New Julfa (Persian: نو جلفا, Now Jolfā, or جلفای نو, Jolfâ-ye Now; Armenian: Նոր Ջուղա, 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 (hy).
New Julfa was established in 1606 as an Armenian quarter by the edict of Abbas the Great, sultan of the Safavid dynasty. Over 150,000 Armenians were forcibly moved there from Old Julfa (also known as Jugha or Juła) (hy). 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 be beneficial to Iran due to their knowledge of the silk trade.[1][2]
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 60s, 70s and 80s. Levon Khachikian and Sushanik Khachikian 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,"[4] with outposts as far east as Canton, Surabaya, and Manila,[5] and as far west as Cadiz, London, and Amsterdam, with a few merchants traveling across the Atlantic or Pacific oceans 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[2][1][6] created a main settlement in Bengal expanding the trade network based in New Julfa.[1] However, Some scholars argue that Surat, Bengal and Hughli were independent nodes and that the central control of New Julfa was not as important to their thriving Indian Ocean trade.[5] Many New Julfan Armenians later settled in Manila, Hong Kong, and also in Australia. Their networks have been studied based on Armenian sources.[1][2] 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 (Ter Woskanian) brothers who founded Singapore's Raffles Hotel in 1887.
A Christmas shop in New Julfa
New Julfa is still an Armenian-populated area with an Armenian school and sixteen churches, including the Holy Savior Cathedral. Armenians in New Julfa observe Iranian law with regard to clothing, but retain a distinct Armenian language, identity, cuisine, and culture which is protected by the Iranian government.[7]
According to David Petrosyan of the Institute for Central Asian and Caucasian Studies, New Julfa had 10,000–12,000 Armenian inhabitants in 1998.[8] As of today, it is still one of the world's largest ethnic Armenian quarters.
^ abcdSushil Chaudhuri and Kéram Kévonian eds., Les Arméniens dans le commerce asiatique au début de l’ere moderne [Armenians in Asian trade in the Early Modern Era], (Paris, 2007).
^ abcBaghdiantz McCabe, Ina The Shah’s Silk for Europe’s Silver: The Eurasian Silk trade of the Julfan Armenians in Safavid Iran and India (1590–1750). University of Pennsylvania Series, Scholar’s Press, 1999.
^Sebouh Aslanian. "The Salt in a Merchant's Letter": The Culture of Julfan Correspondence in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. Journal of World History 19 (2008): 127-188
^ abBhattacharya, Bhaswatti “Making Money at the Blessed Place of Manilla: Armenians in the Madras- Manila Trade in the Eighteenth Century.” Journal of Global History, (2008),3, 1-20.
^Vasgen Ghougassian The Emergence of the Diocese of New Julfa in the Seventeenth Century, Atlanta, University of Pennsylvania Series), 1998.
^Petrosyan, David (1998). Армянская община в Иране (in Russian). Institute for Central Asian and Caucasian Studies. ...еще 10-12 тысяч - в Исфагане (армяне называют его Новой Джугой)...
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.
Gregorian, Vartan. “Minorities of Isphahan: The Armenian Community of Isphahan, 1587-1722.” Iranian Studies 7, no. 2 (1974), pp. 652–81.
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