The RAA expedition led by monument expert Samvel Karapetian began its activities in India in 2011. Over the course of 21 days, the group photographed and measured Armenian inscriptions in 9 former Armenian-populated settlements in India: Agra, Bombay, Gwalior, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Madras, Chinsurah, Saidabad, and Surat, regardless of their size, content, preservation, or language: Armenian, Persian, English, Latin, Georgian, French, and Portuguese.
As a result of a comprehensive study that took about 13 years, they were published in 2024, in a book entitled “ THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MAJOR ARMENIAN SETTLEMENTS OF INDIA” by Raffi Kortoshian. The work includes a total of 2291 inscriptions, about eighty percent of which are published for the first time.
According to the author, in recent years, new archival documents related to the history, culture, lifestyle and other areas of the Armenians of India have been discovered, studied and published.
To make the collected materials accessible to scholars, researchers, Armenologists, and other specialists, the Research on Armenian Architecture Foundation, in addition to the book, is now preparing to publish the entire collected inscriptions, with photographs and illustrations, on its website: www.Armenianarchitecture.org.
1 The RAA Foundation’s expedition in the Agra cemetery.
2 The RAA Foundation’s expedition in the Tangra cemetery.
3 At the presentation, Raffi Kortoshian dedicates the book to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Armenia, Mrs. Nilakshi Saha Sinha
4 Tombstone of Harutyun, son of Grigor Baba-Panos of Julfa, 1717, Madras.
5 Tombstone of the famous Calcutta merchant Jntluments Khachik Arakel, 1790, Calcutta.
6 The tombstone of Khoja Hovhannes Margar, the most famous merchant of Chinsura, 1697, Chinsura.
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PS – After this publication,we received a letter, that the same work is now being done in India by another group, led by an Indian citizen of Armenian descent, Michael Stephan and supported by the British Library. They sent us the following link to their work: https://armenianweekly.com/2025/10/28/saving-forgotten-voices-in-stone-armenian-epigraphic-heritage-across-india/
