After 1918 with the establishment of the [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]], and \"especially during the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] era\", the Tatar group identified itself as \"[[Azerbaijanis|Azerbaijani]]\". Prior to 1918 the word \"[[Azerbaijan (toponym)|Azerbaijan]]\" exclusively referred to the [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian province of Azarbayjan]].{{cite book |last1=Bournoutian |first1=George |author1-link=George Bournoutian |title=Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900–1914 |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |page=xiv}}"},"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"efn","href":"./Template:Efn"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"The term \"Tatars\", employed by the Russians, referred to [[Turkic languages|Turkish-speaking]] Muslims (Shia and [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]) of [[Transcaucasia]].{{cite book |last1=Bournoutian |first1=George |author1-link=George Bournoutian |title=Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900–1914 |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |page=35 (note 25)}} Unlike Armenians and [[Georgians]], the Tatars did not have their own alphabet and used the [[Persian alphabet|Perso-Arabic script]]. After 1918 with the establishment of the [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]], and \"especially during the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] era\", the Tatar group identified itself as \"[[Azerbaijanis|Azerbaijani]]\". Prior to 1918 the word \"[[Azerbaijan (toponym)|Azerbaijan]]\" exclusively referred to the [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian province of Azarbayjan]].{{cite book |last1=Bournoutian |first1=George |author1-link=George Bournoutian |title=Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900–1914 |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |page=xiv}}"}},"i":0}}]}"> [a] i.e. Azeris and Persians) in the early 1890s.[24]
With these events of the first half of the 19th century, and the end of centuries of Iranian rule over Eastern Armenia, a new era had started for the Armenians within the newly established borders of Iran. The Armenians in the recently lost territories north of the Aras river would go through a Russian-dominated period until 1991.
Twentieth century up to 1979
Iranian Armenian women in the Qajar eraShoghakat Armenian Church in TabrizVank Cathedral in the New Julfa district of Isfahan. One of the oldest of Iran's Armenian churches, built during the Safavid Persian Empire, 1655 – 1664.
The Armenians played a significant role in the development of 20th-century Iran, regarding both its economical as well as its cultural configuration.[26] They were pioneers in photography, theater, and the film industry, and also played a very pivotal role in Iranian political affairs.[26][27]
Yeprem Khan was a leading figure in the Constitutional Revolution of Iran
The Revolution of 1905 in Russia had a major effect on northern Iran and, in 1906, Iranian liberals and revolutionaries demanded a constitution in Iran. In 1909 the revolutionaries forced the crown to give up some of its powers. Yeprem Khan, an ethnic Armenian, was an important figure of the Persian Constitutional Revolution.[28]
Armenian Apostolic theologian Malachia Ormanian, in his 1911 book on the Armenian Church, estimated that some 83,400 Armenians lived in Persia, of whom 81,000 were followers of the Apostolic Church, while 2,400 were Armenian Catholics. The Armenian population was distributed in the following regions: 40,400 in Azerbaijan, 31,000 in and around Isfahan, 7,000 in Kurdistan and Lorestan, and 5,000 in Tehran.[29]
During the Armenian genocide, about 50,000 Armenians fled the Ottoman Empire and took refuge in Persia. As a result of the Persian Campaign in northern Iran during World War I, the Ottomans massacred 80,000 Armenians and 30,000 fled to the Russian Empire. The community experienced a political rejuvenation with the arrival of the exiled Dashnak (ARF) leadership from Russian Armenia in mid-1921; approximately 10,000 Armenian ARF party leaders, intellectuals, fighters, and their families crossed the Aras River and took refuge in Qajar Iran.[27] This large influx of Armenians who were affiliated with the ARF also meant that the ARF would ensure its dominance over the other traditional Armenian parties of Persia, and by extension over the entire Iranian Armenian community, which was centered around the Armenian church.[27] Further immigrants and refugees from the Soviet Union numbering nearly 30,000 continued to increase the Armenian community until 1933. Thus by 1930 there were approximately 200,000 Armenians in Iran.[30][31]
The modernization efforts of Reza Shah (1924–1941) and Mohammad Reza Shah (1941–1979) gave the Armenians ample opportunities for advancement,[32] and Armenians gained important positions in the arts and sciences, economy and services sectors, mainly in Tehran, Tabriz, and Isfahan that became major centers for Armenians. From 1946–1949 about 20,000 Armenians left Iran for the Soviet Union and from 1962–1982 another 25,000 Armenians followed them to Soviet Armenia.[33] By 1979, in the dawn of the Islamic Revolution, an estimated 200,000 – 300,000 Armenians were living in Iran.[34][35][36][37] By 1978, Tehran alone had an Armenian population of 110,000, in part due to migration of Armenian villagers from rural areas of Iran.[38]
Armenian churches, schools, cultural centers, sports clubs and associations flourished and Armenians had their own senator and member of parliament, 300 churches and 500 schools and libraries served the needs of the community.
