This paper examines the significant impact of religious identity on the commercial activities of Armenian Christian merchants operating in Muslim spaces between the 15th and 18th centuries. Drawing on primary sources including Armenian chronicles, colophons of Armenian manuscripts, and European travel accounts, the study examines how religious identity created both obstacles and opportunities for Armenian merchants. The results show that Armenian merchants faced systematic disadvantages and challenges compared to Muslim merchants on the one hand, including higher customs duties, vulnerability to confiscation of property and physical threats based solely on religious identity, and on the other hand compared to European merchants who operated largely under state protection or within large trading organizations such as the East India Companies. We have categorized these problems into three main groups: physical harassment and violence, economic discrimination through differential taxation and pressure to convert. At the same time, the Christian identity of Armenian merchants sometimes facilitated diplomatic missions and trade relations with European powers. However, unlike European merchants who enjoyed protection in the form of surrender treaties and the support of trading companies, Armenian merchants largely lacked institutional support in Muslim territories. This study contributes to the understanding of the intersection of religion, trade networks and cross-cultural commercial relations in the pre-modern Middle East by emphasizing that religious affiliation served as both a burden and a strategic asset for minority merchant communities.
Gor Margaryan (Sun,) studied this question.