[2][4] An archive directory (published 1956) in Delhi, India states that an Armenian merchant and diplomat, named Thomas Cana, had reached the Malabar Coast in 780 using the overland route.

While Armenians gained prestige serving as governors and generals elsewhere in the empire such as Delhi, Lahore and the Bengal, living in enclosed colonies and establishing churches.

He was also instrumental in obtaining a decree, inscribed on a copperplate, from the rulers of Malabar (present-day Kerala and the Deep-South), which conferred several commercial, social and religious privileges for the Christians of that region.

[7] Several centuries of presence of Armenians resulted in the emergence of a number of several large and small Armenian settlements in several places in India, including Agra, Surat, Mumbai, Kanpur, Chinsurah, Chandernagore, Calcutta, Saidabad, a suburb of Murshidabad, Chennai, Gwalior, Lucknow, and several other locations currently in the Republic of India.

Lahore and Dhaka – currently respectively in Pakistan and Bangladesh, – but, earlier part of Undivided India, and Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, also had an Armenian population.

By an imperial decree, Armenian merchants were exempted from paying taxes on the merchandise imported and exported by them, and they were also allowed to move around in the areas of the Mughal Empire where entry of foreigners was otherwise prohibited.

The imperial decree had also reduced the tax from 5% to 3.5% on two major items traded by them, namely piece goods and raw silk.

They engaged in trade with Armenian-owned merchant vessels, exporting goods to various destinations including Egypt, the Levant, Turkey, Venice, and Leghorn.

[10] 16th century onwards, the Armenians (mostly from Persia) formed an important trading community in Surat, the most active Indian port of that period, located on the western coast of India.

The port city of Surat used to have regular sea borne to and fro traffic of merchant vessels from Basra and Bandar Abbas.

[11] The British valued the business acumen of the Armenian community and sought their cooperation to secure trading privileges in the Mughal court.

Today, the Armenian gravestones in Surat stand as a reminder of the community's contributions to the city's history and its commercial and cultural ties with various regions.

Uscan, an Armenian merchant who had amassed a fortune from trade with the Nawab of Arcot, invested a great amount in buildings.

The Marmalong Bridge, with many arches across the river Adyar was constructed by him, and a huge sum of maintenance donated to the local authorities.