The preposition "di", which indicates affiliation, was adopted by Hagopdjan from Italian, as was done frequently among Armenian merchants of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
In 1714, the then incumbent king (shah) of Safavid Iran, Sultan Husayn, decided to send to Louis XIV an embassy for the purpose of signing a diplomatic and trade treaty between the two nations.
He chose to represent Mohammad Reza Beg, mayor of Yerevan as the new Safavid ambassador to France, and the leader of the mission.
The mayor of Yerevan chose Hagopdjan, of Armenian origin, who was the richest merchant of the city, to accompany as well as to protect him.
His task was not easy and further complicated by the fact that the Safavid king, Sultan Husayn, did not ratify the treaty immediately.