The Rise of the Western Armenian Diaspora in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire

Book excerpt: How mass migration and a refugee crisis transformed Armenian culture in the 17th-century Ottoman Empire At the turn of the 17th century, the historical Armenian population centres in Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus were ravaged by war with Persia, rebellion, famine and economic collapse. This instability caused mass migrations towards secure territories in Western Anatolia, Istanbul and Thrace, migrations which catalysed a renaissance of Armenian literary and cultural life in the Ottoman capital. This book traces the emergence, experiences and cultural and literary production of Armenian communities in and around Istanbul and the western provinces of the Ottoman Empire in the early modern period. Using both Ottoman Turkish and little-known Armenian sources, Henry Shapiro provides a systematic study of the Armenian population movements that resulted in the cosmopolitan remaking of Istanbul - and the birth of the Western Armenian diaspora. Key Features  The first English-language book on Armenian cultural history in the early modern Ottoman Empire  Based on original research using Armenian manuscripts and Ottoman Turkish archives  Includes 3 black-and-white maps and 20 photographs of Armenian ruins, historical sites and manuscript pages Henry R. Shapiro is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Polansky Academy for Advanced Study at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.