Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran
New Julfa (, "Now Jolfā", or , "Jolfâ-ye Now"; , "Nor Jugha") is the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located along the south bank of the Zayanderud.
Established and named after the older city of Julfa in the early 17th century (now divided as Jolfa, Iran and Julfa, Azerbaijan), it is still one of the oldest and largest Armenian quarters in the world .
History.
New Julfa was established in 1606 as an Armenian quarter by the mandate of Abbas the Great, sultan of Safavid Iran. Over 150,000 Armenians were forcibly moved there from Julfa (also known as "Jugha" or "Juła", and now as Old Julfa) . Iranian sources state that the Armenians came to Iran fleeing the Ottoman Empire's persecution. Nevertheless, historical records indicate that the residents of Julfa were treated well by Shah Abbas in the hopes that their resettlement in Isfahan would benefit Iran due to their knowledge of the silk trade.
The New Julfa dialect is a distinct form of Eastern Armenian spoken largely in Iran and Southern California. "This variety or lect is called “Persian Armenian” or “Iranian Armenian” by members of the community."
New Julfa is still an Armenian-populated area with an Armenian school and sixteen churches, including Vank Cathedral. Armenians in New Julfa observe Iranian law concerning clothing, but retain a distinct Armenian language, identity, cuisine, and culture, which the Iranian government protects.
Origins and Trade.
Since its foundation, New Julfa was administered by the Armenian noble house of Lazaryan, which relocated to Imperial Russia after Nader Shah's death in 1747. One of its members, Ivan Lazarevich Lazarev, became a court banker to Catherine the Great and was made an Imperial Count in 1788. His brother established the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages in Moscow.
In 1947, the historian Fernand Braudel wrote that the Armenians had a trade network that stretched from Amsterdam to Manila in the Philippines. Many scholars in Armenia have done pioneering work on this network in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Levon Khachikyan and Sushanik Khachikyan have edited and published several New Julfan account books. Over the next few centuries, New Julfa became the hub of "one of the greatest trade networks of the early modern era," and as far west as Cádiz, London, and Amsterdam, with a few merchants traveling across the Atlantic or Pacific to Acapulco or Mexico City.
A significant majority of Armenian trading families were based in New Julfa. Due to their dispersal, many families that were originally from the older city of Julfa created a main settlement in Bengal expanding the trade network based in New Julfa. However, Some scholars argue that Surat, Bengal, and Hooghly were independent nodes and that the central control of New Julfa was not as important to their thriving Indian Ocean trade. Many New Julfan Armenians later settled in Manila, Hong Kong, and also in Australia. Their networks have been studied based on Armenian sources. Some also settled in Singapore, where Armenians from New Julfa became the mainstay of the Armenian community in the country. Most were traders, but perhaps better known were the Sarkies Brothers, who founded Singapore's Raffles Hotel in 1887.
According to David Petrosyan of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, New Julfa had 10,000–12,000 Armenian inhabitants in 1998. As of today, it is still one of the world's largest ethnic Armenian quarters.
Friendly cities.
New Julfa has friendly relations with:
References.
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