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Daily News & Analysis DNA, India
June 22 2013
Akbar to William, the Armenian connection
Sunday, Jun 23, 2013, 5:00 IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
Joanna Lobo
The prince's Indian-Armenian ancestors revives interest in
Indo-Armenian history.
So, Britain's Prince William is Indian. Okay, he's at least 1/256th
Indian from his mother's side, as reports said last week. For those
hiding under a rock when the news broke, researchers have traced Lady
Diana's family line back six generations to a woman named Eliza
Kewark, whose father was an Armenian trader and whose mother may have
been Indian.
In 1812, Kewark gave birth to Prince William's great, great, great,
great grandmother Katharine Scott Forbes in Gujarat. Tests reveal that
the Duke of Cambridge carries Kewark's mitochondrial DNA that is only
inherited from mothers. That DNA has previously only been found in 13
Indians and one Nepali.
As the British and Indian media dissect this royal connection, there
is much discussion on how interracial affairs were common at that
time. Armenians and Indians have ties that can be traced to the Mughal
empire. Besides his better-known Hindu and Muslim wives, Emperor Akbar
had an Armenian wife, Mariam Zamani Begum, as well as an Armenian
doctor and chief justice. This has been documented in Armenians in
India by Mesrovb J Seth.
Armenians started migrating to India not just from the land of their
origin, but also from the Middle East during the 16th and 17th
centuries. Today, unofficial counts put their population here at 150.
But that doesn't mean our ties are weakening. The Indian-Armenian
Friendship (IAF), an organisation devoted to inter-cultural ties,
notes that there are Armenian-Indian marriages still taking place in
India. The numbers are not spectacular, but for a community so tiny,
it is
remarkable.
Delhi-based businessman Rananjay Anand first met Armenian theologist
Ruzanna Ashughyan in 2009. By 2011, when Anand made his first visit to
Armenia, they had decided to get married. Their wedding in Yerevan
last year was a big affair - the entire Indian community was present,
including the then Indian ambassador to Armenia and his wife. The duo
live in Delhi.
They interact with the sparse Indian-Armenian community via a Facebook
group that Anand started. `The community is scattered but there's
greater people-to-people interaction. We have found out that there are
a number of Armenian girls married in India,' he says. These women are
the brides of Indians who have studied medicine in Armenia, fallen in
love there and brought their brides back home.
In Kolkata, the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy (ACPA) that
started in 1821 is evidence of centuries-old Indo-Armenian ties. The
college is open to Armenians whose education and lodging is sponsored
by the church and community.
Sevak Vartomiyan, 24, came from Iran in 2003 and studied at La
Martiniere, Kolkata. He is currently doing an IHM degree from ACPA. He
plays rugby for Armenian Sports Club and hopes to represent his
country one day.
The first Armenian church in Agra was consecrated in 1562, possibly
thanks to the patronage of the Mughals. At present, there are four
Armenian churches in Kolkata, one each in Chennai and Mumbai.
Zabel Joshi (Hayakian), the mother of actress Tulip Joshi, is the only
surviving Armenian in Mumbai and, thus, sole trustee of the
215-year-old St Peter's Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in Fort
that was established in 1796. It is now being used by the Malankara
Orthodox Syrians for services.
`The Chennai church is a heritage site. Once a year, a group from
Kolkata, led by one of the two priests in Kolkata, visits these
churches and conducts services,' says Mike Stephen, 44, an Indian
Armenian, and the former caretaker of the Armenian Church of Virgin
Mary in Chennai. His family has been in India since 1860.
`I'm in contact with the college, the priests, and committees through
Facebook, email and phone calls. Besides I have around 3,800 Armenian
friends online from places like Ethiopia, Bulgaria and South Africa,'
he says.
While Stephen revels in the fact that Armenians are so spread out, his
friends are equally impressed that there are still Armenians in India.
The IAF is planning to create an official database of Armenians living
here. `We just want the two countries to come closer together,' says
Anand.
The family tree
Elisabeth (Liz) Chater is much in demand these days. She has dedicated
her life documenting Armenian graves in India. Following the discovery
of Indian DNA in Prince William's genes, Chater has received many
requests asking if she has come across any family connections or grave
markers for Eliza Kewark. `With several hundred Armenian grave markers
still to transcribe, it is difficult to know, but [it's] quite
possible,' says this family history researcher who has a database of
over 10,000 individual Armenians and about 3,000 families who have had
some connection with India over the last three centuries. She
continues to research Armenian families in India and helps the
Indian-Armenian diaspora find their long-lost ancestors.
