1992_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 1992

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arzhoom
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Columbus, Continued
and the later Ottoman Empire are
reflected in the disastrous decline
of society and culture under Turkic
oppression.
Koumjian said that, "In the sixteenth century, the Armenians suffered terribly from the wars between the new Iranian dynasty and
an Ottoman empire advancing east.
The superpowers confronted each
other directly. However bad the
fifteenth century appeared in social, economic, and cultural terms,
the sixteenth century was to be
worse."
"Constant warfare, destruction,
and the loss of royal patrons had
theirpredictable effects on the arts.
The result was palpable in all intellectual and cultural activities of
the time. Of the two centuries, the
sixteenth and especially its first
three-quarters, was far worse off
than the fifteenth."
Shah Abbas of the Safavid dynasty of Persia forcibly deported
over 80,000 Armenians in theearly
seventeenth century to his capital
of Isfahan. Many died on the journey and the areas from which they
were deported have remained de
populated until today.
Armenians had learned well how
to continue life under non-Armenian and non-Christian rule. They
tookadvantageof any benevolence
offered by charitable governors,
put aside something for worse days
which they knew were sure to
come, and always prayed for a
better future.
Kouymjian also discussed how
a new class of Armenians that
emerged from the age of Columbus. This class was known as the
khodjas. By the mid-fifteenth century, sources spoke regularly of
provincial merchants called
khodjas who had become sufficiently wealthy, mostly through
trade, to endow—at times modestly—churches and monasteries.
They became the dominant class
in Armenian society.
"The term khodja is a title of
importance like esquire or lord,"
said Kouymjian. 'Through their
affluence, from the 15th to the 18th
centuries, the khodjas patronized
the church and Armenian culture-
they emerged as great philanthropists."
'Two parallel historical forces
were at work in Armenia at the
Age of Columbus. The Ottoman
wars and subsequent colonial oppression shattered Armenia, destroyed its ancient culture, and
decimated its population just like
Europe's conquest of America had
enslaved and annihilated the Indian nations, and ravaged their
ancient and rich culture.
The Armenians endured foreign
conquestforcenturies; they learned
the ways of survival. Armenians
profited from the age of discovery,
venturing even farther away from
home with their wares. A vast Armenian trading network was
forged. Individual commerce now
provided Wealth traditionally associated with land-owning and
state control of trade routes. Anew
class of merchants, the khodjas,
replaced the feudal nobility and
clergy as the major source of cultural patronage; they gradually
evolved into adynamic and wealthy
middle-class. The khodjas, active
wherever trade could turn a profit,
became the motivating force behind increased relations with the
west; they also inspiredacuriousity
toward science and new technol-
ogy."
The existence of a middle-class
of merchants engaged in international trade was an important factor in the process of modernization. Itreinforced communications
between Armenians and the advanced commercial centers of the
West. As a group the khodjas were
responsible for the accumulation
of wealth, the importation of luxury
items, the adoption and
banalization of new inventions
such as printing, the creation of a
reserve of individuals competent
in commercial relations and versed
in foreign languages, and the conduit for.enterprising persons seeking their fortunes in an Armenian
world where the traditional base of
power—land ownership— was no
longer a productive possibility."
"The gradual destruction of the
old ruling classes in Armenia during the bitter years of the fifteenth
and sixteenth century and the evolution of the khodjas as a class was
the single most important factor in
the nation's survival before the
Turkic onslaught."
Kouymjian concluded his lecture by stating that, "The forma-'
tion of a merchant class is the symbol of transformation of Armenia
society, and a reflection of its inner
social mobility. The rapid rise of
Armenian khodjas in the urban
centers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries strengthens the
case for choosing the epoch of
Columbus as the moment of transition in Armenian life from the
late medieval world to the modern
— ^
one.
Dr. Peter Klassen, Dean of the
School of Social Sciences and Director of the International Study
Program at CSUF introduced
Kouymjian as the evening's keynote speaker. Klassen noted
Kouymjian's academic accomplishments including teaching internationally at the American University of Beirut the American
University of Cairo, and Haigazian
College. He also is on die editorial
board of many publications and
has published over a dozen books
and an Armenian album of paleography.
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