Khwaja Petik

Khwaja Petik was a prominent Julfan merchant who ran a successful business in Aleppo during the late 16th and early 17th century. Known as the wealthiest merchant in Aleppo at the time, Petik headed a vast commercial network which extended to Amsterdam and India. The monopoly over the silk trade in the city was firmly in his hands, and from the late 16th century all Venetian, French, English, Dutch and Spanish merchants in Aleppo conducted their silk trade through his mediation. Khwaja Petik also served as representative of Holland in Aleppo, and performed the duty of customs director of Ottoman Syria keeping contacts with the Ottoman court in Istanbul. Petrik was an important benefactor of the Armenian community and he financed the construction of the second Armenian Church in Aleppo in 1616.

In 1632 Khwaja Petik was beheaded on the sultan’s orders for unknown reasons.