November 28, 2011
On Friday November 4th, Dr. George Bournoutian, author and professor of East European and Middle Eastern Studies at Iona College, New York, returned to Toronto to deliver his thought-provoking lecture entitled “1823 Russian Survey of Karabagh as a Proof of Armenian Presence in the Region” at AGBU’s Alex Manoogian Cultural Centre in Toronto.
In his lecture, Dr. Bournoutian presented findings from his research on Karabagh – the result of 6 months of inquiry during which he worked 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. Dr. Bournoutian’s evidence focused on a copy of the original version of the 1823 Russian Survey on Karabagh which the professor stumbled upon in 2010 after an arduous search. After studying this survey at length, Bournoutian discovered that it provided, for the very first time, reliable information about the Armenian presence at the time in the entire Karabagh province (not just mountainous Karabagh). Bournoutian noted that the survey provides population numbers as well as information regarding tax payments among different populations groups (given that the purpose of the study was to determine the amount of money Russia would collect from each area). Most importantly, the survey provided evidence indicating that there was a strong Armenian presence in mountainous Karabagh prior to 1828. Specifically, it showed that Armenians formed 96.6% of the population of mountainous Karabagh. In addition, the survey proved the existence of a large Armenian population in Zangezur – over 83% of the population. Even though overall, Armenians formed about 25% of the population of entire Karabagh in 1822, the information provided in this survey, Bournoutian remarked, was groundbreaking.
Dr. Bournoutian subsequently explained that some historians deliberately deleted references to this Armenian presence in certain reproductions of the survey published later, and that these doctored versions of record books were subsequently sent to universities in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Until recently, there has never been statistical information on the population of Karabagh prior to 1828. The availability of this new data allowed attendees of Dr. Bournoutian’s lecture to gain a greater understanding of the Karabagh situation all the while serving as a reminder that one must always be critical of the information he or she reads. Finally, Bournoutian’s talk stirred debate about the manner in which perspective and political interest shapes historical documentation.