Armenian presses published numerous books, journals, periodicals, and newspapers, the prominent one being the daily "Alik".
After the 1979 Revolution
St. Sarkis Cathedral in Tehran. One of Iran's Armenian churches, 1970
The fall of the Soviet Union, the common border with Armenia, and the Armeno-Iranian diplomatic and economic agreements have opened a new era for the Iranian Armenians. Iran remains one of Armenia's major trade partners, and the Iranian government has helped ease the hardships of Armenia caused by the blockade imposed by Azerbaijan and Turkey. This includes important consumer products, access to air travel, and energy sources (like petroleum and electricity).
Current status
The Armenians remain the largest religious minority in Iran, and is still the largest Christian community in the country, far ahead of Assyrians.[44] They are appointed two out of the five seats in the Iranian Parliament reserved for religious minorities (more than any other religious minority) and are the only minority with official observing status in the Guardian and Expediency Discernment Councils. Half of Iran's Armenians live in the Tehran area (where they have been established since at least the Safavid era[45]), most notably in its suburbs of Narmak, Majidiyeh, Nadershah, etc. A quarter live in Isfahan, and the other quarter is concentrated in Northwestern Iran or Iranian Azerbaijan.[46][47][48][49]
The area retained a large Armenian population until 1914 when World War I began and Azerbaijan was invaded by the Ottomans who slaughtered much of the local Armenian population. Prior to the Ottoman invasion there were about 150,000 Armenians in Azerbaijan, and 30,000 of them were in Tabriz. About 80,000 were massacred, 30,000 fled to Russian Armenia, and the other 10,000 fled the area of the modern West Azerbaijan Province and took refuge among the Armenians of Tabriz. After the war ended in 1918 the 10,000 refugees in Tabriz returned to their villages, but many resettled in Soviet Armenia from 1947 up until the early 80s. Currently, about 4,000 Armenians remain in the countryside of East Azerbaijan and about 2,000 remain in Tabriz living in the districts of Nowbar, Bazar, and Ahrab owning 4 churches, a school and a cemetery.
This is a list of previously or currently Armenian inhabited settlements:
Maku (Շավարշան / Shavarshan or Արտազ / Artaz(hy) in Armenian) now in Maku and Chalderan counties in West Azerbaijan Province:
Traditionally, Tabriz where Armenian political life vibrated from the early modern (Safavid) era and on.[50] After the ceding of swaths of territories to Russia in the first quarter of the 19th century, the independent position of the Tabrizi Armenians was strengthened, as they gained immunities and concessions by Abbas Mirza.[51] The particular importance of the Tabrizi Armenians also grew with the transfer of the bishop's seat from St.Taddeus (or Qara Kelissa) near Salmas to Tabriz in 1845.[51] Tabriz has an Arajnordaran, three Armenian Churches (St. Sargis, Shoghakat, and St. Mary), a chapel (fa), a school, Ararat Cultural Club and an Armenian cemetery (fa)(fa).
The settlements of Lenjan, Alenjan and Karvan were abandoned in the 18th century.
The other settlements depopulated in the middle of the 20th century due to emigration to New Julfa, Teheran or Soviet Armenia (in 1945 and later in 1967). Currently only 1 village (Zarneh) in Peria is totally, and 4 other villages (Upper Khoygan, Gharghan, Nemagerd and Sangbaran) in Peria and 1 village (Upper Chanakhchi) in Gharaghan are partially settled by Armenians.
Other than these settlements there is an Armenian village near Gorgan (Qoroq) which is settled by Armenians recently moved from Soviet territory.
