The earliest history of Armenia, as Kurdistan was called previous to its
conquest by the Osmanli Turks, is lost in the mists of mythology. But
even in the pre-Persian era we find Armenia existing as a separate state,
populated by a number of fierce and diverse tribes who were continually
contending amongst themselves, the victor for the time being imposing
its own chieftain as suzerain over the remainder. These tribes differed
greatly in their racial characteristics, the main divisions being the
Kurds, who were then called Karduchians, the Chaldeans, from whom the
Nestorians are probably descended, and the Haikians. The latter race,
who are known to us to-day as Armenians, although they still retain the
name Haik amongst themselves, do not appear to have had a common origin.
They may be divided, at the present time, into two distinct groups:
the round-headed and the long-headed. Both, as a rule, are of short
stature, with thick necks, and rather solidly built. Many of them possess
peculiarly semitic features, amongst these the prominent nose which is
generally considered a characteristic of the Jew. This fact has led some
ethnologists to advance the theory that one of the lost tribes of Israel
wandered to the shores of Lake Van and settled there, intermarrying
with the Haikian inhabitants, while others assign these physiological
characteristics to the incursion of certain Afghan tribes. It is worthy
of note in connection with this latter theory, that the Afghans are
likewise, by some writers, believed to be descendants of one of the lost
tribes.
If the theory that the Armenian race is descended from one of the
missing tribes be correct, it is not improbable, judging from their
aptitude in financial affairs and the manner in which they have made
usury and money-changing a fine art, that these people may be the lineal
descendants of the money-changers whom Christ scourged and drove from
the Temple at Jerusalem. Even at the present day most of the _sarafs_,
or money-lenders and changers, in the Ottoman Empire are Armenians, and
their sharp practice and unscrupulousness in commercial pursuits is so
notorious that it has given rise to the saying: “It takes ten Turks to
cheat one Jew, ten Jews to cheat one Greek, but twenty Greeks assisted by
seven Jews and five Turks to cheat one Armenian.”
It would be a tedious endeavour to follow the changes in the rulers whom
the alternate ascendancies of Persia, Parthia, Greece, Rome and Byzantium
subsequently imposed upon the territory of Armenia. The court, which at
one time was modelled on that of Persia, became a centre of intrigue.
The rulers of the contending Empires controlled the destinies of the
kingdom by political rather than by forcible means, finding it easier,
as a rule, to remove an unamenable king by assassination, bribery, or by
fomenting revolution, than by sending armed forces into an inaccessible
country populated by fierce tribes. For this reason the Kings of Armenia
practically became puppets in the hands of their more powerful neighbours.
The most important event in the early history of Armenia came with the
accession in 284 A.D. of Diocletian as Emperor of Rome. Diocletian,
desirous of establishing his influence there, sent from Rome a young
Armenian by name Tiridates, the last living representative of the
Armenian branch of the Arsacid dynasty, which was originally of Persian
origin. Tiridates rallied the nobles, and supported by them and a few
Roman troops who had accompanied him, drove out the Persian governors.
A decade or so after being proclaimed king, Tiridates became a convert
to Christianity, and with the help of his cousin, St. Gregory the
Illuminator, established the Christian faith in Armenia.
The priestly families, when they heard that the new religion required
no sacrifices, were much perturbed and threatened violent opposition.
But astute St. Gregory was equal to the occasion. He not only promised
that the sacrifices should continue, but that the priestly share of
the slaughtered animals should be greater than ever before, and he
furthermore assured to them the hereditary succession of the priesthood.
Thus thoroughly satisfied, the priests unanimously adopted the new
doctrines and became servants of the new religion.
The change was nominal rather than real; the new religion was grafted on
to the old, and ancient rites were maintained under fresh names. In order
to ensure to the priesthood their full share of the slaughtered animals,
it was ordered that no animal except those slain in the chase should
be killed by anyone but the priests themselves. Animal sacrifice still
forms an important part of the ritual of the Gregorian, or, as it is
called, the Armenian Church. Even to-day the priests are able to terrify
recalcitrant members of the church by threatening to withhold the _matal_
or sacrifice made for the ablution of sins after death.
In the cities and plains, where the population was engaged in commerce,
agriculture and other peaceful pursuits, St. Gregory, with the aid of
his newly converted priests, had little difficulty in imposing the new
religion. The people, freed by the apostacy of the priesthood, were
glad to rid themselves of the Zoroastrian religion, which they disliked
because it had been imposed upon them under the domination of the
Persians. It should be noted that what is termed the Orthodox Armenian
Church stands apart and distinct, both in its doctrines and ritual, from
either the Greek or Protestant Churches. It was not represented at the
Council of Chalcedon and never signified its acceptance of, or adherence
to the doctrines there promulgated. It holds to a certain extent what
is known as the Monophysite doctrine: that the mortal body of Jesus was
incorruptible. Many of the Orthodox Armenian clergy still cling to the
tradition that after the entombment of Jesus His body was conveyed by
angels to Mount Ararat and deposited beside the remains of Noah’s Ark,
which, according to them, are still to be found there. During the period
when He made Himself visible to His disciples, as related in the New
Testament, Christ again assumed this earthly body, which after His ascent
to Heaven was re-conveyed by the angels to Mount Ararat, where it still
lies in a secret tomb, uncorrupted and ready to be reassumed once more at
His second coming upon earth.
