Synopses & Reviews
This book considers the economic, social and political importance of the silk trade in Safavid Iran. It focuses on four aspects of this trade: the role of silk in Iranian commercial policy, the interaction between agents of the state and foreign merchants, the routes along which silk was transported and, critically, the economic and social difficulties that contributed to the collapse of the regime in the 1720s. This represents a major contribution to the current debates on the social and economic history of the premodern world.
Review
"..an astonishing book...Aspelndid contribution to the period and to Middle Eastern economic history in general, this is a book upper-division and graduate students will want to keep within easy reach." Choice"This book is an important study and an exceptionally good read." Jrnl of Anthropological Research"...an important contribution to Safavid economic history, and it is a welcome addition to the scant literature that exists on Iran's early modern economy. It should be read by all scholars interested in the silk trade, as it gives an excellent account of the international importance of Iranian silk." American Historical Review
Synopsis
This book considers the importance of the silk trade in Safavid Iran and its commercial relationship with its European neighbours. Theoretical and innovative, it makes a major contribution to debates on the social and economic history of the pre-modern world.
Table of Contents
Preface; Acknowledgements; Notes on transliteration; List of abbreviations; Maps; Introduction; 1. The Iranian silk trade: from the Silk Road to the Safavids; 2. Procedures, logistics, finances; 3. Shah 'Abbas I and the Safavid political economy: territorial expansion, anti-Ottoman diplomacy, and the politics of silk; 4. Government control and growing competition: the silk export monopoly and the advent of the European maritime companies; 5. The complications of privatization: from the abolition of the silk export monopoly to the peace of Zuhab, 1629-1639; 6. Conflict and reorientation: silk to silver, 1640-1667; 7. Renewed regulation and the rise of the Russian connection, 1660s-1690s; 8. Contraction and continuity, 1690-1730; Conclusion; Appendix; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.