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/1851681/report-akbar-to-william-the-armenian-connection
June 22 2013
Akbar to William, the Armenian connection
Sunday, Jun 23, 2013, 5:00 IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
Joanna Lobo
The prince's Indian-Armenian ancestors revives interest in
Indo-Armenian history.
So, Britain's Prince William is Indian. Okay, he's at least 1/256th
Indian from his mother's side, as reports said last week. For those
hiding under a rock when the news broke, researchers have traced Lady
Diana's family line back six generations to a woman named Eliza
Kewark, whose father was an Armenian trader and whose mother may have
been Indian.
In 1812, Kewark gave birth to Prince William's great, great, great,
great grandmother Katharine Scott Forbes in Gujarat. Tests reveal that
the Duke of Cambridge carries Kewark's mitochondrial DNA that is only
inherited from mothers. That DNA has previously only been found in 13
Indians and one Nepali.
As the British and Indian media dissect this royal connection, there
is much discussion on how interracial affairs were common at that
time. Armenians and Indians have ties that can be traced to the Mughal
empire. Besides his better-known Hindu and Muslim wives, Emperor Akbar
had an Armenian wife, Mariam Zamani Begum, as well as an Armenian
doctor and chief justice. This has been documented in Armenians in
India by Mesrovb J Seth.
Armenians started migrating to India not just from the land of their
origin, but also from the Middle East during the 16th and 17th
centuries. Today, unofficial counts put their population here at 150.
But that doesn't mean our ties are weakening. The Indian-Armenian
Friendship (IAF), an organisation devoted to inter-cultural ties,
notes that there are Armenian-Indian marriages still taking place in
India. The numbers are not spectacular, but for a community so tiny,
it is
remarkable.
Delhi-based businessman Rananjay Anand first met Armenian theologist
Ruzanna Ashughyan in 2009. By 2011, when Anand made his first visit to
Armenia, they had decided to get married. Their wedding in Yerevan
last year was a big affair - the entire Indian community was present,
including the then Indian ambassador to Armenia and his wife. The duo
live in Delhi.
They interact with the sparse Indian-Armenian community via a Facebook
group that Anand started. `The community is scattered but there's
greater people-to-people interaction. We have found out that there are
a number of Armenian girls married in India,' he says. These women are
the brides of Indians who have studied medicine in Armenia, fallen in
love there and brought their brides back home.
In Kolkata, the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy (ACPA) that
started in 1821 is evidence of centuries-old Indo-Armenian ties. The
college is open to Armenians whose education and lodging is sponsored
by the church and community.
Sevak Vartomiyan, 24, came from Iran in 2003 and studied at La
Martiniere, Kolkata. He is currently doing an IHM degree from ACPA. He
plays rugby for Armenian Sports Club and hopes to represent his
country one day.
The first Armenian church in Agra was consecrated in 1562, possibly
thanks to the patronage of the Mughals. At present, there are four
Armenian churches in Kolkata, one each in Chennai and Mumbai.
Zabel Joshi (Hayakian), the mother of actress Tulip Joshi, is the only
surviving Armenian in Mumbai and, thus, sole trustee of the
215-year-old St Peter's Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in Fort
that was established in 1796. It is now being used by the Malankara
Orthodox Syrians for services.
`The Chennai church is a heritage site. Once a year, a group from
Kolkata, led by one of the two priests in Kolkata, visits these
churches and conducts services,' says Mike Stephen, 44, an Indian
Armenian, and the former caretaker of the Armenian Church of Virgin
Mary in Chennai. His family has been in India since 1860.
`I'm in contact with the college, the priests, and committees through
Facebook, email and phone calls. Besides I have around 3,800 Armenian
friends online from places like Ethiopia, Bulgaria and South Africa,'
he says.
While Stephen revels in the fact that Armenians are so spread out, his
friends are equally impressed that there are still Armenians in India.
The IAF is planning to create an official database of Armenians living
here. `We just want the two countries to come closer together,' says
Anand.
The family tree
Elisabeth (Liz) Chater is much in demand these days. She has dedicated
her life documenting Armenian graves in India. Following the discovery
of Indian DNA in Prince William's genes, Chater has received many
requests asking if she has come across any family connections or grave
markers for Eliza Kewark. `With several hundred Armenian grave markers
still to transcribe, it is difficult to know, but [it's] quite
possible,' says this family history researcher who has a database of
over 10,000 individual Armenians and about 3,000 families who have had
some connection with India over the last three centuries. She
continues to research Armenian families in India and helps the
Indian-Armenian diaspora find their long-lost ancestors.
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/1851681/report-akbar-to-william-the-armenian-connection