Long before 1915, Armenian merchants operated one of history's most far-flung commercial diasporas — trading houses across India (Surat, Calcutta, Madras), Southeast Asia (Singapore, Java, Batavia), and the Persian Gulf, largely seeded from New Julfa. In Madras, Armenians arrived by the late 16th century and built the Saint Mary's Armenian Church (completed 1712), one of the oldest churches on the Indian subcontinent.
339Armenian Diaspora
