The organization of the Armenian community in Baghdad began after the city came under Ottoman rule. To explore the roots of this community, it is essential to record the following historical facts:
According to the Armenian historian Arakel of Tabriz (Ar’oun Darbigtzi), Armenians, at different times, migrated in successive stages or were forcibly relocated from Armenia to Persia. Some of them later moved to Iraq. It is noteworthy that in the year 1605, after Shah Abbas captured the cities of Nakhichevan and Yerevan, he forcibly relocated more than 12,000 Armenians to Isfahan in Persia. This was due to his appreciation of the Armenians’ vitality and industriousness and his desire to benefit from them.
The majority of these Armenians were from the city of Julfa. Near Isfahan, they established a new city which they named “New Julfa” (Nor Jugha), in memory of their original hometown. Over time, and during the reign of Shah Abbas, New Julfa flourished and was filled with churches, religious schools, and public buildings.
However, during the reigns of Shah Abbas’s successors, the Armenians in New Julfa and Hamadan were subjected to looting and persecution, which led most of them to migrate to India and other regions through Basra. A portion of them settled in Baghdad. A small number of them still live in New Julfa today, preserving their Julfan Armenian dialect and customs.
See also: The Armenian community in Basra (Formation of the Basran Armenians).
Thus, a significant part of the Armenian population in Baghdad are migrants from Persia and are considered part of the mass relocation carried out by Shah Abbas, King of Persia, who moved Armenians from Armenia to various regions in Persia. As a result, the group of Armenians from Hamadan who migrated to Baghdad brought with them the Armenian dialect, customs, and traditions.
Later, Armenians from the Ottoman Empire also arrived in Baghdad, from regions such as Diyarbakir, Siirt, Urfa, Adana, and Izmir. Each group brought its own local dialect, and over time, these dialects merged to form what is now known as the dialect of the “original Armenians” in Baghdad.
Although the Armenian language spoken by Baghdad Armenians has been influenced by its environment over the years and has undergone some distortion, it still retains its original structure and character. It is considered part of the Eastern Armenian dialects.
Despite the small size of the community, the “originals” have been able to preserve their mother tongue in this relatively isolated setting.
Linguistically, this language and its dialect are known as the “Iraqi-Armenian dialect,” and a small number of the “original Baghdad Armenians” still speak it today.
As for the Armenians of Siirt, since they speak Arabic, they may also be considered part of the local population.
