Tashir’s Russian Heritage

 

The Russian history in Tashir is striking. It is a town that was established by Russians who moved to the outskirts of the empire in the 1800s. The Tashir Luys team met a Malokan today and toured his residence. What we found took us back to the Russian past of Tashir and to its old days of glory.

Alexander Ivanovich Mironov, our Malokan guide, warmly welcomed us in his home and into his family’s past. An ancient Russian banya still stands on the property. While its condition is poor, its remnants speak of the family’s golden period in Tashir. Mironov’s grandfather was a wealthy farmer who owned cattle and a large stable. The repressive policies of the 1930s expropriated the family of all its property except for its home, constructed in 1905 and still standing today on Yerevanian street.  The home, as many in the town, carries all the features of typical Malokan architecture.  The beauty of the handcrafted window shutters contrasts the peeling colors of the wooden exterior walls.

The destiny of the Mironovs resembles that of many Tashirians. In the late 1980s, the economic and political difficulties forced many Malokans to immigrate to Russia, leaving behind their houses and the elderly. Armenians gradually populated the town, however, economic stagnation still remained dominant. While Tashir’s demography changed, its links to Russia have only strengthened since.