THE   PROVINCE   OF   ĒRIVAN‘

Written by Gevork Nazaryan

Yerevan was liberated after long centuries of foreign rule by the Russian Imperial Army as well as a large contingent of Armenian militia in 1828. After many unsuccessful charges,  the fortress of Ērivan [older variant of Yerevan evolved from the original Ēreban-Ērebuni] finally fell and the Khan of Ērivan surrendered.  Most of Eastern Armenia passed to Russia with the Treaty of Turkemchay [in Iran] 1813 and the Gyulistan Treaty [in Artsakh] of 1828. Soon after, the town of Ērevan [older variant of Yerevan] became the administrative center of the Yerevan Province of the vast Russian Empire.

THE COAT-OF-ARMS OF NOR NAKHICHEVAN [BARING THE NAME OF THE HISTORIC
ARMENIAN PROVINCE OF NAKHICHEVAN-GOŁT‛AN]. A CITY NEAR ROSTOV-ON-DON,
IN RUSSIA [BY THE DECREE OF HER MAJESTY EMPRESS CATHERINE II]
BUILT-UP IN XVIIITH CENTURY VIRTUALLY FROM SCRATCH BY THE INTELLECT
AND HARD WORK OF THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE. THE NEARBY CITY OF ARMAVIR IN
KUBAN PROVINCE WAS ALSO BUILT BY THE CREATIVE HAND OF ARMENIAN LABOR
AGAIN BARING THE ANCIENT NAME OF ARMAVIR-ARGIŠTIHINILI IN AYRARAT PROVINCE
-- NOT FAR FROM YEREVAN. UPON SHIELD DIVIDED INTO TWO SECTIONS
SIX BEES ALIGNED IN THREE HORIZONTAL ROWS
[3+2+1 FROM TOP DOWN] AND THE BEE HIVE [RESILIENT LABOR]. DOWNWARD
DELTA TIP AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SHIELD REP. OF THE QUEEN.

'...If thou would'st have that stream of hard-earn'd knowledge, of
Wisdom heaven-born, remain sweet running waters,
thou should'st not leave it to become a stagnant pond...'
-- HPB

"...The couple was visited by the grandparents, Nadya, and Catherine at
the end of August, after which everyone went to Ērivan. It was here
that Helena spent the last month with her husband, now acting
governor of the province, and as such they lived in the fabulous
Palace of Sardar, where the former rulers dwelt. Dominating the
landscape at Ērivan was the distant Mount Ararat of biblical fame.
Accompanied by her guard, the Kurd tribal chief Sahar Ali Bek - who
HPB says once saved her life - Helena crossed the Turkish border
several times and encircled the Mountain on horseback..."
PORTRAIT OF HPB BY HERMANN SCHMIECHEN, 1885.
 

THE FLAG OF ONE OF THE ARMENIAN GUILDS OF TPŁIS-TIFLIS [TBILISI]
BEARING THE INSIGNIA OF   T H E  H O L Y  L A N C E
THE CITY [NOW CAPITAL OF GEORGIA] WAS FOUNDED BY ARMENIAN
PROFESSIONALS IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES [UNDER THE RULE OF THE BAGRATID KINGS
THAT ESTABLISHED A BRANCH IN NEIGHBORING GEORGIA -- THE DYNASTY LASTED
UNTIL 1801] TIFLIS BLOSSOMED UNDER ARMENIAN MAYORS AND ADMINISTRATORS
AND WAS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CENTERS
OF ARMENIAN LIFE.

1897 PORTRAIT OF O. ŠALAMIAN BY ENOCH S. NAZARYAN [1868-1929].

THE COAT-OF-ARMS OF TIFLIS DIVIDED INTO
FOUR SECTIONS -- WITH THE
TRADITIONAL ARMENIAN SYMBOL OF THE
HOLY MOUNTAIN WITH THE LEGENDARY NOAH'S ARK.
ON THE RIGHT IS HORIZONTAL STRIPE
REPRESENTING WATER ['OCEAN OF LIFE']
ABOVE IN THE CENTER SAINT GEORGE [GEORGIA DERIVES
ITS NAME FROM THE PATRON SAINT OF THE RED CROSS]
BELOW THE HOLY CADUCEUS STAFF OF T I R - H E R M E S -
M E R C U R Y [ASSOCIATED WITH SAINT GEORGE]. TIR-HERMES
WAS THE ANCIENT PATRON GOD OF AMONG MANY OTHER ASPECTS
OF KNOWLEDGE, LEARNING, HEALTH [HEALING/MEDICINE]
AND MERCHANT EXCHANGE [SYMBOL OF ARMENIAN MASTER GUILDS].

