From the Indian Ocean
to the Mediterranean:
The Global Trade Networks of Armenian
Merchants from New Julfa
A Lecture by
Dr. Sebouh Aslanian
Richard Hovannisian Term Chair of Modern Armenian History, Established by the Armenian Educational Foundation, University of California, Los Angeles
Co-Sponsored by
The Ararat-Eskijian Museum
The Armenian Society of Los Angeles
The Armenian Society of Los Angeles
The Armenian Educational Foundation
and
The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
The Armenian Society of Los Angeles, Main Hall
117 S. Louise Street
Glendale, CA 91205
Drawing on a rich trove of documents, including correspondence not seen for 300 years, Dr. Sebouh Aslanian’s groundbreaking study From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean (University of California Press) explores the emergence and growth of a remarkable global trade network operated by Armenian silk merchants from a small outpost in the Persian Empire. Based in New Julfa, Isfahan, in what is now Iran, these merchants operated a network of commercial settlements that stretched from London and Amsterdam to Manila and Acapulco.
Aslanian brings to light the trans-imperial cosmopolitan world of the New Julfans, the effects of long distance trade on the organization of community life, the ethos of trust and cooperation that existed among merchants, and the importance of information networks and communication in the operation of early modern mercantile communities.
Sebouh David Aslanian is the Richard Hovannisian Term Chair of Modern Armenian History, established by the Armenian Educational Foundation, at the department of history at UCLA. He has taught at the department of history at CSU-Long Beach as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2010 after serving a year at Cornell University as a Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral fellow in world history. He received his Ph.D. (with distinction) from Columbia University in 2007.
From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean was selected by the Committee of the “California World History Library” as the first book to appear in their new series, “Author’s Imprint,” that celebrates and recognizes “exceptional scholarship by first-time authors.” It has received the 2011 Houshang Pourshariati Book Award in Iranian Studies and the PEN literary award for outstanding first book of the year from UC Press.
From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean will be on sale and available for signing by the author.
Praise for From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean:
“The most researched and original work” on the subject that “exceeds, by far, all previous scholarship on the Armenian merchants of New Julfa.”
–Prof. George Bournoutian
For more information about this free event contact the Ararat-Eskijian Museum at 818-838-4862 or Ararat-eskijian-museum@netzero.net; the Armenian Educational Foundation at 818-242-4154; the Armenian Society of Los Angeles at 818-241-1073; or NAASR at 617-489-1610 or hq@naasr.org
email: hq@naasr.org
phone: 617-489-1610
web: http://www.naasr.org