On the Banks of the Tigris
translated from the original Armenian with an introduction by Garabet K. Moumdjian)
London: Gomidas Institute, 2012,
146 pp., photos and map
ISBN 978-1-909382-03-9, paperback
UK£18.00 / US$22.00
To order please contact books@gomidas.org
On the Banks of the Tigris is an unusual memoir because it concerns the
little known exile of Armenians and Assyrians from north-western Iran
(Persia) into British occupied Iraq during World War I. These refugees
included thousands of people who had earlier fled persecution in Ottoman
Turkey. Furthermore, On the Banks of the Tigris makes unusual reading
because the author does not dwell on the horrors and suffering of World
War I but writes from the perspective of a child who became and adult in
Baaquba, Nahr Umar (near Basrah), and Baghdad refugee camps. He
reflects a great deal of fun and adventure, starting from his ancestral
village of Haftevan in the Salmast region of Iran
On the Banks of the Tigris (Dikrisi Apin), originally printed in Armenian in 1967, is made up of a set of short stories from the author's early life, as the family fled its native village in north-western Iran, trekked over 700 miles, and settled, first in Baaquba, and then Nahran Umar (Basra) refugee camps. Despite wartime difficulties, Shahoian's anecdotes are jovial and insightful, painting a picture of Armenian and Assyrian refugees, as they set up tent cities, went to school, looked for jobs, fell in love, and strove for a better future for themselves. On the Banks of the Tigris was originally published in Armenian, and it has now been translated into English, with a new historical introduction and annotations.
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On the Banks of the Tigris (Dikrisi Apin), originally printed in Armenian in 1967, is made up of a set of short stories from the author's early life, as the family fled its native village in north-western Iran, trekked over 700 miles, and settled, first in Baaquba, and then Nahran Umar (Basra) refugee camps. Despite wartime difficulties, Shahoian's anecdotes are jovial and insightful, painting a picture of Armenian and Assyrian refugees, as they set up tent cities, went to school, looked for jobs, fell in love, and strove for a better future for themselves. On the Banks of the Tigris was originally published in Armenian, and it has now been translated into English, with a new historical introduction and annotations.