COUNT PETER I. BAGRATION [BAGRATUNI] OF THE RENOWNED GEORGIAN
BRANCH OF ARMENIAN BAGRATIDS THAT RULED GEORGIA UNTIL 1801
AFTER INCORPORATION OF GEORGIA INTO RUSSIAN EMPIRE MANY OF
THE LEADING ARISTOCRATS OF THE BAGRATION-BAGRATUNI HOUSE
WOULD DISTINGUISH THEMSELVES AS MILITARY COMMANDERS.
PETER BAGRATION BECAME THE LEGENDARY HERO OF THE BATTLE
OF BORODINO [SEPTEMBER 7, 1812] AGAINST EMPEROR NAPOLEON'S
GRAND ARMEE DURING THE PATRIOTIC WAR OF 1812.

MEDAL STRUCK IN 1829 FOR THE LIBERATION OF YEREVAN.

ONLY FEW OF THE COUNTLESS OUTSTANDING ARMENIAN GENERALS OF
XVIIITH AND XIXTH CENTURIES.

PRINCE BEHBUTIAN BASIL OSIPOVICH. CAVALIER OF THE ORDER OF
ST. GEORGE II DEGREE. DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF AS LIEUTENANT GENERAL IN THE
CRIMEAN [EASTERN] WAR OF 1853-1856 AGAINST THE TURKS.

PRINCE BEHBUTIAN DAVID OSIPOVICH. CAVALIER OF THE ORDER OF
ST. GEORGE.

GENERAL YOVHANNES D. LAZARIAN FROM THE RENOWNED LAZARIAN NOBILITY

PRINCE M. Z . ARGUTIAN-DOLGORUKOV CAVALIER OF THE
ORDER OF ST. GEORGE III DEGREE.

MAJ. GENERAL SHELKOVNIKIAN BEHBUT MARTIROSOVICH.
COMMANDER OF CHERNOMORSK REGION.

LEUT. GENERAL TER-ŁUKASEAN ARZAS ARTEMOVICH. RECEIVED
THE ORDER OF ST. GEORGE FOR LIBERATION OF BAYAZET
FORTRESS DURING THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR OF 1878-78.

THE OUTSTANDING ARMENIAN GENERAL COUNT LORIS-MELIKEAN.
THE COUNT DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF IN THE 1877-78 RUSSO-TURKISH WAR
FOR THE LIBERATION OF WESTERN ARMENIA FROM TURKISH OPPRESSION.
COUNT LORIS-MELIKEAN WAS A RARE BREED OF GENERALS GREATLY
BELOVED BY HIS SOLDIERS [AND GREATLY DISLIKED BY THE GENERAL
COMMAND FOR "RUBBING SHOULDERS WITH COMMONERS" AS ONE OF THE
REPORTS BY ANOTHER GENERAL TO THE TSAR REPORTED.
HE OFTEN PERSONALLY LED THE CAVALRY CHARGES AGAINST THE ENEMY.
HE WAS DISCHARGED BY TSAR IN 1881 FOR HIS ADVOCACY OF GRANTING MORE
RIGHTS TO ALL OF THE SUBJECTS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE,
[HE WAS THE GOVERNOR OF TEREK IN DAGHESTAN, NORTHERN CAUCASUS]
MOST NOTABLY THE COMMON FOLK.

MAJ. GENERAL YAK KOYXOSROV ALHAZIAN. COMMANDER OF THE
SECOND BRIGADE OF THE 19TH INFANTRY DIVISION. RECEIVED
THE ORDER OF ST. GEORGE FOR THE LIBERATION OF
KARS FORTRESS FROM THE TURKS.

