History of the Armenian Church and Armenian Community in Dhaka:

The Armenians were very expert in trade business. It is assumed that they came to the Indian subcontinent in 17^th century for importing spices, stones, Moslin cloth and silks from here.

At first they started their trade business in Kolkata (Calcatta) and Delhi and later expanded to Dhaka and other cities. Though they were small in number but they used to rule in trade business of Dhaka during 18th and 19^th century. Armenians first introduced our golden fiber ‘Jute’ to the outer world.

– Armenian Church, 1781, Bangladesh

Wherever the Armenians went, they built churches for their prayers. They owned some land in Armanitola, Dhaka for prayers during the ruling period of Mughal Badshsh Akbar. There they built a beautiful looking church in the year 1781 which is called Armenian Church, Dhaka. The tower tomb of the church stood with a clock and it could be seen even from Narayanganj (15 km away from Dhaka). The sweet sound of the church bell used to create a pleasant environment in the surrounding areas. The tower was damaged in the earthquake of 1897. Later a smaller tower was built during reconstruction.But the clock was not fixed again.

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When the British period ended and Pakistan period started here, the Jute and Nil (kind of trees that are used to produce the colour of blue) trade business started to make loss and 13  Jute mills were made closed. So, the Armenians started leaving the country and searching for other countries to start their business.

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The present Armenian Church:

The Armenian Church is still standing surrounded by hundreds of years old graves with white marble monuments mostly. There are some with black marbles, too.

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At present the church is colored in Yellow and White. A traditional stylish spiral wooden staircase is still beautifying the indoor. There are four traditional church bells in the tower. M J Martin is the present caretaker of the church.

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Accessibility:

For security and maintenance purposes the Armenian Church always remains closed at present. One needs to take special permission from the authority to enter the church.

Reference:

the Daily Kaaler Kantha (দৈনিক কালের কন্ঠ) [10 July, 2010].

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