Yacoub Artin Chrakian: A Pasha from a tradition
Description: Boghos Bey Yousoufian
Location: NA
Source: Art-A-Tsolum
In this previous article we introduced Yacoub Artin Chrakian or Yacoub Artin Pasha, an Armenian education minister in Egypt around the turn of the century who wrote a book titled ‘England in the Sudan’ describing his journey through Sudan including his interactions with the early Armenians there. You can read that article here. Yacoub Artin followed in the footsteps of his Father Artin Bey.
‘Though not numerous, [they] are influential’
Yacoub Artin Chrakian and his Father, Artin Bey, were Armenians from a few families who formed a unique bureaucratic class providing approximately 32 bureaucrats for the Egyptian governments of Muhammed Ali and his descendants. As discussed in our article exploring Egypt’s Armenian heritage, Muhammed Ali was said to have had positive interactions with Armenians in Constantinople when he was a tobacco merchant. When Muhammed Ali became the governor of a semi-autonomous Egypt, Boghos Bey Yousoufian, a experienced dragoman (translator) and merchant with experience in Smyrna and Trieste, was appointed his chief dragoman. He became Egypt’s leading statesmen being trusted by the governor on all matters and in particular in foreign affairs.
“Boghos has been given several carte blanches by the Wali, and could draw on the treasury for any sum whenever he needed funds for himself. He was never paid a regular salary but the Wali trusted him to do as he pleased in terms of payment. For a man as suspicious as Mohamed Ali was, this was a signal proof of trust and a unique favor allowed to no one else”
Description: The grave of Boghos Bey Yousoufian
Location: Alexandria, Egypt
Source: Vahe Boghosian 2025
Boghos Bey Yousoufian encouraged migration of Armenians to Egypt, particularly from his hometown of Smyrna. This included both those from upper classes to work in government, and others to be craftsmen and traders in an Egypt that was modernising as per Muhammed Ali’s vision. Boghos also used his wealth to establish the Armenian community institutions in Alexandria, donating wealth and property to the Armenian church and school. Consequently a number of Armenians became notable for their work in the Egyptian bureaucracy including:
Yacoub Bey Yousoufian - Chief Minister
Nubar Pasha - Prime Minister
Garabed Agha Kalusdian - Director of the Bulaq Customs House
Mahdesi Yeghiazar Amira Bedrossian - Finance Minister
Arakel Bey Abroian - Governor in Sudan
Arakel Bey Nubarian - Governor in Sudan
Ohan Dermijian - Ambassador to Sweden
Dikran Pasha D’Abro - Foreign Minister
Artin Bey Chrakian - Foreign Minister
Apraham Karahekia - Finance Minister
Joseph Hekekyan - Government Engineer
Yacoub Artin Chrakian - Education Minister
Boghos Nubar Pasha - Director of Public Works
“the Armenians, though not numerous are influential, and occupy many of the most elevated posts of government [in Egypt] … adding their great acquirements in languages fit them peculiarly for the important offices of secretaries and dragomans…”
Cross-cultural intermediaries
We mentioned Arakel Bey Nubarian and Arakel Bey Abroian, the Armenian Governors in Sudan, in our article ‘Chronologies: The Turkiyya and Mahdiyya’. They represented a colonial elite in Egypt’s subjugation of Sudan. Our article Yacoub Artin Chrakian: ‘England in the Sudan’, gave descriptions of the earliest Sudanese-Armenians. But neither Yacoub Artin Chrakian or the Armenian Governors in Sudan could be called Sudanese-Armenian as they were not of a community and did not live in Sudan.
“As a Minister of Education in Egypt for a quarter of a century [Yacoub Artin Pasha] has been in close touch with native thought and opinion, whilst as one of the Armenian race, which has played so important a part in Egyptian administration since the days when Badr al-Gamali founded the great gates of Cairo in the eleventh century, he has never lost sight of the interests of the Christian minority”
Description: Soorp Boghos and Bedros Church
Location: Alexandria, Egypt
Source: Vahe Boghosian 2025
Its difficult to draw themes of continuity between the Armenian governors of medieval Egypt and the Armenian bureaucrats of this period - their contexts are fundamentally different. But there is a similarity in that they are operated as cross-cultural intermediaries. This concept will be useful in understanding the Armenian community in Sudan and how they achieved the position they did in the colonial era. To leverage this concept as a lens for our study it is necessary to contextualise it within historiography. Historiography is the study of how history has been written, including the methods, interpretations, and perspectives historians use. It examines both the narratives of the past and the ways those narratives have changed over time. In a future article we will introduce the narratives around cross-cultural intermediaries as a part of the historiographical context for sudanahye.
A family legacy
Yacoub Artin Pasha wrote about his Father, Artin Bey, in a book printed in 1896 at the Mkhitarian Tparan (Mkhitarian Print House) in Venice. The biography describes a man typical of the class of Armenian bureaucrats in Egypt, an excellent example of the cross-cultural intermediary. In the history of the Middle East Armenians have operated as cross-cultural intermediaries more so in the commercial realm than political. Even Boghos Yousef Bey, who started the tradition of Armenians in the Egyptian government originally was a merchant.