FRONT VIEW AND FLOOR PLAN OF THE NERSISIAN SCHOOL OF TPŁIS EST. IN 1824.
THE EDUCATIONAL-CULTURAL ESTABLISHMENT PRODUCED SOME OF THE
GREATEST MINDS OF THE ERA FOR EXACTLY ONE CENTURY
UNTIL IT WAS FORCIBLY CLOSED IN 1924...THE WHOLE CENTURY KNOWN
AS THE ALAMDAREAN CENTURY. AT ITS INCEPTION THE NERSISIAN SCHOOL WAS
HEADED BY ITS FIRST SCHOOL MASTER YARUT‛IWN ALAMDAREAN -- FORMER
PRINCIPLE OF THE LAZARIAN SEMINARY IN MOSCOW WHO
TRANSFERRED TO TIFLIS TO HEAD THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED
SCHOLASTIC INSTITUTE. SOME OF THE OUTSTANDING ALUMNI INCLUDING
THE FATHER OF MODERN ARMENIAN --
KHACHATUR ABOVIAN, THE RENOWNED WRITER AND ENLIGHTENER
GHAZAROS AŁAYAN, THE BELOVED ALL-ARMENIAN POET --
YOVHANNĒS TUMANIAN, GREAT WRITERS -- PERCH PROSHIAN
AND DERENIK DEMIRCHIAN, THE RENOWNED MILITARY COMMANDER
GUY [HAIK BSHZHKIANTS]...
THE GREAT MODERN ARMENIAN HISTORIANS OF XIXTH AND XXTH CENTURY
INCLUDING LEO, HAKOB MANANDIAN, ETHNOGRAPHER STEPAN LISITSIAN,
WRITERS GABRIEL SUNDUKIAN, TSERENTS, LINGUIST MANUK ABEGHIAN...
ANOTHER JEWEL IN THE HISTORY OF COUNTLESS MILLENNIA
IN EDUCATIONAL-CULTURAL ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE ARMENIAN SPIRIT.

NS MAIN BUILDING CLOSE UP.


SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE EDITION OF THE NERSISIAN JOURNAL ON
THE OCCASION OF THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY [1824-1899] OF THE ESTABLISHMENT.

ECHMIADZIN'S MATENADARAN [LIBRARY AND DEPOSITORY OF ANCIENT AND MODERN
BOOKS]. LATER CONVERTED INTO A SEMINARY. ERECTED IN THE BEGINNING YEARS
OF XXTH CENTURY AND CONSECRATED IN 1910.

TEACHER'S SEMINARY OF YEREVAN AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.

GIRLS COLLEGE OF YEREVAN AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.

THE GEVORKIAN SEMINARY IN VAŁARŠAPAT.

G    E    O    R    G    -    H    E    R    M    E    S

THE MAJORITY OF THE CITY POPULATION WAS
ARMENIAN UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF THE XXTH CENTURY. MANY OF THE LEADING
INTELLECTUALS AND PROMINENT REPRESENTATIVES CAME TO YEREVAN
IN ORDER TO REBUILD THE ANCIENT ANCESTRAL CITY OF ARARAT.
TIFLIS STILL HAS A CONSIDERABLE ARMENIAN POPULATION
AND IS HOME TO MANY ANCIENT ARMENIAN MONUMENTS.

 PORTRAIT OF M I S S  M. A.  B E K -- AN ARMENIAN NOBLE LADY FROM ONE OF THE
PROMINENT ARISTOCRATIC FAMILIES. K. P. BRYULLOV [1840].

  A NINETEENTH CENTURY PAINTING OF THE HOLY TWIN MOUNTAIN
VIEW FROM THE OLD ĒREVAN [ĒRIVAN] FORTRESS.

SUNDUKIAN'S PEPO [1874] AND STEFJIAN'S VARTAN MAMIKONIAN [1875]
PUBLISHED FOR NUMEROUS PLAYS PERFORMED IN TIFLIS.

GENERAL VALERIAN G. MADATIAN WHO DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF
AS AN OUTSTANDING ORGANIZER AND LEADER DURING THE
FIRST RUSSO-TURKISH WAR [1806-12] AS WELL AS THE SUBSEQUENT
PATRIOTIC WAR OF 1812 AGAINST THE INVASION BY EMPEROR NAPOLEON
BONAPARTE'S GRANDE ARMIE.

