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Guidance for the Reinstatement of the Surviving Ancient Armenian Nobility in the Societal Fabric of Modern Armenia

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Guidance for the Reinstatement of the Surviving Ancient Armenian Nobility in the Societal Fabric of Modern Armenia Guidance for the reinstatement of the surviving ancient Armenian nobility in the societal fabric of modern Armenia By Christian Tutundjian de Vartavan Background to the notion of nobility The notion of “nobility” and the “noble” class are born out of governmental power but governmental power was not born out of “nobility”. In other words, the notion of “nobility” emerged when some rulers decided to attach values to their rule and not only brutal strength. It is hence no surprise that the notion of ‘chivalry’, as mode of behavior and not simply as equestrian aptitudes (‘chivalry’ comes the old French ‘chevalerie’ or ‘horse soldiery’) emerged after kings adopted Christian values for government. These values are still the basis of the morality and law of many nations, including Armenia. The interdiction, by law, of polygamy being one expression of this basis. Background of the author As a direct descendant of the meliks of Artsakhi whose family co-founded the 1st Republic of Armenia (see for a start Prime Minister A. Khatissian’s memoirsii), both with political and financial means, I am in a very privileged position to discuss the reinstatement of the Armenian mobility into the social fabric of the modern Republic of Armeniaiii. Background to the nobility of Armenia The Armenian nobility has been functioning with these Christian values ever since Armenia converted to Christianity (AD 301) and long before chivalry was brought into Armenia, Cilicia in particular, by western crusaders. The fall of the Armenian king Leo Vth in 1375 ended the Cilician kingdom of Armenia but not of the nobility nor of Armenian royalty as if often wrongly if not systematically assumed. Branches of the nobility, including from the Bagratuni and the Artzruni, took refuge in the mountainous principalities of Siunik and Artsakh (Karabagh), or with the Georgian kings and queens in their kingdom. In Siunik and Artsakh, various independent Armenian noble houses ruled either as sovereign ‘prince of princes’ or even as ‘king’iv (‘arka’ or ‘takavor’) of Baghk or Khachen, such as Hasan Djalal Dawlav who reigned until his death in 1261/1262 and was a descendant of the immemorial Aranshahiks. His dynasty lasted 552/553 years until his descendant Allahverdi II Hasan-Jalalyan, last ‘melikvi’ of Khachen (Karabagh) died in 1813. Meliks, of which the union of the five Artsakh/Karabagh meliks is the better known (‘Meliks of Khamsa’), had the right of life or death in justice, could levee taxes or combined armies of up to 30-40.000 men, and had wealths sufficiently large to own privately one hundred horses or to pay the wages of the entire Persian army for one year. The Armenian nobility today After the incorporation in 1805 of Karabagh in the Russian Empire, some meliks stayed in Karabagh. This is the case of the Melik-Shahnazarian, one of the five houses of Khamsa. Zareh Melik- Shahnazarian, who died in 1992, was not only born in Karabagh but with his father fought the Mutafavists in the 1920’s. His father Samson-bek died gloriously at that time on the battlefield while making a bayonet charge against machine gunsvii. These meliks ruled informally in Karabagh until that period and possibly beyond. Other meliks moved first into the kingdom of Georgian then into the Russian Empire and russified their name, as for example the Loris-Melikov. 1 My personal research on the Armenian nobility of Armenia, exercised in a private capacity since 2000, led me to conclude that several hundreds of Armenians are of noble origin, including descendants of the medieval houses (Bagratuni, Artzruni, Rchtuni, Gamsarakan, etc…) or of the later more recent princely houses of Siunik/Karabagh (Hasan-Djalalian and Melik-Avanian of which the Tutundjian de Vartavan are a branch, as well as Melik-Shahnazarian, Melik-Atabekian, etc…), or of the Georgian- Armenian nobility (Orbelian, Arghutyan-Yerkaynabazuk, Abba-Melik, etc...), many of which now live in Russia. To these must be added the Armenian nobility of the Ottoman Empire or kingdoms like Egypt where Armenians were very numerous (Kouyoumdjian, Gulbenkian, again Tutundjian de Vartavan, etc…). Many of these descendants have kept a tradition of their origin but only a handful of families have held a political power over the life of large Armenian communities until the 20th century, and even less after the First World War. Namely various Armenian pachas, such as my great-grandfather Hagop pacha Kouyoumdjian, who was deputy of Diarbekir and saved several hundred Armenians lives during the massacres of the turn of the century. Or Telemaque bey Tutundjian de Vartavan, my grand-father, who was made a bey of Egypt by King Fuad the 1st and presided over the daily life of about 10.000 Armenians of Alexandria for several years, until at least 1928/1929. I am in fact not aware of any nobleman who presided over Armenians after this date – he may have been the last, particularly with a state noble title. Integration and use of ancient nobilities within current major republics Ancient nobility titles are currently legally used in various present republics. I will take two examples. 