Movses Baghramian () was an 18th-century Armenian writer and activist. He was a collaborator of the Indo-Armenian activists

Joseph Emin Joseph Emin (, ; 1726 – 2 August 1809) was an Indo-Armenian traveler, writer and patriot who sought to achieve the liberation of Armenia from Persian and Ottoman rule. He wrote an autobiography titled ''The Life and Adventures of Joseph Emin ...

and

Shahamir Shahamirian Shahamir Shahamirian (; 1723–1797) was an 18th-century Armenian writer, philosopher, and wealthy merchant in Madras (modern-day Chennai, India). Born in New Julfa, Iran, he moved to India where he became an affluent merchant and an active member ...

and played an important role in running the printing press founded by Shahamirian in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. He wrote the work (New booklet called exhortation), which calls on Armenians to fight for the liberty of their country. It has been called "the first journalistic-political work" in the Armenian context.

Biography

He was born in

Karabakh Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...

and studied under a named Gevorg in Julfa. He lived for some time in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 1762–67, he cooperated with his relative

in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

in order to organise an Armenian uprising against Persian and Ottoman rule. Baghramian left the Caucasus after becoming convinced that Emin's plan for an uprising was unrealistic. In 1768 he settled in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and became an active member of

's group. Baghramian tutored Shahamirian's son Hakob in

Classical Armenian Classical Armenian (, , ; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and most Armenian literature fro ...

and played an important role in running the printing press that the Shahamirians had founded. In 1773 Baghramian's work (New booklet called exhortation) was published at the Madras Armenian press. According to Sebouh Aslanian and Vazken Ghougassian, Baghramian co-authored the work with Hakob Shahamirian. has been called "the first journalistic-political work" in the Armenian context and "the cornerstone of Armenian political literature." The work summarizes Armenian history, blaming the misfortunes of the Armenians on the despotic rule and arbitrariness of their native rulers and on Armenians' ignorance, laziness, carelessness and disunity. calls for the Armenian youth to conduct armed struggle for the freedom of their homeland. Some scholars have interpreted as calling for a constitutional monarchy, while others argue that it is calling for the establishment of an Armenian democratic republic. Baghramian's work was received extremely negatively by the Armenian Catholicos Simeon of Yerevan, who saw the book's ideas as dangerous. Simeon excommunicated Baghramian from the Armenian Church. Baghramian spent the next seven years in exile in Persia, Yemen and Egypt, working as a commercial agent for Shahamir Shahamirian. The excommunication was lifted by Simeon's successor

Ghukas Karnetsi Ghukas Karnetsi (; 1722 – 28 December 1799) was Catholicos of All Armenians (head of the Armenian Church) in Etchmiadzin from 1780 to 1799. He succeeded his former teacher Simeon of Yerevan and continued many of his policies. He was catholicos ...

in 1780 after Shahamirian's repeated requests. Movses later moved to Bombay, apparently having become wealthy as Shahamirian's agent. At one point, he was visited by his relative Joseph Emin, who writes in his autobiography that he found Movses "transformed, behaving imperiously and haughtily." In 1795 Baghramian published articles in the Madras Armenian periodical ''

Azdarar ''Azdarar'' () (pronounced Aztarar in Western Armenian) was the first Armenian language Armenian (endonym: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the sole member of the independent branch of the Armenian language famil ...

'' (1794–96) under the pseudonym ('Armenian, son of an Armenian'). According to Tadevos Avdalbegyan, he also wrote the extended appendix to a 1796 publication of Abraham of Crete's history.

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* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baghramian, Movses Armenian nationalists Armenian revolutionaries Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 18th-century Armenian writers Armenian political writers Armenian male writers