«Ծովահենություն և հայկական ծովային առևտուր» - Յուրի ԲԱՐՍԵՂՈՎ

Yuri Barsegov's article is devoted to the analysis of piracy as one of the key factors determining the conditions and risks of Armenian maritime trade in the 15th–18th centuries, in the period following the fall of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and the loss of the protection of a national fleet.

Introduction and Methodology
The author draws on a wide range of sources — chronicles and notes of contemporaries (Simeon Lehatsi, Zakaria Akulisi, Grigor Daranaghtsi), Carmelite chronicles, diplomatic correspondence, and merchant letters from the archives of Julfa, Surat, and Madras — reconstructing a picture of systematic attacks on Armenian merchants and seafarers in various regions of maritime trade.

Key Thesis
The article's central argument is that Armenian merchants, deprived of state military protection, became a favored target of two types of piracy:
• "Barbary" piracy, supported by the Ottoman Empire and directed against Christian merchants;
• European piracy and privateering, which exploited the formal pretext of Armenians' belonging to "Muslim" powers (the Ottoman Empire, Persia, Golconda).

The Mediterranean and the Complaints of Armenian Merchants
The author cites evidence of appeals by Armenian merchants to the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich complaining of attacks by "Barbary corsairs," emphasizing the systemic nature of the threat to trade routes.

The Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean
The article examines specific episodes of clashes between Armenians and pirates of Muscat and other areas of the Arabian coast, and analyzes in detail European colonial expansion as a source of violence against Armenian seafaring:
• the Portuguese blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and discriminatory licensing prohibitions;
• the methods of the English East India Company — coercion into chartering English ships, prohibitions on selling weapons and hiring crews, and direct encouragement of piracy;
• the activities of notorious pirates (Captain Kidd, Barnaby, White) against Armenian ships.

The "Manila Galleons" and the Strait of Malacca
Particular attention is paid to the Armenian trade in American silver via Manila and the systematic seizure of "silver" ships in the Strait of Malacca by English captains (Bowes, Cook), acting with the connivance of the East India Company.

Colonial Wars and the Losses of Armenian Merchants
Based on merchant correspondence from the late 18th century (letters of Hovhannes Ter-Nerses, Agha Hovhandjan Hakob Gerakeants, Hovhannes Set), the article shows how Anglo-French rivalry and wars with local rulers (Hyder Ali, the Marathas) led to catastrophic financial losses for Armenian trading houses.

Conclusion
The author concludes that piracy and privateering, closely tied to the policies of the colonial powers and the Ottoman Empire, became one of the decisive factors undermining the monopoly position of Armenian merchants in the international maritime trade of silk, silver, and Eastern goods, hastening the decline of what had once been a powerful trading network spanning virtually the entire known world.