1. France, bastion of republicanism, recognizes nobility title through a procedure controlled by the Garde des Sceaux, or ‘Keeper of the [State] Seals’, i.e. the French Minister of Justice. More precisely nobility titles were abolished by the Revolutions of 1789 and 1848, and restored by decree in 1852 and never officially abolished since. Titles can be lawfully used and given to their bearers in official acts with a decree by the Minister of Justiceviii. The bearer can then legally use the title in legal documents such as birth certificates. About 400 such confirmations were made since 1872. Because of this, a dozen French dukes bear their titles on their passports. Anecdotally, few know that upon his investiture, any new French president becomes co-prince of Andorra, sharing power over the principality with the Bishop of Urgell in Spanish Catalonia. Currently Bishop Joan Enric Vives Sicília is co-prince of Andorra together with Emmanuel Macron. 2. In the Federal Republic of Germany although the German nobility as a legally defined class was abolished on August 11, 1919 with the Weimar Constitution, nobles were allowed to keep their titles. A law still in place till todayix. Method for identifying members of the nobility In the Armenian nobility, the administrative certification of a title was an alien concept. Noble families ruled for centuries and power was passed from father to son. Everyone, including in the population, knew who was who from baptism onwards. This is particular true for the sovereign meliks of Karabagh who did not even have a family name as we understand itx. There are however three categories of exceptions to this: 2 1/ - The recognition by a foreign ruler, usually of a higher rank, of the title and power of an Armenian ruler. The type example for the Armenian nobility is the recognition by Czar Peter the Great of Melik Yegan (died 1744) as sovereign prince. This sort of formal and private recognition is extremely rare. The Shahs of Iran have also officially recognized the powers of the Meliks of Artsakh but I have personally not as yet seen an example of such decree in Farsi. 2/ - Foreign letters of nobility for members of the Armenian nobility, usually princes, who have left Armenia and integrated either the Georgian Kingdom or the Russian Empire. The archives of the Georgian and Russian nobility have many of them. 3/ - Foreign letters of nobility, official decrees and other documents acknowledging the bestowing of a nobility title on a member of the Armenian diaspora, such as for example the title of “bey” for my grand-father as well as several other Armenians of Egypt and Iran, Prime Minister Nubar pacha first and foremost. Hence requesting an ‘official paper’ from an Armenian noble, except under the above three foreign exceptions, is not possible. Moreover, the vicissitudes of Armenian history, particularly wars and repeated immigrations, have been ruthless catalysts for the destruction of administrative documents through fire or loss. There are however several ways to identify members of the Armenian nobility. a/ - The simplest is to ask if a close ancestor held a recognizable form of power, ideally over Armenians. In other words, what was doing your grandfather, great grandfather or great-great-grandfather for a start? As stated above most ancient noble families have held some sort of office or position in society up to the First World War. If the answer is yes, then: b/ - A genealogical tree should be established. The latter should ideally be supported by birth certificates but also any documents indicating a filiation. A dedication in a book for example, private letters kept in archives or an act of property. The latters often list the name of the parents if not grand- parents. There are many types of supporting documents, including photographs. c/ - This genealogical tree should further be supported by a short memorandum describing the family history till present. Both should then be published for all to examine and if not for the sake of preserving Armenian history. Entire volumes of the history of Armenia are preserved in the private archives and memories of noble families and disappear when the last member dies. d/ - If none of the above subsists DNA tests can be carried but this of course implies knowing a living relative who would have a proof of ancestry, or in extremely rare circumstances the exhumation of a body. General axiom for the reinstatement of the Armenian nobility Hence the purpose of a reinstatement of the ancient nobility of Armenia into modern Armenia should be to strengthen the nation and hence contribute to its welfare.
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