WHO ARE THE ARMENIANS?
That a field so rich in possibilities for the student of history,
ethnology, or language as Armenia and Kurdistan should have remained as
yet so little explored, is due, no doubt, to three causes[55]: first,
the apparent loss of significance of the Armenian nation, which now,
like Poland, seems but a stranded wreck in the stream of history;
second, to her geographical isolation and the danger and hardship of
travel in that region[56]; third, to the linguistic obstacles to be
overcome.
So little clear and accurate information about the Armenians is readily
accessible that the following brief outline is offered in the hope of
meeting this want at the present time.
HISTORY—The Armenian race belongs to the Japhetic branch of the human
family, falling under the same category as the inhabitants of India and
Persia, who form the Aryans of Asia. The Armenian language proves this
by its affinity with the Indo-Germanic tongues. Their physiognomy and
physical constitution connect them with the best types of Caucasian
stock. Their manners and customs, as well as their religious beliefs, in
heathenism, were similar to those of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, of the
Medes and Persians, and, still later, of the Parthians.
These people call themselves Haik, after Haig, the most celebrated of
their ancient kings, and their land Haiasdan. Their national legends,
fortified in their eyes by the Bible, make Haig descend from Ashkenaz or
Togarmah, children of Gomer, a patriarch of the line of Japhet.[57]
Foreigners applied to them the name Armenians, derived from King Aram,
said to be a descendant of Haig, who made great conquests.[58]
The earliest biblical mention of this land is the statement that the ark
“rested upon the mountains of Ararat,” a term which evidently refers to
a district rather than a peak.[59] Another scriptural allusion is in
connection with Sennacherib, whose parricidal sons are said to have
escaped, 681 B. C., “into the land of Armenia.”[60] Ezekiel also refers
to Armenia under the name Togarmah, as furnishing Tyre with horses and
mules, a product for which it is still noted.[61] Tigranes I. is said to
have been an ally of Cyrus the Great in overthrowing the Babylonians,
and thus in liberating the Jews after their seventy years’ captivity,
538 B. C. A foreshadowing of this event is probably found in the prophet
Jeremiah: “Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and
Ashkenaz, ... to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an
inhabitant.”[62]
In the famous inscriptions of the Achemenidæ, at Persepolis and at
Behistun, the name Armenia is found in various forms, and the Armenian
tributaries march after the Cappadocians to render homage to the great
king.[63]
Herodotus mentions the absorption of the Armenian Empire in that of
Darius, 514 B. C., and a tribute of four hundred talents exacted.[64]
Xenophon’s account of the retreat of the ten thousand through this
mountainous region, in midwinter, and constantly harassed by enemies, is
valuable, not only as a tribute to the splendid discipline and spirit of
the Greeks, but for the light which it throws upon the ancient Armenians
and Kurds, whose houses, domestic habits, and employments are the same
in many respects even at the present day.[65]
Armenia was included in the conquests of Alexander, and afterwards
submitted to the Seleucidæ of Syria. In 190 B. C., when Antiochus the
Great was defeated by Scipio, Armenia revolted under Artaxias, who gave
refuge to the exiled Hannibal. About 150 B. C., the great Parthian king,
Mithridates I., established his brother Valarsaces in Armenia. The most
celebrated king of this branch of the Arsacid family was Tigranes II.,
who, while aiding Mithridates of Pontus, was defeated by Pompey. After
this, Tacitus says that the Armenians were almost always at war; with
the Romans through hatred, and with the Parthians through jealousy.[66]
Princes of this line continued to rule, however, until the Arsacidæ were
driven from the Persian throne by the Sassanid Ardashir. Though
frequently conquered by the kings of that dynasty, Armenia was enabled
as often to re-assert her freedom by the help of Roman arms.
When Tiridates embraced Christianity, 276 A. D., the struggle became
embittered by the introduction of a religious element, for the Persians
were bigoted Zoroastrians. This condition reached a climax when the
country was divided between the Romans and Persians, under Theodosius
the Great, 390 A. D.
[Illustration:
AN ARMENIAN TOMBSTONE OF A.D. 934.
Evidence of a high state of art.
]
After the fall of the Sassanidæ, in the seventh century, Armenia was
divided between the Greek Empire and the Saracens; but from 859 to 1045
it was again ruled by a native dynasty of vigorous princes, the
Pagratidæ. This was brought to a close by the suspicious and
short-sighted policy of the Byzantine emperors, one of whom, Constantine
IX., at last overthrew the Armenian kingdom, thereby laying open the
whole eastern frontier to the invasion of the Seljouk Turks, who shortly
before had begun their attacks, and who might have been successfully
resisted by these hardy mountaineers. The result was fatal, both to
Armenia, which was overrun, and to the Greek Empire; for by the battle
of Manzikert, 1071 A. D., when Romanus IV. was defeated and made
prisoner by Alp Arslan, the whole of Asia Minor was left at the mercy of
the Seljouks.[67]
Rupen, a relative of the last Pagratid sovereign, escaped into Cilicia,
and established the Rupenian dynasty, which was not extinguished until
the death of Leon VI., 1393, an exile in Paris, and the last of the
Armenian kings. The Rupenians had entered into alliance with the
Crusaders. They welcomed the Mongolian hordes under Genghis Khan, early
in the thirteenth century, and suffered the vengeance of the Mamelukes,
1375.