In addition to having their own churches and clubs, Armenians of Iran are one of the few linguistic minorities in Iran with their own schools.[52][53] Armenians are exempt from national laws barring alcohol consumption and public gender relations in Armenian 'public' spaces, where Muslim citizens are not permitted to enter.[53]
Language: the Iranian Armenian dialect
The Armenian language used in Iran holds a unique position in the usage of Armenian in the world, as most Armenians in the Diaspora use Western Armenian. However, Iranian Armenians speak an Eastern Armenian dialect that is very close to that used in Armenia, Georgia, and Russia. Iranian Armenians speak this dialect due in part to the fact that in 1604 much of the Armenian population in Nakhchivan, which used the eastern dialect, was displaced and sent to Isfahan by Shah Abbas.[54] This also allowed for an older version to be preserved which uses classical Armenian orthography known as "Mashtotsian orthography" and spelling, whereas almost all other Eastern Armenian users (especially in the former Soviet Union) have adopted the reformed Armenian orthography which was applied in Soviet Armenia in the 1920s and continues in the present Republic of Armenia.[53] This makes the Armenian language used in Iran and in the Armenian-Iranian media and publications unique, applying elements of both major Armenian language branches (pronunciation, grammar and language structure of Eastern Armenian and the spelling system of Western Armenian).[54]
The Armenian dialects of Iran are referred to collectively in Armenian as Persian Armenian or Parskahayeren (պարսկահայերէն, պարսկահայերեն), or less commonly as Iranian Armenian or Iranahayeren (իրանահայերէն, իրանահայերեն).[53][54] The modern koine spoken in Tehran serves as the prestige dialect, although many historic varieties existed in Iranian Azerbaijan, Central Iran, Isfahan province, the New Julfa district in Isfahan, Kurdistan, Khorasan, and Khuzestan, some of which have persisted in their respective communities.[54] Iranian Armenian dialects are distinguished phonologically from other Eastern Armenian varieties by the widespread pronunciation of the retroflex approximant ⟨ɻ⟩ for ր, which sounds similar to the American English alveolar approximant ⟨ɹ⟩, while Armenian dialects outside of Iran pronounce it as a flap ⟨ɾ⟩.[54] Many dialects also use a low front vowel as a marginal phoneme ⟨æ⟩, primarily in loanwords from Persian, but also in some native Armenian words such as mæt "one; a bit; for a moment" from մի հատ mi hat.[53][54] There are also many calques from Persian, particularly in cultural phraseology and in compound verbs (e.g. պատճառ ելնել patčaṙ elnel from باعث شدن bā'es šodan “to result in; to cause”).[53]
↑ Mirzoyan, Alla (2010). Armenia, the Regional Powers, and the West: Between History and Geopolitics. Palgrave Macmillan. p.109. ISBN9780230106352. Today, the Armenian community in Iran numbers around 200,000...
↑ Brunn, Stanley D.; Toops, Stanley W.; Gilbreath, Richard (2012). The Routledge Atlas of Central Eurasian Affairs. Routledge. p.148. ISBN978-0-415-49750-3. Armenia has a population of 3 million with a 0.06 percent growth rate. The urbanization level is 64 percent. Yerevan, the capital, is the largest city at 1.1 million inhabitants, Gyumri has 160,000 and Vanadzor has 100,000. The population is 98 percent Armenian, with small percentages of Kurds and Russians. There is a great Armenian diaspora numbering 1 million in Russia, 500,000 in Iran, 500,000 in the USA, 400,000 in France and 300,000 in Georgia.
↑ "Griboedov not only extended protection to those Caucasian captives who sought to go home but actively promoted the return of even those who did not volunteer. Large numbers of Georgian and Armenian captives had lived in Iran since 1804 or as far back as 1795." Fisher, William Bayne;Avery, Peter; Gershevitch, Ilya; Hambly, Gavin; Melville, Charles. The Cambridge History of Iran Cambridge University Press, 1991. p. 339.
↑ Ormanian, Malachia (1911). Հայոց եկեղեցին և իր պատմութիւնը, վարդապետութիւնը, վարչութիւնը, բարեկարգութիւնը, արաողութիւնը, գրականութիւն, ու ներկայ կացութիւնը [The Church of Armenia: her history, doctrine, rule, discipline, liturgy, literature, and existing condition] (in Armenian). Constantinople. p.266.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ McCarthy, Justin (1983). Muslims and minorities: the population of Ottoman Anatolia and the end of the empire. New York: New York University press. ISBN9780871509635.
↑ Metz, Helen Chapin (1989). Iran: a country study. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. p.96. ISBN9780160017292. Retrieved May 28, 2016. There were an estimated 300,000 Armenians in the country at the time of the Revolution in 1979.
↑ Հայկական Հանրագիտարան. "Հայերն Իրանում". Encyclopedia.am. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
↑ Judith Pfeiffer. Politics, Patronage and the Transmission of Knowledge in 13th – 15th Century Tabriz page 270 BRILL, 7 nov. 2013 ISBN978-9004262577
1 2 Christoph Werner. An Iranian Town in Transition: A Social and Economic History of the Elites of Tabriz, 1747–1848 page 90. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2000. ISBN978-3447043090
Bournoutian, George A. (1980). "The Population of Persian Armenia Prior to and Immediately Following its Annexation to the Russian Empire: 1826–1832". The Wilson Center, Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Yves Bomati and Houchang Nahavandi,Shah Abbas, Emperor of Persia,1587–1629, 2017, ed. Ketab Corporation, Los Angeles, ISBN978-1595845672, English translation by Azizeh Azodi.
Amurian, A.; Kasheff, M. (1986). "ARMENIANS OF MODERN IRAN". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
Yengimolki, A. (2023). The Emergence of a New Identity: Armenians in Safavid Isfahan. Journal of Religious Minorities under Muslim Rule, 1(2), 161-179. https://doi.org/10.1163/27732142-bja00007
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