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Descendants
of Zohrab of the Manuchariants
The Zorab Branch |
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Three branches of the Zohrab family settled in British India and/or
the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), and some of them changed the spelling
of their surname to "Zorab" -- apparently in order to distinguish themselves
from the Parsee family called "Zohrab". Some of them used the
surname "Manuk" -- see zdetail3.html
. It is not certain which of them came from Iran and which (if
any) came from Holland. According to a history
of the Safavid dynasty,
"After Shah Abbas ousted the Portuguese from the island of
Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf in 1622, Bandar Abbas (Port
of Abbas) became the center of the East India Company's trade. But Later
the Dutch East India Company received trade capitulations from Shah
Abbas. The Dutch soon gained supremacy in the European trade with Iran,
outdistancing British competitors."
Baladouni & Makepeace (1998)
describe how the British East India Company was trying to take the place
of the Armenians in the cloth/silk trade. Since the Armenians
were very influential in the Persian economy under Shah Abbas I, they
were presumably able to persuade the Shah to trust the Dutch, rather
than the British.
If the Dutch and the British were the two main European trading powers
in Iran, they would have been the Europeans who the merchants of the
Zohrab/Zorab/Manuk family there would have been most likely to get to
know. That perhaps explains why some Zorabs/Zohrabs/Manuks ended
up in the Dutch East Indies and British India.
Mackertich Zorabian moved to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia)
in 1815, according to Hans Zorab.
The year 1815 marked the end of
the Napoleonic Wars, which are significant as far as Kevork
(George) Manuk(ian) Manuchariants was concerned. George was
extremely rich, had lent money to the Dutch government, and had refused
to help the British take over the Dutch East Indies during the Napoleonic
Wars, because of his friendship with the Dutch. His wealth and
good connections with the Dutch authorities probably encouraged Mackertich
to join him there (the Zohrabs/Zorabs/Manuks seem to keep
in contact with each other).
It seems likely that the first Zorab to move to India was Manook
Zorab a younger brother of Mackertich. Manook is said to be the
one who dropped the "h" in the spelling of his surname.
He is unlikely to have moved by himself to India in 1815, since he would
have been only four years old at that time, so he probably went later,
or went initially to the Dutch East Indies with his brother. Mackertich
and Manook were possibly living in Persia at the time of their move,
but they could have moved from Holland. Wikipedia
states:
Many Armenian merchants in Amsterdam went to Southeast Asia in
the 19th century to trade, and to set up factories and plantations,
establishing a community of Armenians in Java.
The Napoleonic Wars were also important to the Armenians in Amsterdam.
Wikipedia states:
The Napoleonic wars put an end to the Armenian life in the Netherlands.
The city of Amsterdam was almost depopulated after its occupation by
the French.
When India and Indonesia became independent in the 20th century, most
or all Zorab family members moved to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands
or Australia.
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Zorabs in Persia
According to Ter-Gregorian
(cited in Zeller), "The Zorab
family of New-Julpha is the only family there who, from generation to
generation, have contributed to the Armenian literature as well as teaching
that language."
Descendants of "Zohrab I" who spelled their surname as "Zorab"
were probably descendants of Zohrabs who had migrated to India, because
it was there that the Zohrabs dropped the "h" in their surname
to avoid confusion with the Parsees of that name.
Minas Mackertich Zorab
(1833-1896) was a successful painter, who painted several icons in the
Armenian churches of New Julfa, Isfahan, Iran. There may have been another
Minas Zo(h)rab(ian) who was a painter in the 17th Century, according
to Judge Edgar Zorab. This could be the book which mentions the
17th century painter: Die
Kultur Armeniens. |
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Zorabs in the United Kingdom
The Zorabs in British India seem mostly
to have settled in the United Kingdom, when India became independent.
An important case in the law of Trusts involved Charles
Peter Zorab as one of the parties, since he was a trustee of two
trusts associated with the famous British Armenian millionnaire, Calouste
Gulbenkian. There were three cases (the basic case, and then appeals
to two higher courts in succession). The final, House of Lords case
was called: Whishaw and Another Appellants v Stephens and Others
Respondents [1968] 3 W.L.R. 1127.
(Click on the photographs to get an enlarged view.) |
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There was a "dynasty" of Zorab medical people, which started
in British India and later moved to Britain (see the page on Zorabs
in India). Of this dynasty, Dr.John
Zorab, Anaesthetist, Lecturer at University of Bristol, Vice-President
of Association of Anaesthetists, and President of World Federation of
Societies of Anaesthesiologists,
was an expert on the Zorab branch of the Zohrab family. He provided
a lot of the information which is on this website. He also obtained
the official Zorab Grant of Arms, involving
the Zorab Coat of Arms, Zorab
Crest and Zohrab/Zorab Badge.
Four of the five brothers (John was too young at the time) served
as officers in the British army during World War II. The family home
in Southampton was flattened by a German enemy bomb, luckily their mother
Olive and some younger family were out at the time. Phillip was an artillery
officer and via the front in North Africa and Italy ended up in Greece
during the liberation there but was caught up in the civil war there.
Edward his brother pioneered eye operations at field hospitals at the
front. John later went to the war in Vietnam assisting the USA anaesthesia
doctors and gaining valuable experience which he used when specialising
in the head injury and A&E units at Frenchay hospital, Bristol.
(Click on the photographs to get an enlarged view.) |
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Zorabs in Africa
(Click on the photograph to get an enlarged view.) |
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A
dissertation on water conservation mentions
Rex Zorab as having been the Environment Manager, Harmony, Chairman
of WBEC at Randfontein, South Africa in 2008. |
Zorabs in Australasia
Gerald Zorab,
born 1928, an Armenian Dutchman previously resident in Java, Dutch East
Indies (Indonesia), applied in 1946 for registration as an alien in
Australia, and later for naturalisation. He had spent 3 1/2 years
interned by the Japanese during World War II. |
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Gerald Zorab, 1946
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Webmaster |
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Latest Update |
11 October 2015
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