A graphic account of the cruelties of Timour the Tartar, who devastated
Armenia at the close of the fourteenth century, has been left us by
Thomas of Medzop. The last great calamity which fell upon the mother
country happened in 1605, when Shah Abbas forcibly transplanted twelve
thousand families to Ispahan in Persia.
THE ARMENIAN CHURCH.—It is the oldest of all national churches. Their
legends claim that our Lord corresponded with King Abgarus of Edessa or
Ur, and that the apostles Thaddæus and Bartholomew preached the Gospel
to them. But the historical founder of the Armenian church was St.
Gregory “The Illuminator,”[68] an Arsacid prince, related to King
Tiridates (Dertad), who was consecrated Bishop of Armenia, at Cæsarea,
in 302 A. D. The Armenian church is Episcopal in polity, and closely
resembles the Greek in outward forms.
Misled by imperfect reports of the Council of Chalcedon, 451, which they
were not able to attend on account of Persian persecutions, the Armenian
bishops annulled its decrees in 536, thus gaining the credit of being
Eutychians, which led to their gradual separation from the orthodox
church, much to the satisfaction of the Persian ruler Chosroes. This
estrangement was doubtless political as much as doctrinal, on account of
the attempts at ecclesiastical supremacy by the churches of
Constantinople and Rome. As far as her ecclesiastical writers are
concerned, and her beautiful liturgy, the Armenian church is in general
orthodox. Her heresy, in common with that of the rest of Christendom, is
one of life rather than of doctrine. A schism in the Armenian church was
brought about in the sixteenth century by Jesuit missionaries, who
succeeded in detaching the community of Catholic Armenians from the
mother church, of which the Catholicos at Etchmiadzin is recognized as
the supreme head.
All Armenians—except perhaps the Catholic, whose allegiance has been
transferred of course to Rome—still cherish a passionate attachment for
the venerable church of their ancestors, to which they owe their
identity as a people after the terrible vicissitudes of so many
centuries. It is true that Armenians who have come under European
influence, especially French, have to some extent become sceptical and
indifferent to religion. But even such men still profess at least an
outward loyalty, as a matter of sentiment, and because they believe the
formal preservation of the Armenian church to be the condition of
national union in the future as it has been in the past. It is, indeed,
almost a political necessity, as the Ottoman Empire is now constituted.
It is to be hoped that the time will come when the children of the
Armenian church of every shade will no longer look upon her as a mother
frail and failing, yet to be treated with respect while she lasts; nor
as a mother ignorant and bigoted beyond hope of reform; still less, as
one heretical and to be abandoned for Rome. Rather, let all her sons
rally around her and help her to fulfil her true spiritual mission. She
will then renew her youth and again take her honored place in the front
ranks of “the Church of the living God, which is the pillar and ground
of the truth.”
Would that the spirit of the grand and broadminded man who is now the
Catholicos at Etchmiadzin, His Holiness, Mugerditch Khrimian, might
pervade the whole body of which he is the honored and beloved head. Less
than a year ago, the author had the privilege of a long private
interview with this venerable ecclesiastic, whose hand he kissed in
oriental fashion, with respect for the man and for himself. His last
words to me, found upon the title-page, were “_Husahadelu chenk_,”
meaning, “We must not despair”—a good motto for us all.
[Illustration:
THE CATHOLICOS OF ETCHMIADZIN, IN THE CAUCASUS.
Religious head of the Armenian Church.
]
That the grand old church of “The Illuminator” should somewhat lose its
hold on the mind and conscience of the rising generation at this stage
of superficial enlightenment is not strange. Her real merits are
concealed, unfortunately, under a growth of superstition and ignorance
which even the clergy admit, but lack the courage and ability to remove.
These abuses, however, are not due to any demoralization of the Armenian
race itself, but to its isolation, and to the repeated and terrible
devastations that have checked its growth and reduced it to a condition
of extreme poverty and helplessness.
No greater service could be rendered to the Armenian people than aid and
encouragement in establishing institutions for the education of the
clergy, who under present circumstances are their natural leaders. The
twentieth century will bring, we hope, better political privileges. But
unless, in the meantime, the ancient church has maintained her hold on
the conscience of the rising generation, she is in danger of sinking
into the position of the church in France.
By nature the Armenians are deeply religious, as their whole literature
and history show. It has been a religion of the heart, not of the head.
Its evidence is not to be found in metaphysical discussions and
hair-splitting theology as in the case of the Greeks, but in a brave and
simple record written with the tears of saints and illuminated with the
blood of martyrs.
[Illustration:
THE SUBORDINATE CATHOLICOS OF AGHTAMAR, A TOOL OF THE TURKS.
Wearing the Sultan’s highest decorations for services rendered.