From the text, it is particularly interesting that Yacoub Artin Pasha highlights the role his Father held in the developments around the Suez Canal. It was the Suez Canal that gave Egypt critical geopolitical importance to date and the fact that Artin Bey despite his western language skills and leanings was an advocate of maintaining Egyptian sovereignty over Suez, even being exiled due to his opposition to the European influence over it. This gives us a strong indication as to how the Armenians maintained their influence in Egyptian government for almost a century, that being the same reason they gained the epithet ‘Millet-i-sadıka’ in the Ottoman Empire - the loyal nation.
The below is a translation of the Armenian text ‘Արթին Պէյ — Նախարար Արտաքին Գործոց և Վաճառականութեան Մէհէմէտ Ալի Փաշայի Թագաւորութեան Ժամանակ (1800–1859)’.
Artin Bey: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Commerce under the Reign of Mehmed Ali Pasha (1800–1859)
Artin Bey, son of Sukias Chrakian, was born in Constantinople in 1800. His father, holding the office of supplier of commercial and financial affairs for Tosun Pasha, the son of Mehmed Ali, was compelled by order of the pasha to move and settle in Egypt after the death of the prince, which occurred in 1812. In 1814, he called his family to Cairo. By the time Artin arrived in Egypt, he was already familiar with Armenians and the Armenian language, his mother tongue, and Turkish, and Italian languages, which he had studied at the school in Constantinople. He thus became assistant to his father in the money changing and commercial duties carried out on behalf of Tosun Pasha’s administration.
Description: Vahe Boghosian with Father Krikor Mouradian in the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate - a building donated by Boghos Bey Yousoufian who’s statue is in the centre
Location: Alexandria, Egypt
Source: Vahe Boghosian 2025
In this way, as soon as he arrived in Cairo Artin Bey became into direct contact with the great pasha himself, to be engaged in supplying the needs of his grandson, Tosun Pashas only son Arras Pasha. Few years later (1818), Mehemed Ali opened a school, especially for the education and instruction of Prince Abbas, where with other classmates Artin Bey was among these pupils, along with his brother Khosrov Bey.
Artin Bey so distinguished himself among his companions with his diligence, intelligence, and progress in Oriental Literature that he received the rank of ritbeyi amisye (captain, commander of a company) during Mehemed Ali’s first visit to the school. When the prince left the aforementioned school, Artin Bey and his brother Khosrov Bey were transferred with their fellow pupils to the institution called Kasr-al-Ayn in 1825.
In 1826, the two brothers were chosen to go with the forty students whom the great pasha sent to Europe, under the leadership of Mr. Yomard (April 3). Artin Bey studied in Paris: political science, economy and finance, administration, commerce, and public law, under the supervision of Mr. Yomard and Professor Macarel. He and his brother were entrusted particularly to the care of Mr. Gouro, who was the founder of the Shaptal School in Paris. Under the guidance of these various figures, Artin Bey was able to pursue very important studies, benefiting from the lessons and examples of his teachers and mentors.
He returned to Egypt on September 14, 1834. His father was dead, and his mother and sister used to live on the pension set by Mehemed Ali Pasha. The Pasha has placed him in the war office with the rank of "Saghol-Aghasi" (Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief). From then on, he began translating French war and administrative books into Turkish. At that time, Turkish was the official language and was used in the army.
In 1835, Artin Bey was appointed as an administrator at the School of Economics and Translation, which Mehemed Ali Pasha had established in the central citadel of Cairo. In the same year, he was also tasked with organizing the School of Architecture, which was transferred to Bulaq Ismail Pashas palace, where it came to be called the Polytechnic School. Six months later, the great pasha appointed Yusuf Hekekian Bey as the official director of that school, while Artin Bey returned to the War Office and again took charge of the Citadel school, with the rank of hazarabed (commander of a thousand). On this occasion, he was also named a member of the Great Council (State Council).
In the congregation, Artin Bey was prominent among his young friends, Apdi Bey (son of the Minister of the Interior), Mukhtar Bey (Minister of War), Mamluk Mehemet-Ali Pasha, and others. They were all of the opposite party, in the spirit of the Yenicheries and Mamluks. In this case, Artin Bey showed such skill that the great pasha would not propose any matter in the council without asking for Artin’s opinion.
Description: The grave of Artin Bey Chrakian (and others in the Chrakian family) at the Armenian Catholic Cemetary in Cairo
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Source: Vahe Boghosian 2025
He translated entire chapters and even entire books that dealt with administrative issues relating to the Council. These translations were read to Mehemed Ali Pasha, who in this way became acquainted with the legislative principles. These readings, which Mehemed Ali greatly enjoyed as both useful and entertaining, were of much benefit to the economic organization of Egypt.
In 1836, Artin Bey proposed the formation of a special commission to supervise school and college affairs. The commission then joined the ministry of public education. Artin Bey, successfully fulfilling all the duties entrusted to him to the great satisfaction of his master, winning his complete confidence. When the first translation secretary, Karapet Bey Nubar, died in 1839, the pasha appointed Artin Bey as the first translation secretary and head of the ministry with the rank of "miralay" (colonel). His brother, Khosrof, was appointed second secretary.
