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Introduction
Acknowledgements
Armenian Census Calcutta 1846
Armenian/Indian research publications
Armenians, Colonies & Churches in India
Armenian Graves In India
Armenian Graves in Hong Kong
Armenian Graves in the UK
Armenian Graves in Singapore and Malaysia
Armenian Graves in Australia
Graves at Lower Circular Road - Other Graves
Graves at the Roman Catholic Church, Calcutta
Historical Snippets
Surnames Directly Linked to my Family
My Direct Chater Ancestors
Chater's unrelated to my family
My Chater Family Bible
Part Index of the names at the IOR
The Andaman Island Photographs
Wills
Lady Chater
My Visit to Damascus
How armtown.com reported it
Article on Sir Paul Chater Hong Kong Standard May 2007.
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[ Up ] [ Agra ] [ Bombay ] [ Calcutta Nazareth ] [ Calcutta St. Gregory's ] [ Calcutta Tangra ] [ Chinsurah ] [ Dacca ] [ Delhi ] [ Gwalior ] [ Lahore ] [ Madras ] [ Rangoon ] [ Saidabad ] [ Surat ] [ Lost Treasures ]
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Before
The Armenian Church at Saidabad originally built in 1758 and now as a hopeless ruin photographed in 2003
by Father Oshagan Gulgulian of the Armenian Church |
After
The Armenian Church at Saidabad renovations completed.
Photographed by Father Oshagan Gulgulian |
An Armenian colony was established here in
1665, by virtue of a royal farman (decree) issued by the Moghul Emperor,
granting the Armenians a piece of land in Saidabad, a suburb of
Murshidabad (the then capital of Bengal). The Armenians flourished
and made their fortunes. In 1758 the well known and extremely
successful merchant, Khojah Petrus Arathoon built the Armenian church at
Saidabad entirely at his own expense and in memory of his parents. The place having lost its
commercial
value, the Armenians left the place towards the end of 1860.
"There
was a brass tablet on the north wall of the Armenian
church at Saidabad, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, with
an inscription in Armenian, from which it appears that
the church was built by Khojah Petrus to the memory of
his revered parents, Arathoon his father and Hosannah
his mother, Dastagool his wife, Khojah Gregory (Gorgin
Khan) and Agah Barsegh (Basil) his brothers and all his
blood relations, whether dead of alive.
This tablet is now in
the picture gallery of the Armenian Church* at Calcutta."
[Extracted from
Armenians in India by M.J. Seth published 1937]
* Sadly, this tablet, along with many other precious and
historical items no longer exist. Looted and stolen from
this and other Armenian churches in India, by
individuals who knew the value and sold them, thus
depleting and diluting the history of their very own
ancestors and countrymen. Such callous and selfish
behaviour deprives the current community, small though
it is, of knowing and learning about the many good
Armenians who went before them.
In the library of the Armenian church in Calcutta, used to be a
beautiful manuscript copy of a collection of 306 hymn, canticles and
melodies composed in ancient Armenian by the Fathers of the Armenian
Church from time to time. From the title page it could be seen that it
was compiled by Petrus Amirjan, a chorister, but the date and place of
the compilation was not shown. From the colophon (the symbol or
emblem that is printed on a book and represents a publisher or
publisher's imprint) that this copy was made at Saidabad from the
original of Petrus Amirjan, by a young Armenian, named Arakiel, the son
of Mahtesy Johanness, who laboured for 4 months with great devotion and
completed his self-imposed task on the 17th August 1757.
The colophon indicates that the paper was supplied by Martyrose, the son
of Arathoon and the cost of the binding was borne by Petrus, the son of
Rev. Nicholas, the pious and zealous warden of the Saidabad Armenian
Church. Further evidence indicated that Carapiet, the son of Mathew,
helped the copyist by reading the original, thereby enabling him to
revise the copy. The volume, again according to the colophon, was
presented by the scribe, Arakiel Mahtesy Johanness to the Armenian
church at Saidabad, on the 3rd August 1759 in memory of all
those mentioned above who had participated in its production.
The manuscript itself was composed of 320 quarto pages, measuring 10” x
7 ˝ “. It was beautifully written, like print, with a reed pen on thick
hand-made glazed paper, in jet black Indian ink, with the headings and
the first letters of the lines in red ink. In the 1930’s Mesvrob Seth
noted in his book “Armenians in India” that “although written 180
years ago, it is in a very fair state of preservation, despite the damp
climate of Bengal”. Whatever became of it?
Another prominent Armenian merchant who lived in Saidabad was Manatsaken
Sumbat Vardon. He was the founder of the Armenian College, which opened
its doors on the 2nd April 1821 and is still going strong
today. Manatsaken Vardon departed this life at Saidabad on the 13th
October 1827 at the very early age of fifty five years having been born
in Julfa Ispahan on the 6th September 1772. He was buried in
the church in Saidabad.
The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1758 and the last
service was held there in 1860 after which the church remained closed
for nearly a century because the Armenians left towards the end of 1860
due to the decline of commerce and trade. Successive caretakers looked
after it, the last being the late Mr. Mathevos Carapiet who served there
between 1908 and 1952. His wife Mary, continued to look after it until
her death in 1968, a most remarkable selfless act, by two remarkable
people. During the 100 years or so that it was closed, it was left to
the ravages of time. As a result, the roof collapsed on the altar and
the walls were severely damaged. In 1960 a small number of dedicated
Armenians of Calcutta collected funds and had the church thoroughly
renovated. This brought a short-lived revival of just two services
being held at which a large number of Armenians from Calcutta attended.
Following the death of Mary Carapiet in 1968 the church no longer had
anyone to tend it and it quickly fell into a serious state of disrepair
which, coupled with fire and earthquakes almost destroyed it. The
agonies of the heart of that church must have been heard by those few
Armenians in Calcutta 37 years later because in 2005, the newly elected
Armenian Church Committee of Kolkata vowed that the church should once
again, stand tall and proud, and went about a major restoration
programme the likes of which have never been seen in the Armenian
community of India before.
On the 5th December 2006 the Armenian Apostolic Church of Holy Virgin
Mary of Saidabad was re-consecrated by His Eminence Archbishop Aghan
Baliozian, Prelate of Australia and the Far East and Pontifical Legate
of Armenians in India and the Far East assisted by the Pastor of
Armenians in India, the Very Reverend Father Oshagan Gulgulian. It is a
delight to be able to report that regular services are held at
Saidabad attended by the Armenian community from Kolkata and the
children from the Armenian College & Philanthropic Academy as well as
the girls from the Davidian Girls' School.
You only have to look at the "before" and
"after" pictures to see what the miraculous transformation that has
taken place due entirely to the commitment and dedication of the newly
formed Armenian Church Committee of Kolkata.
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