The Persian Heritage in Armenia

Iranian-Armenian relations are one of the oldest and closest relations between the two countries. Iranian culture has left its mark on Armenian history at various ages, especially at the present time, as Iran supports its neighbour Armenia as evidence of the long history of good relations.

1-The Blue Mosque in Yerevan

#TheBlueMosque is a well-preserved Twelver Shia mosque in #Yerevan, #Armenia, returns to the 18th century and was commissioned by Huseyn Ali Khan, the khan of the Iranian Erivan Khanate, and built in the #Persian style.

It is one of the oldest remaining structures in central Yerevan and the most significant structure from the city’s #Iranian period. It was the largest of the eight mosques in Yerevan in the 19th century. Today, it is the only active mosque in Armenia. It is located at 12 Mashtots Avenue, Yerevan, Armenia.

Glimpses of History

In the 1920s, the mosque was secularized and housed the History Museum of Yerevan for more than five decades. Following Armenia’s independence, the mosque was renewed with support from the #Iraniangovernment and again started operating as a mosque, serving the Iranians residing in Yerevan.

The Armenian government listed the mosque as a monument of national significance.

It is “one of the oldest buildings in central Yerevan” and the “only existing building of the Iranian period in Yerevan.”

After restoration

It has become a religious and cultural center for the Iranians residing in Armenia and the Iranian tourists visiting Armenia.

The Iranian cultural center inside the mosque complex attracts young Armenians seeking to learn Persian. The Persian library of over 8,000 items, named after the poet Hafez, was opened inside the complex in October 2014.

On December 10, 2015, the government of Armenia leased the mosque complex to the embassy of #Iran to Armenia for 99 years to use it as a cultural center.

The Architecture

The historian of Islamic art Markus Ritter described it as the “main model for the early #Qajar mosque architecture of the Iranian period.” The mosque complex covers an area of 7,000 square meters.

Armenian efforts in the #UNESCO

In October 2007 Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister Vartan Oskanian stated during his speech at the 34th session of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris that the Blue Mosque and other sites are on the waiting list for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In January 2013, Armenian Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan stated that Armenia would take all possible steps to include the mosque in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. She reaffirmed this in a meeting with Iranian Culture Minister Mohammad Hosseini in April 2013.

2-Information about the Afsharid dynasty

I’m writing this thread to indicate that the mosque founder isn’t an Azeri man by origin or even by residency. Thanks for your patience.

Information about the Afsharid dynasty when the Blue Mosque was established. The Afshars dynasty started from 1736 to 1796.

The Afsharid dynasty (Persian: افشاریان) was an Iranian dynasty that originated from the Turkoman Afshar tribe in Iran’s north-eastern province of Khorasan, ruling Iran (Persia) in the mid-eighteenth century.

The dynasty was founded in 1736 by the brilliant military commander Nader Shah, who deposed the last member of the Safavid dynasty and proclaimed himself the Shah of Iran. It was named after the Turcoman Afshar tribe from Khorasan in north-east Iran, to which Nader belonged.

The Afshars originally migrated from Turkestan to Azerbaijan (Iranian Azerbaijan) in the 13th century. In the early 17th century, Abbas the Great moved many Afshars from Azerbaijan to Khorasan to defend the northeastern borders of his state against the Uzbeks, after which the Afshars settled in those regions. Nader belonged to the Qereqlu branch of the Afshars.

*There are several sources but I will mention some of them.

1- Encyclopedia Iranica https://web.archive.org/.../articles/v1f6/v1f6a023.html

2-”An Outline of the History of Persia During the Last Two Centuries (A.D. 1722–1922)”

3-Erivan Fortress

Erivan Fortress (Armenian: Yerevani berdë; Persian: قلعه ایروان, Russian: E’rivanskaya krepost’ ) was a 16th-century fortress in Yerevan. It was built between (1582–1583) during the #Ottoman rule by Serdar Ferhat Pasha, on the left bank of Hrazdan River, in the place of Ararat Wine Factory.

The fortress was considered to be a small town separate from the city. It was separated from the city by a large and unwrought space.

It was destroyed by earthquakes in 1679, but, it was rebuilt by the Safavids as the Safavid governor of #Erivan, Zal Khan asked the Shah for help to rebuild Erivan, including the fortress and the Palace of the Sardars. On July 12, 1679, the Safavid vice-regent of Azerbaijan (historic Azerbaijan, also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, “Not the current one”), Mirza Ibrahim, visited Erivan.

He was directed to recover the fortress, which was the seat of the governor of Erivan. Many villagers from Ganja, Agulis, and Dasht (Nakhchivan) were moved to Erivan to rebuild the fortress. The reconstruction of the Erivan Fortress was not finished.

It was continued and finished in the following years. In 1853, the fortress was ruined by another #earthquake. In 1865, the territory of the fortress was purchased by Nerses Tairyants, a merchant of the first guild. Later, in the 1880s, the Tairyants built a brandy factory in the northern part of the fortress. The fortress was completely demolished in the 1930s during Soviet rule, although some parts of the defensive walls still remain.

Of course, it doesn’t belong to Azeris as historical Azerbaijan changes from the recent one (Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq, Turkey, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan.)

Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia also referred to as the Safavid Empire, was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty.

4-Thapha Bashi Mosque

Here’s the truth: it isn’t an Azerbaijani mosque. And proof that this tweet is misleading.

It’s an Iranian, as Kond means “long hill in Armenian; during the Persian rule, Tepebashi) was one of the oldest quarters of Yerevan. It is situated within the boundaries of the modern-day Kentron District, the capital of Armenia. According to Hovhannes Shahkhatunyants, an Armenian historian, Kond is located at the western and southern hillsides at the foot of a rocky hill with a similar name. Its western border has historically been the Hrazdan River, and its northern border is the Kozern Cemetery.

The Tepebaşı or Thapha Bashi Mosque was likely built in 1687 during the Safavid dynasty. Today, only the 1.5 meter-thick walls and sections of its outer perimeter roof still stand. The main dome collapsed in the 1960s (1980’s according to residents and neighbours), though a smaller dome still stands. Surp Hovhannes Church (Saint John the Baptist Church) was built in the 15th century at the northern end of Kond. After being damaged by a large earthquake in 1679, it was rebuilt in 1710 by Melik Aghamalyan to serve as his family’s private chapel. Writer and historian Edvard Avagyan note that “Kond is our history. In the 17th century, many of those who founded Old Yerevan lived here.

The famous Aghamalyan dynasty lived in Kond.” In 1837, Czar Nikolai I of Russia visited the house of the Balackachov family in Kond. After the Armenian Genocide of 1915, many refugees fleeing their homeland came to make Kond their new home. The mosque served as a place of refuge for seventeen of the families, some of whose descendants (five families) still live there to this day.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.