Artin Bey taking charge of the pasha’s office, he organized it in such a way that he was able to carry out successfully the important and numerous tasks. Indeed, pasha’s office was responsible for the most important matters, both internal and external. Correspondence with all the European powers was conducted in French, as well as with their ambassadors and their councillors . Correspondence with the Sublime Porte and the high officials of Egypt was in Turkish, although from that time Arabic also began to be used in economic and financial matters.
During the second Syrian War (1839–1841), Artin Bey, by virtue of his position and the importance of his services, became the very soul of all the political affairs.
In 1841, Artin Bey was sent as an envoy to Paris and London. It was during this mission that he became acquainted with notable statesmen of France and England, such as Thiers, Guizot, Lord Palmerston, and Lord Wellington, with whom he maintained friendly relations until the end of his life. The correspondence he maintained with Mehemed Ali during this mission testifies to how the rulers and eminent politicians of those countries respected and held in esteem the reformer of Egypt.
On this occasion, he also became friends with Rashit Pasha, who was Sultan Abdul-Mejit's ambassador to the king of France, and then became a great vizier. Through his mediation, he reconciled with the Sultan Mehmet Ali. This also facilitated the visits of Sayeed Pasha and later Mehemet Ali to Constantinople.
In 1844, Artin Bey was given the rank of Ferik (General) and appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Commerce, replacing Boghos Bey.
Description: The Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate in Alexandria
Location: Alexandria, Egypt
Source: Vahe Boghosian 2025
He wiped out the monopolies and freed up the trade, which led to a great deal of progress. Artin Bey also overhauled the accounting system.
Artin Bey helped to organise the Egyptian Transport. In 1846, a local company was founded, which has become very famous in Europe.
In 1848, Mehemet Ali travelled to Europe, and Artin Bey accompanied him on this journey, but before long was unfortunately obliged to return to Egypt.
Until his death (1849, Rusal-Tin Palace), he was always respected by the great Pasha.
During the short-lived reign of Ibrahim Pasha (1848) and then the period of Abbas Pasha, Artin Bey remained in office carrying out many embassadorian duties to Constantinople. In 1849, he received, the highest rank for a Christian, Retbeyi Pasha.
In 1850, during the reign of Abbas Pasha, Artin Bey and many others were forced to leave Egypt. He took refuge in Constantinople. In 1852 he went to Paris to help educating his sons.
He returned to Egypt during the reign of Sayeed Pasha in 1854, but he soon resigned. Sayeed Pasha kept him as an internal adviser.
Artin Bey, with all his might had to oppose de Lessepp's Suez plan (1857), but the plan was implemented regardless.
Artin Bey died in 1859, aged 59, in Cairo. He is buried in the Catholic cemetery.
Artin Bey was married in 1840 to Katharine Chrakian. He had two sons, Hagob Artin Pasha (born Cairo, 1842) and Yusuf Artin Bay (born Alexandria, 1844).
Artin Bey has written financial notes in Turkish, French writings and translations. His clear and straightforward style brought about a major change in the official writing in Turkish and Arabic.
He also received numerous decorations: the Order of Iftikhar (Sultan Mahmut), the Légion d’honneur of France, the Grand Cordon of Naples, the Order of Christ of Portugal, Order of St. Gregory of Rome, the Red Eagle of Prussia, and the Russian diamond-encrusted Order of St. Anna.
Notes:
The number of the Armenian bureaucrats in Egypt is from Bedros Torosian’s In Search of Haven and Seeking Fortune. It offers an excellent overview of Armenian life in Egypt during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the Armenians in government.
Rouben Adalian argues the Armenian bureaucratic class were able to attain their positions due to their “oriental languages and traditions” with Bedros Torossian adding a reason that they were also not affiliated with any of the major European powers.
The notes of our previous article exploring Egypt’s Armenian Heritage has more further sources on Egypt’s Armenian Community.
We accessed the book Արթին Պէյ — Նախարար Արտաքին Գործոց և Վաճառականութեան Մէհէմէտ Ալի Փաշայի Թագաւորութեան Ժամանակ (1800–1859) or Artin Bey: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Commerce under the Reign of Mehmed Ali Pasha (1800–1859) via the link here. Yacoub Artin Pasha, Արթին Պէյ — Նախարար Արտաքին Գործոց և Վաճառականութեան Մէհէմէտ Ալի Փաշայի Թագաւորութեան Ժամանակ (1800–1859), (Venice, Mkhitarian Tparan, 1896)
The Atheneum review of ‘England in the Sudan’ was accessed in August 2025 in the files of ‘General Sir (Francis) Reginald Wingate’, reference code GB-003-SAD and the newspaper cuttings regarding the reviews of the book specifically can be found under the following code: SAD.299/1/237,243-2444,251,253,255,260,283.
Thanks to Father Krikor Kousa of the Armenian Catholique Church in Egypt for providing access to the Armenian Catholic Cemetary. And thanks to Salma Muhammed for assisting in navigation to find and access the cemetary.
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