Shahamir Shahamirian
Shahamir Shahamirian was an 18th-century writer and philosopher, notable figure in the Armenian liberation movement and a wealthy Armenian merchant in Madras.[1] Shahamirian was born in New Julfa, Iran.[2] He then moved to India where he became an affluent merchant. In 1771, Shahamirian found the first Armenian printing press in Madras.[3] In 1772 Shahamirian published the first work of Armenian political philosophy.[4] He promoted the vision of a state, a revolutionary idea in the 18th century among Armenians.[5]
Armenian constitution
Shahamirs work was to pursue his views on an independent Armenian nation, which is scholarly regarded as the first ever draft constitution of an independent Armenia.
Every human being, whether Armenian or of some other race, whether man or woman, born in Armenia or brought there from another country, shall live in equality and shall be free in all their occupations. Nobody shall have the right to enslave another person and workers should be paid like in any other kind of job, as is laid down in Armenian legislation.[6]
Notable work
References
- Kirakosyan, Jon. The Armenian genocide: the Young Turks before the judgment of history. pp. xxviii.
- Aslanian, Sebouh. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. pp. xvi.
- Hacikyan, Agop. The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Eighteenth Century to Modern Times. p. 160.
- Garebian, Keith. Pain: journeys around my parents. p. 19.
- Suny, Ronald Grigor. A Question of Genocide: Armenians and Turks at the End of the Ottoman Empire. p. 340.
- Shahamirian, Shahamir (1773). Vorogayt parats (Snare of Glory). pp. Article 3.
- Hovannisian, Richard G. The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times. p. 146.