He served during the reign of King (Shah) Suleiman I (r. 1666–1694) as mayor (kalāntar) of New Julfa, and briefly as controller of the assay (mo'ayyer ol-mamalek).
[4] According to French traveler Jean Chardin, Hajji Piri knew that his conversion to Islam would stir up trouble among New Julfan Armenians, as he was the community's leader and most important member.
[6] Chardin tells that two weeks before his apostasy, Hajji Piri went to the royal Safavid court and begged the nazer ("steward") to make it seem like a forced conversion.
[6] In addition, he told that if his conversion came to be known as a voluntary act, the Armenian merchants abroad would not come back, and would settle in Europe while keeping their goods and money.
[6] Thus, the nazer decided to help Hajji Piri and reportedly staged a scene, saying loudly: "the Shah orders you to become Moslem, he must be contented".