Armenian Church in Old Dhaka: History, Trade Networks, and the Legacy of Armanitola
- devanandpaul
- 9 hours ago
- 4 min read
Explore the history of the Armenian Church in Old Dhaka and the Armenian merchants of Armanitola, and their lasting impact on the city’s trade and education.
When I was working in Bangladesh, I travelled widely across the country. I was based at Dhaka, the capital, a city where history hides in fading façades, old courtyards, and even street names.
One morning, while wandering through the narrow lanes of Old Dhaka, replete with rickshaws and a web of electric wires hanging overhead, a name caught my attention—Armanitola.
It didn’t sound like Bengali.
I later learned that Armanitola means ‘the Armenian quarter’.
How did Armenians become part of Dhaka’s history? I wondered.
A bit of digging led me to a forgotten trading community and a visit to the Armenian Church, one of Old Dhaka’s landmarks.
Arrival of Armenians in Dhaka
The Armenians did not come to Dhaka by chance. Their arrival was part of a larger migration across Asia.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the Armenian region was divided between the Ottoman and Persian Empires. Frequent wars and political instability disrupted daily life, trade, and the economy.
In the early 17th century, the Persian shah Abbas I relocated thousands of Armenian merchants to Isfahan (a city in central Iran) to strengthen Persian trade—a decision that dispersed Armenian communities and reshaped their trading networks. As their networks expanded, they settled in major commercial cities across Asia, wherever trade flourished.
At the same time, Bengal was one of the wealthiest provinces of the Mughal Empire. And Dhaka—famous for its fine muslin—was a thriving centre of international trade. For Armenian merchants already connected to markets in Persia, India, and the Middle East, Dhaka offered both profit and strategic advantage.
Although the exact date of their arrival is unknown, a tombstone from 1714 confirms that Armenians had settled in Dhaka by the early 18th century. Over time, they established their community in what became known as Armanitola.
Armenian Merchants and Muslin Trade
Armenian merchants engaged in Dhaka’s textile trade, financing weavers, supervising production, and exporting muslin through ports like Surat (a city in western India), from where the fabric travelled to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
Their strength lay in their family networks across Asia, through which they shared information, reduced risks, and maintained steady profits, in turn allowing them to compete with Indian merchants and European trading companies.
By the mid-19th century, many expanded into jute and leather, becoming early participants in Dhaka’s then growing jute industry.
The Armenian Church (Holy Resurrection Church)
The Armenian community grew, and in 1781 they built the Holy Resurrection Church in Armanitola. It was erected on a land (donated by Agaminus Catchik, a prominent Armenian merchant) that had earlier been an Armenian cemetery. Many old tombstones still remain within the church compound today.
Funded by Armenian families in Dhaka, the church stretches about 750 feet and has two storeys, with four doors and twenty-seven arched windows. It has a central prayer hall with rectangular side sections, a spiral staircase leading to balconies, a 14-foot-wide aisle, and a marble baptismal font. The church features some paintings by Charles Port.
About 50 years later, a clock tower was added, which was destroyed in the 1897 earthquake. The cemetery holds around 350 graves, including that of Catchik Avatik Thomas, a famous Armenian merchant. It has a statue of his wife and an inscription ‘Best of Husband’.
Mother Teresa visited the church during her 1996 trip to Dhaka.
Armenian Contributions to Dhaka
Apart from their contributions to the economy, the Armenians were also involved in Dhaka’s urban development and education. In 1848, Nicholas Pogose, a merchant, founded Pogose School, one of the oldest schools in the city.
Through business, philanthropy, and education, the Armenians became an integral part of Dhaka’s social fabric.
Decline of the Armenian Community
After the British victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, Bengal’s economic structure slowly shifted. Over the following decades, the British East India Company gained control over revenue and trade.
Commercial activities moved towards Calcutta. And large European agency houses started dominating textile and, later, jute exports, along with shipping, insurance, and banking.
It became harder for Armenian merchants to compete, forcing many Armenian families to move to Calcutta or emigrate to some other country; thus, their population in Dhaka steadily declined.
The Armenian Church in Old Dhaka Today
Today, the Holy Resurrection Church is a protected heritage site maintained by the government of Bangladesh. Despite no permanent Armenian congregation in Dhaka anymore, the church remains open during the day and occasionally holds services.
It stands as a reminder that Dhaka was once connected to global trade routes through a small but influential community.
History doesn’t always shout.
Sometimes it waits—in old stones and forgotten street names—for someone to notice.
And for me it was a single word on a signboard that led to the unravelling of the history of the Armenian Church in Old Dhaka.
Related posts:
Hi Dev, Your passion for exploring new places is amazing. Good to know how the trade in olden days had no barriers, they just crossed the borders to make trade.
Thalaivaa we are absolutely transported by your brilliant article on the Armenian Church in Dhaka. Your meticulous research shines with historical accuracy and engages us in trade networks and cultural legacies with such flair that learning feels like an adventure.
We didn’t just read history — we experienced it! Every paragraph is presented with refreshing clarity and surprising depth, making complex contexts wonderfully accessible. Dev, your narrative is so compelling that we couldn’t help but smile — truly, your exploration never ends, it only invites us to explore further! Bow to Thee, Dev!