On International Museum Day, the National Library of Armenia organized a public lecture dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the first Armenian printed constitution, Vorogayt Paratz (The Trap of Ambition).   
Lecturer, Doctor of Historical Sciences of ASMI, Professor Samvel Poghosyan, spoke on the nationalist activities of the Indo-Armenian public and political figure Shaamir Shaamiryan, his son Hakob Shaamiryan, the leader of the Armenian liberation struggle Hovsep Emin and other members of the Madras group.   
Samvel Poghosyan touched upon the prerequisites for the creation of the world's first draft of the Vorogayt Paratz.  
Having studied in detail the path of the Armenian people and the defeats they suffered, the Armenian enlighteners came to the conclusion that their main reason was the ignorance and disunity of the Armenian people. Enlighteners were convinced that the Armenians could free themselves from foreign captivity only through political independence, creating their own national state, “choosing good laws for themselves, living and remaining dependent on your laws, for no one should have the right to rule you, except for your laws.”  
Vorogayt Paratz, the program book of the Madras Group, is one of the most important documents of Armenian law, which for the first time in Armenia presents a complete and regulated system of constitutional law, summarizing Armenian and world public thought, which put the foundation for a new state thinking. 

 

According to the current understanding, Vorogayt Paratz is not only a constitution, but also electoral, criminal, civil, administrative, family, tax, labor and military codes, and a document regulating the work of parliament, the conduct of war, the treatment of prisoners, educational and cultural programs, and the rules of marriage rituals, religious behavior, guard duty, street naming, house numbering, guidelines for regulating garbage collection and etc.  
Vorogayt Paratz, published in Madras, is the most valuable document of Armenian enlightenment thought and progressive ideas of the second half of the 18th century. In addition to the late 18th century edition, the book was republished in 1913 in Tiflis. In 2002, on the initiative of the Center for Constitutional Law of the Republic of Armenia, the book was republished in the modern literary Armenian language.  
The Vorogayt Paratz is exhibited at the Printing Museum of the National Library of Armenia. By the way, this year is the anniversary not only for Vorogayt Paratz, but also for its author Shaamir Shaamiryan. This year we celebrate the 300th of his birth anniversary.