The Amiras: Lords of Ottoman Armenia
(trans. by Marika Blandin and
intro by Bernard Dorin, French Ambassador)
London: Gomidas Institute, 2012,
142 pp., photos
ISBN 978-1-903656-35-8
UK£17.00 / US$22.00
To order please contact books@gomidas.org
The Amiras were a powerful class of Armenian commercial, industrial and professional elites in the Ottoman capital between the 18th and 19th centuries. They ran the treasury, mint and armaments factories, built palaces, mosques and public buildings, and operated many monopolies. Because of their unique position, they had good relations with Ottoman Sultans and administrators and played an important role in the development of the Armenian and Armenian Catholic millets.
Pascal Carmont's The Amiras: Lords of Ottoman Armenia is a sympathetic portrayal of these intrepid Armenians based on written sources and the author's contacts with their descendants.
Pascal Carmont (1928-2011) was a French diplomat of Armenian origin -and a descendant of the Amiras of Constantinople. His work, Les Amiras: Seigneurs de l'Armenie ottoman was originally appeared in French in 1999.
Map of Historic Armenia and the Ottoman Empire (14)
Map of the Bosphorus and Constantinople circa 1850 (52)
Preface (7), Preamble (11),
1. Armenia
Before the Ottoman Conquest (14)
2. The Ascent
of the Amiras 23, The Ancestors 23, The Patriarchate 26, Assuming Power 31, Control
and Protection of Armenia 37, Armenians, Greeks and Jews 40, The Profession of
Faith of the Church of Armenia 42.
3. The
Arbitrations of the Ambassador of France 45.
4. The
Universe of the Amiras’ Influence and Decline 53, Romances, Delights, and Tears
53, Court Painters and Other Men Skilled in the Arts 57, The Amiras’ Way of
Life 60, The Fall of the Amiras (1860–1866) 67, Sovereigns and Cultured women
71.
5. The Great
Families 76, The Momdjians 76, The Karakehias 85, The Balians 90, The Dadians
96, The Duz 105, The Noradounghians 112.
6. Two
Portraits at the Junction of a Century 115, Artin Amira Kazaz (1771–1834) 115, Megerditch
Amira Djezahirli (1805–1861) 117
(1805–1861) 117.
7. From
Empire to Republic or the History of a Genocide 120, Independence at the price
of blood 120, A Very Promising Evening 120, The Strange Encounter of the Two
Touchy Noses 122, An Independent Armenia 133.
Epilogue 137.
Decendants of
the Amiras who Shared Their Memories with Me. 139.
Bibliography
140