Transformations of Armenian Presence and the "Rediscovery" of the Past in the First Half of the 18th Century: Joseph Emin (1726-1809)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/hpt.2025.1.07Keywords:
Joseph Emin, Armenian Enlightenment, historical consciousness, eighteenth century, rediscovery of the past, Edmund Burke, Indo-Armenian communit, historical memoryAbstract
This article examines the transformations of Armenian presence and the "rediscovery" of the past during the first half of the eighteenth century through the intellectual experience of Joseph Emin (1726-1809). Following the fall of the Cilician Kingdom (1375), Armenian historical consciousness gradually stagnated, dominated by myths of a "sinful people" and eschatological expectations. The study analyzes how the emergence of cultural-educational centers in the diaspora—particularly Amsterdam, Venice, and Madras—initiated a reformist movement that reached its culmination during the Age of Enlightenment. Special attention is devoted to Joseph Emin's role in revaluing the Armenian past and present through his European (particularly British) educational experience and his engagement with Enlightenment ideas, especially those of Edmund Burke. Emin's conception emphasized the necessity of education, rational self-government, and the reinterpretation of history liberated from superstition and ecclesiastical dogmatism. The article demonstrates how Emin's approach represented a departure from viewing Armenian subjugation as divine punishment, instead framing it as a consequence of foreign oppression and ignorance. This "rediscovery" of the Armenian past laid the groundwork for a new understanding of national identity based on political interests rather than moral imperatives, initiating the tendency to separate church from nation in Armenian liberation discourse.
References
Aslanian, S. D. (2012). A reader responds to Joseph Emin's Life and Adventures: Notes toward a "history of reading" in late eighteenth century Madras. Handes Amsorya, 1–12, 351–396.
Ayntabyan, P. P. (1972). Dprotz yev mankavarzhutyun [School and pedagogy]. In L. S. Khachikyan et al. (Eds.), Hay zhoghovrdi patmutyun [History of the Armenian people] (Vol. 4, pp. 437–450). Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences Press.
Barkhudarian, V. B. (1989). Russastani yev Hndkastani haykakan gaghut'nery XVIII dari verǰin k'arrordi hay azatagrakan sharzhumnnerum [The Armenian colonies of Russia and India in the Armenian liberation movements of the last quarter of the eighteenth century]. In V. B. Barkhudarian et al., XVI-XVIII dareri hay azatagrakan sharzhumnery yev gaght'avayrnery [The Armenian liberation movements and diaspora communities of the 16th–18th centuries: Collection of articles] (pp. 185–210). Yerevan: Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences Publishing House.
Barnett, S. J. (2003). The Enlightenment and Religion: The Myths of Modernity. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Bolingbroke, H. St. J., 1st Viscount. (1967). The works of Lord Bolingbroke in four volumes (Vol. 2). Henry G. Bohn. (Original work published 1754).
Bourke, R. (2000). Liberty, authority, and trust in Burke's idea of empire. Journal of the History of Ideas, 61(3), 453–471.
Braudel, F. (1979). Civilisation matérielle, économie et capitalisme, XVe-XVIIIe siècle: Vol. 2. Les jeux de l'échange. Paris: Librairie Armand Colin.
Burke, E. (1999). A philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1757).
Butterfield, H. (1944). The Englishman and his history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chamchian, M. (1784–1786). Patmut'iwn Hayots' [History of Armenia: From the beginning of the world until the year of our Lord 1784] (Vols. 1–3). Venice.
Davrizhetsi, A. (1988). Patmut'iwn [History] (V. Arakelyan, Trans.). Yerevan: Sovetakan Grokh.
Della Valle, P. (1745). Voyages de Pietro Della Valle, gentilhomme romain, dans la Turquie, l'Égypte, la Palestine, la Perse, les Indes orientales, & autres lieux (Vol. 3). Robert Machuel.
Emin, J. (1792). The life and adventures of Joseph Emin, an Armenian. Written in English by himself. London.
Gay, P. (1995). The Enlightenment: An interpretation, Volume II: The science of freedom. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Ghougassian, V. (1999). The quest for enlightenment and liberation: The case of the Armenian community of India in the late eighteenth century. In R. G. Hovannisian & D. N. Myers (Eds.), Enlightenment and diaspora: The Armenian and Jewish cases (pp. 229–254). Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.
