Coja Petrus Uscan

Coja Petrus Uscan (also Woskan, Voskan, 1680/81 – 1751) was an Armenian merchant and leader of the Armenian community of Madras (a city now part of India) who was known for his immense wealth and unflinching devotion and loyalty to the British during the French occupation of Madras.

Ancestry and early life

Petrus Uscan was born in a family of prominent Armenian traders which had traded with the East for generations. His grandfather Coja Pogus (Paul) had been buried in Julfa.

Construction of Marmalong Bridge

A marble plaque with multinlingual inscriptions in Persian, Latin and Armenian on the northern edge of the Marmalong Bridge adjoining the Saidapet Bus Stand commemorate the construction of the first-ever Marmalong Bridge across the Adyar River.

In 1728, Coja Petrus Uscan constructed the Marmalong Bridge across the Adyar River. It cost him 30,000 pagodas.

In 1726, he constructed the steps which led to the Catholic shrine atop St Thomas Mount which still bears a slab commemorating Uscan's legacy. Uscan fled Madras and sought refuge in a Danish ship.

Legacy

The Armenian community of Madras gained prominence in the 17th century AD and exercised a significant amount of power and domination over early Madras till the middle of the 19th century. Coja Petrus Uscan who led the Armenian community of Madras from 1723 to 1751 is regarded as the greatest and most famous member of the community. The community has almost become extinct, yet its memory survives through Petrus Uscan's numerous endowments and works of charity.