]
The seeds of a thorough and far-reaching reformation have been carefully
sown and are already bearing fruit. The prospect of reform is brightened
by three facts: first, the Armenian church is essentially democratic,
and is not in bondage to any “infallible” human authority; second, her
errors of doctrine and practice are not fundamental, and, having never
been sanctioned by councils, but simply by custom and tradition, can in
due time be discarded; third, she has always acknowledged the supreme
authority of the Bible, which is no longer a sealed book, having been
translated into the modern tongue by American missionaries, very widely
scattered, and at last gladly received by all classes. The demand for
progress and reform is by no means confined to the so-called
“evangelical” element, but is making itself heard even in the pulpits of
the old church and in the secular press.
The Armenians, very numerous in ancient times, now number only about
4,000,000, of whom 2,500,000 are under the Sultan, 1,200,000 in Russia,
150,000 in Persia, and the rest widely scattered in many lands, but
everywhere distinguished for their peaceable and enterprising character.
They are the leading bankers, merchants, and skilled artisans of Turkey,
and extensively engage in the various trades, manufactures, and
agriculture as well. They love their native home and are yet destined to
play an important part in the moral and material regeneration of western
Asia.
The following estimate is from an experienced and discriminating
authority, who is also a member of the Church of England:
“I have confessed already to a prejudice against the Armenians, but it
is not possible to deny that they are the most capable, energetic,
enterprising, and pushing race in Western Asia, physically superior, and
intellectually acute, and _above all they are a race which can be raised
in all respects to our own level, neither religion, color, customs, nor
inferiority in intellect or force constituting any barrier between us_.
Their shrewdness and aptitude for business are remarkable, and whatever
exists of commercial enterprise in Eastern Asia Minor is almost
altogether in their hands. They have singular elasticity, as their
survival as a church and nation shows, and I cannot but think it likely
that they may have some share in determining the course of events in the
East, both politically and religiously. As Orientals they understand
Oriental character and modes of thought as we never can, and if a new
Pentecostal _afflatus_ were to fall upon the educated and intelligent
young men who are being trained in the colleges which the American
churches have scattered liberally through Asia Minor, the effect upon
Turkey would be marvellous. I think most decidedly that reform in Turkey
must come through Christianity, and in this view the reform and
enlightenment of the religion which has such a task before it are of
momentous importance.”[69]
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.—The Armenian grammar is analogous to that of
other languages of the same origin. It has not the distinction of
gender, but is rich in its declensions and conjugations. The accent of
Armenian words is on the last syllable, and many of the strong
consonantal sounds strike the ear of a foreigner with harshness, and
defy his tongue. The rich native vocabulary has been increased by
additions from languages with which it has come in contact. It possesses
also, as the German, great facility in building compound words.
The earliest specimen of this language, though in the cuneiform
character, is probably to be found in the tri-lingual inscriptions on
the great citadel rock of Van, which have not yet been satisfactorily
made out. The pre-Christian literature of Armenia, consisting of
national songs, has entirely perished, except a few quotations. All that
has come down to us is subsequent to the fourth century, and refers
exclusively to history or religion. Poetry and fiction never greatly
flourished among this serious race, always in the midst of danger or
suffering.
The ancient Armenian version of the Bible, made by Mesrob, the inventor
of their alphabet, and his disciples, early in the fifth century, has
been called the queen of versions for its beauty, and, though not based
on the Hebrew, is of some critical value in determining the readings of
the Septuagint, of which it does not follow any known recension.
Hundreds of other translations from Syriac and Greek writers soon
followed, some of which are extant only in Armenian.
The fifth century, their Golden Age, was adorned by such classic writers
as Yeznig of Goghp, who wrote most eloquently, in four books, against
the Persian fire-worshippers, the Greek philosophers, the Marcion
heresy, and the Manichæans; Goriun, the biographer of Mesrob; David, the
philosopher and translator of Aristotle; Yeghishe, who relates the
heroic struggle of Vartan for the Christian faith against the Persian
Zoroastrians; Lazarus of Parb; and Moses of Khorene, their national
historian. There follows a period of four centuries of literary
barrenness, due to political disorder and schism.
Under the Rupenian dynasty there was a second period of literary
brilliancy. Then flourished Nerses Schnorhali “The Gracious,” an orator
grafted upon the poet; as well as Nerses of Lampron, whose hymns also
enrich the beautiful Armenian liturgy. The annals of Matthew of Edessa
give interesting facts about the first Crusade. Samuel of Ani, John
Vanagan, Vartan the Great, and Thomas of Medzop wrote succeeding
chronicles.
[Illustration:
THE ISLAND MONASTERY OF AGHTAMAR, IN LAKE VAN.
One of many similar Armenian Monasteries still existing, rich in
parchment manuscripts exposed to decay and vandalism.
]
A third revival of Armenian letters was begun by Mechitar of Sebaste
(Sivas), who established an order of Catholic monks at the monastery of
St. Lazarus in Venice, 1717. These fathers have won the interest and
admiration of European scholars by their publication of Armenian
classics, together with many learned original contributions. Other
centres of literary activity are to be found in Vienna, Paris, and the
Institute of Moscow, as well as the schools of Constantinople and
Tiflis.
A list of authorities on Armenian subjects is given in Appendix E.