History of Khoshmat - Palu

The town of Khoshmat in the Palu region of Western Armenia (now Turkey) is a historically and geographically special place, representative of a traditional Armenian lifestyle virtually unknown to Americans today—even those of Armenian descent.

Our grandfather, Dr. Mardiros Hagop Chakoian, undertook to bring to the world the history and color of this region.  After he emigrated to America in the early 20th century and attempted to painstakingly document the story of Khoshmet in a hand-written manuscript.  It was completed in 1951, but never circulated. Since he died the following year, this manuscript has remained hidden away for nearly 65 years, unpublished. It was recently discovered following the recent death of his only daughter. The three-volume set of notebooks was written in Armenian script with occasional English text. The title of the first volume is

History of Palou – Khoshmat
 to be published by
Palou- Hoshmat School Association of Providence RI
1951 Dr. M H Chakoian

We, his descendents, in order to bring attention to the history of this unique part of Armenia, wish to realize his unfulfilled dream and have the manuscript  published.  We have created this GoFundMe to help finance the translation and transcription of the approximately 650 hand-written pages. A total of $5,000 is needed for this project. So far about half of the amount has been raised.

With the money raised thus far, we are already in the early stages of translating this work into English.  We now know that it focuses on the history of Khoshmat during the period of approximately 1850 – 1915. It also describes the lives of numerous survivors from Khoshmat who fled to France, Canada and to the Providence area of the U.S. Additionally, there are references to people from nearby villages such as Havav. There are many wonderful photographs along with the incredible stories that it tells. This work, when published, will be a valuable contribution to many people who are descended from Palu, and to anyone who cares about the lives and culture of Armenian people during this traumatic period of history.

Here is a partial list of the names of people who appear throughout this history.

The manuscript is being translated into English and will be published by Houshamadyan in both languages.
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Thank you very much and I hope you will help us make the History of Khoshmat -Palu available for everyone.
Janet Houser
Judith Larsen
Martin H. Chakoian