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"MANUK: From Armenian manuk "child".
The corresponding surname is Manukyan."
One branch of the Zohrab family
left Persia (Iran) for Turkey around 1795, in order to escape a politically-motivated
massacre of the Zohrab family then being carried out by the then
Shah of Persia. The "Manuk branch" of the family probably
left Iran for India around 1795 -- for the same reason, or possibly
for financial reasons, following the economic consequences of the Afghan
invasion of Persia in 1722. The time of their departure is indicated
by the fact that all five children of Manook
and Hannai (Anne) were born in New Julfa (near Isfahan, Persia)
before 1795 and died either in India, the Dutch East
Indies (now Indonesia), or on the way there, after
1795.
One branch of this Persian clan called itself MANU(C)K (MANOOK),
after a grandson of Zohrab I of that Christian name: Manuk
Simon ZOHRAB, in the male line.
Mrs Mary Arathoon
was generously and vigorously assisted (i.e. in the 1854 rebuilding
of the Armenian Church of St. John, in Calcutta) by her maiden sister,
Miss Thagoohie Manook.
The two sisters had inherited the entire wealth of their bachelor
brother, Gevorg Manook....
Mary was apparently also known as Mariam.
Mirzaian (1966) also states
(page 213) that the Armenian church of St. George in Surabaya (Dutch
East Indies) "was constructed in the year 1927 at the entire
cost of the following generous and benevolent ladies and gentlemen:
Jacob Arathoon, George Manuk, Mrs. Mary Arathoon and Miss Thagoohie
Manuk...." On page 215, the same book also refers to the "Manook
and Arathoon School in Surabaya."
According to Judge Edgar
Zorab Kevork (George) Manuk(ian)
Manuchariants (nicknamed "The Millionaire"),
son of Manook and grandson of Simon, was born in 1767 in New Julfa,
lived in British India for a while, and died unmarried on 21.10.1827
in Batavia (now called Jakarta). When Napoleon annexed Holland, Kevork
refused to assist the British in capturing the Dutch East Indies,
on the grounds of his friendship with the Dutch. George and his brother
Malcolm assumed the Armenian title "Asphet" (= "Knight").
His cousin Marcar, at some stage, received
confirmation of his noble ancestry, so is probably no coincidence
that they assumed this title. They probably kept in contact
with each other, as have other members of the family.
Armeniapedia.org (as on 18/3/2014) states as follows:
About the last quarter of the 18th century the most
notable and distinguished Armenian merchant was Agha Gevorg Manuck
(Zorab) Manucharian, born in Julfa in 1767, from poor and respectable
parents. He came to Java from Madras, with a substantial capital....
He imported goods from Calcutta and Madras and exported Indonesian
products. ... in 1808 the Dutch East India Company floated a
loan to which he subscribed a substantial amount. He enjoyed
the full confidence ... of the Governor-General....
...
The late Gevorg (Zorab) Manucharian and his sisters
Mrs. Mariam Arathooun and Miss Thaguhi Manuck as well as Agha Hacob
Arathoon, until the present day, are held in the highest degree of
veneration and reverence by the Community. To honour their sacred
and immortal memory and in grateful appreciation for their admirable,
praiseworthy and charitable service to social, religious and educational
institutions in Indonesia, Iran and India, the Community annually
holds a memorial church requiem service on a special fixed day, for
the repose of their souls.
The following information (edited by me) about Kevork's
sister Takouhi (Thagoohi)
was kindly supplied by Mr. Jon Metes:
The
Armenian church in Singapore was built in 1835. The architect
who built it was George Coleman, an Irishman. He also built a large
mansion on the most prominent site in Singapore for his mistress,
Takouhi Manuk, Kevork's sister. She was a generous benefactor and
donated some of the church silver. Takouhi bore Coleman an illegitimate
daughter, Elizabeth. Records show that the child was baptized in the
Anglican Cathedral in Singapore. Coleman ultimately married one of
his own kind, and Takouhi remained a spinster.
There is still a building called Manuk House within the Bangabhaban
compound. It is conjectured that it belonged to an Armenian zamindar
named Manuk during British rule. Nawab khwaja abdul ghani of Dhaka
bought the place from Manuk.
Other evidence that the Manuk/Manook branch of
the Zohrab/Zorab family used Manuk/Manook as a surname:
-
-
-
The tombstone captions for Johannes Malcum Manuk and Zohrab
Malcolm Manuk (see the page: manukgra.html
),
seem to fit the identities of the Johannes and Zorab individuals
mentioned on the family tree at
Generation 5, on the page ztbltre1.html , because:
a. They were of approximately the correct dates for a fit;
b. The older of the two on the tree was also the older according
to the tombstones;
c. On the tombs, they both had "Malcum/Malcolm"
as their middle name, which implies that their father was
called that (according to traditional Armenian naming practices),
as indeed is stated on the family tree;
d. It is plausible that the individuals on the tree used "Manuk"
as a surname because that was the name of their grandfather,
and because of what is stated above.
e. And, of course, the Christian names on the tombstones match
those on the family tree.
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