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The Armenians in Cyprus during the Ottoman Era (1571-1878)

Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra

researcher-scholar

 

Armenians have had a continuous documented presence in Cyprus since 578 AD. In 973 the Armenian Bishopric was established in Nicosia. During the Frankish and the Venetian Eras (1192-1489-1570), there were Armenians living in Nicosia, Famagusta, Halevga, Spathariko, Kornokipos, Platani and elsewhere, and Armenian was one of the official languages of Cyprus.

During the Ottoman conquest of the island (1570-1571), about 40.000 Ottoman-Armenian craftsmen were recruited, mainly as sappers. Many of the ones who survived settled, mostly in Nicosia, and the Armenian Prelature was recognised as an Ethnarchy, through the millet institution. However, the Armenian Bishopric in Famagusta (established in the 12th century) was abolished, as the Christian population was slaughtered or expelled and the entire walled city became forbidden for non-Muslims until the arrival of the British in 1878.

As a reward for their services during the siege, the Notre Dame de Tyre church (also known as Tortosa), which the Ottomans had turned into a salt store, was given back to the Armenians of Nicosia, by virtue of a firman dated May 1571. Additionally, the Sourp Magar monastery in Halevga won the favour of the Ottomans, who exempted it from taxation, and it became an important way station for Armenian and other pilgrims en route to the Holy Land, as well as a place of rest for travellers and clergymen.

Contrary to the Latins and the Maronites, the Armenians - being Orthodox - were not persecuted because of their religion. Yet, the new order of things also affected the Armenian community: before long, the number of Armenians dramatically declined due to the onerous taxation and the harshness of the Ottoman administration, compelling many Christians to become Linobambaki (Crypto-Christians) or to embrace Islam, which explains why former Armenian villages (Armenokhori, Artemi, Ayios Iakovos, Ayios Khariton, Kornokipos, Melounda, Platani and Spathariko) were inhabited by “Turkish-Cypriots” in the late 19th century; a few Armenian-Cypriots became Catholics through marriage with affluent Latin families. Even though there were about 20.000 Armenians during the very first years of the Ottoman Era, by 1630 only 2.000 Armenians had remained, out of a total of 56.530 inhabitants.

Gifted with the acumen of industry, Armenians practised lucrative professions, and in the early 17th century some Persian-Armenians settled here as silk traders, as did some affluent Ottoman-Armenians in the 18th and 19th centuries, such as Boghos-Berge Agha Eramian in Dheftera. In the Bedestan (the covered market of Nicosia), there were many Armenian merchants, and in the late 18th/early 19th century Nicosia's leading citizen was an Armenian merchant called Sarkis, who was a beratli (holder of a berat granting privileges) and was initially the dragoman (interpreter) for the French Consul, before becoming the dragoman for the English Consul. Later on, in the early to mid-19th century, travellers mention another rich Armenian merchant, Hadji Symeon Agha of Crimea, who was Sarkis’ son-in-law. A third Armenian notable was Mardiros Fugas, dragoman for the French Consul and a well-known trader, who was arrested and beheaded by the Ottomans circa 1825.

In July 1821, as a response to the Cypriot support to the Greek Revolution, the Ottomans destroyed the Armenian and Greek mansions, prohibited Greeks, Franks, Armenians and Maronites from carrying guns and hanged or massacred 470 notables, amongst them the Armenian parish priest of Nicosia, der Bedros. Gradually, after these bloody events, some improvements were observed during the Tanzimat period (1839-1876).

In the spirit of the Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane (1839), the Armenian Bishop, the Greek Archbishop and the Maronite Suffragan Bishop participated in the Administrative Council (Meclis İdare), which was formed in 1840. After 1850, some Armenians were employed in the civil service, whereas in 1860 the Armenian church of Nicosia became amongst the first in Cyprus with a bell tower. Additionally, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 benefited the Armenian and other merchants of the island, while in 1870 the first Armenian school was established in Nicosia. Furthermore, as a result of the Hatt-ı Hümayun in 1856, the administrative autonomy of the Armenian Prelature was officially recognised.

Throughout the Ottoman Era, the vast majority of the Armenian population of Cyprus was Armenian Orthodox, yet there is also mention of a small Armenian Catholic community in Larnaca. During this period, the Armenians are the only one of the three religious groups to have a continuous presence of Prelates. Although historically the Prelature had been under the Catholicosate of Cilicia, for a period of time it was under either the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople or the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem (1775-1837, 1845-1864 and 1865-1921).

Based on various estimates, the Armenian-Cypriot community of the 19th century numbered between 150-250 persons, the majority of whom lived in Nicosia, with smaller numbers living in Larnaca, Famagusta, the north and south of the capital (especially in Dheftera and Kythrea) and, naturally, around the Magaravank.

3 men with fezzes.
One of them is Avedis Terdjian and the other is Hajop Touloumdjian. Τhe third one could not be identified by the family.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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