COAT OF ARMS OF ABAMELIK-LAZARIAN NOBILITY.

ONE OF THE STREETS IN OLD TPŁIS [TIFLIS].


OFFICIAL COAT-OF-ARMS OF THE ERIVAN PROVINCE
[INCORPORATING PARTS OF FORMER ARMENIAN PROVINCE]
OFFICIALLY ADOPTED ON JULY 5, 1878.
UPON A INDIGO SHIELD A SILVER MOUNTAIN
TWIN PEAKS AND THE ROUND SUN IN-BETWEEN
AS A THIRD SYNTHESIS PRINCIPLE LEADING TO
THE GOLDEN CROSS [A RATHER UNIQUE VERSION
OF A FUSION OF PATRIARCHAL AND ORTHODOX
CROSSES...SINCE ORTHODOX ACTUALLY HAS THREE HORIZONTAL
BARS ON THE VERTICAL POLE, WHILE THE PATRIARCHAL BOTTOM HORIZ. LINE
IS STRAIGHT AND NOT TILTED]. TOPPED BY PHYGIAN
IMPERIAL CROWN [CORONA/HEAD NOBLEST PART
OF THE HUMAN BEING.. THE SEAT OF DIVINE SPIRIT]. A BLUE RIBBON OF THE
ORDER OF ANDREW RUNS THROUGH GOLDEN OAK LEAVES.
THE PATRIARCHAL [SYMB. OF THE APOSTLES] CROSS SYMBOLIZED ARMENIA AS
THE FIRST CHRISTIAN NATION.

EUGENE DELACROIX [1798-1863] ONE OF THE OUTSTANDING
XIXTH CENTURY FRENCH PAINTERS EMBODIES SO MUCH OF
THE ROMANTIC AND HEROIC SPIRIT OF THE ERA.

PAR LIBERTE! PAR LIBERTE! VIVE LA FRANCE! DELACROIX. 1830.
MARIE-ANNE [FRANCE...FROM PRIMORDIAL MARA AND ANAHIT]
LEADING THE CHARGE WEARING THE RED MITHRAIC-PHRYGIAN CAP OF LIBERTY.

EMBODIMENT OF IDEALISM AND... HEROISM. THE TRANSCENDENTAL
GREAT VIRTUE THAT IS PREVALENT IN FEW MEN WHO ARE BORN
LEADERS HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY THE MASTER IN
THE UNYIELDING GAZE OF THE MUSKET-BARER.

Yerevan slowly began to join the Industrial Revolution that was quickly spreading throughout the world from the beginning of the XIXth century. Roads and railroads that connected the cities of the Russian Empire had a positive effect on the growth of Yerevan. However it to a great extent, until the turn of the century, remained a "sleepy town" of around 30,000 people.

ENGRAVING OF ONE OF THE QUARTERS OF ALEXANDROPLE [ANCIENT KUMAYRI AND
LATER/TODAY GYUMRI] IN THE FIRST HALF OF XIXTH CENTURY. NOTE THE
NUMEROUS CHURCHES IN THE CITYSCAPE. BEFORE YEREVAN ROSE TO PROMINENCE
GYUMRI ALONG WITH SHUSHI AND GANDZAK [ELIZABETPOL] WERE THE MAJOR
ARMENIAN CULTURAL CITY-CENTERS OF EASTERN ARMENIA.

  A NINETEENTH CENTURY ENGRAVING OF THE HOLY TWIN MOUNTAIN
VIEW FROM THE OLD ĒREVAN [ĒRIVAN] FORTRESS.

ARMENIAN MOUNTAINEER...RUGGED AND GALLANT AS THE PROUD PEAKS OF
THE SACRED HIGHLAND OF FIRE AND WATER...PATIV -- HONOR -- AND
AKHPERUTYUN -- BROTHERHOOD...REFERRING TO GENUINE UNCONDITIONAL
LOVE, INCLUDING COMPLETE LOYALTY AND SELF-SACRIFICING DEDICATION TO
FRIENDS AND FAMILY A QUINTESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF THE UNWRITTEN LAWS
OF THE TRADITIONAL ADAT‛ FOLKWAYS.

