The Rise of the Western Armenian Diaspora in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire: From Refugee Crisis to Renaissance in the 17th Century - Paperback

by Henry R. Shapiro (Author)

This book traces how Armenian migrants changed the demographic and cultural landscape of Istanbul and Western Anatolia in the course of the seventeenth century. During the centuries that followed, Ottoman Armenian merchants, financiers (sarrafs), authors, musicians, translators, printers and bureaucrats would play key roles in Ottoman trade, cultural life and even governance, that is, in most spheres of the empire's economic and cultural life. This book shows how that cosmopolitan world came into being.

Using both Ottoman Turkish and little-known Armenian sources, Henry Shapiro provides the first systematic study of Armenian population movements that resulted in the cosmopolitan remaking of Istanbul. In the first part of the book he documents the Great Armenian Flight, showing how the global crisis of the seventeenth century (war, climate change, famine) impacted the historical Armenian population centres of the Caucasus and Eastern Anatolia and led to mass migrations and resettlement in Western Anatolia, Istanbul and Thrace. In the second part of the book Shapiro links this history of migration and the refugee crisis with the development of intellectual and cultural life in Istanbul and Western Anatolia - the rise of the Western Armenian Diaspora.

Back Jacket

How mass migration and a refugee crisis transformed Armenian culture in the 17th-century Ottoman Empire At the turn of the 17th century, the historical Armenian population centres in Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus were ravaged by war with Persia, rebellion, famine and economic collapse. This instability caused mass migrations towards secure territories in Western Anatolia, Istanbul and Thrace, migrations which catalysed a renaissance of Armenian literary and cultural life in the Ottoman capital. This book traces the emergence, experiences and cultural and literary production of Armenian communities in and around Istanbul and the western provinces of the Ottoman Empire in the early modern period. Using both Ottoman Turkish and little-known Armenian sources, Henry Shapiro provides a systematic study of the Armenian population movements that resulted in the cosmopolitan remaking of Istanbul - and the birth of the Western Armenian diaspora. Key Features  The first English-language book on Armenian cultural history in the early modern Ottoman Empire  Based on original research using Armenian manuscripts and Ottoman Turkish archives  Includes 3 black-and-white maps and 20 photographs of Armenian ruins, historical sites and manuscript pages Henry R. Shapiro is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Polansky Academy for Advanced Study at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.

Author Biography

Henry R. Shapiro is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Polonsky Academy for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, and he also teaches courses on early modern Islamic history and the Classical Armenian language at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specializes on the histories of non-Muslims in the early modern Islamic empires, particularly in the Ottoman Empire. Shapiro completed his PhD in History at Princeton University, his MA at Sabancı University, an MDiv at Harvard Divinity School, and his BA in Classics at Brown University. He has published articles in the Journal of Early Modern History and Iranian Studies.