Mass is celebrated in the Armenian Church with a very elaborate ritual
entirely distinct from and much more ornate and oriental than that of
either the Latin or Greek Churches. During the celebration the assistants
at the ceremonial rattle a curious instrument, not unlike the ancient
Egyptian sistrum, composed of a huge cross set with jangling brass rings.
The head of the Church is styled in Armenian Katoghikos (Catholicos). The
Armenian clergy is none too well educated, and is extremely superstitious
and bigoted. All other forms of Christianity are denounced by them as
heretical, and they have not scrupled to persecute those of their flock
who have listened to the persuasive appeals of Protestant missionaries.
Mr. Grattan Geary, when at Mosul, found that each of the churches
belonging to the warring sects had a guard of Turkish soldiers to keep
the peace. Camp bedsteads were placed outside the church doors, on which
these soldiers slept at night, and the sentries pacing up and down
presented arms as he entered. When he endeavoured to get some definite
knowledge respecting the various antagonistic sects of native Christians,
the one distinctive idea which he derived from their answers was that,
in the opinion of each sect, all the others were hopelessly perverse,
besotted, ignorant and dishonest, and that, in a word, they were somewhat
worse than Mussulmans. He tells us (in his book “Through Asiatic Turkey”)
that
The hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, characterizing
the different native sects in their inter-relations could
not be easily exaggerated; and I am sorry to say that in the
opinion of men who have had ample opportunity of judging from
personal observation, there is only too much foundation for the
bad opinion which each of those sects entertains of the other.
“When a Mohammedan gives me his word,” said a gentleman who
had a long experience of the country, “whether he be a Turk or
a Kurd, I can always rely upon it. I have never been what is
called ‘done’ by a Mussulman, although I have had transactions
of all kinds with Moslems for years; but when a native
Christian tells me anything, I have cause instinctively to ask
myself where the deception lies—in what direction I am going to
be tricked. There are exceptions, of course; but if anyone has
many dealings with Mussulmans and native Christians in these
parts, he will soon learn that the one may be depended on, and
the other will almost to a certainty deceive and cheat you if
you give him a chance.”
In the meantime, while the Armenian of the plains had accepted St.
Gregory’s teaching, the mountaineers, who had never adopted the religion
of their alien rulers, continued to remain pagans. This circumstance
was an important factor in accentuating the natural cleavage between
the cultivators of the plains and the pastoral mountaineers, a cleavage
due, in a great measure, to the physical conditions of the country, the
plains being wide and extensive and the mountains distant and not very
accessible, with the result that the population of Armenia at that time
was more acutely divided than the Highlanders and the Lowlanders of
Scotland a few centuries ago.
So far as archæological remains are concerned, practically no trace is to
be found of this early Armenian kingdom. Whatever towns there may have
been were probably constructed chiefly of wood or mud, and the cultural
level of the inhabitants seems to have been far below that of their
neighbours. This is not to be wondered at when we take into account the
climatic conditions of the country, the lack of communications and the
state of anarchy into which it was so frequently plunged. Although for
a brief period under Tigranes II. Armenia in alliance with Mithridates,
king of Pontus, became a kingdom of considerable importance, it reverted
to its former dimensions after his defeat by Lucullus in the year 69 B.C.
To speak of “the glories” historical or material, of ancient Armenia is
simply a misuse of words.
After the abdication in the year 430 A.D. of King Bahram, who was the
last really independent ruler, although the kingdom was nominally divided
between the Eastern and Western Empires, the condition of Armenia became
worse than ever before. Anarchy and disunion reigned supreme. The nobles,
jealous, intriguing, covetous and mercenary, continually transferred
their allegiance from one side to another, or, when not busy fighting as
partisans for Rome or Persia occupied their time congenially in warring
amongst themselves and ravaging each others’ territories.
In the year 1079 the Seljuks swept through the land, and with the fall
of King Hagig II. the last remaining semblance of an independent Armenia
disappeared. The Seljuks respected the Christian religion of the plain
dwellers but converted the mountaineers to the Islamic faith, thus still
further accentuating the line of demarcation between what may fairly be
described as the Highlanders and Lowlanders of the district.
The rule of the Seljuks, who showed their tolerance by allowing the
Lowlanders to remain Christians, was mild and liberal. They greatly
improved the condition of the country, restored law and order and erected
many public buildings and mosques, traces of which are still visible.
On the other hand the country suffered grievously during the subsequent
invasions of the Mongol hordes.
The year following the invasion of the Seljuks the Pagatrid Rhupen
founded a small principality in Cilicia, which by gradually extending its
boundaries became known later as the kingdom of Lesser Armenia. Internal
disputes between the Catholics and Gregorians weakened this little State
and facilitated its conquest by Egypt in 1375.
In 1414 Selim I., Osmanli Sultan of Constantinople, drove out the
Mongols, and with their disappearance Armenia was incorporated in the
Ottoman Empire under the name of Kurdistan.