BOOK OF ARMENIAN HISTORY BY ARAKEL OF TABRIZ BACK IN PRINT

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Published: Monday May 03, 2010

Arakel of Tabriz cover.

Costa Mesa – Mazda Publishers has announced the release of the
one-volume hardcover edition of Book of History by Arakel of Tabriz
in a newly revised annotated translated by George Bournoutian, with
a new introduction.

The book first appeared in two paperback volumes several years ago
and was soon out of print. It received good reviews and was cited by
numerous scholars.

Arakel’s Book of History is one of the main primary sources for the
history of Armenia, Iran, Georgia and Ottoman Turkey in the seventeenth
century. Arakel’s unique account of the Turco-Persian wars and their
terrible consequences for the Armenian people, which resulted in the
deportation of some 200,000 Armenians to Iran and the establishment
of the Armenian community in New Julfa, is the sole non-Persian source
on the subject.

In addition, Arakel’s describes the Iranian invasions of Georgia, as
well as the Jelali revolts and its effect on Armenia. Moreover Arakel,
a vardapet at Etchmiadzin, explains the decline and the corruption
of the Holy See, during the long period when it had more than one
catholicos at the same time (coadjutors) and its revival after 1629;
the establishment of important monastic schools in eastern Armenia; the
problems faced by the Armenians in Poland; the hardships experienced
by the Jews in Iran; natural disasters, such as earthquakes and fires;
and the amazing messianic movement of Sabbatai Sevi, which took place
in Izmir and spread among the Jews living in Ottoman Turkey.

One of the most important and lengthiest chapters is the chronology
of significant events, which occurred in Armenia, Iran, and Ottoman
Turkey from 651 to 1668, which Arakel compiled from various small
chronicles located in the library at Etchmiadzin.

The new edition of Arakel’s Book of History (number 16 in the Armenian
Studies Series, $65, xiii+637 pp.) will be available in all Armenian
bookstores, as well as Amazon and Barnes and Nobles in mid-May. It
can also be obtained directly from Mazdapub.com