Գիրք պատմութեանց

by Arakel Davrizhetsi, L.A. Khanlaryan (Contributor)

Ara'kel of Tabriz’s monumental Book of History is one of the most important primary sources on the history of Armenia, Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and Georgia in the seventeenth century. It covers the period from 1602 to 1666, that is, the reigns of the Safavid shahs, 'Abbas I, Safi, and 'Abbas II. The historical material that it contains is indeed staggering. It includes the most complete account of the forced deportations of thousands of Armenians from their native land into Persia; the socioeconomic conditions of Armenians in Persia and eastern Armenia; the Celali uprisings and the effect it had on the inhabitants of western Armenia; the decline of the Holy See of Ejmiatisn under kat'oghikoi Dawit' and Melk'iset' and its revival under kat'oghikoi Movses and P'ilippos; the establishment of monastic schools in eastern Armenia; the biographies and martyrdoms of famed clerics and lay persons; an account of the Jews of Persia; the demise of the Armenian community of Poland during the Counter-Reformation; the genealogy of Ottoman and Safavid monarchs; records of earthquakes, fires, and eclipses; the account of the false Jewish messiah Sabbatai Sevi in Izmir; the order of succession of the Armenian kat'oghikoi, including the names and dates of all co-kat'oghikoi; the names and properties of gemstones according to medieval Arab beliefs. the history of the Aghuank' region; and the chronology of significant events which occurred in Armenia, Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and Georgia from 561 to 1666. It is hoped, that this volume, the first English translation, will enable scholars, who are unfamiliar with this amazing primary source, or cannot read classical Armenian or comprehend the unfamiliar terminology in Persian, Arabic, and Ottoman Turkish used by Akak'el, to better understand the political, social, and economic history of Armenia, Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and Georgia during a crucial period.

Genres: Iran

595 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1669

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.