A Lock of Hair
May 10, 2015 Letter No. 1534 in the Santa Catharina collection is unique among the other letters because it has a lock of a woman’s hair, tied to a fine […]
Archive for month: January, 2020
An Armenian Tombstone in the South China Seas
/in Chair's Blog /by historywebFebruary 11, 2017 According to papers stored at the Pondicherry archives, Coja David Sultan (or rather Sultan David Խոջա Սուլթանում դի Դավութխան) Shahamir Sultanum’s father is listed as having passed […]
A Passage from India in 1701: Some Notes on an Unknown Fragment of a travel diary found in Harleian Or. MS. 5458/5459
/in Chair's Blog /by historywebNovember 8, 2015 The first segment of Harleian Manuscript, Oriental 5459, “Apocryphal History, Armenian” has about thirty or forty folios of a work that is a continuation of a Persian […]
Coffee on my Mind
/in Chair's Blog /by historywebMay 20, 2014 A couple of nights ago, a chance (re)encounter with Kristof Glaman’s classic study of the Dutch East India Company, Dutch-Asiatic Trade (1981), led me to this wonderful […]
Agha Piri Calendar, a ship-owning Coffee merchant in Surat
/in Chair's Blog /by historywebMay 1, 2015 I had to scratch my head several times while reading this document and have finally managed to crack it, albeit provisionally. It is a commercial document drawn […]
The Oldest Armenian Will from London
/in Chair's Blog /by historyweb[coming soon]
The Second Oldest Armenian Will from London
/in Chair's Blog /by historywebMay 9, 2015 Before I start the task of back-breaking photography for about five hours straight (I have been doing this since 1998 and especially since spring of 2003 right […]
Following the Spectral Presence of Baba
/in Chair's Blog /by historywebMay 8, 2015 A couple of afternoons ago, I came across a tantalizing letter in French by a merchant from Julfa who has obsessed me since 2003, Coji Baba Sultanum […]
A Man of Many Seas: More on Coja Baba and his Textiles
/in Chair's Blog /by historywebMay 28, 2015 Coja Baba Sultanum (Khwāja Babajan son of Sultanoum) was a merchant of many seas and seasons. His specter is everywhere and virtually in all the archives I […]
Hot on Baba’s Trail’s again…
/in Chair's Blog /by historywebMay 9, 2015 This document is part of my continuing archival reporting on the fabulous Coja (or Coji) Baba Sultanum or Baba for short. Those interested can see the documentary […]