1375-1650 CE
From 1375 to 1650 CE, the Armenians perfected the art of survival without sovereignty — Cilicia fallen, their homeland divided between Ottoman and Safavid, they scattered as merchants from Amsterdam to Manila, their trading networks spanning continents while their villages burned. Shah Abbas deported thousands to Isfahan's New Julfa; others found refuge in Venetian monasteries. A nation without a state kept its alphabet, its faith, and its memories alive in exile.