Magharich (Armenia)

Original Text: Meri Avetisyan, University of Basel, Armenian State Pedagogical University

Magharich refers to a traditional gift-giving practice in Armenian culture, which in more modern times has also become a euphemism for a bribe. Thus, the word magharich is used to characterise two conceptually different practices, with the meaning shifting according to the context of use. In its original conception magharich means a gift given by a person who receives good news on personal matters, to a friend, relative, neighbor, or to the person who conveys the news .

The first appearance of the word in Armenian dictionaries (to the author’s knowledge) was in 1944 , where it was presented as a synonym of the word avetcheq, which means a gift given to a person who brings good news (Raffi 1970). What matters for this conception of magharich is that it is given because the recipient of the good news is so thankful that they wish to compensate the second person in some way. Indeed, the receiver of the magharich might not even have expected anything in return for their actions. In this conception, the beneficiary can also give a magharich to friends, neighbours or relatives, in order for them to share in the joy from the good fortune or happy news. A typical example of this type of magharich, especially in Soviet Armenia, was money given to midwives who informed about the successful delivery and the sex of a newborn; Armenian fathers were especially generous when the newborn was a boy. Another example is giving money to a doctor following successful surgery.

In the second and more recent conception, magharich is simply a ‘camouflage’ word for a bribe. To give a magharich or to ask for magharich simply means to bribe or to solicit a bribe. Many examples of the use of the word magharich in this sense can be found in the Armenian media. For instance, in a report on a high profile court case, a witness was quoted as saying that he gained employment because his mother gave magharich to the accused, a former head of a government agency (Mejlumyan 2014).

The use of ‘camouflage’ words to describe bribery-related practices can be found in different countries. In this context the use of the word magharich is very similar to the notion of ‘envelopes’ which is widely used in a number of countries including China, France and Latvia, or ‘un petit cadeau’ (a little gift) in North Africa. The word magharich in this meaning is also comparable to the Persian word baksheesh, which is widely used in many Middle Eastern countries to mean ‘tip’ and ‘alms’ as well as ‘bribe’ .

In Armenian society it is typically believed that magharich (in the original sense of gift-giving) is an Armenian word which has been introduced to (at least) the rest of the former Soviet Union by Armenians. However, both the word and the definition of the practice as perceived in Armenia are found in other languages too. According to the Russian Wikipedia entry on the term, the etymological roots of the word magharich come from an Arabic word خارج‎‎ (maḫāriǧ) which literally means costs and expenses. The use of the word in Russian (in modern Russian: магарыч; in old Russian: могорьць, могорецъ, магарецъ) dates back to the beginning of the sixteenth century (Slovar ruskogo yazika XI–XVIIvv 1982: 230). The word can also be found in Dal’s esteemed Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language , where it is described in both contexts: firstly as a gift, mostly in forms of drinks, given after a good deal has been concluded; and secondly as a bribe.

Examples of the use of magharich in both meanings described above (gift-giving and bribery) have been documented by a number of researchers exploring various aspects of the cultural, political and economic life of people in the Russian regions of Kazan, Don, and Tula. The word even featured in the tsarist police force’s anti-corruption action plans in the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. Interestingly, while describing the functioning of the legal and social autonomy of the Cossacks in the Russian Don area, Krasnov draws attention to a practice of ‘putting magharich’ (in form of alcohol) at village meetings, to buy the support of certain dominant speakers. These krikuni (literally ‘speaker–shouters’) often had more influence than the village elders, and would vocally express the view of the Cossacks supplying the magharich to help them achieve their desired outcome. Therefore, Krasnov concludes that the widely known saying from the second half of the nineteenth century ‘Без магарычей нет у донца и речей’ (‘Without magharich a person from the Don wouldn’t make any speeches’) is connected with this practice – regulation of the process of community decision-making in Cossack villages in the Don region. Moreover, according to Riblova, atamans (elders) in the Don region ‘put magharich’ in order to be elected as heads of their communities. Other typical examples the author has come across in contemporary Russian discourse include, ‘Ставлю магарыч – поступил в университет!’, which in a literal translation means, ‘I’ve got into university – magharich is on me!’ or ‘Эй друг, магарыч с тебя, говорят, дочь вышла замуж’ (‘Hey friend, they say your daughter got married, so you owe us magharich’). In the first situation the person wants to share their joy probably with their close circle and offers them to buy a meal or drink, or possibly both, whereas, in the second situation, somebody says that because his daughter has got married the father should buy drinks or a meal according to the tradition.

In a paper analysing the constructive-etymological content of the term ‘bribe’, Ivan Shaev, the head of a regional branch of the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, describes magharich as a type of a bribe alongside other colloquial terms such as peshkesh and baksheesh. Similarly, Nona and Robert Shahnazaryan refer to the word magharich as a form of bribe in their discussion of alternative economic relations, family relations and forms of corruption in the communities of the Caucasus region. They also identify other ‘camouflage’ words for bribery such as уважить (to show respect), подсластить (to sweeten), кормить (to feed), умаслить (to cajole), отблагодарить (to thank).

During Soviet times, magharich in its original conception – as unsolicited gift-giving as a token of gratitude – also served as a kind of informal add-on to low salaries paid to professionals such as doctors and teachers. Ordinary people who were satisfied with the service they had received knew that the professionals who provided it were not adequately paid; giving magharich was thus perceived as both appreciation for the service provided, and to some degree informal compensation for the small salary paid by the state. Although this was a morally dubious and mostly illegal practice, it seems that it did help people to compensate for the shortcomings of the regime in Soviet times. However, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, this practice has become more regarded as a form of corruption. In 2013, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Armenia was ranked 94–101 out of 177 participating countries. Unfortunately, no corruption study to date has examined the issue of to what extent existing corrupt practices are ‘camouflaged’ by the concept of magharich. Research on perceptions and attitudes towards the concept of magharich is needed in order to better understand the boundaries between traditional gift-giving practices and corruption in Armenia.