Coja Petrus Uscan

Petrus Uscan was an Armenian merchant and leader of the Armenian community of Madras during the first half of the 18th century. He is remembered as a businessman and a benefactor of the community.

Very little is known about his early life except that he came from a family of prominent Armenian merchants which had traded with the East for generations. In 1723 he migrated to Madras from Manila and settled in the city for the rest of his life. Thanks to his business merit Petrus Uscan became a leader of the Armenian community of Madras, a community that gained prominence in the 17th century and exercised a significant amount of power and domination over early Madras till the middle of the 19th century.

Petrus Uscan was held in high regard with the officials of the English East India Company and was appointed Company Councillor. He also served as an envoy of the Company in negotiations with the local rulers. He is also known for his undivided loyalty to the British. When the French occupied Madras in 1746 they appealed to Coja Petrus Uscan to support occupation, which h refused saying that it was Armenian tradition to remain loyal to one’s benefactors, the English in this case. Out of the revenge the French confiscated and levelled to the ground 33 houses that had belonged to him and confiscated all his moveable wealth.

However, Petrus Uscan is mostly remembered for his philanthropy. He paid 30,000 pagodas for the construction of the first bridge across the Adyar River, and constructed the steps which led to the Catholic shrine atop St Thomas Mount which still bears a slab commemorating Uscan's legacy. In Vepery he built the Chapel of Our Lady of Miracles as his private Chapel, but which was open to others for worship. It was here that he was buried on his death in 1751.