Hovhannisian (Ionisian), A. R. (1989). Iosif Emin [Joseph Emin]. Yerevan: Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences.
Hovhannisian, A. (1959). Drvagner hay azatagrakan mtk'i patmut'yan [Episodes from the history of Armenian liberation thought] (Vol. 2). Yerevan: Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences Publishing House.
Hovhannisyan, S. (2014). Examination of Armenian trade capital (16th–18th centuries) in light of Fernand Braudel's civilization theory. The Armenian Review, 54(3-4), p. 45–59.
Hovhannisyan, S. (2015). Armenian world-economy and the challenges of the industrial era in light of Fernand Braudel's civilization theory. Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, 24, p. 124-131.
Hovhannisyan, S. (2017). Hay arrevtrakan kapitaly ibrev «ashkharh-tntesut'yun» yev ardinaberayin darashrzhan martahravernery [Armenian commercial capital as a 'world-economy' and the challenges of the industrial age]. Vem Pan-Armenian Journal, 1, 49–76.
Khorenatsi, M. (1752a). Azgabanut'iwn tokhmin Habetean [Ethnography of the line of Japheth]. Venice: Antonio Bortoli Press.
Khorenatsi, M. (1752b). Het'evi hamarot patmut'iwn ashkharhagrut'ean [A brief history of geography]. Venice: Antonio Bortoli Press.
Ktchanyan, J. (2017). Edmond Byrk'i patmagitakan hayats'k'nery: pahpanoghakanut'yuny ibrev patmakan hghats'k' [Edmund Burke's historiographical views: Conservatism as a historical concept]. In A. Stepanyan (Ed.), Patmut'yan harc'er – 4 (Ankakhut'yan hrchakagir – 240) [Questions of history – 4 (Declaration of Independence – 240)] (pp. 140–160). Yerevan: Zangak.
Leo. (1969). Yerkeri zhoghovats'u [Collected works] (Vol. 3). Yerevan: Hayastan.
Leo. (1986). Yerkeri zhoghovats'u [Collected works] (Vol. 5). Yerevan: Hayastan.
Levitin, D. (2012). From Sacred History to the History of Religion. The Historical Journal, 55(4), 1117–1160.
Manuel, F. E. (1965). Introduction. In F. E. Manuel (Ed.), The Enlightenment (pp. 1–8). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Mirzoyan, H. Gh. (1983). XVII dari hay p'ilisop'ayakan mtk'i k'nakan verlutsut'yun [Critical analysis of seventeenth-century Armenian philosophical thought]. Yerevan: Yerevan University Press.
Oshagan, V. (1999). From enlightenment to renaissance: The Armenian experience. In R. G. Hovannisian & D. N. Myers (Eds.), Enlightenment and diaspora: The Armenian and Jewish cases (pp. 153–174). Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.
Panossian, R. (2006). The Armenians: From kings and priests to merchants and commissars. London: Hurst & Company.
Pocock, J. G. A. (1999). Barbarism and Religion, vol. 1: The Enlightenments of Edward Gibbon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stepanyan, A. (2014). Ink'nut'yan k'aghak'akrthakan ch'ap'umy (nakhnayin datoghut'yunner) [The civilizational dimension of identity (Preliminary considerations)]. In A. Stepanyan, Patmut'yan hetagitsy: Gorts'k', grut', imast [The trajectory of history: Acts, writings, meaning] (pp. 25–50). Yerevan: Printinfo.
Telunts, M. (1995). Hay azgayin-azatagrakan sharzhhumy XVIII dari yerkrord kesiny yev irravak'aghak'akan mtk'y [The Armenian national-liberation movement in the second half of the 18th century and political-legal thought]. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences "Gitutyun" Publishing House.
Topchyan, S. (2017). Hovsep' Emin [Joseph Emin]. Yerevan: Lusabats.
Trevor-Roper, H. (2010). History and the Enlightenment. New Haven–London: Yale University Press.
Zekiyan, B. L. (1999). The Armenian way to enlightenment: The diaspora and its role. In R. G. Hovannisian & D. N. Myers (Eds.), Enlightenment and diaspora: The Armenian and Jewish cases (pp. 45–62). Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Smbat Hovhannisyan (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
