commercial world of Bengal, particularly Calcutta of the 18th
century.” During the 16th to 18th centuries the Armenians were the most
prominent merchants of Calcutta. They developed North Calcutta very quickly
so Hindu, Muslim, Jew, Greek, Portuguese merchants also came, settled here and
established their businesses. As this area became very crowded, the Armenians
moved to Central and South Calcutta. Here they built hundreds of small and big
houses. Among them were private residences, hotels, office premises and residential
mansions. At one time almost all the area known as Queen’s Park and Sunny Park,
Ballygunge in South Calcutta was owned by Armenians.
In the beginning of the 20th century there was a leading builder and property
owner in Calcutta named Johannes Galstaun. He developed and beautified Central
and South Calcutta by building 350 houses. This wealthy merchant donated Rs.25,000
to the Victoria Memorial Building Fund. Then after winning the Prince of Wales
Cup at the Calcutta races in 1921 he presented all the money (Rs. 15, 000) to
the Prince for charity. He also had a big park named by him, Galstaun Park.
During the World War I he placed this park at the disposal of the British military
authorities who converted it into a hospital for soldiers. For this charitable
gesture he got the title of the Order of the British Empire. Afterwards Galstaun
Park was purchased by the Nizam of Hyderabad and renamed Saba Palace. It is
now utilised by the Government of India for offices and other accommodation.
In the 20th century the Armenian community of Bombay was very active. There
were diamond merchants, people engaged in petroleum, spirit and alcohol trade,
in automobile business. However, when the firms were converted into public limited
companies, many Armenians sold their shares and left India. Among the Bombay
Armenians there were also owners of guest-houses, hotels, restaurants and hair
dressing saloons which were very famous in the middle of the 20th century.
Armenians started to leave India after 1947 when it gained independence. There
was a panic among the non-Indian businessmen that their future would be insecure.
That time the slogan - India for Indians - was very popular. Many private companies
were nationalized. In this situation many Armenian businessmen decided to leave
the country. Thinking about the future of their children, they felt it would
be difficult to compete with the Indians. They mostly migrated to the United
States and United Kingdom. Another stream of migration of Armenians from India
was in the 1960s. This time they mostly migrated to Australia.
In the 20th century Armenians did not lose their interest towards India. After
the World War II many Armenians from America, Europe Middle East engaged in
business and other spheres visited India in order to set up their business in
this country.
Among those people mention should be made of one Armenian, named Tcherkezian,
who had a successful business known as Tobacco Estate Corporation (TOBESCO)
in Brussels. In 1950s and 1960s he was closely connected with the tobacco trade
in South India and was the largest importer of Indian tobacco in Belgium. With
the assistance and patronage of Tcherkezian a modern tobacco factory was established
in Guntur (South India). He also helped in establishing scientific centres for
correct grading and storage of tobacco.
Stephanian, an Armenian from Iran was an oil technologist and an expert on fertilisers.
To implement the Agreement between the Government of India and Government of
Iran for the establishment of an oil refinery in Madras, Stephanian was posted
there to supervise the installation.
An Armenian-American firm, the Kuljian Corporation of Philadelphia was also
interested in India. This creative construction and engineering company was
selected by the Government of India to undertake the construction and supervision
of power plants at Bokaro (part of the Damodar Valley Project), Barwani, Delhi,
Bandel, Cambay and Durgapur.
Indo-Armenians were also engaged in jewelry, hotel, banking, machinery, automobile,
engineering businesses.
Summing up this Chapter we can say that trade relations between Armenia and
India exist for more than 2500 years. The Armenian traders were importing from
India precious stones, various spices, herbs, muslins, blue, and were exporting
from Armenia to India coloured leather, various dyes, cotton, iron. The areas
of their strong influence were Surat, Agra, Cochin, Multan, Lahore, Kashmir,
as well as Coromandel Coast and Malabar Coast.
In the initial stage the British collaborated with the Armenian traders, seeing
their strong influence and affluence in the country. The evidence of such collaboration
was the 1688 Agreement signed between the British East India Company and the
Armenian merchants. However, after some time, getting a strong footing in India,
the British started ousting their Armenian allies from the trade markets since
they did not need any competitors. The British succeeded in their activities
as they were backed by their strong government. As a result the Armenian merchants
lost their main role in the Indian trade. Since they were not united,
they used ancestral trade methods, consequently they were easily suppressed.
But one part of these merchants who could feel the changing spirit of time and
reorganise their activities, remained on the stage until the 20th century.
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