Islam in Armenia
Islam began to make inroads into the Armenian Plateau during the seventh century. Arab, and later Kurdish, tribes began to settle in Armenia following the first Arab invasions and played a considerable role in the political and social history of Armenia.[1] With the Seljuk invasions of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Turkic element eventually superseded that of the Arab and Kurdish. The pressures brought upon the imposition of foreign rule by a succession of Muslim states forced many Christian Armenians and Greeks in Anatolia and Armenia to convert to Islam and assimilate into the Muslim community.[2]
Contents |
History [edit]
Arab invasions and Armenian revolts [edit]
The Muslim Arabs first invaded Armenia in 640. Prince Theodoros Rshtuni led the Armenian defense. In about 652, a peace agreement was made, allowing Armenians freedom of religion. Prince Theodoros traveled to Damascus, where he was recognized by the Arabs as the ruler of Armenia, Georgia and Albania.
By the end of the seventh century, the Caliphate's policy toward Armenia and the Christian faith hardened. Special representatives of the Caliph called ostikans (governors) were sent to govern Armenia. The governors made the city of Dvin their residence. Although Armenia was declared the domain of the Caliph, most Armenians, although not all, remained faithful to Christianity. In the beginning of the eighth century, Arab tribes from the Hejaz and Fertile Crescent began migrating to and settling in major Armenian urban centers, such as Dvin, Diyarbekir, Manzikert, and Apahunik'.[3]
Under Ottoman Empire [edit]
The Ottoman Empire ruled in accordance to Islamic law. As such, the People of the Book (the Christians and the Jews) had to pay an extra tax to fulfill their status as dhimmi and in return were guaranteed religious autonomy. While the Armenians of Constantinople benefitted from the Sultan's support and grew to be a prospering community, the same could not be said about the ones inhabiting historic Armenia. During times of crisis the ones in the remote regions of mountainous eastern Anatolia were mistreated by local Kurdish chiefs and feudal lords. They often also had to suffer (alongside the settled Muslim population) raids by nomadic Kurdish tribes.[4] Armenians, like the other Ottoman Christians (though not to the same extent), had to transfer some of their healthy male children to the Sultan's government due to the devşirme policies in place. The boys were then forced to convert to Islam (by threat of death otherwise) and educated to be fierce warriors in times of war, as well as Beys, Pashas and even Grand Viziers in times of peace.
Soviet period [edit]
With the historical provinces being subsumed within the borders of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the remainder of Armenia became a part of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia. A small number of Muslims were resident in Armenia while it was a part of the Soviet Union, consisting mainly of Azeris and Kurds, which former Muslims (Azeris)were forced to live the Armenian territory in 1988. Basically, they were threaten with death otherwise. However, during that move there were numerous Muslim people who were killed, or badly injured by armenians. Since Armenia gained its independence in 1991, the majority of Muslims is made up of temporary residents from Iran and other countries. In 2009, the Pew Research Center estimated that less than 0.1% of the population, or about 1,000 people, were Muslims.[5]
Cultural heritage [edit]
A significant number of mosques were erected in historical Armenia during the period antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the modern age. It was not unusual for Armenian and other Christian churches to be converted into mosques as well.
In the territory of the modern Armenian republic, only a single mosque, that of the Blue Mosque, has survived to the present-day.
The Qur'an [edit]
The first printed version of the Qur'an translated into the Armenian language from Arabic appeared in 1910. In 1912 a translation from a French version was published. Both were in the Western Armenian dialect. A new translation of the Qur'an in the Eastern Armenian dialect was started with the help of the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran located in Yerevan. The translation was done by Edvard Hakhverdyan from Persian in three years.[6] A group of Arabologists have been helping with the translation. Each of the 30 parts of Qur'an have been read and approved by the Tehran Center of Qur'anic Studies.[7] The publication of 1,000 copies of the translated work was done in 2007.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Ter-Ghewondyan, Aram. The Arab Emirates in Bagratid Armenia. Trans. Nina G. Garsoïan. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1976.
- ^ Vryonis, Speros. The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971.
- ^ Ter-Ghevondyan, Arab Emirates in Bagratid Armenia, pp. 29ff.
- ^ McCarthy, Justin: The Ottoman Peoples and the end of Empire; London, 1981; p.63
- ^ Miller, Tracy, ed. (October 2009), Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population (PDF), Pew Research Center, p. 31, retrieved 2009-10-08
- ^ The Qur'an is published in the Armenian language
- ^ Qur'an in Armenian
External links [edit]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
