The History of Vardapet Aṛakʻel of Tabriz: Patmut'iwn Arak'el Vardapeti Dawrizhets'woy, Volume I

by Arakel Davrizhetsi, George A. Bournoutian (Translator, Introduction)

The History of Father Arak‘el is the most important Armenian primary source dealing with contemporary events that occurred in Iran, Armenia, Ottoman Empire, and Georgia from 1602 to 1662. It describes the Jelali Revolt; the Armenian Community in Poland and its struggle against and eventual loss to Roman Catholicism, the corruption and decline of the Holy See of Ejmiatsin in the first half of the seventeenth century and its revival in the second half of that century. The life and acts of the various Armenian Kat‘oghikoi (Supreme Patriarchs) are especially interesting, since the author was present at the Holy See and privy to its inner secrets. It also details account of numerous martyrdoms; a rare and informative chapter on the Jewish community of Isfahan and their forced conversion to Islam; and four chapters on the history of Georgia. The founding and history of the famous monastic schools and hermitages are described in great details. Most importantly, the book has the best description of the forcible settlement of the Armenians in Iran by Shah Abbas I and its aftermath. This, the first English translation, will be of great use to scholars of Iranian, Armenian, Ottoman, and Georgian history.

298 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2005

About the author

Arakel Davrizhetsi (Armenian: Առաքել Դավրիժեցի), or Arakel of Tabriz, (b. circa 1590s in Tabriz, Iran – d. 1670 in Vagharshapat, Armenia) was an Armenian historian of the seventeenth century and the author of an important work which chronicles Armenian history from 1602 to 1662, including the Ottoman-Persian wars and the resulting deportations of Armenians under Safavid Shah Abbas I. Davrizhetsi was a distinguished scholar-priest (vardapet) of the Armenian Church, being the abbot of the Hovhannavank Monastery in 1636–37 and later a missionary of the Church.