Page 42 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

Long History in Brief 43

was a turning point in the history of the east
and had profound consequences for the
Christians in general and the Armenians
in particular. The Christian presence was
deeply shaken, the Christian witness was
jeopardized, and the Christians, including the
Armenians, were squeezed between two rival
Muslim powers, the Turks and the Persians.
In 1555, the treaty of Amasya left Eastern
Armenia under Persian control and Western
Armenia and Cilicia under Ottoman rule.
Life was different under the two rules.
Under the Ottomans, all Christians, Ar-
menians included, faced discrimination and
hardship. Under the Persians, the Armenians
lived in a relatively tolerant environment,
enjoying a limited religious freedom. In order
to prevent the invasion of the Ottoman
armies, Shah Abbas in 1603 deported the
Armenians from the town of Julfa in Nakhi-
jevan to Isfahan in Persia and established the
town of New Julfa. Shah Abbas encouraged
the Armenians to engage in business and
trade and allowed them to build churches
and monasteries and develop their own
culture. The monastery of All-Savior in New
Julfa is still a major center of Armenian
spirituality and culture.
Late in the 18th Century, the Persian
presence was considerably weakened in the
region, which paved the way for the Russian
Empire to move south towards the Cau-