COUNT IVAN PASKEVICH [1781-1856]. MADE COUNT OF ĒRIVAN UPON THE
TAKING OF THE FORTRESS OF ĒRIVAN IN 1828.

FIELD MARSHAL COUNT MIKHAIL S. VORONTSOV [1782-1856]. LED THE
LIBERATION OF GANDZAK [1804-13] AND THE FIRST MIL. EXPEDITION
FOR LIBERATION OF EREVAN [1804]. UNDER COUNT VORONTSOV IN
1849 THE ARMENIAN PROVINCE BECAME PART OF THE ĒRIVAN
GUBERNIA. CLOSE FRIEND OF CATHOLICOS NERSES OF AŠTARAK,
AS WELL AS MANY OF THE EXILED DECEMBRIST REVOLUTIONARIES
WHO LIVED IN ARMENIA.

S. MANGASARYAN. IN THE HERMITAGE MUSEUM, 1950. THE HERMITAGE IN
ST. PETERSBURG WAS REBUILT AFTER MASSIVE DESTRUCTION AFTER WORLD
WAR II BY THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED ARMENIAN ACADEMICIAN
LEVON ORBELI AND LATER THE COLLECTION GREATLY EXPANDED UNDER
HIS SON, WHO WAS ALSO DIRECTOR OF THE HERMITAGE FOR MANY YEARS.

MEDAL STRUCK IN 1915 IN HONOR OF THE HEROIC DEFENSE OF ARMENIA BY
ARMENIAN AND RUSSIAN SOLDIERS WHO SAVED THE REMNANTS OF THE
NATION FROM COMPLETE ANNIHILATION DURING THE HORRIFIC
YEARS OF THE GENOCIDE.

THE PAVILION OF RUSSIAN CULTURE IN YAROSLAVL. TRADITIONAL RUSSIAN FOLKISH
ARCHITECTURE ERECTED BY THE GREAT ARCHITECT ALEXANDER TAMANIAN WHO
WAS OFFICIALLY COMMISSIONED IN 1913 BY TSAR NICHOLAS II IN COMMEMORATION
OF THE 300TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ROMANOFF DYNASTY.

TURN OF THE CENTURY BUILDING ON ASTAFIAN [ABOVIAN] STREET. CLINIC [FIRST
FLOOR] - HOME [SECOND FLOOR] OF DR. YOVHANNĒSEAN. TYPICAL XIXTH CENTURY
VICTORIAN STYLE [SOME OF THE EARLY XXTH CENTURY BUILDINGS SHOW STRONG
ART NOUVEAU INFLUENCE] PREVALENT THROUGHOUT OLD CENTRAL ĒREVAN.
THE DOCTOR'S HOUSE WAS LATER TRANSFORMED INTO THE BUILDING OF THE
HOMELAND-DIASPORA UNION. BY ARCHITECT B. H. MEHRABIAN.

F. TADEVOSIAN MANOR ON SPANDARIAN STREET IN YEREVAN.

THE GREAT OBELISK OF VICTORY ERECTED IN 1834 NEAR ASHTARAK
COMMEMORATING THE LIBERATION OF EASTERN ARMENIA.

THE GREAT MONUMENT ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN BROTHERHOOD IN ABOVIAN.
CLOSE-UP OF THE MONUMENTAL STATUE OF ARMENIAN AND
RUSSIAN BROTHERS IN ARMS.

As years went on the semifeudal Russian Empire was making a transition to a capitalist society. New factories sprang up throughout Eastern Armenia. The most important Armenian cities in the Caucasus during this period were undoubtedly Tiflis -Tpłis or Tbilisi [established by Armenian merchants in the Middle Ages, Tiflis had a majority Armenian population up until the end of the XIXth century and was administered by elected Armenian mayors] Baku, Shushi [in the heart of Artsakh] and Alexandrople [Gyumri].

THE SIEGE OF THE  FORTRESS OF ĒRIVAN [1827] -- FROM MAJOR MASHKOV'S SKETCH BOOK

Yerevan remained a small provincial town until gradually, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, new factories [like the Yerevan Brandy Factory - est. in 1881 by the Russian magnate Shustov] drew more peasants [who became factory workers] to places like Yerevan. New neighborhoods and new streets were constructed in the first few decades of the XXth century.

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