The Armenian Diaspora Before the Genocide: Global Networks 1600-1900

Long before the 20th century's cataclysms, Armenian merchants, scholars, and artisans had already built a worldwide network stretching from India to Amsterdam. This episode traces the earlier Armenian diaspora — the Julfan traders who dominated the Silk Road under Shah Abbas, the Mkhitarist monks in Venice who preserved manuscripts and printed books, and the merchant colonies in Madras, Calcutta, and Burma that funded Armenian schools and presses. We explore how these communities maintained their identity through church councils, vernacular printing, and a unique system of self-governance called the 'armat' or communal fund. Drawing on letters from New Julfa, the will of a Madras merchant, and the records of the first Armenian newspaper in 1794, we uncover how a small, landlocked people created a global infrastructure — one that would later mobilize relief and advocacy during the Hamidian massacres and the Genocide. This is not the story of victimhood, but of enterprise, literacy, and resilience. #ArmenianDiaspora #NewJulfa #SilkRoad #Mkhitarists #ArmenianMerchants #ShahAbbas #Madras #ArmenianPrinting #DiasporaNetworks #Caucasus #EarlyModernTrade #ArmenianIdentity #Venice #Calcutta #ArmenianChurch #History #FexingoHistory #GlobalTrade Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo