Desiring that the country of Armenia should be governed by good laws, and in no respect differ from the rest of Our Empire, We have conferred upon it a Roman administration; have delivered it from its ancient customs; and familiarized it with those of the Romans, ordering that it shall have no other laws than theirs. We think, however, that it is necessary, by means of a special enactment, to abolish a barbarous practice which the Armenians have preserved; for among them women are excluded not only from succession to the estates of their ascendants, but also from those of their own brothers and other blood-relatives; they are married without a dowry; and are purchased by their future husbands. These barbarous customs they have observed up to the present time, and they are not the only ones who act in this cruel manner, for there are other races that dishonor nature in the same way, and injure the female sex just as if it were not created by God, and took part in the propagation of the human race, and finally, as if it was utterly vile, contemptible, and not entitled to any honor.

  Therefore We decree by this Imperial enactment that the laws in force in Our Empire, which have reference to the right of women to succeed to estates, shall be observed in Armenia, and that no difference shall hereafter exist between the sexes in this respect; that women, in accordance with the rule laid down in Our laws, shall inherit from their parents, that is to say, in the ascending line, from their fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, indefinitely; and in the descending line, from their sons and daughters, no matter in what way either of these transmit their property. Hence the Armenians shall no longer be subject to laws different from those of the Empire; and if they form part of Our subjects, and are under Our government like many other peoples, and enjoy the benefits conferred by Us, their women shall not be the only ones deprived of Our justice; and they shall all enjoy the benefit of Our laws, whether the. latter have come down to Us from former ages and have been inserted into Our Institutes and Digest, or whether they are called upon to obey the Imperial Constitutions promulgated by Ourself, or by Our predecessors.

  We decree that these provisions shall prevail for all time, from the beginning of the fourteenth indiction, the date when We have enacted the present law. If anyone examines the ancient laws of this nation, he will find in them great confusion, instead of the rules of a wise legislation; and, for the future (as We have already stated) from the fourteenth indiction, the rule of succession shall be uniform for all persons, and shall equally apply to men and women. We, however, permit everything to remain in the same condition as formerly, so far as other family property is concerned; for women shall have no share in estates which have already been distributed, or be entitled to successions belonging exclusively to the thirteenth indiction; for Our legislation shall only be applicable to them from the beginning of the fourteenth indiction, as aforesaid.

  Therefore Your Highness, Your successors, and Your subordinates, will be careful to see that what it has pleased Us to promulgate by means of this Imperial law, is perpetually observed.